Turn The Wick Up

Ice time is at a premium these days. You need to make the most out of what you get. I have run a lot of teams and a lot of practices over the years. I have also watched and helped out at many. I like to catch games and practices of other teams. When I say other teams, I mean all over. If I have time to get to a local rink wherever I may be at the moment, or if I can get to the rink before my own ice time, or stay late, I will. It’s worth it. From initiation to college, there’s always something to see. Sometimes you see good stuff, sometimes you don’t. You learn from the good and the bad. Now lately I have been running into a lot of coaches who seem to spend a lot of time standing around on the ice. Their teams are doing a lot of standing also. This goes along with the “Don’t tire players out at practice” philosophy. Why not bring out lawn chairs? I see a lot of things that can be done off the ice actually done on the ice. The idea of preventing a team from getting tired during practice is very strange to me. How do you build endurance? How do you gain experience doing anything if you don’t allow the players to learn from actually doing? It’s ok for coaches to talk to their players about something, but you need to get your players doing it too. I mean all your players, not just the first string. You shouldn’t drill your players to unhealthy exhaustion, but get them moving. Maybe I’m too tough for this new age, but I want to see players get something out of practice. If you’re basing all your development on game time, then you’ve missed the boat. Players need time with the puck on the ice. You don’t get a lot of this for everyone on the team during a game. The night before a morning game I like a good skate, and an easy practice, but what the team considers an easy practice may seem a hard practice to some. You gage what you do with the team you have. You aim for improvement throughout the year. You need to get the team to skate hard without actually realizing that that’s what they’re doing sometimes. If you have sick or injured players you want them healthy first. This is more important than any game at the amature level. Players need their rest, health, good grades, and positive attitudes. Hockey should not jeopardize any of these things. You don’t burn your team out at practice, but you need to turn the wick up sometimes.