Joe Quinn, the inventor of Power Edge, spent time at all camps and I worked directly with him as we trained players. The camps were on Prince Edward Island and in St. John’s, Newfoundland with players from all over Atlantic Canada.

Players from this area are known to be hard workers, The Power Edge Pro pushed them physically every day—and they met the challenge. Part of the reason was the challenge of the on ice training; part was the desire to get better. And a big part was the fact that it was fun for the players.

Check the system out at www.poweredgepro.com

This really is the ‘big next thing’ and it works—big time!

How did you prepare? Was there a well thought out program for physical training, supplemented by mental preparation that was executed over the off season? If so, tryouts were likely a pleasant experience and there was a positive outcome.

Let’s hope every tryout starts with team management being very clear about how to make the team;

…”this is the type of culture we want for our team…”

…”we want players who exhibit these overall characteristics of work ethic, discipline, …”

…”we will not tolerate any behavior that includes, disrespect of others, etc. …”

…” we need players to fill these specific roles…”

I had a chance to spend time over two days at the Dallas Stars training camp in Charlottetown, PEI. After the ice sessions I visited with head coach Marc Crawford, assistant coach Willie Desjardins, AHL head coach Glen Gulutzen, and Director of Minor League Operations Scott White.

Watching the players in the dressing room area, it was obvious all were serious about their physical preparation. Most players looked like they were in great shape as they prepared their post-practice sport drinks and snacks. Coach Crawford noted how this part of the game had come a long way since his playing days.

Also talked with Frank Hubley, a high school hockey head coach in Halifax, NS, about his tryout process. He added points like looking for more from a returning player, the need to have balance between grades 10, 11, and 12, and being clear to participants about team goals for the season.

Wally Bray is the head coach at the AAA midget level in St. John’s, NL. His coaching staff and manager Tim Power have to build a team that will be capable of hosting the Telus Cup, the national championship for this level. Players here get on the team by performance by a series of competitive scrimmage sessions. The camp was fun to watch as layers competed to make the team.

At the end of tryouts, hopefully there are some common positive results:

…players feel they had a fair opportunity to show how they can play the game

…all had a fair chance to make the team

…there was an environment where players will leave being at least a little better for the experience

…even though the tryouts were challenging, it was a fun experience

Now, let the season begin…

Teams use different strategies to pick a captain. The process can take many forms:

• Players vote for the team captains
• Coach picks the best player as captain
• Th most senior players fill the captain roles
• Rotate the ‘C’ through the lineup over the course of the season
• By committee, where everyone gets a say
• Management selects the captains

Danny Brooks, assistant coach with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL had this to say about what is done with his major junior team.

The three most important aspects to our organization are: 1. work ethic, 2. attitude, 3. discipline.  The captain and assistant captains must have those attributes first and foremost. The captain represents what we want everyday. Our captain is not our best player, but he brings those attributes everyday. He pushes the best players to adopt those attributes. Leadership is something that is groomed. We do something very unique here in Drummondville; we change our assistant captains every month. We reward players for hard work, discipline and attitude. Each player is also a leader in his own right. A player can be a leader in a particular aspect of the game. For example, if you are a banger, you might be the leader of the bangers. In each case all players have ownership in the team. Players are held accountable for the aspect they lead the team in.

Frank Hubley, coaching at the high school level in Nova Scotia, tells us how he selects his captains

I choose the captains. At times I have asked a number of players who they think would make good captains. I ask them ‘why’ and if there are any reasons why any of their choices may not be a good captain for the team.

I have done it where I ask no questions and I pick the captains myself. I have never allowed the players pick the captains. For me it is too much of a popularity contest. Also, I may speak about leadership to the team then ask for 3-4 names of people they think would be good captains. I  have not made up my mind on that way yet.

Jason Lammers, assistant coach with Ohio State, gives us another perspective on the process.

This year we had the guys fill out a questionnaire asking for more information about teammates. For example we asked; who would you want in your foxhole, who is the most committed on and off the ice, and who has the best work ethic. We added up the scores and then decided if we agreed with what the guys thought. It seemed to work really well!

There is no sure-fire way to ensure your team selects the best person as captain. That shouldn’t stop you from doing everything possible to try to make this happen anyway. The right leader could make or break your season.

If you have any suggestion on how to pick captains, please comment on this post,

You are either already in your pre-season or it is just around the corner. Season plans should have been in place by now, along with the regular season schedule and practice sessions. Are we excited or are we panicking?

What did you learn from previous pre-seasons that you will use to make this year the best ever? Are you going to have a catchy slogan to rally the player around?

Here is an excerpt from The Hockey Conditioning Handbook that will give an overview of your conditioning objectives and areas of emphasis. The book also contains information for on-ice and off-ice training and programs for you to use. Go to the Store tab at the top of the page to buy the book.

Pre-Season means on-ice workouts have started but league games have not. It’s your last chance to get all your conditioning ready for the ultimate test – game time.

Pre-Season Conditioning Objectives:

1)      Top Up Off-Season Levels 2)      On-Ice Transfer of Conditioning

The first part of the pre-season usually has 2-3 weeks of dry land training for ‘topping up’ your off-season training. The off-season foundations must then be adapted to the ice. Your running legs get switched to skating legs. This is also the time to incorporate specific high energy and explosive energy training. Dry land work can be done to help develop these energy systems initially. But it will be essential to ultimately train these two systems on ice as well.

During the pre-season a player should be able to gradually reduce his aerobic workouts from 5-6 per week to 2-3 per week, with at least 1 of these being done on the ice. Players should put their strength training gains to use while practicing skills and reduce regular strength workouts to 1-2 per week. Flexibility work should still be done as a ‘loosen up’ in warm ups and as a ‘tension relaxer’ at the end of all workouts. Otherwise, players will start to lose the flexibility gained from off-season training. Less time can be spent on flexibility now. One or 2 repeats of an exercise for each major muscle group should suffice at this stage.

High energy training is difficult to do on ice psychologically because of the combination of intensity and time (very hard for 40-90 seconds) needed. Skills drills are not easily adapted to these training requirements. For this reason, optimum high energy work (60-90 seconds) is easiest done off-ice. Specific high energy work (30-60 seconds/a typical shift length) should be done on ice.

Explosive energy work should be done daily, primarily on ice. This system will be a key to quick skill execution during games.

Pre-Season Training Emphasis:

1)      Foundations On-Ice 2)      High Energy Training 3)      Explosive Energy Training

Use the pre-season to finish getting completely physically prepared to play games. All physical aspects of conditioning must be transferred effectively to the ice. Here are samples of pre-season training sessions for both on-ice and off-ice work.

Do you have your overall goals and objectives set for your pre-season? Are you rebuilding or just fine tuning around a core of returning players?

What is your player selection criteria? Do your staff and the players trying out for the team know the criteria? They darn well should. Is fitness testing included?

Use the pre-season wisely. It is an ideal time to set the standards, discipline, culture and environment for your team for the season.