John Russo
Basics for handling faceoffs
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- Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 March 2013 19:41
By John Russo
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Note: This will be one of the articles (Chapter 5: Position Development) in John Russo’s soon-to-be published new book “Best of Coaches’ Corner – 26 Years.” Watch for it in 2013.
Winning or losing the battle of faceoffs can mean winning or losing games in which two teams are pretty evenly matched. Of course, success at the end faceoff circles is more critical because they can result in scoring chances. But neutral zone faceoffs also determine which end the puck ends up in right afterwards and so these also influence goal scoring on a more broad basis.
Playing the body
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 21 March 2013 15:20
By John Russo
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Note: This will be one of the articles (Chapter 7: Systems and Concepts) in John Russo’s soon-to-be published new book “Best of Coaches’ Corner – 26 Years.” Watch for it in 2013.
Some players are a lot more likely than others to play the body. Some players are paid big money in the NHL to play the body. Some players are not at all interested in playing the body or having the body “played” on them. Most of the latter types are not very successful after they progress into about the Bantam level.
Game coaching – Part 1
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- Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 March 2013 17:22
By John Russo
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Note: This will be one of the articles (Chapter 8: “The Game”) in John Russo’s soon-to-be published new book “Best of Coaches’ Corner – 26 Years.” Watch for it in 2013.
This article is the first of a two-part series on game coaching the “unique and critical situations” that I developed in the 1990s.
Most coaches prepare their teams to deal with normal games, not the abnormal. Very few games are normal, however. It is performance in these critical or unique game situations that helps make or break most coaches. The best way to handle them is to confront them in advance and to know what a good choice (we never know what will be successful for sure) response will be. In the frenzy of a game, it is difficult to come up with high impact decisions on short notice. Coaches that put some emphasis on the unique or critical situations (the list will come soon!) will not only have better game results but will also be educating their players in how to better analyze and respond to shifts in the game – and at what points in the game special efforts will pay off best.
Game coaching – Part 2
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 14 March 2013 16:02
By John Russo
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Note: This will be one of the articles (Chapter 8: “The Game”) in John Russo’s soon-to-be published new book “Best of Coaches’ Corner – 26 Years.” Watch for it in 2013.
This week we will continue through the remaining “unique and critical coaching situations.” Check last week’s Let’s Play Hockey Coaches Corner for situations 1 through 7.
Penalty killing
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- Last Updated on Thursday, 28 February 2013 16:25
By John Russo
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Note: This will be one of the articles (Chapter 7; Systems and Concepts) in John Russo’s soon to be published new book “Best of Coaches’ Corner – 26 Years.” Watch for it in 2013.
Over the years, some very good new ideas about killing penalties have evolved. Watching a professional or college game today, for example, would often find four pretty aggressive killers in at least the defensive zone. There was a time not too many years back when the defensive strategy was to “box up” in a reasonably passive manner and make the power play shoot from the outside. Today, the idea is to not let the power play shoot at all, if possible, and to go after the player with the puck at all times in the defensive zone.
