Sometimes You Have to Step Away

As all of my fellow coaches can attest, we do our best every week to make sure our teams are prepared. Obviously, a lot of this is done through development in practice, but without question preparation extends well beyond the practice hours of the day. When we arrived at Middlebury on the 21st, we didn’t feel any different going into this game than the two previous against KUA and Governor’s which we split, winning one and losing one, but overall we had played well.

This is where coaching, especially coaching teenagers can get tricky. Within a minute of the game starting, it was clear, this just was not going to be our day. Why? I have no idea. I still do not weeks later. If I could figure out why a group of teenagers can perform one day and not the next, I think I could make a lot of money, but all the coaching courses in the world or drills in practice cannot uncover the answer to this question. Some things in life are just meant to be a mystery. Unable to figure out why it happened, instead as a coach you need to turn the page and think of how to improve. What is the recipe for making a change and being successful? In this case, we decided it was a little rest and a little hunger.

After the game, the decision was made that we would step away from the rink for a couple of days. We did not adequately use the ice time in the game for development, and as a coaching staff we felt we didn’t want to “waste” time with bad habits at practice the next day. Instead we wanted to create a sense of hunger for each and every time we stepped on the ice.

In the course of a season, all teams go through this type of downer of a game or set of games. Our opponent was strong and deserved the win, but it would have been nice for us to just show more. The key is to not allow this feeling to become present around the team.

The two days away from the rink did us well, for on November 25 we defeated Bishop’s College School 4-1 in front of a packed house here at the Pat Burns Arena, and then on the 17th we beat Kent’s Hill School 5-1. It seemed like we were gaining some momentum.

This past weekend we hosted the Bowers Division of the MPHL and played against Rothsay Netherwood School, Bishop’s College School, Ridley College and Rice Memorial. In a weekend that saw us give up a total of 5 goals as a team we were able to run off a 4-0 record. Although the 8 points didn’t change our position in the standings, it helps to set us up for the second half of the MPHL schedule. In addition, we continued to play well as a team, despite having some good players moving in and out and around the lineup as we dealt with the typical start of winter boarding school flu and cold bug.

This coming weekend we will play at New Hampton School Saturday afternoon before returning home for the annual Christmas Supper and Carol Service, one of my favourite school events of the year.