It never stops amazing me, that even pro hockey players have so-called "brain freezes" during the heat of battle. And, while that might not be why I began compiling something on the order of my tried and true principles, it's surely a good enough reason.
-- Dennis Chighisola
Tried and True Hockey Principles
Actually, that "Tried and True Hockey Principles" thingy wasn't even what I called the list I compiled years ago for the sake of my NEHI players. But, let me tell my member friends a little about the background to all this...
Now, if any coaching members can recall their earliest years on the job, you probably remember being a little (or maybe a lot) unsure of yourself. I don't mean that you necessarily lacked confidence, but there's a good chance you did find it difficult to challenge some long standing principles you'd heard for years.
That's what I recall going through... I'd find myself noticing something happening countless times during games -- like some things of real consequence, and wonder why the heck no one else ever noticed it, or at least mentioned it. Some might find that stuff easy to dismiss, but not this stubborn young coach (at the time).
Going back to the late-70s, I studied video incessantly. So, when I sensed I saw something on tape that was of consequence, I replayed and replayed a given segment until I was pretty sure of what was happening. I wouldn't stop there, though, also searching for other examples so I could be absolutely positive about what I was seeing.
Some of the video I studied was of my own team at the time, but I'd also record televised pro games so I could study those (until my eyes blurred). That's how one builds confidence in his or her convictions, ya know, by studying and studying and...
As it turned out, a combination of my own finds and others most coaches would describe as tried and true hockey principles started to mount, and it also turned out that I needed to somehow address them with the players in my charge.
I'll explain the latter in awhile, but for now let me say that my biggest early challenge was in naming the slow building list. Hmmmmm... In the end, the best I could do was call them "Coach Chic's Rules for Winners".
Okay, the following list has sometimes grown to be twenty-ish in length. Still, here's the basic list of tried and true hockey principles I addressed at least once per week with my kids...
Coach Chic's Rules for Winners
1) Immediate pressure rattles opponents and gives us the puck!
2) Go over the boards to enter the ice; those coming off must also make it extremely easy for new players to get into the play!
3) In our zone, the best passes are lateral and ahead.
4) The next center always replaces the goaler on delayed penalties.
5) These are your options when carrying the puck up-ice:
- #1 - "Head-man" to advance the attack fastest;
- #2 - Carry (if you're not out-manned);
- #3 - Dump (if out-manned or we are leading); or
- #4 - Enter the offensive zone and protect the puck until help arrives.
6) Effective dump-ins provide an advantage for your teammates.
7) Our form of BACKCHECKING means totally smothering the attack -- controlling bodies and especially controlling sticks!
8) On Powerplays:
- Never go off-side;
- Protect the puck and only pass to unguarded teammates;
- When we lose the puck, two players must immediately check the puckcarrier, with all other players covering an open man.
- See Point #12 below.
9) Show "coolness" at all times, no matter what happens!
10) Focus on the body and... Finish ALL checks!!!
11) Always know what's happening with the puck... "head on a swivel".
12) Avoid hard shots from the point on one side of the ice aimed towards the net-corner on the other side (these shots too often go wide of the net, hit the corner boards, and fly out of the offensive zone).
My players got a photocopied list during our summer workouts, besides having that list posted on our team website. At the top of the list, I asked players to "Please study all of these". I also let the kids and parents know that many of the key principles would be explained in videos found on our site (and I believe I'll hunt down those videos and make sure they're available to CoachChic.com members).
As I've mentioned quite a few times in earlier posts, my High School Prep and Junior High School teams practiced on Saturdays morning throughout the season at an awesome roller rink. That was a great place to walk through plays -- because it had all the rink markings, it was great to use as a gym for real physical workouts, we took advantage of training on in-lines, and it was also great for us to just relax on the floor and hold a weekly "bull session". And THAT is where the process started for my kids to ultimately be extremely smart players.
Just so members know, I've never been one to tell players that, "This is the way it is -- because I say so!" Naw, I want my players to be able to reason things much the way I arrived at them in the first place. This, I think, is a way of firmly embedding important principles in their minds, so that they'll remain there for years after I've coached them.
My guys knew that we'd be reviewing two or three of those points each Saturday morning, and they also knew they could be called upon to explain a given principle to the group. I'm not talking about embarrassing a kid, but as I said earlier, to make it kind of a "bull session" where we could discuss a principle under relaxed conditions.
This aside... I discovered long ago that I have to understand something pretty deeply in order to be able to explain it to someone else. That was the case when I was coaching, and that's still going on with me today, as I have to really think things out carefully before I explain them here to my members. And so was it the case when one of my players had to explain a given principle to his teammates.
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