Part 2: Principles Over Plays - Building a Game Model Around What Transfers
By Coach Barry Jones | IIHF Level 3 | USA Hockey Level 3
Part 2 of 5 - From the “Planning the Unplannable” Series: Coaching Women’s High-Performance Hockey Through the Chaos
Why Principles, Not Plays?
In high-performance hockey, especially the women’s game, systems can only take you so far.
Structure matters, but decision-making under pressure issues more.
Plays are coach-directed. Principles are athlete-activated.
Plays fail when the read changes. Principles adapt.
So if we want hockey players who can think, feel, respond, and create…
We don’t build a playbook. We build a principle-based game model.
What Are Game Principles?
Principles are the tactical truths of the game, the "non-negotiables" that hold up under pressure, regardless of system.
They are:
- General enough to transfer across zones, teams, and situations
- Specific enough to guide behaviour
- Flexible enough to adapt within chaos
The 10 Elite Principles We Coach To
1. Support the Puck
2. Protect the Middle
3. Quick Ups & Stretch Options
4. Middle Lane Drive
5. Layered Defense
6. Inside–Out Routes
7. Delay Under Pressure
8. Stick on Puck
9. Second Efforts
10. Deny Time & Space
Principles as Attractors
In ecological dynamics, we talk about attractors, stable patterns of behaviour that athletes self-organise around.
Principles become attractors when they show up across multiple scenarios:
- “Support the puck” doesn’t live in one drill, it lives in all of them
- It emerges in breakouts, regroups, forechecks, and small area battles
The more frequently the athlete perceives the principle, the more deeply it sticks.
Systems Without Principles = Fragile
Without principles:
- Systems fall apart under pressure
- Players freeze when the script breaks
- Creativity dies in over-structured reps
With principles:
- Systems become adaptive
- Players solve problems in real-time
- Habits emerge from real decision landscapes
Embedding Principles into Thematic Periodisation
In Part 1, we introduced problem-based periodisation.
Now, we connect it with principles.
You don’t teach “Principle 1” in Week 1.
You embed multiple principles into each theme.
Example:
Theme: Breaking Pressure
Embedded Principles:
- Support the puck
- Delay under pressure
- Quick ups
You don’t “run a drill to teach delay.”
You design an environment where delay becomes the most effective solution.
Coach’s Corner: Support the Puck in 3 Different SAGs
Game 1: 2v2 Low Zone Escape
- Principle: Support under pressure
- Cue: “Can you give your teammate time?”
Game 2: 3v3 D-to-D Weak Side Release
- Principle: Early inside support
- Constraint: No rim outs, must move to the middle third
Game 3: 4v2 Keep-Away with Gate Pass Option
- Principle: Delay to create passing lane
- Cue: “Time your movement to their scan”
In each of these, the player discovers what support means in context.
Language That Sticks
- “Be the outlet, not the echo.”
- “Support isn’t a position, it’s a read.”
- “Find your teammate’s blind spot and fill it.”
- “Principles aren’t taught, they’re felt.”
Reflective Questions for Coaches
1. Are your drills organised around outcomes or behaviours?
2. Which principles do you reinforce most? Which ones are missing?
3. Do players know why they’re doing what they’re doing?
Next in the Series
➡️ Part 3: Reps That Stick, Habit Building Through Ecological Design
“Planning the Unplannable” Series: Coaching Women’s High-Performance Hockey Through the Chaos
Part 1: The Periodisation Paradox - Why Planning Still Matters in a Nonlinear World
Part 2: Principles Over Plays - Building a Game Model Around What Transfers
Part 3: Reps That Stick - Habit Building Through Ecological Design
Part 4: Culture is the Constraint - Coaching the Human Before the Skill
Part 5: Designing the Season - Themes, Adjustments, and the Coaching Compass
