Whether you are a big-name NHL free agent trying to decide where to sign on July 1, or a junior hockey player trying to decide which NCAA program to commit to, or a 13-year-old trying to decide where to play AAA hockey next season, there is one common factor underlying all of these decisions: the importance of coaching. It doesn’t matter if the city you are in is fantastic, the fans are great, the rink is first-class, or the team is renowned for dedicating significant resources to players. If the coaching isn’t the right fit, your experience will be disappointing.
So what makes a good coach? I am going to lay out what I think are the five most important factors in a good coach-player relationship. And make no mistake, it is a two-way street. If you are lazy, inflexible, stubborn, selfish, or don’t buy in, not even an all-world level of coaching is going to save you. But let’s proceed on the assumption that you do a good job of controlling what you are able to control. What is most important when evaluating a coach?
1. Excellent Communicator
Hockey is the fastest game on the planet. Decisions have to be made in the blink of an eye, and no two plays are the same. There is no “running routes” in a hockey game, there’s no automatic change of possession after a team scores, and there’s no break after every single play where you get a moment to breathe, reassess and evaluate.
Given those parameters, there has to be constant communication between players and coaches. There must be two-way respect, and the ability to express how specific play developed and why the player reacted the way they did.
There was an era of hockey coaches who used a combination of fear, mind games and sarcasm to “control” players. Hockey seems to be mercifully moving away from this. Your coach needs to be able to dialogue with a player, communicate a framework, and allow the player to operate within that framework. Practice and post-game video are excellent opportunities to establish, develop and build on that framework. In-game communication can be used to tweak that framework, depending on the opponent.
2. Surrounds themselves with high-quality assistants
The staff that a coach surrounds themselves with is critical. Ideally, there is a diverse suite of skillsets across the coaches. The best staffs have both great offensive minds and defensive minds.
Coaches can sometimes surround themselves with people who think like them—who see the game in the exact same way. Even worse, there are some coaches that surround themselves with “yes-(wo)men.” Be especially wary of coaches who hire assistants who played for them. While this arrangement can be successful, I have found that to be the exception rather than the norm. For one, if an assistant played for a head coach, the head coach invariably has had significant influence on the development of the assistant in terms of how they see and think about the game. This doesn’t lend itself to diversity of thought on a staff.
Additionally, one of the most important functions a high-quality assistant coach can provide is a “sanity check.” Coaches are going to have dozens, if not hundreds, of different ideas throughout the course of a hockey season. They can take the form of system tweaks or changes, line combinations and lineup decisions, disciplinary actions or any number of other adjustments. A high-quality assistant will ideally support the head coach most of the time, but nobody is perfect, and not every idea an individual has is going to be a great one. A few times per season, a good assistant will be that “sanity check.” He or she will have the strength of character and conviction to say to the head coach, “I’m not sure this idea is the best way forward,” or “Maybe we try this instead.”
Ensuring that the best ideas are the ones that get advanced is ultimately the responsibility of the head coach, but having assistants around them whom they trust and respect is one of the most robust, sustainable pathways to ensuring that this occurs.
3. Is well respected in the hockey community
For many reasons, you want your coach to be respected by others in the hockey ecosystem. This respect will benefit the team in a number of ways. It can be seen in the ability recruit new players or new staff to the team. It might be effectively managing the referees during a game. It might be shielding players from the media. It might be helping his or her players move on to another team, a different league, advancing a younger player to the next level, helping a player manage a crisis off the ice, leveraging resources to help a player get out of a slump, or serving as a reference for whatever a player’s future endeavours might be. A coach that is well respected throughout the hockey community is going to be better able to help you as a player and as a person.
4. Has job stability
In any circumstance, you want a coach who is likely to be in their position for the long term. Coaching changes create turmoil, both for teams and for individual players. You want to play for a coach who is emotionally invested in the position they currently have. Stepping into a situation where the consensus is that the coach is on a short leash is one that should make you cautious. What has transpired that led to the coach being in that position? Is there reason to believe the situation is going to improve? Coaches who are coaching to protect their jobs often do things that are counterproductive to player development. They often become overly risk averse. They micromanage. The culture often suffers. It often becomes much less fun coming to the rink.
Additionally, any time you move to a new environment, there is an adjustment period. The more intricately you know a system, the faster you can play. You react instinctively rather than contemplating every manoeuvre. Especially if you can build this familiarity over multiple seasons, it can lead to meaningful improvements in performance.
Lastly, when you go through a coaching change, you never know exactly how you are going to fit with a new coach’s system. They may prioritize things that do not align with your skillset.
Whenever possible, you want to ensure that you are going into a situation where the coaching is stable. Note that, ideally, this extends to assistants as well. The greater stability across the staff, all else equal, the better the situation.
5. Has expertise in your specific position
Finally, wherever possible, you want to play for a head coach who views the game through the lens of the position that you play. All of the coaches that helped me the most during my playing career viewed the game through the eyes of a defenceman.
I’ve generally found that the benefits are twofold:
- First, they (hopefully) know the nuances of playing the position. At the highest levels, the difference between making plays and not making plays is so small that every little advantage helps. A coach who knows just the right piece of advice at just the right time can make a huge difference.
- Secondly, they (hopefully) know how to evaluate players at your position. They know what traits to value. Coaches who didn’t play a particular position are often simply drawn to the players at the position who make the most “splash” plays, but they miss the small nuances that make a player effective. This can be both a difficult and a highly frustrating environment to operate in.
How do I know?
The logical question becomes “How do I know if a coach possesses these skills if I have never played for them?” There are a couple of avenues to figure that out.
The first is, obviously, your player agent. Hopefully, they have had other clients play for the coach at some point, or are able to leverage their connections to harvest this information from somewhere in their network.
The second would be to take matters into your own hands. Get in touch with a few current or former players who have played for the coach in question. Listen carefully to the responses they provide, and cross-check them against the player’s current situation. Might they be motivated to say positive (or negative) things about the coach for one reason or another? As with nearly everything in the hockey world, you can be your own best resource and advocate!
Set yourself up for success
The more information you can gather about a potential coach (and their staff), the better chance you give yourself for success. Don’t go into a situation blind. Obviously, there are times when you don’t have a choice—if a team drafts you, you don’t get to pick the coach. But the more you can learn, the better you can mentally and physically prepare yourself for the environment you’ll encounter.
And in situations where you do have control over the process, don’t shortchange yourself. Coaching should be a factor you consider carefully when you decide where you want to play the next phase of your career!
