The Other Side of the Rink

Most of the time, I'm fulfilling my role as Assistant Coach on the bench with my son's Bantam AAA team. Last weekend I was on the spectator side watching two teams in our loop compete in their playoff round.

The game was tight, each team had great scoring chances and the officiating was what you would expect for game 5.

When you are on the bench, you don't pick up the tone in the stands. You're focused on the game looking for ways to out-coach the other team. But being in the stands, I was shocked by the barge of hockey parent noise.

One parent started to cheer when a player from the opposing team got hit hard and laid on the ice. A short exchange of pleasantries resulted in a couple of parents from each team meeting in the neutral zone of the stands to let each other know what they think of that person. It almost ensued into a parking lot fight.

This served as a distraction to a competitive game. I tuned out the game entirely and just listened to the crowd for a moment. All ages and genders were chirping the players, coaches, refs and fans. It was ugly.

I know of people who find a quite corner in the rink to avoid this behavior. I like my spot on the bench.

Teams shake hands before a game. Would the game be appreciated more by the fans if they shook hands prior to puck drop?

At the very least, win or lose, everyone needs to app-laud great hockey.

iTunes 10.5.3

Keep your Mac apps up to date. Apple has updated iTunes to 10.5.3.

Take a moment to run the update to get the latest features.

While you're at, update the iBooks app on your iOS device. Apple has introduced iBooks 2 that allows you to purchase and read textbooks.

MacPherson Tournament

Watching the action in Aurora, ON. SAC vs St. Francis.

Coaching is a Balance Between Fun and Being Competitive

I was cleaning up my Stickies on my Mac today and came across the note I had written two years ago to prepare my Minor Atom AA team for the semi-final round of playoffs.  Ironic and a coincidence that on this day Team Canada and Russia are in a semi-final game of the World Juniors.


I always told the players that they don't play for me, they play for each other.  At this point in the season, it was a time for winning in order to move onto the finals.  I wanted to be careful that I didn't take the fun out of the experience either.


So here's what I wrote:

Thinks we do well:

- positioning

- forechecking

- backchecking

- face-offs

- penalty kills

- passing; shooting

- goaltending

We need three wins to move onto the finals.

If we lose, nobody is going to remember who scored or what big save was made; nobody will care; they will just remember that we lost.  You will feel sad, upset, angry and you will wish you had tried harder.

If we win, nobody may remember who scored or how many shots you stopped; they will remember how hard the team worked together.  You will feel happy and good about yourself and the effort that you put into the game.

Do it for your team;

- Heart (winning is the only thing that matters;  you will do anything to help your team (block shots, take a slash; get knocked down;  USA didn't play final game hoping for a silver medal)

- Mind (Think about winning the series; think about what to do with the puck before you get to it or it gets to you; think about your team mates that are on the ice with you)

- Muscle (Race for the puck; battle for the puck; keep the puck; forecheck hard; backcheck harder; game speed; short shifts)

Do it for your team:

Not going to make excuses for losing games.  We pull goalies for not stopping pucks; think about if we pulled you for not handling a pass or not making a pass or shooting on net when you had the chance.  We will coach to win.

Do it for your team:

You may never get another chance to play in a semi-final play-off series ever in rep.  Use this opportunity to win and move onto the finals.

Do it for your team:

Who will win this series?  The team that plays to win.  Don't have a fear of losing, have a fear of not trying hard enough.

(My reference to USA is to both Team USA hockey teams in the 2010 Winter Olympics.)

Well for a bunch of 10 years olds, they won the series and made it to the Finals.  I can't say that my pre-series talk had everything to do with it.  Having a great coaching staff and players who discovered their ability as a team really helped too.

A Family First in a Long Time

December 30, 2011:  No hockey for the kids and no Team Canada game on tv or iDevice.  All five of us went to see "We Bought a Zoo" at the theatre.  It was great to spend the time together and the movie was geared towards the whole family.  There was something for everyone.

I hope every hockey family gets a few breaks like this and uses it to spend a few hours together away from the house and away from the rink.

Richard Bell Tournament in Oakville

One hour until my son's Minor Peewee AA team hits the ice at Sixteen Mile Creek for the championship game.

Walked around and found a 0-0 game with 4 minutes to play in the 3rd. Hoping for overtime excitement.

10 minute 5 on 5 OT just started. Blue team wins on a PP goal.

Some good action at hockey tournaments can be found.

2011 Best and Worst Hockey Arenas: Nominate

Hockey Science & Technology is looking for the best and worst of ice hockey arenas of 2011 in Canada and the USA.  There are several categories.  You can provide a nomination for any of the categories.  

The survey will close on January 31, 2012 and results will be published in March 2012 in the following media:
-The Hockey Season app for iPhone
-The Hockey Season Facebook Page
-HockeyGPS Pro app for iPhone
-HockeyGPS Facebook Page

A future issue of The Hockey Season magazine will also list the results.

Nominate your best and worst ice hockey arenas here.

You can be eligible to receive a $50 iTunes gift card from Hockey Science & Technology.  One follower on the @TheHockeySeason twitter account will be selected on February 15, 2012 to receive the gift card (no cash value).