27Apr 2015 by Jeremy Weiss 12 Comments
ADM: Teaching Competitiveness – The Practice-to-Game Ratio

ADM: Teaching Competitiveness – The Practice-to-Game Ratio

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy
ADM: Teaching Competitiveness - The Practice-to-Game Ratio In my previous article on ADM, I asked the question “what is the objective of ADM?” Is it to improve our top end? (i.e. Better performance on the world stage; more NHL’ers; etc.), or is it to keep more kids in the game for longer. In that article I made the statement that those two objectives have vastly different courses of action. You can check out the previous article here: ADM: What is Our Objective? If the ADM is aiming to create a better top-end athlete, which will improve our performance on the world stage, then we need to be teaching competitiveness from a young age. In which case, there are four aspects of ADM that I feel need revamping: Practice to Game Ratio &…
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17Apr 2015 by Jeremy Weiss 3 Comments
ADM: What is Our Objective?

ADM: What is Our Objective?

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy
ADM: What is Our Objective? I have been thinking about this series of posts for almost four years now. The reason it has taken me this long to write it, is that I wanted to be sure I understood my own position, and that I could properly articulate why I felt the way I did. I also wanted to see if my intuition turned out to be right, or if I’d be proven wrong over a few years. This will be the first in a series of articles about the ADM program. If you’re not familiar with ADM, it stands for American Development Model. In USA Hockey’s own words: “The ADM is USA Hockey’s nationwide player-development program for youth hockey associations. It’s based on age-appropriate, age-specific competition and training for boys and…
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15Dec 2014 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Cross-Ice vs Full-Ice for Mites

Cross-Ice vs Full-Ice for Mites

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy
What is Better for Mite Development, Cross-Ice or Full-Ice Gameplay? There's a hot debate going on in many parts of North America right now, and that is whether Mites are better off playing cross-ice or full-ice during games. This debate has grown largely out of USA Hockey's ADM recommendation of cross-ice games until Squirt. I grew up in the "full-ice world," but I've been living in the "cross-ice world" for the past 3 years with my own kids. Folks in my local organization have asked my opinion on this a number of times, and I've also received a few emails asking my opinion. Here's an example from one of our coaches in Chicago: I'm writing to get your take on the cross-ice, USA Hockey model vs the full-ice model for…
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05Mar 2014 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Offensive-Minded D-Zone Face-Offs

Offensive-Minded D-Zone Face-Offs

Coaches' Corner, Defensive Zone, Philosophy, Team Systems
Offensive-Minded D-Zone Face-Offs I'm a huge fan of offensive-minded face-offs in the defensive zone; especially on the penalty kill! Most teams expect you to play defense in your defensive zone, and when you attack aggressively you can really catch them off guard, particularly on face-offs. In this clip, Tyler Bozak loses a shorthanded draw against the Montreal Canadiens, then gets out quickly to the opposing defenseman, causing a turnover. From there he's able to chip the puck through, and win the footrace on the breakaway. A well-structured face-off set-up should give you offensive options whether your team wins or loses the draw. Give it a go, and start generating some offense from your defensive-zone face-offs! Enjoy!
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15Feb 2014 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Attack Triangle in Action

Attack Triangle in Action

Coaches' Corner, Offensive Zone, Philosophy, Team Systems
https://player.vimeo.com/video/87249384 Attack Triangle in Action Team USA is playing some great hockey right now in the 2014 Winter Olympics. A lot of their systems look just like the stuff we've laid out in the Coaches' Training Course, especially their offensive attack structure. In this play you see a textbook Attack Triangle, with F1 driving wide, and pulling the opposing defenseman deep; F2 driving wide to the far post, pulling his defenseman deep, and F3 filling in the vacated space in the high slot. From there, it's a drop pass, and a one-time snipe. Beautiful setup, beautiful goal! Enjoy!
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