This edition of the Best of TCS Live series focuses on how the game's top skills coaches develop the next generation of players.
At TCS Live, hockey's top development coaches go on-ice at the legendary Yost Arena to share how they instruct and build progressions for the next generation of players.
In this edition of Best of, we revisit the top skill development presentations from last year's conference which covered a variety of topics, including creating offence by invading space, situational passing and receiving progressions and creating time and space as a defencemen.
Hit the ice to learn the philosophies of hockey's best and enhance your toolbox heading into the summer.
Best of TCS Live series:
John Riley - Creating Offensive Opportunities By Invading Space
Watch any NHL superstar dangle the puck on offence and you’d swear they have a forcefield preventing defenders from checking them, like they’re somehow manage to avoid checks with ease. John Riley, Head Amateur Scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning, says the goal for offensive players is actually not to avoid defenders, but instead go right through them.
At last year's TCS Live, his on-ice presentation taught how to use your body to get inside defender’s personal space to create offensive chances; after some examples from NHL superstars displaying the moves, Riley has players reenact their moves using invasive drills.
During this video you’ll learn five new moves: Space Invader, Cut Back, Tarasenko, Stutter Step & Under the Bridge, all of which will help your players create more opportunities to score.
Kris Beech and Yogi Svejkovský - Situational Passing and Receiving Progressions
Less than two minutes into their TCS Live presentation from Kris Beech and Yogi Svejkovský, a mind-blowing stat is revealed: 660 passes are attempted in an average NHL game, with a 72% completion rate. Digging deeper: 202 of those are contested passes.
That’s at hockey’s highest level. The numbers get a lot lower for attempted and completed passes as you drop down levels, to the point that many youth hockey games are turnover battles.
At last year's conference, Beech, the Skills Coach for HV71, and Svejkovský, the Skills Coach for the Vancouver Canucks, focused on not only how to make good passes, but also how to receive passes properly. Learn progressions for technical passing/receiving skills and playmaking vision, illustrating the steps used at the 10U level that translate into advancements in progressions at the 14U level, in addition to the characteristics of good passers and receivers, techniques for contested passes, as well as multiple pass options depending on the situation.
Justin Selman - Creating Time and Space as a Defencemen
When Justin Selman began his presentation at Yost Arena during TCS Live 2023, he made one thing clear from the start: being a defenceman is about so much more than just getting the puck out of the zone.
Look no further than Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar for two blueliners who not only own play in their own end, but also contribute consistently on offence.
In his on-ice presentation, Selman, the Founder and Development Coach with Topline Hockey, introduces ways for defencemen to create time and space in all three zones of the ice, while minimizing puck touches and using their feet for deception, weight shifts and cut backs to create space on the walls and the blueline.
Have your notepad ready for this one. There’s a lot you’ll be passing on to your defencemen!
