One of the most challenging aspects of being a minor hockey coach is devoting an appropriate amount of attention to specific game states. You just don't have the bandwidth. 

The problem is that these specific areas in the game are what can make the difference between wins and losses, and more importantly, individual player development. You're running the 5on5, the power play, penalty kill, defensive zone coverage for everybody, defence in practice, faceoffs...

It never stops. 

So treat each area like it's own game. 

Power Play

If you're doing work away from the rink (I'm guessing you are if you're reading this), then it's a good idea to compartmentalize separate game states. Sit down one night and work on your power play and devote an hour to it. Breakouts, faceoffs, in-zone setups - whatever it is, stick with it. It's valuable for coaches to create space in their mind to think about something. Jack Han calls it system slack. Keep time oopen for specific niches and be prepared for to realize there's a lot out there you haven't discovered yet. 

Ben Cooper has turned a major junior North American career / professional video coach career into a tidy gig for himself in Europe focusing on the power play. It wasn't always that way - he's been a friend of TCS for a long time and he's seen every aspect of the game. Once you get to a spot where you have specific responsibilities, it's key to be able to look back on your own habits blocking out the noise and focusing. 

Delegating

One way to do that is delegating responsibilities amongst your staff. Again, you need some staff for this! But don't be afraid to give ownership to someone - that's usually a lot more powerful than trying to manage everything on your own as the head coach. There are plenty of ways to do it too. One coach can run the power play, one can run the penalty kill, then you can add positions, faceoffs, and so on. 

Or you could do it differently. A lot of coaching staffs will have different coaches responsible for different power play units. That way you can compete against each other in practice and build in some natural competition. I've seen these situations get pretty heated. It's awesome. 

Coaches need ownership of something. In one of my jobs I've found myself focusing exclusively on centres. Not forwards, just the centres. As an additional assistant coach it can be tricky figuring out how to contribute. I've found I don't have a lot to offer if I'm just watching the whole team, every game state, every position. Once I started focusing on the centres though, it's like a light switch went on. I can see everything now. And the centres love it, I swear. Lots of video, lots of draws, lots of just getting in their ears and highlighting something they may otherwise not have heard. 

The game is vast. It's chaos. There are a thousand things going on all the time. The more you can narrow your focus the better. 

Check out this snippet from Cooper's presentation and view the full video here a membership to The Coaches Site.