Tuesday, November 30, 2010

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.

Monday, November 29, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

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.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

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 !

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

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.
    

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

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.

Monday, November 22, 2010

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.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

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.

Friday, November 19, 2010

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.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

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.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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.

Monday, November 15, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

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.

Friday, November 12, 2010

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.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

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.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

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.

Monday, November 8, 2010

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.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

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.

Friday, November 5, 2010

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.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

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.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

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.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

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.

Monday, November 1, 2010

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.