In August, my summer of hockey experiences around the world continued with a trip to Prague for the Czech Hockey Challenge Cup.
Unlike last month, when I spent two weeks in the hockey "hotbed" of Israel player/coaching Team USA Masters in the World Maccabiah Games, this time I was coaching the 2004 birth year Pro Ambitions Seals Team and doing it in a country that absolutely LOVES its hockey. This was another opportunity to see a part of the world that I had never been to before, and to do something at a level that was new to me. But first, a little background information on how this all came about.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I love to talk. I am always happy and willing to meet with people to catch up and hear what’s going on in their life and business.
And while I have lived in the Boston area for only five years now, I have been fortunate to meet many people who share a similar passion for hockey and business. So while having a coffee in late 2016 with the owner (and now a good friend) of Pro Ambitions, Jeff Serowik, he told me about this team he had helped put together the previous summer and asked if I would be interested in coaching it for this summer’s tournament. I told him I would be very happy to talk about this more, so he put me in touch with his partner in the team, Bob O’Connell, who provided me with further details. After doing my due diligence, I agreed to coach the team, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Mind you, I had never coached a team full of 13-year-olds before. I have run hockey schools and clinics for that age group numerous times, but those are vastly different than being in charge of a team for an extended period. My only other true head coaching experience came in 2013 when I led the Open Team at the World Maccabiah Games (silver medal). I enjoyed that greatly, but that was a team of 18- to 30-year-olds. They were adults and the level of hockey was something I was used to. A few of my initial concerns about coaching a team of 13-year-olds were: 1. Would they be able to execute what I asked them to on the ice? 2. Would I be able to communicate well enough with a teenager that they respected me? 3. Would I be able to help make this a valuable life and hockey experience for them? I was not going to meet any of these players or their families until we all gathered in Prague, so that added another wrinkle to the situation.
With those questions in mind, I decided to approach the team as young men and women (we had one girl on the team) and told them so in our first meeting that everybody attended. I laid out my expectations and told both players and parents that if anybody had any issues/questions regarding hockey topics that it should come from the players and not the parents. Yes, we were there to have an amazing new life experience and it wasn’t a "win at all cost" tournament, but I understood that hockey was the driving force behind us all being in Prague. I love to win as much as the next person. I am also a big believer in taking responsibility for yourself and not having others handle it for you. Maybe I am too old school and kidding myself, but at 13 I felt the kids could handle that, and I am thrilled to report that they didn’t let me down. I had some great one-on-one and full-team discussions that were necessary and beneficial to the development of the team.
Speaking of developing as a team … what I am most proud of this group was how quickly it came together and improved every day. At our first practice (after a long day of travel) we got on the ice and had a tough time executing some of the most basic things. That didn’t shock me given that for most of these players this was the first time playing together and jet lag has a way of messing things up. After a "friendly" game the next day where we put together some lines and tried a few different things, I started to see camaraderie develop and plays start to happen. Off the ice I also noticed good stuff happening with the players. No team has everybody being best buddies, but I could tell strong connections were being made, and that translated to our on-ice performance.
The tournament had eight teams. We were the only non-Czech team in our division, while the other bracket had Czech, Swedish and Canadian teams. We went 1-2 in the round-robin portion, including a hard-fought loss to the Kladno team (Jaromir Jagr’s hometown) that was an intense, physical and very high-paced game. The team responded beautifully, though, and won the consolation bracket by beating another Czech team and then the Canadians (always nice!). We finished 3-2, but more importantly, the players improved throughout the tournament and showed me the ability to take a game plan and execute it. For example, when the games began, we had no net-front presence. By the end of the games, we were creating numerous scoring chances off of rebounds because we always had a player in the area. Also, I asked our defensemen to limit extra passes and to "take ice" as much as possible to push the play. As a group, they became very efficient at that and our pace of play picked up tremendously.
In the end, I am thrilled I accepted this offer to coach the team. Besides the enjoyment from coaching, I was able to experience the beauty of Prague, take in the historic sights, and get a feel for the Czech culture (understatement time: they do enjoy their beer!). I hope I was able to impart some hockey and life wisdom on the players, but I can tell you for certain they helped me grow as a person.
I’ve always said that coaching isn’t easy, but this served as a great reminder how involved it is. It is also the closest thing to playing, and I loved the rush of it. I will look to do more of it in the near future.
