Today, I’m reaching out to my coachessite family to help get the message out! This year is groundbreaking as the Western Canadian Hockey Academy has, for the first time, put together a team for the winter season to compete in the PHL based out of Western Canada. We are still searching for a few forwards and defensemen to complete our roster.

How It Works!

What Does A Typical Weekend Look Like?

Game Weekend;

What Is The PHL (Premier Hockey League)

How To Get Involved?

Step into the skates of Cale Makar, one of the smartest and most skilled defensemen in the NHL. In this interactive Hockey IQ Game, you’ll watch real NHL game footage and make split-second decisions just like Makar does on the ice.

At key moments, the video pauses and it’s your turn to decide: pass, shoot, hold, or move. You’ve got 5 seconds. Can you match Makar’s elite hockey sense?

Perfect for youth hockey players, coaches, and parents looking to improve: 

Decision-making under pressure

Gap control, scanning, and play reading

Game awareness and hockey intelligence

🔥 Like this breakdown? There’s a full library of Hockey IQ games inside the Project Hockey IQ App — updated daily with shift breakdowns, interactive lessons, Zoom sessions, and more.

🎁 Use code MAKAR for 50% off your first 3 months:

👉 https://app.sugarwod.com/marketplace/...

Comment your score below ⬇️ Let’s see how your hockey brain stacks up!

Think about this: how many times have you walked into a situation unprepared and instantly felt overwhelmed? Now imagine walking into a parent meeting without a game plan. Chaos, right? I’ve learned the hard way that preparation isn’t just helpful, it’s absolutely necessary. When I spend time organizing every detail beforehand, I walk into that room with confidence, and parents notice. They see that I take their kids and this team seriously. Preparation gives you control of the conversation, leaving no room for second-guessing. Trust me, when you show up ready, you’re already ahead of the game.

Setting the Tone with Parents

Crafting a Comprehensive Parent Meeting Outline

Transparency and Communication

Establishing and Following Through with Rules

Timeline

"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Linktree

For episode 311 of the Glass and Out Podcast we welcome Meghan Duggan, Director of Player Development for the New Jersey Devils.

While most fans may know her best as the Captain of Team USA, you may soon know her as a possible candidate to become the first woman General Manager in NHL history.

Duggan attended the University of Wisconsin, where she would help the Badgers capture three National titles and captain the program in her senior season. In total, she represented the United States at three Olympics and eight World Championships, capturing eight Gold Medals.

Following retirement, she joined the Devils as their Manager of Player Development in 2021 before being promoted to her current role a year later.

Listen as he shares how she approaches developing hockey sense, the power of being a vulnerable leader and her aspirations to advance as an executive in hockey.

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 College career in Wisconsin/Mark Johnson
• 5:05 Starting with the relationship
• 7:55 Every player develops differently
• 12:00 Focus areas for skill development
• 15:10 Balancing the eye test and analytics
• 19:05 Developing hockey sense
• 23:15 Captaining Team USA
• 28:10 Developing personal leadership skills
• 30:40 Learning to handle pressure
• 34:35 Role as a female hockey executive/Ray Sherro
• 40:50 Degree in biology
• 43:25 GM aspirations
• 49:15 Cammi Granato/2017 USA Hockey call

As youth coaches, one of the biggest challenges we face isn’t just teaching skills — it’s helping players understand where to be and why. Systems like defensive zone coverage or forechecking can feel abstract to nine-year-olds, especially as they transition from half-ice to full-ice hockey.

Earlier this season, I decided to create a visual teaching tool for my U10 A team using CoachThem. I designed a custom document that clearly laid out our defensive zone responsibilities and forecheck structure — nothing overly complex, just simple, visual breakdowns of positioning and roles.

The goal was to give players (and parents) a clear, easy-to-understand reference they could review at home. I sent it out to the team, not knowing exactly what to expect.

Within three games, the difference was night and day.

Players were communicating better. They began to recognize where they should be without constant direction. Shifts became more organized, and decisions — especially in transition — started to look intentional. It was clear the document gave them a mental framework for understanding what we were doing on the ice.

An unexpected bonus was how engaged the parents became. Many told me it helped them understand the game better, which meant they could reinforce the right habits and positioning at home. It became a shared learning experience — players, parents, and coaches all on the same page.

From a coaching perspective, this simple tool has completely changed how I teach. When I reference positioning or system play in practice, players now have a visual to connect it to. They aren’t just reacting — they’re thinking.

For any coach working with younger age groups, especially those making the jump from half-ice to full-ice, I can’t recommend this approach enough. Taking the time to create a simple visual aid can make a massive difference in how quickly players grasp the why behind what we do.

If you’re interested in using or adapting the resource I built, I’m happy to share it. My hope is that more coaches can experience the same positive impact it had on our group.

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Click to download the PDF

 

About the Author

Jesse Candela played Junior hockey before spending eight years coaching U Sports football at the University of Waterloo. He has since transitioned his focus back to hockey, where he coaches youth teams and scouts for the Georgetown Raiders (OJHL). His long-term goal is to continue growing as a coach and eventually move into a Junior coaching or player development role.

How reframing mistakes as learning moments helped my players think the game and play with confidence.

 

At the U10 level, mistakes happen every shift — but the way we teach through them can shape how players think for years to come.

 

When you coach at the U10 level, you quickly realize that mistakes are constant — missed passes, turnovers, blown coverage. It’s easy to get frustrated, but over time I’ve learned something important: mistakes aren’t the problem. How we respond to them is.

Earlier this Pre-season, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of correcting errors immediately or stopping every drill, I started using mistakes as teaching opportunities. I began asking simple questions like, “What did you see there?” or “What could you try next time?”

This small change completely shifted how my players processed the game. They started thinking through situations instead of waiting for direction. The ice became a classroom — one where learning came from experience, not just explanation.

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Creating a Safe Space to Fail

For young players, fear can be a major obstacle. Fear of messing up, getting yelled at, or disappointing someone. When players feel that pressure, they stop taking chances. They stop being creative.

Once I made it clear that mistakes were part of learning, everything changed. Players began experimenting more — trying seam passes, skating through traffic, or jumping into open space. Confidence grew because they knew that effort and intention mattered just as much as execution.

When a mistake happens now, we talk about it briefly, then move forward. I’ll say things like, “That’s a great read — next time, look for this option instead.” The feedback stays positive and specific, keeping players focused on learning, not fear of failure.

The Result: Smarter, Braver Hockey

As the Pre-season went on, the difference was noticeable. Players who used to hesitate with the puck began making assertive plays. Our team structure improved because players understood why they were making certain decisions. Most importantly, the bench became a more positive, supportive environment.

At this age, it’s not about perfection — it’s about development. When players feel free to make decisions, test ideas, and learn from outcomes, their hockey IQ grows faster than any drill can teach.

Coaching Takeaway

If you coach at the youth level, challenge yourself to let mistakes breathe. Resist the urge to correct every error right away. Instead, observe, guide with questions, and celebrate good decisions, not just good results.

When players know they have the freedom to fail, they play with more confidence — and confident players learn faster, compete harder, and enjoy the game more.

Coaching through mistakes isn’t just about patience — it’s about building trust, resilience, and long-term hockey sense.

About the Author

Jesse Candela played Junior hockey before spending eight years coaching U Sports football at the University of Waterloo. He has since transitioned his focus back to hockey, where he coaches youth teams and scouts for the Georgetown Raiders (OJHL). His long-term goal is to continue growing as a coach and eventually move into a Junior coaching or player development role.

Bag Skating in Youth Hockey: What the Research Really Says

 

What Is Bag Skating?

Bag skating (also called “herbies,” “suicides,” or “killers”) involves intense skating sprints back and forth across the ice without pucks—like skating from the goal line to the blue line and back, over and over. Coaches often use these drills as punishment after losses, poor practices, or discipline problems.

The Big Question

Does bag skating actually work? Does it improve conditioning, build mental toughness, and develop better players? Or does it cause more harm than good?

The short answer: Research shows bag skating is largely ineffective and potentially harmful for youth hockey players.

 

Physical Conditioning: Does It Work?

What the Research Shows

It doesn’t improve performance the way coaches think it does.

• Wrong type of training: Hockey shifts last 30-45 seconds. Bag skating drills often last much longer, building the wrong kind of endurance.
• Teaches bad habits: When players get exhausted, their skating form breaks down—less knee bend, poor posture, sloppy technique. They’re essentially practicing bad skating.
• Increases injury risk: Overuse without proper recovery leads to more injuries
• Better alternatives exist: Studies show that structured strength training, plyometrics, and game-like drills produce actual speed and agility improvements.

The Bottom Line

Sprints longer than 10-15 seconds reinforce poor form under fatigue without meaningful conditioning benefits. Players learn to skate slowly and inefficiently—the opposite of what hockey requires.

Mental Impact: What Happens to Players?

The Psychological Research Is Clear

Studies on youth hockey players (ages 11-18) consistently show negative psychological effects:

What players experience:

• Shame, guilt, and embarrassment
• Fear of making mistakes
• Playing more hesitantly (afraid to take risks)
• Reduced self-confidence
• Thoughts about quitting hockey
• Damaged relationships with coaches
• Growing to hate conditioning and even the sport itself

What doesn’t happen:

• Long-term motivation improvement
• Better decision-making (exhausted brains can’t learn)
• Increased mental toughness (resentment isn’t resilience)

Youth Development Concerns

For young athletes still developing psychologically, punishment-based training can create lasting negative associations with physical activity and undermine their confidence during critical developmental years.

 

Long-Term Player Development

What USA Hockey and Development Experts Say

USA Hockey’s American Development Model (ADM) and other long-term athlete development frameworks specifically discourage bag skating for youth players:

For younger players (ages 6-9):

• Their bodies aren’t developed enough for intense conditioning
• They have smaller energy stores and cardiovascular capacity
• Punishment drills are inefficient and potentially dangerous

For older youth (ages 9-16):

• Conditioning should happen through games and skill drills, not punishment
• Focus should be on fun, skill development, and motor learning
• Exhaustion interferes with learning new skills

The risk: Players who experience regular punishment conditioning are more likely to quit hockey. Every study found youth players who knew teammates who quit because of experiences like bag skating.

 

Modern Coaching Practices

What Good Coaches Do Instead

Effective alternatives that actually work:

1. Small-area games (like 3-on-3 in one zone) that build conditioning while practicing skills
2. Full-ice transition drills that mimic game situations
3. Functional strength training programs designed for hockey
4. “Hidden conditioning” through fun, competitive drills
5. Clear communication about effort expectations without punishment

When Bag Skating Might Be Acceptable

In rare cases with older, elite players, sprint work can be useful IF:

• It’s structured with proper work-to-rest ratios (like 45 seconds on, 2+ minutes rest)
• It mimics actual game shifts
• It’s about conditioning, not punishment
• Players understand the purpose

This is almost never appropriate for youth hockey.

 

What Associations and Coaches Should Do

Recommendations Based on Research

For Hockey Associations:

• Update policies to discourage punishment-based conditioning
• Provide coach education on effective alternatives
• Emphasize age-appropriate training in coaching certifications
• Focus on player retention and enjoyment

For Coaches:

• Use positive, skill-focused discipline methods
• Build conditioning through game-like drills
• Provide clear feedback instead of punishment
• Make practice fun while maintaining standards
• Remember: exhausted players can’t learn

For Parents:

• Understand that punishment conditioning isn’t normal or necessary
• Support coaches who use positive, modern methods
• Speak up if punishment drills become excessive

The Bottom Line

Bag skating doesn’t work. Decades of research show it:

• Doesn’t improve hockey-specific conditioning
• Teaches poor skating mechanics
• Damages player motivation and confidence
• Increases injury risk
• Causes players to quit hockey
• Contradicts modern athlete development principles

The good news: Better methods exist that actually improve performance while keeping kids in the game they love.

 

Key Takeaway

Modern hockey development is about building skilled, confident, resilient players who love the sport—not breaking them down with outdated punishment drills.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Time to work the skills with pucks and small spaces.

 

SET IT UP:

7 bumpers set up along the zone.  Pile pucks near each pair / set so you can pull from them.

 

RUN IT:

1 Forward skating

2 Backward skating

3 Lateral skating 

4 Backwards with puck, stop, then down the other side.

5 Forward with puck, hard stop, then down the other side.

6 Backchecking / forward skate

7 Forward with puck, reverse with defense.

Inside My Madness: Coaching in a Nonlinear World 

Article (1:5)  The Beautiful Chaos: Why I Abandoned Fixed Periodisation

By Coach Barry Jones – IIHF Level 3 High Performance | USA Hockey Level 3 Performance | Head Coach, Perth Inferno (AWIHL)

I used to believe that a well-coloured spreadsheet could keep a season under control. Now my whiteboard looks like a crime scene of arrows, loops, and sticky notes, and somehow the team performs better than ever.

Confession of a Former Planner

For years I lived inside the comfort of fixed periodisation. I had six tidy blocks, each with its focus: speed, strength, tactics, recovery, repeat. Every cell in my calendar was perfectly shaded, and I convinced myself that order equalled progress.

Then the season started. Travel threw the schedule off. Illness hit. Players developed at different rates. Games didn’t line up with the plan. By mid-season, my clean, linear structure had turned into a patchwork of compromises.

The truth was simple but hard to swallow: hockey doesn’t care about your calendar.

The game bends, breaks, and morphs faster than any spreadsheet can adapt. I wasn’t coaching a plan anymore, I was defending it.

The Moment I Let Go

The breaking point came during a season when our team looked great in practice but fell apart under pressure. We were rehearsed but not ready. Every phase of our plan had been delivered exactly on schedule, yet the players weren’t transferring what they knew to the game.

That is when I realised the issue wasn’t their effort, it was my design. I was teaching the game in perfect order when the game itself was built on disorder.

So I deleted the calendar. I took the old periodisation model and replaced it with what I now call a living compass. The compass wasn’t about dates; it was about direction. Each week became a loop around a central theme that could stretch, shrink, or morph depending on what the game demanded.

Designing a Year Without Deadlines

Moving away from fixed periodisation didn’t mean I stopped planning. It meant I started planning for adaptation.

At Perth Inferno, we work through rotating themes: Breaking Pressure, Middle Lane Threat, Protect the House, Transition Control, Finishing Layers. These are not boxes on a timeline; they are living conversations between what we see in games, what we measure in practice, and how players respond.

Some themes last two weeks, some reappear six times a year. When a theme connects, we stay with it. When it loses traction, we adjust constraints or shift focus.

The key shift is simple: we move on because the environment tells us to, not because the calendar does.

Building Rhythm in a Nonlinear World

The hardest part was letting go of predictability. The best part was what replaced it.

Instead of mapping “speed week” or “power phase,” I build rhythm around feedback loops. Each training block now asks three questions:

1. What are we noticing?

2. What does the game need next?

3. What behaviours tell us the learning has stuck?

Film, KPIs, and athlete check-ins feed the answers. If players are still solving new problems inside a theme, we stay with it. If they are coasting, we shift the constraints.

It’s messy. It’s iterative. And it works.

From Planning to Co-Design

When I moved away from fixed periodisation, I also moved away from being the only voice in the room. The players became collaborators in the plan.

Each week they reflect through short feedback loops, quick RPE forms, film sessions, and conversations about what they felt, not just what they saw. Those insights often reshape the next week’s task.

It stopped feeling like I was delivering a program and started feeling like we were building one together. The process became alive, guided by shared curiosity instead of rigid control.

What Changed on the Ice

Our practices became noisier but more representative. Mistakes looked different, less mechanical, more creative. Players started solving problems I didn’t set.

That’s when I knew the shift was real. The game no longer punished unpredictability, it demanded it.

Adaptability became the new conditioning. Themes replaced phases. Identity replaced order. And the team learned to breathe with the rhythm of the season instead of fighting it.

Try This: One Week Without a Calendar

If you want to feel what this approach is like, try it for one week.

Take one theme that matters to your team, maybe Playing Under Pressure or Supporting the Puck. Scrap your normal drill plan and design three sessions around that theme. Let each session evolve from the last based on what players struggled with or solved.

Ask them what they noticed. Watch how quickly the environment starts teaching for you.

The point isn’t to be reckless, it’s to learn how the game teaches when we stop over-controlling it.

Final Reflection: Order in the Madness

The more I embrace the chaos, the more I see the pattern inside it.

Nonlinear coaching isn’t about having no plan; it’s about having a plan that listens.
It’s knowing that adaptation is not the enemy of structure, it is the structure.

I still use spreadsheets, but they no longer tell the story; they just help me remember where the story went.

If you ever look at your plan and think, this makes no sense anymore, good. It means you’re paying attention to the game, not the grid.

Read More

• 1 - The Beautiful Chaos: Why I Abandoned Fixed Periodisation
• 2 - Designing Without Deadlines: Building Adaptive Themes
• 3 - The Nonlinear Practice: Designing Sessions for Emergence
• 4 - The Beautiful Chaos: Why I Abandoned Fixed Periodisation
• 5 - Living the Madness: Culture, Trust, and the Adaptive Team

Author Bio

Coach Barry Jones is an IIHF Level 3 High Performance and USA Hockey Level 3 Performance coach, and the Head Coach of the Perth Inferno (AWIHL). His work explores nonlinear periodisation, ecological dynamics, and athlete-centred culture in women’s high-performance hockey.

Inside My Madness: Coaching in a Nonlinear World

Article (4:5) Coaching in Feedback Loops: Planning as a Living Conversation

By Coach Barry Jones – IIHF Level 3 High Performance | USA Hockey Level 3 Performance | Head Coach, Perth Inferno (AWIHL)

I used to write the plan, deliver the plan, and move on. Now I treat every session like a conversation. The moment I stopped talking at the players and started listening with them, the whole season came alive.

From Delivery to Dialogue

Traditional planning feels safe because it’s one-way: coaches plan, athletes follow. But when you coach in a nonlinear system, that model collapses fast. The plan can’t be static; it has to adapt as information flows back and forth.

At Perth Inferno, I stopped treating my weekly plan as a script and started seeing it as a hypothesis. Each session is a test. The feedback,  from athletes, from video, from data, tells me whether to stay, stretch, or shift.

When you reframe planning as dialogue, your program stops being a lecture and starts being a language.

Listening to the Environment

The most valuable feedback doesn’t always come from athletes; it comes from the environment itself.

The rink speaks if you learn to listen. The puck tells you if spacing is right. Transitions tell you if players understand tempo. Missed passes aren’t mistakes; they’re messages about perception gaps.

Once you start reading the ice as feedback, the game becomes your co-coach.

Building Feedback Systems that Work

A nonlinear environment needs structure that collects feedback without killing spontaneity. Here’s how we build that rhythm at Inferno:

1. Session Reflections: Players complete a short “What did you notice?” prompt before leaving the rink. It focuses on perception, not outcomes.

2. Theme Check-ins: Each week starts with a 5-minute team pulse, “Where did we feel growth?” “Where did we get stuck?”

3. Coaching Debriefs: Staff review the same data, but through behaviour, not stats. Did the behaviour we trained appear in the game?

These loops run vertically (coach to player) and horizontally (player to player). They create alignment faster than any spreadsheet.

Turning Data into Dialogue

Data can easily become distant, a way for coaches to analyse instead of connect. But used right, it becomes conversation fuel.

Instead of showing charts, I ask questions:

• What story do these numbers tell you?

• Why do you think that trend appeared?

• What might we try next?

This shifts ownership from coach to athlete. The numbers don’t tell them what to do; they invite them to think. That’s how analytics become part of learning design, not performance policing.

Feedback as Periodisation

In a nonlinear model, feedback isn’t something you do after the plan; it is the plan.

Every loop of observation, reflection, and redesign becomes a new cycle. When the group shows adaptation, we push forward. When learning stalls, we don’t call it failure; we treat it as new data.

This creates a natural periodisation built on readiness rather than rigidity. The athletes’ adaptation curve, not the calendar, sets the tempo.

Psychological Safety and Honest Loops

The best feedback loops only work if athletes feel safe to speak the truth. That’s why we protect honesty as fiercely as we protect puck possession.

We reward vulnerability, players who admit confusion or ask for slower reps. Feedback becomes a team habit, not a performance review.

When athletes feel heard, they take ownership. They stop waiting for direction and start steering their development.

Try This: The Theme Pulse Check

If you want to build feedback into your season, try the “Theme Pulse Check.”

At the end of each training week, ask your players three questions:

1. What theme connected most this week?

2. What moment in practice taught you something new?

3. What do we need more of next week?

Collect those answers before you write the next week’s plan. You’ll start to see how feedback becomes foresight.

Reflection: The Coach as Conductor

When I stepped back from controlling the plan, I discovered my real job,  conducting the rhythm of learning.

Feedback loops create that rhythm. They turn planning into music: listening, responding, adjusting tempo.

Nonlinear coaching isn’t chaos; it’s jazz. The melody is the theme, the players improvise within it, and together we find the beat that fits the moment.

How often do you let feedback shape your next plan, instead of simply reviewing the last one?

Read More

• 1 - The Beautiful Chaos: Why I Abandoned Fixed Periodisation
• 2 - Designing Without Deadlines: Building Adaptive Themes
• 3 - The Nonlinear Practice: Designing Sessions for Emergence
• 4 - The Beautiful Chaos: Why I Abandoned Fixed Periodisation
• 5 - Living the Madness: Culture, Trust, and the Adaptive Team

Author Bio

Coach Barry Jones is an IIHF Level 3 High Performance and USA Hockey Level 3 Performance coach, and the Head Coach of the Perth Inferno (AWIHL). His work explores nonlinear periodisation, ecological dynamics, and athlete-centred culture in women’s high-performance hockey.