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 sa国际传媒� 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 teamsa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淚 think that (reading your team) is huge and I think that comes from experience. Isa国际传媒檝e learned from other coaches when to push or when to back off. There are some times when the team doesnsa国际传媒檛 want to be pushed because theysa国际传媒檙e tired but you have to be the bad guy and say sa国际传媒榥o, wesa国际传媒檙e practicing todaysa国际传媒� and wesa国际传媒檙e going to go 25 minutes and yousa国际传媒檙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 thatsa国际传媒檚 experience. Hopefully nine out of ten times itsa国际传媒檚 the right call but sometimes you make a mistake,sa国际传媒� explained Tocchet.
Another weapon at Tocchetsa国际传媒檚 disposal is to keep practices fresh by changing up drills and routines but sometimes such moves are met with resistance.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 funny because some times I want to add new drills and the players want the same stuff, so itsa国际传媒檚 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 Isa国际传媒檓 a big believer in competition,sa国际传媒� 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 todaysa国际传媒檚 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 donsa国际传媒檛 want your players developing bad habits.
sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 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,sa国际传媒� 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.
sa国际传媒淚f yousa国际传媒檝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 hesa国际传媒檚 on the bench for those 30 seconds before he goes out again - whether itsa国际传媒檚 a coach or player -theysa国际传媒檒l talk and correct the mistake. Whereas when we stop the drill and go to the board, you lose the tempo,sa国际传媒� said Tocchet.
Another key for Tocchet and his staff is to not only teach players their individual responsibilities within the teamsa国际传媒檚 structure but to understand the overall concept of what is going on.
sa国际传媒淚 think when you teach, you just donsa国际传媒檛 tell the winger to go here and thatsa国际传媒檚 your job. No sa国际传媒� 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,sa国际传媒� said Tocchet. sa国际传媒淚f wesa国际传媒檙e in a meeting, the winger cansa国际传媒檛 shut his brain off because we are talking about the defensemen. He should know whatsa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淪o in those meetings or practices where he was paying attention, it will make a big difference.sa国际传媒�
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.
sa国际传媒淥ur energy wasnsa国际传媒檛 there. When you donsa国际传媒檛 have energy on the power play, itsa国际传媒檚 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. Isa国际传媒檓 not worried sa国际传媒� wesa国际传媒檙e still getting some good looks,sa国际传媒� 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 NHLsa国际传媒檚 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 sa国际传媒渢he Mojsa国际传媒� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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