Because by identifying the individual skills to improve, you can improve the collective.

Every coach wants to have a great power play, but what goes into it?

That’s something Ottawa Senators assistant coach Davis Payne looked at this summer, and we were lucky to have him share his insight with us at the 2020 Virtual Hockey Summit.

“Is it the recipe, or the formula, or is it the ingredients, or the chemicals inside that formula?” Payne asked.

“We wanted to look at what were the skills required, and what were the skills we could improve upon, in order to have our power play… improve as a group.”

Going over video with those attending the Virtual Hockey Summit, Payne broke down the skills he looks for, for each role on the power play. Because by identifying the individual skills to improve, you can improve the collective.

He went beyond the obvious skills, like having a hard shot or good playmaking abilities, diving into what he called “work based skills.” These are things like pulling the puck off the wall, puck protection, and ability to win loose puck battles.