I volunteer as a hockey coach. Ice time alone is about 8 hours a week. If I was a parent, I’d double that at least to account for prep/travel time. As anyone in the admin space knows, it’s more like 4x the time investment, often more. Saturday I left the house near 9am and got back home near 10pm, then back at it at 6am the next day. It’s not a complaint… I get a lot of enjoyment from it. Seeing the kids progress, and do so with smiles, is worth every single second.

This year has been exceptionally challenging as it’s trying to restart an engine that was effectively stopped last year. The kids that did play last year, well a lot of them decided to quit the sport entirely because of the experience. Restarting any large and complex process on top of rebuilding trust that this will be a ‘return to normal’ is a herculean effort. Full empathy for anyone in a school trying to do the same. People know what ‘normal’ means, and their expectations are not being met. That’s trying a lot of patience for many people, and the outbursts are reaching people that have no authority in the situation. I read enough bad news stories of people confronting restaurant folks to asking them to wear a mask… how does making minimum wage mean you should get yelled at? I’m fortunate enough to have a good relationship with my parents, but I still get the batch of tough questions and hard choices. It’s a rough time for anyone trying to make a positive impact and we are growing short on volunteers.

I’m just focusing on what I can control right now, and taking small strides forward. Normally I’d have a season plan ready, but that’s just not possible. It’s a focus on the immediate rather than the strategic, something I have not done a good job with in the past.

We had an exhibition game out of town this weekend. In a normal season, I’d already be playing regular games, but things are still sorting themselves out. We do have a tournament in 2 weeks, and it’s a horrible experience to have your first game in that setting. So we set this one up to get as many wrinkles out as possible – and we had wrinkles.

• The COVID protocols here were different than at home
• A few skaters were missing pieces of equipment. We had to go buy it.
• The pre-game coach chat had half the team still getting ready, so the mental readiness part wasn’t super clear
• A few skaters were not ready for the start of game
• The other team put in 2 goals in about 2 minutes, which really deflated the team
• 3 of the skaters had never played anything close to a game before. It took 2 periods to sort that part out.
• The skaters were absolutely gassed by the end of the game. It was good to see.
• We had some great scoring chances, just no puck luck

Those things are all expected to some degree in the first game. The skaters all came away with a different appreciation for what it means to be skating again in a game and I know we will all be in a better spot next time. Knowing that ahead of time meant that I had rather low expectations for the outcome. The plan was rather simple:

• Every skater needed to come off the ice tired, having pushed to their ability
• By the end of the game, they all understood the basics of positioning
• That we’d recognize each skater’s positive work through immediate feedback
• That we’d recognize the hardest worker post-game (they get a hard hat)

By the end, that’s exactly what happened. We lost the game, but the amount of positive progress was amazing to see. Each shift was better than the prior one, and the team didn’t crumble after getting scored upon. The end of the game it looked like a real hockey team! And while they certainly were disappointed with the score, they still had smiles on their faces.

This is a different space for me. I am extremely self-driven, and to split that out for each skater, multiple times in a small time frame is crazy exhausting. Yet I have a great support team around me, and we’re all on the same page when it comes to this year’s approach. We’re just going to focus on the next shift, the next attempt. The rest is so hazy we can’t worry about it. Celebrate the small things, enjoy it all the more.

Maybe not off topic if we met on a regular basis – I am a huge hockey fan, player, and coach.

It’s been a hell of an adjustment period for all professional sports during the pandemic, and the NHL had been relatively successful with their approach. This concatenated season, with different divisions, has made for a really interesting regular season. Normally I would only see the Oilers twice a year, but I watched nearly a dozen games this year due to the schedule. Digress aside, the playoffs are abound, and few sports are anywhere close to the NHL in terms of show. (The NBA should be able to compete, but the fundamentals in that league prevent team parity.)

I am a Montreal Canadiens fan. Go Habs Go! I’m old enough, and bilingual, that the option really wasn’t present to be a Leafs fan (who we are raised to hate). It’s been a bumpy ride for most of those years, the continual underdogs and what not. The late 90s, early 00’s were just crushing with one of the worst managers in all sports (aside perhaps Millbury). It’s a tough market, as the Habs have a fervent following, practically a religion, with very high expectations. Everyone has something to say, and when I’m in Montreal, it’s easy to strike up a conversation with anyone about the team.

This year started off very strong, then the coach lost the confidence of the room. A new coach was put in, and it’s been a rough ride since. On paper, there’s depth without a clear set of superstars like Crosby or McDavid. In practice, there’s a half dozen players who show up consistently, and are effectively the heart of the team.

Tangent Time!

I have a passing interest in most sports, I’ve played nearly all of them at some point. I don’t have the experience necessary to understand the particulars as they happen but can make the links afterwards. Watching someone like Romo accurately predict outcomes based on defensive line ups (NFL) is fascinating. It’s explained because, you know, that was his actual job as a quarterback to be able to digest quickly and react. There are plenty of other QBs that have provided color commentary, but few with the level of quality/detail as Romo.

Given my lack of experience in the sport, I’m not quick enough to see all the intricacies, especially in highly active sports (basketball, tennis, soccer, etc..) There are so few pauses in the game, it’s so reactive, that anticipation and instincts dominate for successful athletes.

I do not have this challenge with hockey. I may be amazed by a new play, or some crazy good luck bounce, but a solid 80% of the time the play works out exactly like I anticipate it to.

Back to the game!

In the playoffs though, against the Leafs no less, the team just isn’t present. I’ve been watching the games and I’m continually confused as to what system is being applied. I know how a 1-3-1 umbrella attack should work, but what I’m seeing is not at all close to it. I’d be understanding if these were kids, but these are professionals making millions… so something here isn’t lining up.

As with all systems, they are based on foundational concepts, then have variations in design based on other factors. Some teams play a box, some a diamond. Some go for a F1/F2 system. Some teams have tried a slingshot to break through a trap-focused team. These systems work with any NHL player. The modifications come when you consider line chemistry and skill sets. If you have someone who’s great at stickhandling, you have more options in a corner exit. Two right-handed defence mean you can only attack from one side. A goalie with poor stick control will have the puck thrown on their backhand.

All that to go back to the game and watching a team incapable of making 2 consecutive passes, of missing clear opportunities that should rarely be missed. The worst part is that I know they are good players, because their instincts of where players should be are correct, it’s the system that is applied is making sure the players are not there. If you don’t have stickhandlers, then you need to run a cycle offence. Montreal has 2 stickhandlers and never cycles.

To top it off, the systems played are high risk systems, meaning that if the puck possession changes, the other team has a dramatic advantage in a counter attack. Like if in the NFL every pass was for 20+yrds. You’re going to get intercepted. And sure enough, the Leafs are provided crazy opportunities in this regard.

The end results appears to be like watching a bunch of men play teens, with a near complete domination in all aspects of the game (‘cept in nets, Price is nearly without flaw). It’s so crazy frustrating to watch that I’ve had to change my expectations as that of a learning opportunity. Each of these skaters is learning (or re-learning) the lessons that unity and passion are what’s required to win at high levels. It’s some silver lining to see the really young skaters take some chances and build their confidence. They are making mistakes, no question, but they are not making them multiple times.

All that said, I do have to say that the Leafs are playing their systems to great effect. Their defence isn’t all that good, but their offence is stunning to watch. When someone like Jason Spezza (37 years!) is continually pick pocketing players who are nearly 20 years younger, that says something about passion to play. I still feel dirty cheering on the Leafs, but I can recognize a solid hockey team when I see one.

I like sports.  I’ve played most of them.  I still play hockey at a “competitive” level.  Have for 30 years.  I’ve been on the giving and receiving end of a beating – more than enough times.  A few streams of thought.

The Women’s World Cup is underway now in France.  World’s largest sport, great stage, awesome that we can see more of it.  Hockey is in a similar boat, where the global talent pool is only just emerging.  It takes at least a generation to build a base, and that includes a massive investment in infrastructure.  Elite athletes are not born, they are bred.  And depending on the country, a particular sport may be more attractive than another (see Usain Bolt).  The gap in hockey is dramatically larger than football – but it’s similar enough that there are plenty of wash outs on the international level.

The US beat Thailand 13-0 the other day.  Opinions abound.  The aspect of this particular tournament is that goal differentials can make/break the way forward.  The men’s cup often sees this occur.  Combine that with the fact that the players on the team are all actively competing for a starting position, there are only a few games, and there’s ample reason to see why the US did not let up.  Anyone who has played at the competitive level where points scored mattered in a tie breaker understands this.  Be mad at the people who made the rules, not the ones who follow them.

Where a bit more nuance applies, and gameship, is in the way the US acted as the game progressed.  I don’t mean in a technical sense but in the personal sense.  In hockey, there’s an unwritten rule where you simply stop celebrating goals when you’re clearly dominating.  That’s really super evident in the lopsided international events where games can reach 10-0 and there’s barely a smile after a goal.  I can’t recall anyone celebrating an open-net goal to clinch a game.  I would hazard to say that this is a holdover of the Canadian “sorry first” mentality that permeates the sport. (US mainline sports do not have this, since baseball, football, and basketball are never managed on a points scored system.  It’s purely win/loss.)

Watching the US players celebrate their goals really got under some people’s skins, and effectively makes them look like villains in this tournament.  Villains in the sense of international eyes.  How the home crowd views this is really a microcosm of the global sport.  At no point do I advocate them not scoring plenty of goals – again that’s the way the tournament is structured.  Fill the net.  But perhaps lay off the major celebrations on goals 8+?  At no point did anything thing Thailand had a chance, so what exactly is being celebrated?  That you were able to beat someone that has half your skill level?   Yay you?

(For those watching NBA finals and wondering about the classless Toronto fans, hear me out a second.  When we (Canadians) see an injury, it is a real visible injury – e.g. blood, knock down, etc…  Hockey players end up in the finals with no ACL/MCL… so there’s a certain toughness in sport that’s expected.  KD stopped, and walked to the side to sit down, barely made a face.  That does not look like an injury.  The Raptors and replay were essential to communicate that it was indeed a serious injury.  When that was understood, the fans completely changed their response.   I don’t think it had any bearing on the game past that point – that was a horrible 2nd half for both teams-  and the game changer was the oddly called time out.)

Ultra stereotype, but this weekend was spent entirely dedicated to a hockey tournament for my eldest daughter.  From Friday at 8am until Sunday at 3:30pm, she played 6 games.  I’m one of the coaches, making the stress levels a tad bit higher than when in the stands. Throw in a family party for 6 hours, and it was an exhausting weekend.  The great news is that they wont the tourney, took home some hardware, and a pretty large banner.  I am extremely proud of what those girls accomplished.  Was an amazing feeling to share that event with them, the other coaches, and the parents.

I am extremely biased towards hockey.  I spent the most of my youth winters either playing or being in a rink watching others play.  Ball hockey started on the street once the snow melted.  It is a stupidly expensive game, and requires subsidization for those that could get the most benefit from it.

Team sports in general provide tremendous benefits, in particular ones that can be played from childhood until you retire (or beyond).  Generally, team sports focus on bonding since it really isn’t possible to win all by oneself.  There may be dominant players, but they are not always actively playing.  It builds interpersonal skills, tolerance for others, the ability to work together to solve a problem, and just basic chemistry between people.

It provides a framework for a work ethic, in that you get out what you put in.  Practice and effort can provide tremendous output.  The main message is that continual improvement is an overall goal.  Even the best players/teams continue to practice.   In specific cases, that you can succeed even if you make mistakes.  That you can lose if you make none.  That the outcome of a game, or a tournament is not the outcome of a season.  It build personal confidence in one’s abilities.  Personal experience and subjective anecdote – people who stop team sports, will stop for this particular reason above all others.

It provides an environment to have fun while doing something strenuous.  As hard as the game can be, or the moment-to-moment action, you should be able to enjoy it before, during, and after.  There’s a reason they call it a game.  It provides a focused environment where the rest of your life doesn’t matter, only the game.  Being able to see through all that and still have a smile.

It includes fair play.  Nobody cares what you look like, what you dress like, who your parents are, where you live.  All hockey players are judged on their ability to play hockey.  It isn’t about injuring the opponent, it’s a test of skill.  It isn’t about dominating a weaker team.  When the game is over, you shake hands.  As an adult, you may end up at the pub with them later on.

These values permeate through team sport into nearly every other aspect of life.  School, work, personal growth, relationships…I still meet people on a regular basis that I’ve connected with prior through sport.   It isn’t to say that all hockey players are like this, or that this particular skill set is only found in team sports.  At the larger trend level, you’ll simply find more of this in team sports, otherwise the sport itself wouldn’t work.  And for the best coaches, success isn’t measured in the game, it’s measured in the growth of the players.

I love this game.

I’ve been following the Olympics for a while now, something my better half gets a significant amount of joy from watching.  Igloo-world is a winter Olympics country and we usually do pretty well.  Summer… let’s not talk about summer.  It only lasts 2 weeks here anyways.

The “traditional” medal sports here are hockey and curling.  Not that other events have not been medal contenders, but those two have for 20+ years been gold/silver conversations.

Hockey this year is a bit different, at least for the men. There’s no NHL players, so North American countries are a much lower caliber.  OAR and a few other european countries are in a better spot and taking Canada to town.  Women though, nothing much changed.  The US (gold) and Canada (silver) have dominated for 20 years.  There’s still a long way to go for parity.

Curling was dominated by Canada for nearly 30 years.  Just complete washes.  Over the years every country has gotten better, helpful for a sport that isn’t physical but mental instead.  The Canadian women played horribly, and the men just weren’t at the level needed to deliver.  Curling is measured by %shooting, or just rather accuracy.  Medal players shoot in the 90%s.  There were some odd shot choices, and mistakes that typically do not show up at this level.  That, combined with other nations consistently shooting above 80%.

With both of those traditional sports not delivering, it’s opened up eyes to other events.  Ice Dancing, moguls, downhill, speed skating, bobsled…lots of fun to watch events events with some interesting twists. The snowboard big-air competition was something else.   Watching Esther Ledecka win gold on downhill, and unable to believe it is my go-to story for this run.

It’s really something to see both the combination of athletic development (skill) and the ability to report on it (technology).  Some of the replays and art used is quite impressive.  We’ve come so far from tape and 10+ minutes of review.  Even Ice Dancing has a clear on-screen marker for technical score, updated while the skaters are on the ice.  Not to mention I can stream everything from my phone through an official app.  The exposure is great.

It’s also a nice thing to see the country being able to produce a record amount of medals (27 as of this morning) without the traditional ones.  Even those in 4th or 5th are better than the 7,600,000,000 other people on this planet.  Even qualifying is an achievement.

Hope other people are getting as much fun out of watching this as I am.

I had built an ice rink last year for the little ones and that went over rather well.  They were outside for about an hour a day, skating around and getting used to the ice.  I made my own ice surfacer too.  There were a lot of lessons learned, primarily that my backyard is not level and that the ice takes a crap ton of water to get started.

This year I want to try something a bit different.  We had our first snowfall last weekend, so time’s a wasting before I can get something up.  Instead of just laying it on the ice and flooding (and losing water from the sides), I want to do a slightly better job.  Main points:

• Set up boards and supports
• Put a tarp to contain the water
• About 20′ by 30′.

Boards can be simple or complicated.  A real rink is rectangular, with rounded corners.  I’d have to bend some wood to make that work, or get some plastic.  And I have a near full size outdoor rink about 5 minute walk from my house anyhow.  I need simple.

The thinking right now is a simple box, with side supports.  Figuring I’ll need those supports every 4′ or so, and at the above size, that’s 26 needed.  NiceRink has some brackets that I’ve used in the past.  They are quite expensive though – just over $250US.  I think this year I’ll just use some treated 2×4 and build my own 12″x18″ brackets.  That’s ~48″ linear per bracket, I need 26, and a spare or two… so 112′.  Or 10×12 footers.  Just under $100.

Then the actual boards.  Plywood seems the best option.  2′ height, 8′ length.  A full sheet is 4’x8′, given 2 lengths per.  At 100′ to cover, that’s 7 total sheets.   Prices are all over… but likely $250 all told.

I bought a tarp last year for $100 that will more than cover the surface.  Just need to make sure that when it’s all assembled, I don’t pierce it.

I’ve got a couple weekends to go before the real snowfall and freezing temperatures hit.  Let’s see what I can do.