Matt Dumouchelle is uniquely placed in the hockey world to know just what works and what doesn't when it comes to hockey organizations. He's the engine behind Hockey Factories here at The Coaches Site, a series designed to peel back the onion and peak inside successful hockey programs planet-wide. 

"Their values are things anyone can do if they put their mind to it in a collective group."

The culture and values of a hockey program shouldn't be a secret. Alignment is key for Dumouchelle, and if you're aligned, then it's valuable to the hockey community to share that philosophy. It will help you recruit players, of course, but parents more than anything. Parents want their kids to learn and develop and make it to the next level, and as coaches we know that making it to the next level is more likely if a player has their off-ice habits dialled in. 

Coaches at the next level want players who can take care of themselves: 

• Nutrition
• Sleep hygiene
• Work ethic
• Internal drive
• Passion

These are just five habits, but the list could be endless. These five, however, can be achieved by any player regardless of age or skill. And they're learned habits as well - it's helpful if an athlete already has them built in, but as players age and jump from level to level, they become more important and often harder to reach. 

That's where the functionality of an organization comes in. When coaches, managers, trainers, and administrators are on the same page and have the same values, players who come through the doors will learn by osmosis. Dumouchelle uses a helpful example of a school with no curriculum - you wouldn't send your child to a school like that, right? And that curriculum is spread out, there's a plan. Hockey organizations fight the same fight - if only we had enough time to teach skating, stickhandling, passing, shooting, checking, and every system and tactic in the game in the first week, then our team will be successful. 

We can do our best to create drills that combine these skills, but hockey players need focus. They need deep practice. An organization in alignment will have patience to teach skills and encourage incremental growth. 

Jokerit in Frolunda is an example of an organization in alignment. Their skills and tactics are broken down by age - one year they will focus on skating, and the next year they will add puck control. It's more in-depth than that, but that's the jist. The learning experience is heightened because confidence is built in through the teaching of specific skills and tactics. Players aren't worried to practice or worried about failure. Success is built in. 

Programs with multiple teams have an incredible, unique opportunity to build culture, values, and tactics throughout the organization. It's a key to retention and rapid growth. With a staff and leadership group in alignment, it's possible to create a hockey factory that might one day show up on Matt Dumouchelle's radar. 

Noteworthy Timestamps:

• 0:30 Hockey Factories
• 2:45 Alignment
• 5:00 It happens in manufacturing
• 7:35 It happens in the classroom
• 8:50 It happens in the body
• 9:30 It happens in a kitchen
• 13:45 Four things to do right now