Can You See Me Now? Positioning Yourself More Prominently for Junior and College Hockey Coaches
Can You See Me Now? Positioning Yourself More Prominently for Junior and College Hockey Coaches
by Mike Bowman
Mike_Bowman78@yahoo.com
So you want to continue your path of development towards professional hockey. How do you get the opportunities to play for the sought-after leagues and teams on the way up? Obviously there are the players that most coaches know about and follow. But how do you increase your chances of being in that group? How do you avoid becoming the hockey equivalent of Where’s Waldo in a large talent pool? While there is no exact answer, there are several things that make you more marketable than the pack. I will break it down general practices and by position to better help you understand what you can do to increase your marketability. But beware, first and foremost if you cannot perform and play at a high level, this is meaningless.
One of the things players can do to market themselves is start a YouTube page. Capture, edit and post videos of your performances during games, your work ethic and skill demonstration at practice and off-ice, and some of the extra work you do away from the rink and gym. Make sure during the hockey highlights you spot-shadow yourself at the beginning of each clip. Keep each video short (2-3 minutes). This can be used to send to coaches that have not seen you play. It’s the new form of sending a dvd to a coach. Send them the links instead, via email. Here’s a tip about filming - try to keep the camera focused on you and the area in a 20-foot radius or so around you. Mix it up occasionally, when relevant, with whole zone or ice clips, making sure we can see you. It’s important for coaches to see what’s going on away from the puck, so they can evaluate the decisions you make.
Another thing everyone can do is go to a couple showcases early in your playing days, to start getting your name out there. It’s important to continually see what’s out there that is better than what you are used to, so you constantly raise the bar for your own training. Never get blinded and fooled by judging yourself only against those in your immediate circle. The hockey world is big, and you are essentially competing against players from all over the world. Showcases that are heavily scouted are a good place to start. Dress the part, too. If you show up to an event with shirt and tie, when others are wearing cargo shorts and t-shirts, people will know you mean business. Your presentation when you walk into the rink, and out of the locker room after a game, is a big first-impression to the person you are and why you are there. Don’t take any shifts off when you are there. The reality is that most scouts are not going to watch a whole game. You may only have one shift to catch their eye, and you never know when it will be. It would behoove you to play every shift like it’s your last, leaving it all on the ice with 30-40 seconds of intensity.
Focus on your education. It may be one of the most important things you ever do to set up the rest of your life. If you don’t make it to the pro’s, you’ll have an education to fall back on to help secure a successful career and raise a family. If you do make it to the pro’s, that extra 4 years of development will be critical in allowing you to compete and execute at that level. The better your educational achievements leading up to college, the more opportunities you will have, regardless of what path you end up taking in life.
Limit your social media use. If you find it absolutely necessary to have the accounts, make sure you are very cautious about what you are posting and what people post to you. Many organizations and colleges will check out social media profiles to get a glimpse at what they can expect from you. Don’t give them ammunition to fire at you. If you are active, make sure it’s in the right areas — hockey, education, life improvement, etc. Keep it clean and professional, and limit your social media use to 1 hour a day, maximum. Shut off the phone, iPad and computer after 9pm, to avoid distractions which will prevent you from getting a good nights sleep.
Finally, use your off-season wisely. That is the biggest opportunity to make strides ahead of your competition and plant the seeds for what can sprout during the season. It’s a great opportunity to get bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled. Take whatever time off you need after the season to recharge. Then ease your way back into the grind. Be careful not to overtrain though. Your body will tell you when it needs a break. Listen to it. But when you are in recovery mode, make sure you are doing things conducive to recovery - rest, sleep, eat right, relax, have some fun. Then when you are fully recovered, get back at it. And when it seems tedious to be out shooting 1000 pucks or running hills, don’t battle it. Turn it into a game. Create some competitions with friends. You’ll still be honing your skills but you won’t even realize it. A little distraction and misdirection for the mind will do wonders. If you can find a partner to train with you, go for it, making sure you push one another. If you can’t, don’t team up with somebody who will hold you back.
Position-by-position helpful tips:
Forwards: If you don’t excel off the charts at a specific asset of the game, such as goal-scoring, speed, physical play, etc., then you will need to be a complete player to get noticed. You should know when to move the puck, when to carry it, when to pass it and when to shoot it. As you move to the higher levels, one of the things that will separate you from the pack (unless you have Crosby or Ovechkin skill) is how you play away from the puck. Know who to back-check, know who to cover in the defensive zone, know how to support the puck, and know when to cover for ‘d’. Your ice awareness and vision on the ice are very important to coaches who need to know how you will fit in at a level where everyone’s skills are closely related. You need to be able to anticipate the play. That being said, when you are watching NHL games, start watching the players away from the puck. Watch what they do in relationship to the puck and their teammates and opponents. Watch where they go and what they do, and try to figure out why. Listen to the analysts, they’ll often times point it out. Watch the studio analyst and breakdowns during intermission. There is a lot to be learned when play is stopped.
Defensemen: The biggest thing I feel will help you out is to have an identity. What does that mean? Well, if I asked you to describe your game, you should be able to do so in just a couple words — Stay-at-home, puck-moving, offensive, tight checking, fast and skilled — you get the picture. If your game is not specific, you run the risk of blending. Become very good at something to get your foot in the door at a higher level to a team that needs a player with your assets. It seems to be true these days that defense is becoming a lost art. So much emphasis is put on defensemen that can wheel the puck and add offense, that many d-men aren’t up to speed on what they should be doing in the defensive zone. That’s amazing, considering it’s the primary job of the position. So while speed up and down the ice is important, what is more noticeable to someone watching ‘defense’ is your acceleration and quickness to the corner and back to the front of the net. It’s so important at higher levels. Equally important is your gap control. Can you gap up when the puck is being brought towards your end? Are you in position to be able to make a play at your defending blue-line? Can you slow the rush and limit the options enough to allow the back check to take over? Also, when you are the d-man away from the puck in the d-zone, do you know where your guy is? Are you gapped out on him while maintaining good position relative to the net? Finally, can you identify at any point in time where all five of your opponents are on the ice. If so, you are on the right track to playing at a higher level.
Goaltenders: A lot of coaches will tell you one thing when it comes to how the look at goaltenders: Can you stop the puck? That’s the most important thing. A lot of coaches are not concerned with how you look doing it. As long as you are battling, and making the stops. It’s all about results. That being said, I strongly advise you consider goaltending clinics and camps with good instructors to constantly improve your game (Steve Briere, goaltender coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, runs a solid set of camps over the summer with the Canadian Professional Goaltender Schools. There are many options out there, choose the one that’s right for you). Also in line with that, find someone who will work with you during your seasons. Even if it’s remote and through video, find someone that will give you feedback and drills to improve your weaknesses. That will go a long way in your development. It may also provide you the opportunity to play on some top-level teams, because often times these high-quality goaltending coaches and consultants are the go-to guru’s when coaches are looking for their next show-stopping goalie, and most coaches always are. When you do your filming for highlight video, make sure you are filming enough space to show angles, depth and as much of the zone as possible. It helps put your game into perspective. Also, looking specifically at statistics, save percentage is usually a good indicator of your ability to stop the puck. Wins depends on your team and competition, as does goals against average, to a much larger extent than save %. While quality of opportunities and shots against play a role in save % as well, that’s something that can be brought to light with you highlight video. A final tip: Your highlight video should not include exclusively show-stopping saves. Make sure the routine ones are on there too. That’s your bread and butter.
In summary, the bottom line is this: ultimately, it’s up to you. How hard you work, how much you develop, the sacrifices you make, your emphasis on self-improvement and the presence you establish in the hockey community. Do everything you can to help make yourself marketable, and be sure to be able to execute when you get the opportunity. Avoid things that would be a detriment to your character. Work so hard and smart that a program you want to play for cannot turn you down. That’s the ultimate goal. If you strive to be at that level, and plan and develop accordingly, you cannot go wrong. If you want to consider a consulting service that will help get you exposure and steer you in the right direction, email me and I’ll refer you and answer any questions.
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