Part two in a look at the pratice habits of Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet
Running a practice at the National Hockey League level is a juggling act.
Do you actually practice or give your team a day off? If you do hit the ice, what are you going to focus on? And the debate a coach faces at any level 害羞草研究所� how do you balance teaching points versus having a practice with good tempo?
Those are the questions surrounding Tocchet and his staff as they try to navigate through an 82-game season in the NHL.
When the schedule comes out in the summer, Tocchet will examine it and map out days in which he hopes his hockey club will be able to practice. But once the season comes along, Tocchet will read the energy level of his team, communicate with his leadership group to see where the team is at, and then plan accordingly.
After a recent home game against Carolina, Tocchet cancelled practice the day before his team害羞草研究所檚 next game against Tampa Bay. The move paid dividends as the Canucks defeated the Lightning 4-1. On this occasion it was the right call, but as Tocchet will admit, there are no guarantees.
害羞草研究所淚 think that (reading your team) is huge and I think that comes from experience. I害羞草研究所檝e learned from other coaches when to push or when to back off. There are some times when the team doesn害羞草研究所檛 want to be pushed because they害羞草研究所檙e tired but you have to be the bad guy and say 害羞草研究所榥o, we害羞草研究所檙e practicing today害羞草研究所� and we害羞草研究所檙e going to go 25 minutes and you害羞草研究所檙e going to have to push through because I believe in the long run this practice will teach us to push through in certain situations. You have to find the sweet spot as a coach and that害羞草研究所檚 experience. Hopefully nine out of ten times it害羞草研究所檚 the right call but sometimes you make a mistake,害羞草研究所� explained Tocchet.
Another weapon at Tocchet害羞草研究所檚 disposal is to keep practices fresh by changing up drills and routines but sometimes such moves are met with resistance.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 funny because some times I want to add new drills and the players want the same stuff, so it害羞草研究所檚 give-and-take. I still think in the dog days you have to come up with some freshness in practice to get some fun drills with competition. Players like competition and I害羞草研究所檓 a big believer in competition,害羞草研究所� said Tocchet, who adds he sometimes will throw in a reward as incentive.
As we mentioned in part one of this story that can be found here, practices in today害羞草研究所檚 era are shorter than when Tocchet played.
Tempo is a key to any successful practice but a practice can come to a standstill when coaches have to stop a drill to correct mistakes or explain things. After all, you don害羞草研究所檛 want your players developing bad habits.
害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 like going to the (dry) board very often. Maybe once a practice, maybe twice. But to me, when you have drills and you keep going to the board and talking to players, you lose your tempo. You have to find that balance,害羞草研究所� Tocchet noted.
One thing that tempo does help with is players being forced to communicate with one another. Much like a game situation, players will make the necessary corrections by communicating with themselves.
害羞草研究所淚f you害羞草研究所檝e got a really good leadership group, guys will correct their mistakes on the bench as the drill is going on. So a guy makes a mistake. As he害羞草研究所檚 on the bench for those 30 seconds before he goes out again - whether it害羞草研究所檚 a coach or player -they害羞草研究所檒l talk and correct the mistake. Whereas when we stop the drill and go to the board, you lose the tempo,害羞草研究所� said Tocchet.
Another key for Tocchet and his staff is to not only teach players their individual responsibilities within the team害羞草研究所檚 structure but to understand the overall concept of what is going on.
害羞草研究所淚 think when you teach, you just don害羞草研究所檛 tell the winger to go here and that害羞草研究所檚 your job. No 害羞草研究所� we want to teach you the whole concept. The winger has to know why we want the center here and why we want our defense here,害羞草研究所� said Tocchet. 害羞草研究所淚f we害羞草研究所檙e in a meeting, the winger can害羞草研究所檛 shut his brain off because we are talking about the defensemen. He should know what害羞草研究所檚 going on because he might be in that position at some point. It might not happen all the time but there might be a time when he is in that position.
害羞草研究所淪o in those meetings or practices where he was paying attention, it will make a big difference.害羞草研究所�
OVERTIME:
* The Canucks ended their four-game road trip with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, securing six out of a possible eight points on the trip. Vancouver got goals from Brock Boeser, Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua. For Joshua, he continued his strong play as of late with his fourth goal in his last five games.
* Vancouver went 0 for 3 on the power play and finished the road trip 1 for 15 with the man advantage.
害羞草研究所淥ur energy wasn害羞草研究所檛 there. When you don害羞草研究所檛 have energy on the power play, it害羞草研究所檚 tough but we had a couple of looks. Power plays are ebbs and flows. It won us a lot of hockey games early and got us to where we are at. I害羞草研究所檓 not worried 害羞草研究所� we害羞草研究所檙e still getting some good looks,害羞草研究所� Tocchet said post-game when the subject was broached.
* The point earned against the Stars pulled the Canucks into a tie with Vegas for first place in the NHL害羞草研究所檚 overall standings with both teams accumulating 47 points in 34 games.
* Forward Andrei Kuzmenko was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.
* The Canucks now return home for a game against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night prior to the Christmas break. San Jose limps into Vancouver having lost four straight games.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 害羞草研究所渢he Moj害羞草研究所� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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