This article is about my Squirt B1 travel team but may ring some bells to any dad’s or mom’s out there across the country coaching their son or daughter. I have many tips for players, parents and coaches of squirt players that I have related to my team. I have a feeling that many parent coaches all over the country will relate to my team-maybe smiling as they read this or laughing to themselves. The squirt level is the beginning of players being able to grasp the concepts and game strategy of hockey. After a bumpy start, I am proud to say that my squirt team is now , (it took until Christmas mind you), acting ,looking, and playing like a real hockey team.
The first month of practices… The best way to describe it is an old eighties song by Guns and Roses called “ Welcome to the Jungle”. At one point my two assistant coaches -Bruce and Jim - and fellow Dads and I had to walk outside the locker room, take a deep breath and come back in. I am not going to mention names in this Welcome to the Jungle phase…One guy liked to rip the velcro on and off of his chest pad methodically to make a really pleasant sound while cawing like a prehistoric bird, another guy would add a really piercing monkey call of the wild, my daughter would be dancing and singing in her own world, EVERYONE felt the need to talk, squawk or sing louder than the next, it was so loud you could not hear yourself think. Put it this way: it was a wild and crazy crew.
Ordering the rings may be a little premature but I am proud to say that the Needham Rocket Squirt B1’s are on their way to greatness. My intense practices are starting to pay off not only in our game record but the way we are playing as a team. The locker room song that now comes to my head is “ I’m Winning” by Santana. Everyone is finding their niche and is mastering an individual skill that is fine tuning our team into a well oiled machine. The concepts that my players are mastering are skills that squirts all over the country have the capability to grasp physically and mentally and is a good guide of skill development expectations for all parent coaches.
Meet the players…and some skills that will relate to all squirt teams.
- Alex - he is our stay at home defenseman, he reminds me of NHL Dman Rod Langway. Being reliable in your own end is a specific and needed role on every team. When you have a stay at home defenseman work with them specifically in their end. Teach them to DAP-I learned this while playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins being coached by Kevin Constantine. It means Defenseman Against Post. In a scrum-the stay at home D should DAP.
- Alexa - she is a beautiful skater with a long stride. She can not get lazy and needs to use her talented skating to not get beaten to the puck. She is good passer and racking up the assists. Great skaters on the team need master a few good passing strategies from the slot.
- Ben(Beans) - he is our versatile forward. At the squirt level, everyone is still bunching up on the ice. I am teaching the team to spread out and get into positions, do not cluster.
- Brett - he is dominating in the corners. Larger players on the team need to use their size and strength. Everyone must capitalize on their strengths and work on their weaknesses. Small victories, winning small battles all over the ice is the philosophy of my signature BATTLE CAMP.
- Brian - he is a our big offensive defenseman. A Dman jumping into the play is an awesome addition to every team but you need to know that you are responsible for getting back. Offensive Defenseman need to be highly conditioned-you can not get beaten on your way back to your end.
- Callen - he is a physically strong player. Squirts need to learn to use their arm strength now-when a pass comes you need to tighten up your lower hand on the shaft and use arm strength while adapting the soft hands touch of cradling the puck… Squirts can master this stick handling skill with PRACTICE AT HOME.
- Cam - he is a buzzing bee, a grinder. He is making smart decisions on the ice at a young age. Parents of squirts should watch NHL games with their children. Discuss a play or two with them. The squirt level is the first phase of mentally being ready to make decisions on the ice not just reacting.
- Dean - he is our dangler and drives the net. Good things happen when the power forward on the team drives the net-keep driving. Encourage talented goal scores to keep driving the net, skate hard as you can every shift to get to the net.
- Daniel - he is our gifted player. He may lose the puck at the blueline due to the typical squirt level congestion. You can teach power forwards to to use their speed to take the puck wide and avoid the center congestion that squirts tend to gravitate to.
- Harrisson - he is the most versatile player on our team. He can play every position and is our Mr. Reliable as a forward and defenseman. All teams need versatile players. Squirts at this level that play all forward positions and defense should continue to do so. I did not switch to defense until I was in prep school. Every team needs versatile players.
- Joe - he is our sniper. He is a team motivator and an example of a player who can be motivated and pushed. The other day on the bench I told him that I scored 7 goals in a single game as a squirt. He told me “ he could do that” and he did.
- Kate - she is a gritty grinding player who has a bomb for a shot. She needs to work on her accuracy and will be one of our leading scorers. I tell my campers that I used to shoot five hundred pucks a day. Well, I in fact did this and went on to break the all time scoring record for a defenseman in the AHL. Keep shooting at home.
- Matt - he is our center who always helps out down low in our own end. This is a pivotal position and important for centers to learn at a young age. They have the responsibility to go back and help the D.
- Max - he is our goal scorer. He is big and strong and has a rocket of a shot. He can lift the puck beautifully but I want him to keep it on the ice more and he will get a lot more goals. 80% of goals scored in the NHL are on the ice-remember that.
- Mike - he is our mule. I told the kids that in the NHL we call Defensemen the mules. He is proud to be a mule and asked me to call him that. Mike is a hard worker and that is exactly what mules have to do. Dmen do not get all the glory but are the nuts and bolts to a hockey team.
- Tim - he is our goalie. He is our house. We all need to protect our House. He is working with a special goalie coach a couple of times a week and it shows. Squirt goalies need one on one time with goalie specific coaches beginning at this level. Tim is not afraid of the puck and it shows.
Last, but not least,
- Chubby - he is our mascot. Dean brought him to the team. He is a big stuffed penguin that we all love and is bringing us good luck. Sometimes he sits on the bench or watches from the penalty box. He loves to be on the ice with our team and is a Squirt B1 Needham Rocket.
In Closing, I am having so much fun watching my squirts improve and come together as a team. I am coaching my daughter and love every minute of it. Hockey is the best sport, period. The travel, the late night and early morning practices, the locker room, the families, the bonds of friendship, sportsmanship, speed… Our team Christmas party brought all the kids together and marked the date I believe that they all got to know each other and became friends, not only teammates. I look forward to the second half of our season and tournament in March in Lake Placid, New York. Hope the tips for my squirt team are helpful to other parent coaches involved in USA Hockey.
Sincerely,
– Dad and Coach
BRUINS
