As a coach, when you get to this point in the season, your foundation and structure are in place and you're really focusing on trusting the process, playing to the identity you established all year and trying to keep the focus into maxing out your team game and individual play at the same time.
But you're trying to keep your players as fresh as possible and engaged. That's all mental.
You don't want to overwhelm them with a big-picture scenario like we're going to need 93 or 94 points to get in. That's for coaches to focus on. For the players, you want to keep it simple, focusing on shorter-term goals.
For example, if you have three games that week, break it down into a segment and don't think about what comes after, because the big picture can be overwhelming to the players. They live and breathe every day through wins and losses in the standings. That's enough pressure.
It's key mentally to put a loss behind you and move on right away. You can't dwell on it, which for a coach is really hard because every loss feels like death when you're in this race, but you can't change it. Don't let your players sit in it. Control what you can control. That's the next day, the next game.
Tactically, there's a different approach.
As all coaches go through at this time of the year, it's that work-to-rest ratio. You want your players to be as fresh as possible, so you're managing the rest, the days off, the meetings, the practices.
If you have, for example, your No. 1 defenseman playing 24-25 minutes and a player who is skating fourth-line minutes, say, 9-10 minutes a night, their respective off day in between games will look very different. You may have a minutes-per-player skate the next day. If they play a lot and want to skate the next day, make it quick. Maybe the coach makes it optional. Maybe it's a maintenance day.
If you get a chance to have a full team practice, which is rare with the schedule so heavy on games right now, it's important at this time of the year to get your work done in 25 minutes and get them off the ice.
The first 10 minutes is about getting the pace going, the legs going, moving the puck, shooting and passing. The next 10, you focus on your structure and systems. It may be a correction from the game the night before or something specific you want to detail out about your next opponent.
At this point of the year, the last part of practice can provide an opportunity to focus on those crucial points of the game. The goalie pull, 6-on-5 or 5-on-6. Overtime, the 3-on-3. Quick line changes. All of those are details of the game that can earn your team an extra point or cost it a point. It's essential to work on these and you can do so without overloading the players.
Then it's individual work or skill work and get them off the ice.
A lot of coaching and teaching is done right now by video, and even in that I would say the video has to be shorter. Instead of focusing 20 or 30 minutes on the opponent, it's about the details of your own game at that point in time and getting your team game in order that is most important.
Morning skates should be completely optional at this point. Some players like them, some don't, so do whatever you have to do to get yourself ready for the game.
At the beginning of the season, we'll use the morning skates to work on special teams or something else specific, so it's important at the beginning of the year to have them. You use them as a mini practice. As the season stretches on, those are opportunities to rest your guys.
It's not even so much what's going on for the 12 minutes you're out there. It's the whole production of getting your gear on, getting your skates on, all of it. That takes a toll. If you don't need it, avoid it. Break the monotony and save all the energy for the games.
During games, the focus is on the start, getting to your game as quick as possible. Trying to establish a lead, playing with the lead, managing the puck early, dictating the pace of play. Again, after the first period, you bank it and prepare for the second period. You can mentally break the 60 minutes down into three 20-minute games. You can't dwell on a bad period. It's about momentum. Both teams are going to control parts of the game. Both are going to have highs and lows, and both are going to make mistakes. It's about getting back to your game quickly and trusting in the process.
But, again, when the horn sounds off and the game is over, win or lose, bank it and focus on the next one.
It's also a coach's job at this time of the year, particularly if you're in the playoff race, to know when to lighten the mood and to push down on the gas pedal. Identify your team's mental state and energy level and manage accordingly.
Players love playing meaningful games and you talk about that all year. Well, now you've got them, but you can't have the pressure of the moment consume you, so pull guys aside, have a quick chat for two or three minutes, check in, make sure they're ready to go and that their mind is where it needs to be.
There's a lot of pressure on these guys now. We know there are changes when teams don't make the playoffs, and we know that in a month, half the League is going home. It's hard to get into the playoffs with the parity now.
A coach has to embrace the pressure and manage it effectively while keeping the players fresh, ready and prepared to battle to the finish line.
