Minnesota Wild Video Coach Jonas Plumb is a firm believer that while technical skills are important, building and maintaining great relationships within an organization is equally as beneficial to a long career.
Plumb should know, he’s in his 12th season with the Wild.
In his 28-minute TCS Live presentation, Plumb spoke on technology in hockey and the importance of maintaining relationships with a team’s staff. Previously with the Washington Capitals, both the Canadian and Swedish National Teams, and the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, Plumb has been a pioneer in the video coaching world. There are now paths to becoming a video coach, but Plumb has been around long enough that he’s had to just figure it out along the way. No Head Coach wants to be told their Video Coach can’t get the job done, so Plumb is self-taught in many things.
“Early on in my career the video and analytics industries were underdeveloped,” said Plumb. “Video coaches were given difficult equipment to work with and little guidance or training. But it’s your job to put your stamp on everything you do and be confident when presenting it to other coaches.”
Plumb focused this presentation on maintaining positive relationships. Video coaches have many daily interactions, including with coaching staff, arena staff, league staff, and more. Because they are involved in so many different areas of an organization, it is vital to form relationships with as many people as possible and to treat everyone with respect.
“Longevity in hockey is really about relationships you build along the way.”
Noteworthy timestamps:
- 02:20 Background in coaching
- 07:40 Getting hired by Minnesota
- 11:00 Day to day tasks as Video Coach
- 14:10 Process for Pre Scouts
- 17:20 Analytics Pre Scout example
- 20:00 Relationship management
