“The coach has to treat a player like he would want to be treated.”

At the 2017 TCS Live coaching conference, respected NHL analyst and former player Ray Ferraro delivered a powerful message: how you treat your players matters more than you might realize.

Drawing on his extensive experience as both a player and a broadcaster, Ferraro challenges coaches to think beyond wins and losses. His presentation centers on the human side of the game—how building confidence, showing respect, and creating a positive environment can elevate not only your players' performance, but their love for hockey itself.

With honesty and insight, Ferraro speaks directly to coaches at all levels, urging them to reflect on the lasting influence they have. For anyone working with young athletes—from minor hockey to junior—this talk is a reminder that great coaching starts with connection.

“Your goal is always to make your kids or your players as good as they can be.”

The true benefit of hockey is not the reward on the ice, it’s off the ice.

A coach’s primary function is not to make better hockey players, it’s much bigger than that. It’s “bigger than the game,” as Ferraro says.

It’s something that’s easy to lose sight of, and sure, you might think it’s easy for Ferraro to say since he had so much success in hockey, but in the video below it’s easy to see how important the path to building a young person through hockey really is.

And the game has changed. Nobody wants to be yelled at. When Ray played, that was the norm because we didn’t know any better.

Nowadays?

“The coach has to treat a player like he would want to be treated.”