U18 AA Belmont Blazers

Author: nspilka

  • The 7 Habits that Make You Look “House League”

    The 7 Habits that Make You Look “House League”

    Articles

    The 7 Habits that Make You Look “House League”

    Seven habits that kill momentum — and what Belmont players do instead.

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    Problem. Description. Solution. Clean these up and you look like a Blazer — not house league.

    01

    Defensive Gap Control

    Problem

    The defense is so far back from the attacker that he’s defeating the purpose of supporting the goalie.
    But instead, the defence is creating a screen, making it more difficult for the goalie to see what’s coming.

    Solution

    Attack the player and establish a gap

    02

    Fly By

    Problem

    The most annoying fly-by is when you see a player on your team skate with a 60% effort while reaching out and waving their stick by the puck carrier.

    Then tops it off by finishing the movement by making a HUGE circle taking themselves out of the play.

    Solution

    Attack the player, establish a gap, if you get beat, stop and go as hard as you can back into the play

    03

    High Shots

    Problem

    Goalies have great gloves at U18 AA.
    Shooting over the net sucks.

    Solution

    • A hard wrist shot along the ice is more effective than flicking the puck top corner.
    • If you go high, go blocker side
    • Just over the pads is another great scoring zone!
    04

    Standing Still

    Problem

    Whether playing offense or defense, the team that utilizes active motion will be the team that has the most advantage.

    The biggest pet peeve I have while coaching is a player standing still and watching the other team move the puck around effortlessly.

    Solution

    Skate with a purpose, this has benefits:

    • causing turnovers
    • creating openings for teammates
    • offensive pressure
    • and much more
    05

    Turn Overs At the Blue Line

    Problem

    Turnovers at both blue lines are the number one momentum swing in the sport of hockey.

    Solution

    • Wingers on Defence: Do whatever it takes to get the puck out of our zone
    • Players on Offence: Get the puck deep. Losing it on the blueline creates an odd man rush
    06

    Not Capitalizing On 2 ON 1’s

    Problem

    When we don’t get a scoring chance on a 2 on 1 it is a wasted opportunity

    Solution

    An odd-man rush towards the other team’s goalie should always result in a quality scoring opportunity.

    Don’t be selfish!

    07

    Shooting at the Logo

    Problem

    A shot right at the goalies chest or glove freezes the puck and ends the offensive play.

    Solution

    Shooting with a purpose will create a scoring chances or find the back of the net, resulting in a goal.

    Goals come from Rebounds and Loose Pucks.

    Fix the habit. Change the look.

  • Legacy: 15 Lessons in Leadership from the All Blacks

    Legacy: 15 Lessons in Leadership from the All Blacks

    James Kerr’s book Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life tells the story of how the All Blacks hit rock bottom and made it to the other side as a better team by focusing on creating a lasting and meaningful legacy. These are the principles that drove the turn around:

  • Red Hat Coaching Standards

    Red Hat Coaching Standards

    At the start of July, the coaches sat down to define our Coaching Standards. We called the standards “Red Hat Standards” since a Red Hat is the prize awarded to the Provincial Champion every year. These are the standards we coaches will live by and you can hold us to them.

    Red Hat Coaching Standards

    • Communication
      • We look each other in the eye and tell the truth.
      • We don’t avoid hard conversations.
      • We settle our differences quickly and don’t let anything fester.
    • Expectations
      • We expect excellence and we don’t make excuses for players.
      • We don’t let players off the hook when they underperform.
    • Professionalism
      • We can joke with the kids when it’s appropriate, we can joke with each other, but when it comes to outsiders, we are pros.  
    • We Are Coaches (not Dads)
      • We don’t have dad discussions with our kids, we hand it to another coach!
        • This is why Kevin alone is in charge of goalies.
    • No Excuses 
      • We don’t make excuses for ourselves or our team’s performance.
      • We embrace solutions and not excuses.
    • Accountability
      • We agree to hold each other to these standards
      • We will not lash out when some one points out that we aren’t upholding the standards.
    • Intensity and Confidence 
      • We conduct ourselves with confidence and the right amount of intensity to promote confidence in our players.
    • Caring
      • We have all of our players backs on and off the ice.
      • We have each other’s backs on and off the ice.
    • Pride
      • We never speak ill of the team or each other.
      • We recognize we are in a rebuild and that we are trying to build a sustainable long term team we can be proud of.
      • We never participate in any of the “Belmont is shit” talk that goes around.
        • We don’t see ourselves or our team as “less than”.
        • We are trying to become somewhere people WANT to come and play.
    • We Respect Referees
      • No self respecting person will change a call because another person yells at him.
      • We won’t bitch about every tiny call.
        • This turns the refs on us and sets a bad example.
        • No ref walks into a rink and says “These assholes again!”
      • We save our ref talks for when it matters.
        • Dangerous or game changing calls get dealt with.
        • Calls that put us at a disadvantage are quesioned
          • placement of faceoffs, etc.
      • We recognize that when we get hung up on refs so do the girls.
        • We call the refs over to talk to them, and don’t yell at them.
      • Acting Head Coach speaks to the ref first.  If he didn’t see the play, or isn’t the best one to handle it, he passes it along to the appropriate coach.
      • We are resilient and don’t blame refs in front of the players.  We don’t want them to bitch about refs, we want them to play the hard game without worrying about them so we set the tone.

  • Standards Vs Rules

    Standards Vs Rules

    Standards Vs Rules

    On our team we have Standards, not Rules. Rules are decided upon by a single person. Standards are the identity of a team.

    After several years of coaching, Mike Krzyzewski , the most successful coast in NCAAA Baskeball history, decided the best way to build a winning culture was to set standards for his teams, versus hard rules. He trusted if players knew the standards, they could make the best decision in the moment.  This approach worked not only at Duke, where his teams won five national championships, but with star-studded U.S. Olympic teams, which as its head coach he led to three consecutive gold medals.

    In the following videos he speaks about the effectiveness of standards:

    2012 USA Basketball Team Standards

    • No Excuses
      • We have what it takes to win.
    • Great Defence
      • The key to winning the gold. We do the dirty work.
    • Communication
      • We look each other in the eye. We tell each other the truth.
    • Trust
      • We believe in each other.
    • Collective Responsivility
      • We are committed to each other. We win together.
    • Care
      • We have each other’s backs. We give aid to a teammate.
    • Respect
      • We respect each other and our opponents. We’re always on time. We’re always prepared
    • Intelligence
      • We take good shots. We’re aware of team fouls. We know the scouting report.
    • Poise
      • We show no weakness
    • Flexibility
      • We can handle any situation. We don’t complain.
    • Unselfishness
      • We’re connected. We make the extra pass. Our value is not measured in playing time.
    • Aggressiveness
      • We play hard every posession.
    • Enthusiasm
      • This is fun.
    • Performance
      • We’re hungry. We have no bad practices.
    • Pride
      • We are the best team in the world and we represent the best country.