Please review the following.  We need our players to have an understanding of all these skills, fundamentals and concepts by the end of the season.  

The first 2 weeks of the season are upon us so I thought I would share with everyone the things I have asked our coaches to focus on to get the season started on the right foot. 

1.  Details-  making crisp passes,  receiving passes on forehand and backhand,  finishing drills through the whistle or designated lines, looking at your coach when they are talking to you and trying to get better everyday.

2. Being a good teammate-  We all come from different schools so take some time to get to know your new line mates, d partners and goalies.  Find out what makes them happy, mad and everything in between.  These guys and girls are your new family for the next 4 months. The more time you take now, the better things will go for everyone. 

3. Shoot to score and stop in front for rebounds-  We have a tendency to curl off into corners after we shoot,  now is the time to dial that in.  

4. Pace of play-  I want our teams to play at a high tempo on the ice,  this starts in practice by having well organized practices that waste little to no time and ends in our games when we will be hard to play against.  

5. Starts and stops-  will be heavily emphasized in these first couple of months.  This ties into pace of play and will make us much harder to play against. We need to stop making big swings after we miss on a play.  

6. Fun- I want our coaches to incorporate fun drills and concepts into their practices and themes for games for the kids to focus on.  This can be done in a variety of ways throughout the practice in the form of small area games, drills where they will keep score, drills where they will get to use their creativity etc..  

Many of you get caught up in your player only playing 1 or 2 positions because of what hand they are or how their mindset is.  I think the below article highlights the need to change that thinking and let your player explore and learn about playing all positions.  With the way hockey is evolving and systems are changing, I believe it is more important than ever for them to be able to play all positions.  They will learn so many things by doing this including timing, spacing, read and react situations, what works best and what doesn't work.  As always,  if you can help this with a positive message at home about the new positions your player will come to the rink with the right mindset.  

https://www.minnesotahockeyjournal.com/news_article/show/1067921