It’s the best time of year!!
We’re heading into playoff season where the games start to get a lot more intense. With the potential end of the season on the line, the passion ratchets up, the compete level rises, and we hang on every play as if it were the most important play of the year.
I’ve been fortunate to play and coach on some awesome championship teams – and I’ve also been a part of teams that underachieved at this time of year. Heading into playoff season, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it takes to win when the lights are brightest.
Through what I’ve learned from both the good and not-so-good experiences in the playoffs, I’d love to share the “ABC’s” for what it takes to win at this time of year.
Attention to Detail
Every inch matters during the playoffs. With the intensity rising, there’s less time and space on the ice. The margin for error also goes up ten-fold, with one missed assignment or mental mistake potentially spelling big trouble. When everyone is on their game at this time of year, it’s the attention to the little things that often lifts a team ahead.
How short are your shifts? At this time of year having fresh players on the ice is crucial.
Are you stopping at the net for second chance opportunities? More dirty, compete goals are scored at this time of year with everyone locking down defensively.
How good is your stick pressure? Sticks on the ice taking away passing lanes frustrates the other team leading to puck possession through turnovers and momentum.
Are you getting pucks out of your zone along the wall? Wall battles are at a premium in playoff hockey, and not winning these battles can lead to severe momentum swings, too much time defending in the Dzone, or pucks in the back of your net.
Teams that are good at the little things that don’t show up on the scoresheet put themselves in a position to win championships. Teams that are not detail oriented leave things to chance and are often eliminated early due to their lack of attention to detail.
Buy In
Teams that are bought in win. Teams that are not, don’t. It’s that simple.
So what do teams need to buy into?
Your structure. If all five players on the ice are doing their jobs, that’s really difficult to play against. When one person becomes selfish and wants to do it on their own, it leaves the others hanging. At this time of year, it has to be EVERYONE playing the structure together. Players should fully know your systems by now. If they don’t, that’s on us as coaches.
Your Identity. Every team has its own unique identity. A style of play, a culture, a manner of doing things. Understanding who you are as a team and playing towards that style and living it as a culture is a huge determining factor in winning in the playoffs. Every team I’ve been a part of that’s won a championship – we knew exactly who we were and we had complete and total buy in to that identity. Identity is EVERYTHING.
The logo on the front of the jersey. Every team I’ve been a part of that has won a championship has had a group of players bought into playing for something bigger than themselves.
For each other.
For the community.
For the logo on the front of the jersey.
The buy in to TEAM and playing for each other – it’s so powerful. The tighter your team is, the more you’ll play for each other. And the more you play for each other, the better you’ll perform at crunch time.
Playoff hockey comes with a lot of highs and lows, momentum swings, and opportunities to either get pulled apart…or come together…as a team. The teams that come together through adversity due to the strength of their culture and the love they have for each other – those are the teams giving themselves the best chance at lifting a trophy.
Compete
Hockey is a simple game. The team that wants the puck more at this time of year – typically wins. Sure there are tactical things you can do to gain an advantage, but if you get out-competed those advantages disappear real fast.
At playoff time, it’s easy to get up to compete. But the teams that win have a CONSISTENCY with which they compete. It’s wave after wave, shift after shift, player after player. It’s an intensity and urgency that suffocates the opposing team. Teams that win at this time of year are just flat out hard to play against. You have to earn every inch of ice.
Compete is a habit. You can’t just turn it on at important times. It has to be something that’s reinforced every day in practice, in skill sessions, and even off the ice. If you can consistently demand compete from your team, and your players embrace it, you’ll have a more consistently competitive team.
Who wants the puck more?
If you’ve coached your team to embrace that question, starting in how your approach it in practice, you’re putting your team in a position to succeed.
For all the coaches out there:
As you’re evaluating your team heading into the most fun time of year, where does your team land on the above ABC’s?
Attention to Detail: What are the 3-5 little things that you preach consistently, details that don’t show up on the scoresheet, that allow your team to be great? Reinforce the hell out of those little details of the game through practice planning, video, and your attention to detail coaching them up in practice.
Buy In: What is the identity that your team needs to continue to buy into? Over-communicate your values, standards, and culture. Reinforce the importance of everyone playing their role to the best of their ability within the team’s structure. And make sure you leave time for team building. Activities away from the rink to continue to strengthen the player bonds come in big time during this time of year.
Compete: What is your team’s level of compete? Leave room for battle in your practice plans as it’s a skill and a habit that always needs to be nurtured and developed. Sometimes at this time of year coaches will pull back out of fear of injury or wanting to keep players fresh. I think you should lean in to compete (while still being smart). Compete is not only a habit, but it’s also fun and great for team camaraderie in preparing the team to go to battle together!!
Playoff time is the BEST.TIME.OF.YEAR. It’s where champions are revealed through the growth and development of your team throughout the hard work put in during the year. And if you can be great at the ABC’s listed above, it will reinforce all the amazing work you’ve been doing preparing your team to hoist a trophy when the final buzzer sounds.
