Hockey's Loss

The other day writer Jim Kelley passed away. He was a great hockey writer from Buffalo, NY. I first started reading his columns when they appeared in Sports Illustrated. I was always told that before the internet existed if you wanted to know about the NHL you had to read his column.
    One memorable situation involved Mr. Kelley and Buffalo goaltender Dominick Hasek. After a playoff game in the 1996-1997 season Mr. Kelley wrote an article questioning  Hasek's toughness. A couple of days later Mr. Kelley tried to interview Hasek one on one and Hasek physically attacked him when he approached. The confrontation got so serious that Hasek ripped off Mr. Kelley's shirt. Hasek did apologize later.

     Jim Kelley was a great writer and will be missed.
   

Goalie Situation Solved for Now

I know I have mentioned in recent posts my concerns about my goalies. Friday on the commuter train home I took out this year's schedule and the schedules from last year. After looking everything over I took out two 3x5 cards wrote each goalie's name at the top and started dividing up the games. When I was done my sophomore goalie will start four games and my senior goalie will start five games not counting the two we have already played. When Friday nights game was over I talked to both goalies and handed them their 3x5 cards. I told each one to look at their cards and let me know if their were any problems.
  

A Tough Game

Tonight was our second game and its was a tough game which we lost.I could tell the game was not going to be easy when our opponents scored their first goal in 17 seconds. We did ourselves more harm by getting 9 penalties. The team we played tonight were better skaters and passers then we were and they deserved to win.

Parents

Since the start of my coaching days I have been fortunate to have good parents. I have heard stories in my coaching certification classes about problem / overzealous parents. My parents have been friendly and supportive. This year my parents are a combination of parents who have been around hockey and parents who are new to high school hockey. I have no problem getting parents to be in our penalty box which is nice. I tell parents that the penalty box is a unique place to watch a game from.
    Feel free to share a story.

On Top of the Standings

When I checked the league's website I noticed my team was one of the teams tied for first. Of course the two teams at the top of the standings have only played one regular season game. After this weekend that may change we will see.

Holiday Gift

A holiday gift has come early for me. This week is a very busy week at work for me and there was no practice scheduled for my team. Then a coach from another team contacted me and said he had an early practice time 4pm to 5pm on Thursday. He knew I worked a day job and could not make an early practice. The coach said he had four coaches and would be glad to share his practice time as well as his coaches with my team.
   Seeing my team had not had a practice in a week and our next opponent on Friday is a tough team we had problems with last year I said sure I would appreciate the chance for my team to get some ice time before the next game.

Goalies

Probably the hardest position to play in high school hockey is Goalie. I have somewhat of a goalie problem at this point in the season. My sophomore goalie I have not seen play since the pre-season tournament and he has only been at practice twice since the season has started. Then for our first regular season game I played my senior goalie and the sophomore goalie was upset he did not start. Now I have to decide which goalie to play for our second game and I am not sure who to start.
    Any input is appreciated at this point.

Holiday Break

My concern during the Thanksgiving break is whether my players have or will do any skating. We will not have a practice before our first game after the Thanksgiving Break. If my players do not do any skating the first game will be tough.
    As a coach all I can do is wait until December 3rd and see what happens.

Hockey Magazines

I like to read while commuting to work and hockey is one of topics I like to read about. The magazines I like to read are USA Hockey magazine (comes with your USA Hockey registration) Hockey News ( a Canadian publication) and the New England Hockey Journal.
       Let me know if anyone has any other good magazines or journal I should read.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today there was no hockey games or practice just time with my family. I am fortunate to have a very supportive extended family so, today was full of food and fun. I actually watched a football game.
     Happy Thanksgiving to all !

Holiday shopping

As you start your holiday shopping a good place to look is online. There are several sites that already have sales going on. The following is a short list of sites: USA Hockey, HockeyOverstock and Amazon. Amazon is the best site for the hockey fan in your life. Good luck shopping.
    

Looking for Assistant Coaches

Last year I had no problem finding assistant coaches because one was a parent and the other was from one of my schools. This year I lost the school that the assistant coach came from and the parent decided not to coach this season. I have been looking for assistant coaches for about a month. The problem I have run into is that to coach at the high school level a coach must be certified to level three at least by USA Hockey. Some parents want to help but must get certified. When you look at the USA Hockey website for the classes in the southeastern region which Maryland is in the only time the three classes are offered are just one weekend in December.Making it impossible for someone to take all three classes. It would have made more sense for USA Hockey to offer level 1 & 2 on one weekend and level three on another weekend.
   My search for assistant coaches continues.

Margin of Victory

If you look at the MSHL (Maryland Scholastic Hockey League) website you can see the scores of the first week's games. Looking at the scores you will see there were close games and others that were not close. One of the hardest things for a head coach to make high school players understand is that there is a point in a game where your team has scored enough goals to win the game and not embarrass your opponent. I have told my team that a seven goal difference is when we stop scoring. I point out to my team that they would not like it if another team ran up the score against them and they agree they would not like that. However, one of the items used to rank teams is the number of goals scored by the team so it is not easy for the players to understand.

The First tough Stretch

The first tough stretch of the season for my team is the Thanksgiving holiday break. Between today and when we play our next game December 3rd. I have no practice time with my team. I will send an email to my players and parents suggesting that if they can they should go to a free skate over the Thanksgiving holiday break. December 3rd will be an interesting game to see how they react to missing practice.

The Day After

Now that I have had a day to think about my team's first game I have put together some observations. First, starting my senior goalie was the right move. My senior goalie was calm which in turn helped my freshmen defensemen have more confidence that if they made a mistake it would not be too bad. I was also glad to see some of forwards who had struggled in the pre-season get on the score sheet.  One thing my players need to do is to shoot more.

Our First Game

Tonight was our first game of the season. As I mentioned in my last post I did start my senior goalie. We did a very good job with penalties we only got one penalty.The first goal of the game was scored by our opponents which had me a little concerned. It took most of the first period before my team got going but the first period ended with us up 2-1. The game was physical and at one point I sat my freshmen and weaker players because I was afraid they might get hurt. I told the players why they were sitting and they were fine with it. Unfortunately one of my players did get hurt do to the physical nature of the game and might have a concussion.
    In the end we did win the game.

Ready for the Season ?

As I traveled home on the commuter train tonight it gave me the perfect opportunity think about the upcoming season. By the time I arrived at my station I had gone through my plans for the at least our first game Friday night. My plan for the first game is: 1) I will start my senior goalie 2) I will set my powerplay and penalty kill units and not change them. I also have given some thought to my pre-game talk. In this talk I will remind the players we need to stay out of the penalty box and they should do their best not to retaliate no matter what the other team does. I will conclude my talk by telling the players we just played this team on Wednesday so, we know who we are facing and know we can beat them. Most importantly have FUN.
     Now lets see what happens Friday night.

Pre - Season Games are Good

Tonight we had our last pre-season game against the team we will play in the season opener. The game was good for my freshmen because they got to see that they are just as good as freshmen from other schools. For freshmen the sooner they have confidence in themselves the better. This also allowed me to adjust the lines so I am ready for the regular season. The team we played was very physical so my player now know what they are up against. Also, we scored 7 goals against the other team's goalie which also helped with our overall confidence.
  The one thing that concerned me was that the referees let a lot of hitting go and not call penalties. Hopefully they will call a tighter game when the season starts on Friday.

Another Item on the List

As a coach prepares for the season the best thing a coach can to do is to make a checklist. On this list are items like plan practices, meet the new players and welcome back the returning players, parents meeting, pre-season and report cards/grades.
   I may have report cards listed last but they are just as important as a practice plan. Some kids will play high school hockey and go on to make hockey a career. Most players will play high school and when high school is over so is their hockey career so, grades do matter. A coach should be supportive of his players academic pursuits. Make sure your players and their parents know that you know that academics are important.

Where to Look

**Updated to add the MSHL website....click here.

As the season starts some folks have asked me how they can follow my team. I tell folks they can email  me or follow my blog. Another way to follow hockey in the state of Maryland in general is to go to Maryland Scholastic Hockey League or MSHL website. You can find the website by using google and typing in MSHL MD. This website has the schedule for most hockey teams in Maryland. On this site you can see standings and statistics for all the teams.
    Check out the website and go to a game.

What to Do?

During the tournament last weekend one of my players was hit pretty hard. I asked him if he was alright and he said "Coach I am fine, no problem". He did not show any injury do to the hit. However, the player from the other team was given a two minute penalty for Head Contact. On Monday the player's parents informed that they took to the doctor because he was complaining of a headache and the doctor said the player was suffering from post concussion headaches. Having told the players at the beginning of the season don't be afraid to tell the coaching staff if you think you are hurt I was a little disappointed. Also, having had two concussions myself I know how it makes you feel. I asked the parents to let me know the results of the players CAT scan and what the doctor says. I also told them that their son's health comes first.
   Players there is nothing wrong with saying you are hurt.

Getting Ready for the Season

As I prepare for the regular season one thing I am working on is making sure my freshmen confident in their play. I have three freshmen defensemen and three freshmen forwards. My freshmen forwards are a little more comfortable playing high school hockey then the freshmen defensemen. At practice last night I worked a lot with the freshmen defensemen. I worked mostly with the defensemen on their positioning and what to do when they have the puck.

Change of Plans

Tonight at practice about half the players were missing so I changed my practice plans. First, we did a couple of skating drills. Then I had the team do a couple of passing drills. After the passing drills I did a breakout drill and finished practice with a scrimmage.
   This was our last practice before our first game. Actually next week we have two games. I think we are ready.

This week's practice

For practice this week I will work on shooting and passing. I especially intend to work with the freshmen on  gap control and puck control. We may have two games next week so, this may be the last practice before the games count in the standings.

What came out of the Frederick Cup

There are several things that came out of the Frederick Cup. First, I learned that both my goalies are very good when properly supported. Second, I need to do more work with my freshmen to give them more confidence with the puck. At practice on Wednesday I plan to work on penalty kill and breakout.

The Frederick Cup - Day Three

Today is the last day of the tournament. My team played one game this morning and we played pretty well but still lost. This was a pre-season tournament and allowed me to see how my team played seeing most of the players had never played together before. During the tournament I was able to see which forwards worked best together. It is important to have some kind of pre-season whether it be a couple of games or a tournament.Pre-season allows you to evaluate your team and better prepare for the regular season.

The Frederick Cup - Day Two

Day Two was very interesting. Our first game was not so good my freshmen were over matched and were afraid to touch the puck for more then a second. They treated the puck like a hot potato. The upperclassmen just played bad. This was also the first time my players had played together as a team and it showed. Our second game we won and the team played much better.

The Frederick Cup - Day One

The first day of the Frederick Cup has ended. My team did not play today but I did go and watch a couple of the games. What I saw was that the talent leveled varied which I thought was interesting. There are two conferences in the tournament. Teams are placed in each conference according to their talent which I think is a good idea. My team is in the lower conference which I was fine with due to the skill level I have and the number of freshmen.
   Scoring for the tournament goes as follows: A team can earn one point for each period you win and two points for every game you win. The top two teams in each conference play a championship game Sunday evening.
   My team will play two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday morning. If you want to see good high school hockey come to Skate Frederick this weekend.

One day until the tournament

As I prepare for the Frederick Cup there are a few things to look at. First is my goalie situation which I had discussed in a previous post.  My plan was to have my goalies share time during the tournament however, one of my goalies is not able to play on Saturday do to a previous commitment and the other goalie can not play on Sunday because he has to play for his travel team. As a result how I am going to use my goalies has been decided.
      I looked at the tournament schedule today to see what teams my team will be playing. Of the three teams we will be playing I realized we have not played any of them. My team is not playing on Friday night so I intend to go and watch a couple of games because the teams we are going to play are playing on Friday night. This should be an interesting tournament.

Getting Ready for pre-season tournament

Today there was no practice but I spent time figuring out my lines and special teams for this weekend. My team will play in the Frederick Cup at Skate Frederick in Frederick, Maryland. This is a pre-season tournament for high school teams only. If you are in the area and are a hockey fan you should make time to come watch a couple of games.

Behavior

As I get my team ready for the season one of things I like to go with my team is what I expect of them. I tell the players that when they get a penalty they are to go directly to the penalty box and do not argue with the referee. I warn the players that if they argue with the referee they will get an additional penalty. I then tell them that for every additional penalty they get will be the number of minutes they will sit on the bench and not play.
  For the most part this works with the players and our penalty minutes stay low however, every year at least one player does not follow my directions but high school players need to learn there is consequences for not following direction. We will see what this season holds.

Silence is Wrong

As the season starts a coach has a lot to think but it is important for a coach to tell his players that if they have an injury to speak up. It is not right for a player to stay silent if they are hurt. The days of being a player that toughs it out are over. The increase in concussions makes it important for players and coaches to have  good two-way communication. So, players speak up and coaches listen.

Third Practice

For my third practice I will set the lines I will use for the Frederick Cup. My team manager picked up scrimmage vests for me to use at practice. He got 10 blue and 10 orange. The vests will help the players focus on who is on their line with them.

NHL Network

It is that time of year again when the NHLNetwork is free to watch for the month of October. This gives folks an opportunity to watch a number of games from all over the country and the league. It is fun to listen to Canadian broadcasts because they use different hockey terms and have different insights about teams that you not do always get watching Sports Center.

Second Practice

My second practice was a success because I had everyone at practice. This gave me a chance to work on some  possible forward lines. I  also got confirmation of what I thought after the first practice and that is the weak part of the team will be defense.

Goalies & Second practice

I still do not have a resolution to my goalie situation. I probably will not know how this will pan out until practice Wednesday night. This situation makes my planning for the season kind of difficult. Without a second goalie I will probably have to pull my team out of the preseason tournament.
   For my second practice I will focus on passing, shooting and checking. I will let you know what happens.

Goalie Issues

Well, the second week of the season is here and we have goalie issues. My senior goalie got hurt playing basketball and I am not sure when he can play. My sophomore goalie said he would play but he missed the first practice and I do not have confirmation that he will play for us. Also, I found out tonight that my senior goalie will not be able to play the second day of a three day pre season tournament.
   The adventure continues !

The Schedule

I just got my team's schedule for the upcoming season. For the most part we got a good schedule. All but one of our games are on Fridays. We have one game on Tuesday night. The game times are either 8pm or 9pm not too bad for getting fans to come. The only downside is that we do have three games that start after 9:30pm. I never like playing after 9:30pm. It is tough on the freshmen because they get tired faster it seems.
      I am starting to plan for Wednesday's practice.

The First Practice

Tonight was my team's first practice. We were missing our goalies and a couple of players. One goalie was a no show and the other goalie got hurt this week playing basketball. Also, the players missing were taking part in their fall sports which does conflict when the sports overlap. The players skating was good for a first practice. Must work on passing at the next practice.
    Anyone have a good passing drill?

First Practice of season

Tomorrow will be the first practice of the season for my team. I will be interested to see what my new players are like especially how good skaters they are.
  What do other coaches expect of their first practice?
   What do parents expect for the first practice?

Monday

Monday has come and I am still waiting to hear about my team's schedule. My plan this week is to write and email out a welcome letter to the players and parents who will be on my team. In the letter I welcome players and parents. I tell the players what the first practice will consist of and what I expect of them. For the parents I thank them for their support and ask for their help manning the penalty box.
    What do some of you coaches do? What would parents want to know from coaches at the beginning of the season?

Kids and concussions

I was reading this article about Boston Bruins center Marc Savard. It is a good artic not to letle for parents and coaches to read before the season starts. In the article Marc Savard admits he has been suffering from post concussion syndrome for several months but he played through it because he is "a hockey player". Concussions are a very tricky injury and may take time to heal. Coaches must watch any player who has been diagnosed with a concussion carefully. Parents be careful not to let your kid return to playing to soon.

Waiting for Monday

On Sunday the MSHL is having their annual beginning of the season meeting. My team manager will attend this meeting as a result I get to avoid all the politics involved with the beginning of the season. I am lucky I have a good manager and I know he will let me know what went on.
Stay tuned for the Monday post.

Getting Started for the Season

Today I started thinking about the start of the season and planning my practices. With 11 new players I think my first practice of the season will be spent evaluating all my players to see how they will mesh.
If anyone has some first practice of the season drills please share.

Web Site Question

While searching the internet for hockey drills. I came across a site called www.weistechhockey.com. It is a free site with drills you can download. Has anyone used this site? I am always looking for new and different drills to keep practices interesting.
Anyone have a drill they would like to share?

A First for Me

Tonight while checking my email I came across a first for me. I received my first email from a local graphic design company offering to make team apparel, water bottles, towels etc. I replied to the email asking what things do they do for coaches.
Has anyone else had this experience?

Got my preliminary roster

Yesterday I received the preliminary roster for my team. I have 17 players with the possibility of two more. The seventeen players include one goalie. Goalies are in short supply in Maryland. Also, it is important to make sure your players have signed up with USA hockey. The players need to be registered with USA Hockey in order to play.
How are the rosters of other teams?

The 2010-2011 Season is approaching

Here in Maryland we can have our first practice after October 1st and our first preseason game after November 1st. Then our regular season starts after November 15th. The season then goes til February.
Now to meet the parents and my 11 new players

USA Hockey

It is hard to think about hockey when the temperature here in Maryland is in the 90's. Seeing that the last two days were the NHL draft hockey is on my mind. I realize that I have never mentioned the USA Hockey website. The website is excellent whether you are a player, parent or coach. This also the website where coaches and players can register which is a requirement for participating in high school hockey.

For Coaches the warm weather is a good opportunity to go the a coaching clinic which would be in a nice air conditioned room.

A New Place for Equipment

I have another website for hockey equipment. The website is hockey1.com. It is a complete website with equipment for goalies, players and coaches. Besides the website there is an actual store at the South Windsor Arena in Windsor, Connecticut. I have been to the store and it is two floors. I have had my skates sharpened there and also bought tape, a stick and a helmet there. If you live in Connecticut you should check the store out.

Where to get equipment Part 2

As I previously mentioned a lot of players now buy equipment online. A couple of online sites are:

TotalHockey.net (connected with USA Hockey)
HockeyGiant.com
HockeyMonkey.com ( Has a handling charge added to orders)

Of these three I have only purchased from HockeyGiant.com but I have had parents who has made purchases from HockeyMonkey.

Any experiences purchasing from total hockey.net would be greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to add information about other websites for hockey equipment.

Fighting

Fighting is a topic that seems to be discussed every season. I do not believe that fighting has a place in high school hockey. Fighting allows people to say " I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out". There is a physical aspect to hockey but you can play hockey without fighting. There are three people who can help stop fighting and they are Parents, Coaches and Players. Parents can talk with their kids about not fighting and they can support the way the coaches handled fighting. Coaches need to continually tell players not to fight and how it hurts more then helps their team. Players need to realize that fighting is not a part of hockey and it does not make your team any better but actually hurts your team by making them play shorthanded.
Coaches please continue to tell your teams that fighting is unacceptable.

Pre - Season

I have started thinking about what I will do during the coming preseason. I have talked with the team manager and we decided to participate in the Frederick Cup which is a pre-season tournament just for high school team. Seeing we can start team practices in October I have some time to work on my preseason practice plans. I will probably start with some dry land drills.

Fun Web Sites

Continuing with the fun theme there two web sites I like. These two sites are Amazon.com and HockeyOverstock.com. There are probably other sites but these are the two I like.
Amazon.com has some equipment, toys especially if you have a rod hockey game and trading cards. Amazon carries Upper Deck trading cards which is the brand I prefer to collect.
HockeyOverStock is a site where you can buy some equipment but I prefer it as a site where you can buy souvenirs from teams in the NHL , AHL , and CHL. I have ordered several t-shirts and hats from this site. This site also carries some the teams older logos.

If anyone knows of other sites feel free to add and share them with this site.

Fun Time

When your favorite NHL team is out of the playoffs hockey does not end. You can play a video game whether it is PS3, PSP or PS2. For the most part two companies make hockey video games and they are: EA Sports and 2K Sports(Take 2 Interactive). EA Sports NHL09, Won the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Award - Sports Game of the Year. I have played both 2K Hockey and EA Sports Hockey and I like EA Sports NHL 09 better.

Where to get equipment

Most people in Maryland buy their hockey equipment online because there are not many hockey stores. Most of the stores I know of are at rinks i.e. pro shops and they are not exclusively hockey places. In future posts I will look at what online stores exist. I might not discuss every web site buy I will do my best. Any in put is appreciated.

End of season meeting

Recently my league had their end of season coaches only meeting. A large part of our meeting was about fair competition within the league. In Maryland there are teams that span the spectrum of competitiveness. So, there was discussion about how to level the playing field, Nothing was decided but a committee was formed to look at this issue. One solution maybe to create a tier system that would allow teams to move up or down depending on how good the team is i.e. talent level. Also, it was made clear that not having a goalie does not mean you can not play. The Commissioner said if you do not have a goalie available for the game you would just play with six skaters. Thoughts.

Thoughts on Parents

A big part of high school hockey is the Parents. Parents can be very supportive as well as very curious. I try to have a meeting with all the parents at the beginning of the season to go over expectations. At the end of the meeting I open the floor up for the parents to ask questions. The usual questions were where is the best place to get skates sharpened?, where is the best place to buy hockey equipment. I try to cover things like practice time/place, what to do if your child is sick, where will our home rink be and how I run practices during my talk.
During the season I will talk with the parents before and after practice but I will talk to the parents only before games however, some parents try to catch me after the games.
I am interested in some other coaches experiences with parents. Parents if you read this blog feel free to comment any insight will help.

How I run my team

There are some coaches who believe you play your best players most of the time and give the weaker players just a few shifts.
I play all my players evenly because I believe the only way for a team to improve is to have all the players get game experience. If you do not play your freshmen they will become sophomores and still not have improved.
I do shorten my bench for the last two minutes of a game. Not all my players play on the powerplay or the penalty.
I am interested in what other coaches think.

Lets get Started

My first season as head coach has ended with a loss in the first round of the playoffs. The team record was 6-5. Now I have to look to next year and how to improve.