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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04Feb 2014 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Improve Your Coaching Through Technology

Improve Your Coaching Through Technology

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy, Team Systems, Useful Products
Using Technology to Improve Your Coaching One of my goals at Weiss Tech Hockey is to help coaches improve their game through technology. I believe that technology can help coaches communicate more effectively with their players, increase their knowledge base, network with other coaches, and find opportunities to be mentored… the sky is the limit! Recently, Apple has revamped their iBooks app, which has created a neat platform that is perfect for producing and consuming educational material. The first time I saw what the new platform was capable of, I immediately thought of our playbook! So I set to work reconfiguring the playbook to take advantage of this new platform. In the iBooks version of the Weiss Tech Playbook, we’ve taken our written playbook, with text and diagrams, and we’ve…
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23May 2013 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Pavel Datsyuk End-to-End Goal: Dissected

Pavel Datsyuk End-to-End Goal: Dissected

Coaches' Corner, Defensive Zone, Neutral Zone, Offensive Zone, Philosophy, Team Systems
Pavel Datsyuk End-to-End Goal: Dissected In this post we're dissecting Pavel Datsyuk's end-to-end goal against Nashville. As great as the individual effort was, there are quite a few team details that really made this play possible. It starts with Datsyuk providing proper support for his defenseman in the defensive zone. He picks up the puck and initiates the breakout to the right winger. After making the breakout pass, he follows up the play, providing mid-lane support on the breakout. As the breakout is happening, the weak-side winger blows out of the zone, pushing the opposing defenseman back, which opens up space for Datsyuk to wheel. The play finishes with the opposing defenseman reaching for the puck, and Datsyuk eats him alive. Great individual effort, made possible by well-structured positional play.…
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