Rather than on the stage, the first four presentations on Friday at TCS Live were held on ice at Yost Ice Arena. Reminder that all of these presentations will be available on The Coaches Site this fall, accessible with a TCS+ membership.
Mike Johnston, the President and General Manager of the Portland Winterhawks, started the day by sharing the importance of prioritizing the use of precision during practice. Johnston built on this by using a foundation of passing and the value of building on top of the basic skill. He started with using one offensive zone drill and building each round with new additions to challenge the players in a different way. He concluded his presentation by reminding that execution in practice is where results will show up during game time.
Building upon Johnston's offensive focused conversation, Maxim Noreau followed with a presentation focusing on defensemen shooting options from the blueline. He built his lesson on the two common shots that are used by defenseman on the blueline and ran drills on improving the technique of those shots. Noreau focused on body positioning, finding leverage in the shot, and knowing when to take the immediate shot or move to find a shooting lane. Noreau emphasized the need to establish the blueline shot as a pattern, so during game moments, defensemen take the shot without a second thought.
The on-ice presentations moved to the last group of players to be covered, with Steve Thompson from USA Hockey focusing on utilizing training for goaltenders. For youth goalies, lots of practices include them bag skating for a little while before moving into team drills, before calling it a day. Thompson challenges this notion by increasing engagement during practice to challenge the goalies, but also encouraging a fun environment. Through the use of games such as Simon Says to train movement around the crease and playing tag inside a circle on the ice, Thompson showed intentful drills that young goalies will have fun with. With more specific goalie training in practices, Thompson’s strategies help promote the position to youth players while making full use of their training time.
Finishing up the on-ice sessions was a lesson in effortless execution of basic skills from Danial Broberg, a development coach at DB Hockey Factory. Broberg focused on two points of taking a microscope to making tight turns and shifting weight when skating. Through his use of drills on the ice, Broberg emphasized slowing down the basic practice skills to create smooth repetition in a player’s game. Broberg showcased the need to find a balance between speed and power for players to skate with ease on the ice. By taking a closer look at the basics, Broberg shows that when a player can reach a point of “flow” as he calls it, technical skills can be built on top of that foundation.
Moving to the Power Center, we heard from Derrick Henderson on something every coach wants to know: what’s the best way to score a goal? With hundreds of goals tracked and seconds counted, Henderson shared that “the typical goal in hockey is scored within the first 10 seconds of an attack opportunity”. Styles and systems will change depending on the team, but one thing remains the same: after the original entry, dump, or chip, you can count to ten before the chance on net. Henderson’s main message revolved around the speed and effectiveness of shooting, “wherever possible, shoot the puck quickly because shots create chaos, and chaos creates opportunities.”
Working for 19 years with the Los Angeles Kings, Bill Ranford brought a wealth of experience to helping goalie coaches collaborate with all aspects of their team. He emphasized having trust in yourself and the coaching staff, as well as open lines of communication to create strong plans. With shifts in the goalie coach’s role over the past decade, Ranford advised from a broader perspective, highlighting the need to balance a goalie’s athleticism with technical skills. At the forefront of his position as the Director of Goaltending is relationships, not only with your players, but also with the head and assistant coaches.
Though he’s used to being on the other side of the podium while covering the MLB and NHL, Jon Morosi gave a session on teaching coaches to command the press conference. There is a stereotype that coaches should be afraid of the press conference, whether that is due to a lack of control or a worry about messing up, Morosi spoke on different ways coaches can own the media. Morosi shared that a coach should act as a thermostat for the organization. Even in the tense moments or answering the tough questions post-game, the coach has the opportunity to remain cool to provide authentic answers. A coach can thrive in press conferences when they have calm and direct communication with the press. Morosi shares that these simple things to remember can build the credibility that coaches want with the media.
An icon to many hockey coaches, Laura Schuler strategized with coaches on filling holes in their game and where they can improve with the defensive concept of triangular reads. When watching games, she noticed her team's current structure was “handcuffing” the team in the defensive zone. The triangular read gives structure to individual player roles of puck possession, support in layers, and reactions to transition. By using this structure, coaches can encourage players to take ownership of their game, which in turn, improves their joy and purpose.
Are you a narcissist? Lorenda Beuker had the audience questioning their tendencies and personalities with this question. She interacted with coaches, asking them to fill out a brief survey before her presentation, where she then walked everyone through the elements of narcissism through average answers. Beuker influenced attendees to think about their adaptive and maladaptive narcissistic tendencies to see how they influence leadership styles. By finding a framework for what works for us, we can shift our narcissism to focus on expansion, curiosity, and exploration.
Defenceman going back to get a puck on a breakout is no different than what happens on a surfboard. This is Greg Cronin’s approach to explaining the individual skills involved in forechecking. Cronin walked coaches through the 5 steps of skill development, beginning with ensuring the player is aware they aren’t executing an event successfully, to manipulating other players in game play. He emphasized the steps of a forecheck: stick on the ice, belt buckle to belt buckle on approach, pick the pass off, and create a chance. Cronin highlighted the importance of awareness of pressure, saying “somebody’s hunting, and someone's being hunted.”
Relying on his years of experience in speed skating, Joel Becker utilized his skills to present about the biomechanics of elite skating. As an Assistant Coach at the University of Alberta, he was able to implement drills focused on these biomechanics both on and and off the ice. On the ice, Becker held a monthly skating session that increased both skating power and speed over the duration of a few months. Alongside focusing on skating, Becker included an hour of dry land training every other week with the team. He used exercises focused on mobility and speed work. With both of these extra practices, his team’s record improved significantly compared to the weeks they didn’t work on biomechanics. Becker’s driving point was that when players are skating well, they are healthier and play well.
Pierre Allard had a decade of experience in playing professional hockey before earning his Masters in sports science. Now as the Assistant Coach with Red Bull Munich, he was able to use his experience from his time at Montreal to learn how to make full use of his practice time. He collected data on the team for a whole season to look at the physical effort and on ice load. Using this data, they were able to implement more full intensity training during practice so the players' bodies are used to that level and experience less injuries. Alongside focusing on practice, the data collected allowed Allard to build baselines for players so when they were injured, they had an expectation to reach for their recovery. Allard emphasizes that by prioritizing quality and intensity in training, players are set up for success.
Catherine Hickman, Assistant General Manager for the Cleveland Browns, emphasized success comes through intentional culture-building, clear standards, and aligned leadership. She walked through her five pillars of building a cohesive team with culture being a priority. Hickman used the common example of culture-fit and rather embracing the idea of culture add to promote diversity instead of conformity. With culture as the focus, it builds an environment where she is able to hold people accountable and make sure everyone is working into the same system. Hickman focused on leading to make an impact which starts with actions and not just words. Ultimately, Hickman emphasized that by implementing standards and creating a culture that is based in transparency.
