THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS
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| Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews |
Right off the top, a big congrats to the Edmonton Oil Kings on their second WHL Championship in the last 3 years. Also congrats to the Portland Winterhawks on a great series. I was proven way wrong in this one. I picked the Hawks in 5, didn’t think the Oil Kings had what it took to beat them, especially after going down 2-0 after the first two games, but we all know what happened after that.
What’s so unbelievable about the Winterhawks is that since January 8th, 31 regular season games, they lost just twice and once was in a shootout. In the playoffs they lost just two games out of 14 before the Edmonton series. They won games 1 and 2 against the Oil Kings but then lost four of five. This was a team hadn’t lost consecutive games in four months.
I was very interested what would happen in game 7 after Edmonton blew the three-goal lead in Game 6 to lose at home. The Oil Kings bounced back very well and were the much better team in the deciding game. They gave up the first goal but then never looked back. A very solid performance in a tough building.
The Tri-City Americans have found their replacement at head coach. Last week the Ams decided not to renew Jim Hiller’s contract and yesterday announced the hiring of Mike Williamson. Williamson was let go by the Calgary Hitmen after their disappointing first round exit this year.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have been busy in the last week making a couple trades. First they sent Kolten Olenyk to the Moose Jaw Warriors for Miles Warkentine. Then they traded a 4th round pick to Kamloops for goaltender Justin Myles. Former Pat Teagan Sacher will have some competition in camp in Lethbridge.
Some of you will remember my quick quip last week in this column about the fact that only one Regina kid was taken in the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft and just 25 Saskatchewan kids were selected overall. Well I decided to go to the Saskatchewan Hockey Association and had a chat with GM Kelly McClintock. Here is what he said about the whole situation when it comes to hockey in the province:
“I think that, one we knew this age group was probably, from a skill development level, lower than what we’ve seen in the last few years. A lot of concerns that we have come in to play; we are getting feed back from all teams at the elite level that today’s player just doesn’t have the individual skills that they need to have. For us that’s a concern because we try to focus on skill development as much as we can in our coach education.
“But I think at times the desire to win and see teams be successful from a winning perspective sometimes changes the philosophies of coaches at minor hockey that it’s got to be all systems work and less focus on skill work. At a younger age group sometimes the bigger kids. or kids that have done it a little more, will shine through. But once kids start getting into that 14-17 age range, that’s when we find out if they can play or they can’t play. That’s where the deficiencies in skating and puck skills and hockey IQ all come into play.”
McClintock says their goal is to change this philosophy.
“We’ve got a coach mentorship going for the last few years. We focus a lot on the younger ages and trying to get people to focus more and more on skill development. First thing is, if you can’t skate it doesn’t matter what system they play at an older age group. If you can’t skate or pass the puck, you’re not going to play in any type of system.
“So if you can focus more so on those individual skills and less on the systems at those younger ages, you will have success. Perfect example is Sweden who used to focus, primarily, 90 percent of their practice was skills. They turned it around as a federation and went towards more systems, they started doing very poorly but now they’re back to their whole focus on skill development. You are seeing the success of the Swedes internationally and you are seeing a lot of good Swedes coming to play at an elite level.”
It’s an interesting situation and here’s hoping things turn around in the province.
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SLAPSHOTS
– Former Regina Pats captain Garett Mitchell has signed a new contract with the Washington Capitals. It’s a one year, two-way deal for the Regina product. Mitchell played in just 17 games last year with the Hershey Bears of the AHL before an injury ended his season.
– Another former Pat, Jordan Weal, is up with the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL. The fourth all-time leading scorer for the Pats got the call up after the Manchester Monarchs were eliminated from the playoffs. Weal is coming off a monster season where he finished fifth in AHL scoring with 70 points. I doubt that he will see any action in the playoffs but it should be a good experience for him.
– Speaking of the NHL, this second round of the playoffs has been just as good as the first. Usually there is a bit of a drop off in the excitement but I wouldn’t say that’s true this year. We will have Boston host Montreal in a game 7 tonight and Anaheim will look to close out on the road in Los Angeles. Both of these series have been great to watch. I’ve got the Bruins tonight and I think the Kings will force a Game 7.
– Pittsburgh is out … Henrik Lundquist was fantastic allowing just one goal and the New York Rangers are on to the Eastern Conference finals. Their opponent is either Boston or Montreal. The Penguins again go home disappointed. I wonder what happens next for that organization. You can’t hang this one on Marc-Andre Fleury.
– The Chicago Blackhawks are back into the Western Conference finals. Patrick Kane’s fourth career OT winner in the playoffs allowed the Hawks to beat the Wild in Game 6, 2-1. I know most people don’t consider Corey Crawford an elite goaltender but he was last night in Game 6 making 34 saves. He was the difference.
– And lastly a shoutout to Shae Paisley at Prairie Mobile Communications for having my wife and I out at Taste of Spring on Friday night. Big thanks for a great night!
That’s it for today, have a good week.
Phil
@PhilTheThrill18
(To sponsor the Wednesday Thriller email ridervoice@yahoo.ca)
Get back to the pond, where young kids once used their own hockey Imaginations to dream play the NHL dream.
More Habs haters on here . Get a Life.
Great addition to the blog Roddy! Couldn't agree more with what McClintock has to say, however he's a big part of the problem and needs to be replaced. McClintock is good in the media and says the right things, however when you get him in a room of coaches and try bouncing ideas off of him he's closed minded and isn't willing to hear suggestions from guys who have played the game and know what the problem is. Throw out the Hockey Canada skill manuals and get back to a higher practice to game ratio at the younger ages, plain… Read more »
Excellent post Anon, have a feeling I know how you are and with you're experience in SK hockey you would know. Another problem today is hockey is just to expensive to play, my wife and I have a good jobs, live comfortably but are a little nervous of potential costs coming to us as our son is showing his skill set could lead him to tier hockey. I'm saddened at how many parents simply aren't able to afford to have their children move onto Tier or some talk them into other sports because of cost….plain and simple, the best kids… Read more »
Great blog Phil. A lot of good comments about the need for more emphasis on skills at a young age and, most importantly, making hockey more affordable for folks to get their kids into this great sport. Grapes even talked about it during the Olympics about how ridiculous the cost of playing the game is and how it's leading a lot of kids to play something else. Something has to be done and I hope that whoever takes on the role of CEO at Hockey Canada makes this a top priority. I don't know what that all would involve but… Read more »
Nicholson stepped down at the right time, he's not a dumb guy, he knows the next 5 years of young talent coming through the pipeline is not going to be strong for our country's program. Mark my word, after this year's World Junior championship will conclude and we're not golden people will be crying from another summit and you know what is going to hit the fan. We aren't the hockey super-power we once were (at the Under 25 level) anymore…the Americans youth and junior development program is very strong and will be succesful in the next 5 years along… Read more »
If there is ever a groundswell to get rid of Kelly McClintock then basically switch your kids over to another sport because the Looney Tunes will have won. Do you think he and SHA sit around and make this stuff up? It starts first and foremost with these Hockey Associations. When seasons conclude SHA goes to the various Jr teams in this Province to identify the gaps as to why something is not working. Now it is naive to think every kid in minor hockey is going to play Jr or at an elite level. Having stated that why can… Read more »
Hey when kids in Bantam are dumping the puck 2 ft before the red line with no correction, and the Head Coach is their solely so his kid can play that's your problem right there. Why would a good person want to volunteer and put up with the crap? Go and look at what Regina Minor Football did to turn their program around, and watch how it has exploded in terms of growth and popularity. Hockey has way to many agendas, and the guys involved with Coaching it for the most part are good people. However there are a lot… Read more »
Morning Remple!
Hockey Regina Atom Tier 1 team experience. Head Coach taught systems, played a Power Play, a Penalty Kill with the same players and double shifted his top line. Then you wonder why kids quit, paretns get upset, and nobody enjoys themselves. Bantam Tier 2 experience. Parents complain all winter about why systems are not being implemented. Assistant Coaches mutiny the Head Coach and he fires both of them. Then you wonder why kids quit, parents are upset, and nobody enjoys themselves. Our experience in Hockey has been to register our son and then seriously pray he does not wind up… Read more »
Quite frankly, SHA should follow what other associations have done: TIER TEAM – If a qualified (Coaching qualifications/certifications and experience) coach with no kids or family ties to the potential team should always be first consideration over a parent. Assistant coaches should be looked upon in the same manor. – Younger tier teams skill, skill and skill and hockey IQ/video. – Older teams, original IQ thinking, freedom to be creative and make mistakes. Skills, practice and positional play are the focus not systems. HOUSE TEAMS – qualified coaches, parents or non but a big emphasis on fun. TIMBIT PROGRAM –… Read more »
Great post today and thought I'd chime in with my own thoughts. To me, I think it's a mistake to make a huge knee jerk reaction regarding the 2014 draft and only having 1 Regina kid picked. Sure, it's a bit of a sore spot for Hockey Regina and even the SHA to an extent, but stuff happens. I coach Bantam AAA out in Alberta and this year had 4 of my kids picked, while 2 years ago I had none picked. I've coached both of my boys' groups from Initiation up, and agree that more focus needs to be… Read more »
@Alberta Coach, How can the kids get better at skating when there is no ice time available to practice? Nobody wants to play 10 months out of the year, but Spring Hockey and then hockey camps seem to be the only way to get the ice time to just keep up which is so unfortunate. We played hockey in a small town. The local rink was always open and you could skate until your legs swelled up or toes froze. These kids can't do that so it's all or nothing. Focus on elite where it's extremely intense or go the… Read more »
From reading the comments it seems that there are plenty of things that can be improved on regarding hockey and that there are a lot of opinions on how to fix them. Therefore, why not have a hockey summit? Is there any downside in doing so? I think having a roundtable discussion with all the stakeholders involved isn't a bad thing at all. Get everyone together and have an honest discussion as to where Canadian hockey is at, where it needs to go and how it's going to get there. Leave no stone unturned and do not let stupid politics… Read more »
The argument regarding kids not getting into hockey because equipment and ice time is too expensive is a solid one. How do we go about fixing this? I doubt that you can go to equipment manufacturers and just tell them to slash their prices. The other side is you can't build lesser quality equipment and compromise safety, that's not on either. So what do we do? With ice time, do we go about building more rinks? Is that even an option? Government tax incentives?
Co-Operators has a 3 on 3 program for $240 with a 10 game guarantee. Sshh don't tell anyone. To put two extra guys on the ice to make it 5 on 5 would this be a problem? Again sshh don't tell anyone. Everyone behaves normal there and the kids manage themselves. Sshh don't tell anyone.
@AnonIMHO, leg strength is the key to a strong, powerful stride. You can do dryland training to improve leg strength, which then improves skating speed. I've spent (wasted) a ton of dough over the years on power skating schools in the summer. The kids get their strides broken down into various components over the course of the week, and then at the end of the camp when they finish off with scrimmaging….they all revert back to their normal strides. The really good skaters are those with powerful lower bodies. Developing powerful lower bodies can be done off the ice in… Read more »
The Power Skating can't be done just on those week long camps.
Brent Bobyck runs Power Skating year long and very early in the morning. Power Skating and sticking with that is the key.
Coaches need to incorporate it into the practice plan. Problem is most Coaches can't skate.
The kids need to get on the ice, any sheet of ice whether it's outdoor or whatever and skate, skate, skate.
Interesting idea. So perhaps as part of getting your coaching certificate, coaches should be required to take a short power-skating course to teach the fundamentals to kids? Not every kid's family can afford power skating or hockey school and this could be a way to teach them those skills so they can work on them on their own time when they are out on the outdoor rink with their friends. This course could be for skating and also proper puck handling, passing and shooting. It doesn't have to be a week-long thing or get too in-depth, just to get the… Read more »
Dryland training? Power Skating? Dryland training in my day was called going outside and playing. Bottom line is you get 25 games and tournaments and if you are lucky maybe 20 practices. More practices if you want to pay for out of town ice time. The coaching certification is nothing more than a cash grab, but I can see why it needs to be there. No, they need to start getting forward Junior or Midget AAA players to feel the need to give back. Get away from the non parent coaches, lower the cost and let everyone play. If you… Read more »