NHL Should Be Dream Not Goal For Youth Minor Hockey Talk

Click below to Lisen to Rich Winters Interview On the 'Dream'!

http://soundcloud.com/minor_hockey_talk/minor-hockey-talk-nhl-should

How to Improve Your Focus

 

By Daniel Coyle

Focus is the holy grail of modern life. It’s rare. It’s powerful. And it’s tough to find.
Not for lack of trying. To improve focus, most of us use a common-sense method: we actively remind ourselves to do it. Coaches yell it from the sidelines — Come on, focus! Parents instruct their homework-doing kids — Stop texting and just focus! We talk to ourselves — Focus now! 

The problem is, that method usually doesn’t work. Urging focus is sort of like kicking the tires of a car that won’t start. It feels satisfying, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem, which is that our brains crave the steady-state of comfort, not the effort of focus.
So the real question is, how do you nudge people out of their default setting? How do you design learning environments that tilt people toward focus?

I was thinking about this last weekend when we went to Chicago and rode bikes along the lakefront, that wide, paved stretch that fronts Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful day, so the lakefront was packed with hundreds of bikers, skateboarders, rollerbladers, joggers, and kids, everybody zipping in and out at high speed. Then we noticed something strange: no guardrails.

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How to Begin a New Skill

Of all the key moments in talent development, the most important and mysterious is the first ten seconds. The first few swings, the first notes, the first stumbly tries. It’s a tenuous time, because it’s a psychological fork in the road. Either you get the Good Feeling (“Hey, this is kinda fun!”), or the Bad Feeling (“Awww, I’ll never be any good”). In short, it’s either an on-ramp or a stop sign.

The deeper question here has to do with design. Namely, how do you create an environment that creates more on-ramps and avoids stop signs?



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Hockey Canada should look in the mirror regarding goalie woes

Interesting article with small snippets of information about junior hockey and the business side.

Here is the link!

College Hockey Conn Smythe Hat Trick

Six former college players helped lead the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup championship, with goaltender Jonathan Quick becoming the third straight collegian to capture the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Quick, who played two seasons at UMass and is the first Minuteman to get his name on the Cup, follows in the footsteps of Tim Thomas (Vermont) and Jonathan Toews (North Dakota) in winning the Conn Smythe. He is the fifth former college player to win it, joining those two plus Brian Leetch (Boston College) and Joe Nieuwendyk (Cornell).

Quick - who could also follow Thomas as the Vezina Trophy winner (he is a finalist) - compiled one of the best playoff runs by an NHL goaltender in history. He posted a 16-4 record, a 1.41 goals-against average, a .946 save percentage and allowed only seven goals in the six games of the Stanley Cup Final series. He posted three shutouts along the way.
Teammates marvel at his efforts.

"It's kind of strange for us because we see him in practice every day," defenseman Rob Scuderi, a Boston College graduate, told NHL.com. "Just like with any great player I've been fortunate to play with, they do more great things in practice than you'd ever see in a game. It's not really a shock to any of us. It's great to see him playing so fantastic and at such a high level every night, but it's not a shock to any of us who are in the room."

More Collegians
Scuderi and Matt Greene, a North Dakota product, tied for second among Kings defensemen at +9 for the playoffs. The Los Angeles defense had a heavy college influence, with Alec Martinez (Miami) and Willie Mitchell (Clarkson) also among the top six.
Up front, former Maine star Dustin Penner finished the playoffs with 11 points in 20 games, including the overtime goal that sent the Kings to the final round.
The Cup is a third championship in 12 years for Scuderi, who won the NCAA title as a senior at BC, then claimed the 2009 Stanley Cup as a Pittsburgh Penguin.

From the Top
Several former college players contributed to the Kings' efforts in the front office, led by Dean Lombardi. The team president and general manager played at Elmira College and the University of New Haven.

Lombardi's front office staff includes Jack Ferreira (Boston University) and Nelson Emerson (Bowling Green). The team's co-director of amateur scouting, Mark Yannetti, played at both Brown and Williams, while the scouting staff includes Mark Mullen (Boston University), Mike Donnelly (Michigan State), Tony Gasparini (Minnesota Duluth) and Bob Crocker (Boston University).

Playing Consistent Hockey

From Website Grow The Game!

I remember watching the movie The Boys On The Bus over and over again when I was a kid—almost as if it was a Disney movie. The movie is about the Edmonton Oilers in the early and mid-1980s. I still remember one clip in which Mark Messier explains how he plays every game like it’s his last. It’s a great and—I argue—the only attitude to have when approaching each game.

For a little perspective on “the Moose,” he played 1,752 NHL games. If you do anything close to 2,000 times it can be repetitive and boring. Plus the travel, little nagging injuries, up and downs of a marathon season and non-hockey life can make for big distractions. For the most part, elite players have a passion for the game. If not, they would have been weeded out a long time ago. But the greatest players take that passion and have a laser-like focus that allows them to play great consistently. Good players, meanwhile, play great every three games or so—a big difference over a season and career. Here are two simplistic ways to approach the game: Average vs. Greatness.

Average Approach
If you go into a game thinking “it’s just another game” or “we beat this team 8–0 last time” or look past this game to a “bigger” game coming up, then you’re not giving your best. There was a game yesterday and there will be a game tomorrow. So you take the present game and basically go through the motions. The problem with this, as Seth Godin points out in a recent blog post on business, is that there is competition. As you take the skills you have worked so hard to achieve and average them out to just get through the game, the competition is giving it their all with a take-no-prisoners attitude. At least the good teams are. Who’s going to win?

Greatness Approach
If you think this might be the last time you enjoy the great privilege of strapping on skates as Messier did, then most likely it won’t be. Plus you get the added benefit of playing great hockey. Get hungry out there on the ice. It’s the difference today of two points in the standings. It’s a difference tomorrow of making the most out of the skills you have and achieving consistent greatness.
Good luck this weekend.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Brett Henning of Score100Goals.com for this story. Henning is the author of 7 Pre-Game Habits of Pro Hockey Players, and was a member of the Inaugural National Team Development Program and 2000 World Junior Team with USA Hockey. He played Junior Hockey in Canada and at the collegiate level for the University of Notre Dame. He was drafted by the New York Islanders before a back injury ended his on-ice career.

Core Hockey Gear and Summer Camps

Some new Core Hockey Gear!

Core Hockey still has spots open for our 'position specific camp' for Bantam Forwards,  Bantam Defencemen and Midget Defencemen. We also have availability for our Peewee, Bantam and Midget conditioning camps at the beginning of August!

Check out Core Hockey Camps Here!

Embedding a Work Ethic

Think your kids are too busy with hockey and homework to help out around the house? Plenty of time for that later in life? A former NHL player shares how helping out around the house helped him succeed.


Discipline and a sense of responsibility are vital to anything you do in life. Kids need responsibilities outside of hockey that will help them throughout their lives. There was not a day growing up that I didn’t have at least a half-hour of chores to do around my house. It wasn’t an option—whether it was stacking a cord of wood, cooking dinner, washing the dishes, cleaning my room or sweeping out the garage. My parents both worked. If I wanted to play the game I loved, I had to carry my share of the family load. I also worked full time in the summers from age 14. My dad always taught me to look in the mirror at the end of the day, knowing I did everything I could do to improve, both as a person, and as an athlete.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Jeff Serowik of Pro Ambitons Hockey for this story.

Article from Grow The Game.

Tip of the Day

Athletes often feel anxious because of the constant threat of being judged. Thoughts must be directed toward what the athlete can control. Paul Dennis, PhD

It’s Not the Program, It’s the Coaching

I wrote this for my StrengthCoach.com site but, wanted to share it with a wider audience.

Sam Dadd, one of my senior coaches at MBSC thought the concept mentioned in the title would make a great article. The discussion began, as many do, with a question in a staff meeting. Why does an assistant go to a new program, institute the same program used in his old job, yet fail to get similar results? Or, why when a head strength coach moves on and the assistant takes over are the results not the same? The obvious answer would be talent however I think that is an oversimplification.

My response to the question was simple and to the point. It’s not the program, it’s the coach.  In the football world legendary coach Bum Phillips described another legend, Paul Bear Bryant’s coaching this way . “He can take his’n and beat your’n and take your’n and beat his’n.” In other words if you and Bryant switched rosters, in a year he’d beat you with your own team.

A good coach with a mediocre program is much better than a great program and a mediocre coach. A program is a piece of paper or a file in a computer. Programs cannot motivate or create accountability. A piece of paper can’t figure out what is inside a person and how to get that out. A great coach can do all those things. A great coach will teach, motivate, and create an accountability system. He will figure out what makes each guy tick and then use that knowledge to get results. I have said for years that all of our programs are the same. Our base philosophy never changes. Want to get fast, run sprints. Want to get strong, lift weights. The difference is in the selling. The difference is in knowing what makes each athlete tick.

Another legendary coach, the late quarterback guru Tom Martinez, described it this way in the book Outliers. “Every kids life is a mix of shit and ice cream. If the kid has had too much shit I mix in some ice cream. If he has had too much ice cream I mix in some shit”. Martinez knew that there was a different key to every lock. To paraphrase Dan John, the key is to find the key.

Bottom line, there is a reason that strength and conditioning coaches Mike Woicek, Al Miller, Rusty Jones and Johnny Parker had a team in almost every Superbowl for about a 15 year period. They were great coaches who got the best out of their players.( Importance of the Strength and Conditioning Coach http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1263.cfm )

There is a reason a coach like Phil Jackson succeeded in circumstances as different as Chicago and LA  . Coaching matters. Coaches change lives, programs don’t change lives. The people will always matter more than the paper.

A Solution for “The Parent Problem”

This is a great article and many more can be seen at this webite! Fantastic resource!

As I’ve traveled around talking to teachers and coaches, there’s one refrain I hear over and over: The kids are great. The problem is the parents.
 
I think this is deeply true, most prominently in youth sports, but also in other areas, like music and the classroom. It’s not because parents are dumb or ill-intentioned — though, okay, some are — it’s rather because a lot of parents genuinely want to help, and don’t know how best to do it, so they helicopter around and that makes things messy (I’ve been there, done that).

With that in mind, check out this letter written a few years back by a new Little League baseball coach to his team’s parents before the season began. And what makes it slightly more meaningful is that the Little League baseball coach happens to be Mike Matheny, who’s gone on to be the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals (he coached Little League just after he retired from pro ball).

If you’re curious, I would recommend clicking this link to read the whole thing, but here are a few excerpts:

I always said that the only team that I would coach would be a team of orphans, and now here we are. The reason for me saying this is that I have found the biggest problem with youth sports has been the parents. I think that it is best to nip this in the bud right off the bat. I think the concept that I am asking all of you to grab is that this experience is ALL about the boys. If there is anything about it that includes you, we need to make a change of plans. My main goals are as follows:

(1) to teach these young men how to play the game of baseball the right way,
(2) to be a positive impact on them as young men, and
(3) do all of this with class.

We may not win every game, but we will be the classiest coaches, players, and parents in every game we play. The boys are going to play with a respect for their teammates, opposition, and the umpires no matter what.

Once again, this is ALL about the boys. I believe that a little league parent feels that they must participate with loud cheering and “Come on, let’s go, you can do it”, which just adds more pressure to the kids. I will be putting plenty of pressure on these boys to play the game the right way with class, and respect, and they will put too much pressure on themselves and each other already. You as parents need to be the silent, constant, source of support.

I am a firm believer that this game is more mental than physical, and the mental may be more difficult, but can be taught and can be learned by a 10 and 11 year old. If it sounds like I am going to be demanding of these boys, you are exactly right. I am definitely demanding their attention, and the other thing that I am going to require is effort.

Their attitude, their concentration, and their effort are the things that they can control. If they give me these things every time they show up, they will have a great experience.

I need all of you to know that we are most likely going to lose many games this year. The main reason is that we need to find out how we measure up with the local talent pool. The only way to do this is to play against some of the best teams. I am convinced that if the boys put their work in at home, and give me their best effort, that we will be able to play with just about any team.

The thing I like most about this letter is how it so clearly establishes the relationship, and does so in a big-picture, friendly, personal way. As a parent, I wish I would have gotten more letters like this. As a former Little League coach, I’m wondering, why the heck didn’t I send one?

Why don’t more teachers and coaches use this technique? Could it be possible to use letters like this as a tool to change the dynamic, so that parents might stop being a problem and start being more of an asset?

(Big thanks to John Kessel and Jennifer Armson-Dyer for the heads up.)

12 Tips for Taking a Faceoff

 This article is from Grow The Game!


 


Yanic Perreault made millions of dollars during a brilliant NHL career because he was one of the league’s premier faceoff guys. NHL GMs value these guys the way they value goal scorers—because the more faceoffs your team wins, the more puck possessions the team has, creating a winning environment. After you check out these 12 tips, see my entire faceoff story.

1. Great knee bend.
2. Grip the stick with one hand on top of the shaft and the other hand really low on the shaft for leverage.
3. Watch the referee’s hand and try to bat the puck out of the air as he’s dropping it.
4. If you’re having trouble winning faceoffs in a particular game, at least neutralize your opponent by tying his stick up and having your winger come get the puck.
5. Believe you can win every faceoff and take tremendous pride in it.
6. All forwards should be aware of how to take faceoffs in case the center gets bumped out.
7. Develop hand and wrist strength and quickness. Purchase a wrist gripper and use it in the car. Also practicing dribbling a golf ball and work on hand-eye coordination drills.
8. Communicate with your linemates to make sure you’re all on the same page.
9. Read and react to the situation of the game. Are you down a goal? Up a goal? Short-handed, Power play? Last minute of game?
10. Practice taking faceoffs on the pond, at the end of practice or in your garage.
11. Prepare! Many coaches implement trick plays in all three zones. These are fun—and sometimes a lot of work! Coaches should practice faceoff alignment on a routine basis so that, at crunch time, all players know what to do whether the team is down a goal, up a goal or has pulled the goalie. Preparation is very important and can be the difference between winning and losing.
12. Make sure you and your linemates are ready for the hurry-up puck drop referees are instituting now.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Jeff Serowik of Pro Ambitons Hockey for this story.