How to coach a men's hockey team?

[icarus]

So um a buddy of mine at work has offered me the job coaching his men's hockey team. It's just a summer rec team, so not super duper serious.

Not sure why he asked me, probably because I am the token Canadian, like to talk hockey, and I throw out random and tips suggestions for how he should play his position.

I've never played hockey myself but at least I have watched a ton of it! . So I said 'why the hell not'.

Anyone here have coaching experience? I don't forsee me doing any on-ice drills since I have no equipment, I'll just be bossing guys around.

Where do I begin? Any tips are welcome.

[Caged Great]

tell em to shoot the puck in the direction of the opposing goalie. Works every time.

[Rifleman]

Do like NHL coaches do. Just play the percentages.

Chip it in!! Chip it out!! Chip it back in!!

[Locke]

Your first order of business is to find the biggest, meanest guy and break his face.

Or is that prison? I always get the 2 mixed up....

Seriously though, always pretend like you know what you're doing....even when you dont. Actually, especially when you dont.....

[kermitology]

Tell the defence to focus on his opponent's core. The core can't lie about where they're going. Then smash them into the boards.

Smashy smashy!

[calculoso]

When you see people having chemistry (ie: seem to naturally know where each other are on the ice), don't be afraid to suggest that they play together.

My summer team had some good games and some bad games to start the year. I suggested that three of them play together one game and they did awesome. They stayed together for the rest of the season.

Same if you see habits of your team or the other team. You're there behind the bench. Mention things like that

[Savvy27]

Tell them that when they are in the offensive zone, it is important that they do not send all three forwards in deep in the zone. Always keep a third man high. That way if the puck is turned over and they make a quick breakout pass, the chances of an odd man rush against your team are greatly diminished.

If you want to get a little more technical about it, suggest that the third man (or designate a specific position to do this) mirrors the puck at about the top of the faceoff circles (puck on the left side = man on the left side, puck behind the net = man in centre of the ice, etc.).

There are several benefits to doing this: 1) if the puck is turned over and a breakout pass is made to one of the opposing forwards the third man can put pressure on him, as well as be in a position to backcheck and keep your team from being outnumbered.
2) If your team gains full possession of the puck, the third man is in a great shooting position. Defensemen usually like to stay close to the front of the net to clear rebounds and keep forwards from screening, so if you have a man higher in the zone there are going to be plenty of opportunities to get him the puck with enough time to shoot (if your lucky the defenseman will provide a screen)
3) If one of your defensemen decides to pinch into the zone, it will be obvious which forward should cover for them, again limiting odd-man rushes against (or at least making them 3 on 2's instead of 2 on 1's)

Sorry to go on so long. I hope this helps a little.

[Kybosh]

The trick to doing something that you are not qualified for is to say everything with conviction. If you act like to know what you're talking about, nobody will every second guess you. . . .and if someone does, scream at them and run away. Fool proof.

[Rifleman]

When they are forechecking, ask the forwards charging in to go in against the boards. This will force the defenseman to throw it up the middle. (or try and clear it through a forechecking forward.) Throwing it up the middle is bad for them, but good for your team.

[HalifaxDrunk]

Just mumble, the players will respect you for it. 'Nuf said!

[foofighter15]

Originally Posted by Locke

Your first order of business is to find the biggest, meanest guy and break his face.

Or is that prison? I always get the 2 mixed up....

Seriously though, always pretend like you know what you're doing....even when you dont. Actually, especially when you dont.....

I was actually hoping for some good tips. You did great at the Heckle

[Locke]

Originally Posted by foofighter15

I was actually hoping for some good tips. You did great at the Heckle

I almost forgot about my hockey coaching debut.

One of the most important things to do is pair your defensemen properly. If you have two overly offensive guys together you're running the risk of getting left vulnerable at the back, and if you have two overly defensive guys together they may not be providing enough support to the forwards on the attack.

Pair a stay-at-home defensive guy with a more adventurous offensive guy. I remember at the heckle, soulchoice was always going for it and he occasionally got burned, so I put KevanGuy as his partner to level things out and things started going better.

The chemistry for forwards is also a really good tip. Having your faster guys at that centre pivot position also helps with the transitions both offensively and defensively.

I hope that helps. But again, always make sure it looks like you know what you're doing. Dont be afraid to throw things.

At the heckle I spent a good amount of my time berating the opposing players, questioning their lineage and the like. Dont be afraid to yell, scream and insult the other team, its all part of good sportsmanship.

[mykalberta]

How have we got to reply 12 (mine) and no one has mentioned....

Hookers and Blow - plus its a mens team so add in beer

[sec304]

Just bring beer! They will like you immediately

[Nabber]

Main thing like the others have mentioned is do your best to pick lines. Lockes suggestion about defenceman is perfect, you never want two out there at the same time thinking all offence, pinching and being deep in the offensive zone. For forwards, they're hard to pick but if you notice chemistry between two or three players try them together. I'd just start by asking everyone what position they prefer to play and going from there. Keep the centers and at center, and wingers at wing if possible, and make your lines from there. A center can in most cases always convert to wing, but it's harder for a winger to play center. If you need to move a winger to center go with one that you know will be defensively responsible. As the season goes on you'll learn more about who is good at what position.

You say you're fairly familiar with where players need to be on the ice, which is good because that is very important. Here’s my little break down of where everyone should be positioned, I'm sure most know this info. In your own zome, wingers MUST cover the points, left winger on the right defenceman and vice versa. Centers are like a third defenceman, watching the front of the net, corners, etc. One defenceman should ALWAYS be in front of the net. For the break out the wingers take the boards, and the center goes down the middle towards the winger with the puck. Wingers must do their best to make sure the puck gets out of the zone, if you notice someone is having trouble just tell them to be safe and shoot the puck off the boards and out. In the offensive zone you should always have two players supporting the puck, never have all three in deep. The center usually is the one who stays high, make sure at least one forward is always backchecking hard. If you notice and defenceman pinching a lot and getting caught maybe point it out. Do some research if need be, make sure players play the box on the penalty kill, see if you can find a good powerplay formation on the web. Give pointers privately on the bench to individual players. Feel free to yell at anyone not working hard.

To sum it all up in rec hockey I'd say you're mostly there to give pointers, pick lines, keep the team motivated, and maybe send out a power line when you're short a goal or need to prevent one. I know my info is pretty straight forward but you don’t really have to get to technical. In some case, ie playoffs you may want to have certain players for a big powerplay or penalty kill (make sure the captain of the team give this an ok as I've seen players get pissed off if you pull them off). Hope that helps, I coach my team during the summer while I'm playing. One more thing don’t feel weird to ask the more experienced players if there’s pointers they can give.