Trying Your Best To Play Everyone
My excursion into the hotly contested "Development over Winning" debate
So this article came to fruition from this:
So here is that said story:
A couple years back I was the head coach of a full (18 skaters, 2 goalies) 16U AA team.
We were not a team filled with all-stars, but we had quality depth up and down the lineup. There was some skilled skaters, don’t get me wrong but I didn’t have any kids blowing the doors off the other teams.
From the get-go, I explained in my first parent’s meeting that I liked to roll my lines because the kids were still developing, that I would have PP/PK lines or groupings, but I needed all the players to get used to certain aspects of the game and the situations that occur. I did admit that ice time wasn’t going to be fair or balanced and that I will shorten the bench when needed. I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure the kids developed and were ready for 18U the following season while still being competitive that season.
The season started out a little slow, as the boys were used to a different coach from the season before and I wanted a bit more structure and responsibility amongst them as a team, so I was a bit more strict. We had a ton to work on skills and concepts wise, so I kept everything simple and had a progression in place.
But, I kept true to my word, that I was going to roll lines as best I could. There were times when kids got skipped over, and I was always willing to explain, one on one (with my assistant coach with us) to that player after the game why. Never heard a peep from those kids parent’s.
There were other parents though who had no problem going around saying “Trevor isn’t playing to win” and that I should be playing the more “Senior” players. Hell, one parent accidentally texted me instead of their son something along the effect of “Forget what Coach Trevor has to say, hurry up, get dressed and get the hell out of the locker room”.
At the midway point of the season, we were 8-4-2 (W-L-T). Though after Thanksgiving we went on a 1-3-1 slide. No matter, I kept pressing; doing extra off ice, weekly video sessions, sending players articles and videos I found online, and working on concepts and skills in practice. Around this time, we started introducing the overload and power-play breakout. That said, the turning point was just around the corner as we tied the 2nd place team 2 to 2 to end the year, a team that was averaging 5.1 goals per game and 1.7 against and lost 2 games all year.
Even in January I stuck to my guns, and while I trotted out a power play line now, I still gave other players opportunities on it, especially in practice.
Then came the time when the boys totally bought in and saw what we could accomplish.
We beat the 1st place team in the league, another offensive dynamo, 2 to 1. Then a month later for our first game of the state playoffs, against that same team, we went to sudden death double OT, only this time to lose. We finished the regular season 14-10-2 which was 7th place for playoffs and this is where the point of this story comes into play.
Our playoffs were single-elimination, and I was dealing with injuries like most teams. I lost probably my best overall center to a concussion and our first opponent was a team we struggled with all season at #6. That Thursday evening though, we beat them 2 to 0.
The next night, we played the 3rd place team, one we couldn’t beat all year, and won again 2-1. During this time, injuries are still continuing to pile up and the boys are getting gassed.
The next round was a best of 3, with the 3rd game being a full extra period of hockey after game 2 if needed (I know, let us play another game) and was played the very next day. Guess who we got to dance with?
Yep, the offensive dynamo who had a +94 goal differential that we beat once and lost to in the first round of state playoffs in double overtime. The same team who hadn’t played a single game yet and my players are walking into game 3 in less than 72 hours.
Long story short, we lost the first game 4 to 1, but we won the second game 2 to 0 (our 4th game in 96 hours). We ended up losing in that stupid extra OT “game” 2 to 0, essentially playing 4 straight games, with the last one going 4 periods.
So what’s the point of all that?
I would never have gotten that far without a) great goaltending as well as b) not playing my 4th line and 3rd defensive pairing.
Because of those injuries (I lost two forwards and a defenseman, plus another defenseman had foot issues) I NEEDED every single player in order to compete. Because those kids that certain parents thought shouldn’t be playing got the ice time during the season in critical situations, I was able to play them in those high pressured shifts because they were used to the demands it would take, while other teams trotted out the same 10 kids. I did nothing but play the kids that I had taken and tried to develop all of them further.
After the game, the opposition’s coach came over and told me, “Your team plays the game the right way”. I had numerous parents tell me how happy they were with the season, how great it was, and how their kids got so much out of it (it was top to bottom, not just those 4th line players’ parents blowing smoke). I was pretty happy with the job myself and my assistant did, as well as what the boys accomplished from buying in and working hard. I figured “Alright, now I’ve truly proven myself (despite three years prior taking 2nd in the league with a 12U team)”. I mean, we were one period away from going to the league championship as the #7 seed almost knocking off #1 and guess what….
… I was still labeled as a coach who doesn’t play to win and would later be taken off that team as head coach a year later with that stupid reputation being brought up and used against me as one of the reasons. Can’t win them all I guess.