I have video of Connor Bedard leaving practice today with a left shoulder injury, as first reported by @RyanmcgregorCHI. You can hear him in severe pain as he leaves the ice:
Also a 'development camp'
But this one you actually develop at
It's almost like you can expose rate limiters and understand a players self organization abililites
And keep context
Weird...
Breakout Retrievals → Picks/Cut Offs
With teams playing faster and looking to pressure the puck as quickly as possible, off-puck support has never been more important
Support is not just about being an outlet. It is also about using your body to slow down the forecheck
By skating into the lane and getting skin on forecheckers, we can force small re-routes, creating a little more time and space for our teammates to make the next play
More of this, but if you’re coaching youth hockey, please don’t leave players standing around watching. Set up multiple stations to keep everyone going. Wasting ice time is my pet peeve.
Simple ways to create small area activities to work on realistic retrieval scenarios — for example, off D stand — where the conditions vary each repetition:
• Where the puck is spotted
• Who is retrieving
• Where the pressure is coming from
• Who is closest in support
Players off the puck are trying to legally buy as much time as possible for the retrieving player before releasing to support the puck or the next play.
You can add additional “points” for the principles you want to emphasize, such as a “wheel” mentality or “gaining the net.” Or take away points for penalties (illegal hold ups)
This can guide players to get back to pucks quickly, find ways to slow up pressure, and create a little more time and space for the next play
Long-Term Player Development
In addition to my previous post, here is some further supportive information on helping to develop the players you work with.
I hope it also helps you to become a more knowledgeable coach.
@SundayShare10
LA Rams HC Sean McVay - Be An Elevator
- "We want to try and be elevators, we want to try and help people be able to reach their highest potential."
- "What that means is that you elevate every person/situation that you're a part of. That's what great leaders do."
- "I know when I reflect back on the good times, it's been because there is a purpose about serving others."
- "When I have looked back and said man I should have been better, it's usually when it's become a little bit more about me than I ever wanted it to. Your own selfish ambitions."
OZP Game To Focus On Creating & Finding This Space
• Game is played 3v3 with a support player at the top
• Change of possession must be a pass to the top or passed/carried below the goal line
• Players look to connect interior passes, specifically to the "soft spots" (honey hole/quarter pie/weakside dot)
Teams can score in any fashion (1pt), but goals off passes from these areas are worth 3 pts. By structuring the scoring system like this, it allows players to attack in other ways and keeps the defenders honest by not just having them defend the 3 pt areas.
Can also add passes to and out of this area that lead to a goal as part of the scoring incentives.
The change of possession rules can naturally spread or collapse the defenders, opening up these pockets of space
* EX: below goal line pass strong side, below goal line pass weakside, high pass to weakside dot
Timing is critical for off-puck players to arrive when the advantage presents itself and not be stationary and an easy mark for the defenders
A D’s first touch should immediately improve their next play. A tiny adjustment from clip 1 > 2, but at game speed it creates an extra passing window, keeps your feet moving, and gives the checker less time to close and deny options. All about eliminating unnecessary actions 👌
Defending National Champion @IndianaFootball head coach Curt Cignetti (@CCignettiIU) explanation for Indiana's rapid transformation is a CLINIC in leadership:
"If what you did yesterday seems important to you, you haven't done much today." 🍫🤯
👥 What changes results? People, Plan, Process. Results begin with people. Recruit high-character individuals (coaches and players), develop them relentlessly, and unite them around a shared vision. Talent may raise your ceiling, but character determines whether your team can consistently reach it!
📈 Culture can drift toward mediocrity by accident, but great cultures NEVER drift upward by accident. They are engineered through high standards, clear expectations, and accountability. As Coach Cignetti says, "How you do something is how you do everything." Every meeting, workout, practice, conversation, and decision is either reinforcing your standard or eroding it.
📚 Elite organizations are consumed with stacking value. They stack productive meetings, intentional practices, disciplined preparation, and consistent execution, they literally stack great days. Championships are simply the delayed byproduct of thousands of ordinary moments handled extraordinarily well.
🧠 The job of a coach leader: "The only limitations are those between your ears, and that's my job, to make sure those don't exist." Leadership is about expanding what people believe is possible and replacing self-imposed ceilings with confidence built through preparation.
Yesterday's success is evidence, not a residence.
The best teams refuse to live off old victories. They celebrate briefly, learn continuously, and return to work immediately. Every new day is another opportunity to earn the standard all over again.
The scoreboard is always a lagging indicator. 🏆
A couple features not shown in the screenshots that I’m excited about:
🔒 Lock any period you don’t want changed. If you know Inside Run has to be 12 minutes, lock it and the optimizer works around it.
⚖️ Priority Weights let you tell the system what matters most. Critical periods get protected while lower-priority periods absorb the adjustments.
📋 Start from different practice templates. Monday Install, Tuesday Heavy Work, Wednesday Polish, Thursday Walkthrough, etc. Each template generates a different practice structure and set of targets.
This tool gives coaches a starting point and saves them 30–60 minutes every week.
If you’re one of those coaches who spends an inordinate amount of time shuffling your practice schedule each week, you know what I mean!
🚨 Looking for 3–5 football coaches to help test a new tool from GridironHQ.
I am truly excited about this system as I believe it will help solve a lot of problems, but it still needs some dusting off.
The Practice Operating System helps coaches:
✅ Auto-generate practice plans
✅ Balance Indy, Group, Team & ST periods
✅ Track practice targets & analytics
✅ Auto-build printable practice schedules
✅ Optimize practice time with one click
I'm looking for coaches willing to put it through a real-world test and provide honest feedback before launch.
🔁 Repost this post if you're interested.
I'll choose 3–5 coaches from the reposts and send them access.
Let's build something that saves coaches time and helps run better practices.