Learn the skill acquisition process from Coach Evan Brownrigg.

Auston Matthews is a fantastic hockey player having another stellar NHL season. He does things on the ice that don’t quite compute sometimes; how did he just combine all those skills at once to make that phenomenal play?

Evan Brownrigg has the answer.

At TCS Live 2022, Brownrigg, the Director of Player Development with Next Gen Hockey, spoke of Matthews and his immense talent. But he didn’t acquire his skills overnight and your players won’t either. Similar to following a recipe to create something tasty in the kitchen, there’s an order things need to happen. Present anyone with all the ingredients at once and telling them to bake is a wild plan.

Brownrigg has a better one.

“Auston Matthews will often roll off the wall, catch a pass, get his feet moving, drag then fire a shot on net, that’s a skill. It takes place over a second or two, but there’s a lot of elements that go into making that skill successful.”

Brownrigg explains that overwhelming athletes with too many variables all at once is simply ineffective. It’s about breaking down the different skills into simplistic, digestible elements.

Brownrigg, who also works as Director of Player Development for the Men’s hockey program at the University of Ottawa, and works closely with the Ottawa 67’s in a skill development role, teaches a skill acquisition process. This breaks down into four main points: isolation, sequencing, patterning & stress, which he walked attendees through during an on-ice demonstration at TCS Live.

“This process applies to anything skills based: shooting, skating, stick-handling, puck protection – everything.”

His 14-minute presentation includes a shooting drill with changing angles and a skating drill with change of direction.