Hockey & Lacrosse

This June at the USA HOCKEY level 5 coaches symposium in Rochester New York I picked up a lot of good ideas from listening to some of the top Olympic coaches from Switzerland, Sweden, The US, Czech Republic and Finland. There was also a lot of information from many other different speakers. There was also a great chance to talk to other coaches from around the US and exchange ideas. I will be commenting on some of these ideas in the upcoming posts.
I seem to share a lot of common ideas with many of my fellow coaches. My focus this season with the team I coach was the development of the individual player. This is based around skills and smart hockey that each player must improve upon throughout the season. I’ve coached in a few different hockey associations and leagues over the years and have been fortunate enough to work with some very talented players and coaches. Some very good coaches during my time as a player also coached me. Over the years I have seen two distinct styles of play and practice. I have coached teams that have competed in minor hockey in Canada and the US. Over the years I have stressed the ability to skate very well as a huge factor between the strengths of different teams. I also have coached lacrosse and view the ability handle the ball at the same importance level that skating is to Hockey. Lacrosse players need to practice shooting and catching the ball as much as possible to improve. The same level of dedication to practice must be applied to skating for the hockey players. Where a Lacrosse player can find a hard surface to play wall ball, it is not as easy for a hockey player to find an ice surface to practice skating on. A few years ago in Canada a lot of the hockey teams we played against were made up of players who also played Box Lacrosse when some of the ice surfaces were melted. These rinks continued to see use for local Box leagues. I began to see how both sports were complimenting each other. This gave me the idea to take the team I was coaching and start a Lacrosse club team. The hope was to build the team’s passing and shooting skills during the summer to see if it would benefit the same team on the ice. Skating would be supplemented with public skating and inline. There is always something you can do as a player or as a coach to develop individual and team skills.
The idea is to use what you have available as effectively as possible. Sports that involve passing and shooting, such as soccer and basketball can only improve the way hockey or lacrosse players think and play.