Last Updated on Thursday, 18 December 2014 09:51
By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
The holiday season brings many of us back home to share in the love and joy of family. It is a great time of year. I cannot think of anything more important.
I have been fortunate to have moved back home to the Twin Cities following a many-year absence myself. Being home and not coaching has allowed me to experience a number of things that have been out of my reach. That included my first Thanksgiving in recent years with immediate family/siblings.
Another one of those “things” being home has allowed me to do is attend TCF Bank Stadium to see the Purple play on Sunday. I have been to three games and enjoyed each and every one of them.
My biggest impression in attending NFL games is how often a coach will hug one of his players. No matter the sporting event I attend, I watch with extra focus how coaches interact with their teams. In the NFL, they hug their players often.
I think this makes sense. The athletes in the NFL are young and impressionable, and unlike hockey where there are minor leagues to mentor the players into major league products, this mentoring in football happens at the major league level. Coaches have to develop their players’ talents as well as win games. That is not as much a mantra in the NHL as they have a minor league system to develop their players. That said, I don’t think many minor league hockey players get hugged. It’s not something you see often in hockey.
So where am I going with this? Simply put, I will always believe that all people grow best in an atmosphere of love and respect. I encourage all coaches to think about this. I have little doubt that if you really plan all you do with the betterment of your players in mind, your focus on providing an atmosphere of love and caring will give them a better chance to grow both as players and as people.
Let me give you one drill that will highlight such a pursuit each and every day – and not enough coaches do this – FREE TIME. I ask players all the time, “How much free time does your coach set aside daily/weekly for your individual self-improvement?” The answer I get most often is either none or very little.
A coach may say that they only have an hour a day of ice time and they need to utilize that time to its fullest. I understand and agree with utilizing this limited ice time. In that pursuit I would suggest that at least twice a week, the coach with just an hour of practice ice a day set aside 10 minutes at the end of practice a time or two a week to allow players self-directed free time.
The benefits of “free time” are many. The coaches can work with each player over-time to develop individual goals. Together and with the help of teammates, individuals can work on weaknesses or things specific to their game and/or position.
Over time, coaches can connect emotionally with their players on goals of individual self-improvement. Looking out for the betterment of each individual on the team takes the coaches’ love and caring for team to an individual and personal level. This individual connection, I believe, is extremely important.
In free time, players can also connect emotionally to each other as they work with and for one another to help teach/learn skills. For example, one player may be struggling with faceoffs. The coach can simply put this player together with the two top faceoff takers on the team to help the struggling centerman with tips and technique. This again personalizes things for a player who is in need of specific help.
Free time allows coaches time to work with individuals and show them their love and care for their individual growth. Free time also allows players to self-direct and take ownership of their own development. And make no mistake, as each individual improves, so too does the team.
Coaches can be funny. They often want to control all that happens at practice, but in a team kind of way. Too often we forget that a little caring about the individual goes a long way. We also too often forget that some of our players, what they do really well, can serve as great coaching mentors to their teammates. It is a shame if you don’t allow your individuals and their relative better skill sets on your team to rub off on others.
Invest in your individuals. Invest in their skills. Invest your attention and caring. When you do so, your caring for them, the love you have of their development as an individual will go a long way in the development of the team. More importantly, you will be making connections that are healthy for your players in positive ways that will serve your players both for today and for a lifetime.
Kevin Hartzell was most recently the head coach of Lillehammer in Norway’s GET-Ligaen. A St. Paul native and forward for the University of Minnesota from 1978-82, Hartzell coached in the USHL from 1983-89 with the St. Paul Vulcans and from 2005-12 with the Sioux Falls Stampede. His columns have appeared in Let’s Play Hockey since the late 1980s. His new book “Leading From the Ice” is now available at amazon.com.
