News - Spring 2023
News, updates, and tips from the Spring 2023 Season - not this season.
April 24th
I try to post our practice plans to facebook, but I will also post them here on our New page. My shorthand and scratchy printing/writing confuses me sometimes too!
April 15th
Here are a few extra pointers on the sagging zone defense:
- Some pointers for our U18 Female team from Coach Ken - Sagging Zone
- The sagging zone analysis by Jeremy Weiss with Coach Ken's comments
HockeyShare videos on positioning for:
April 14th
Looking forward to our Sunday games!
A few reminders for game day:
- Please arrive 1 hour before game time - 15 minutes for an early start if games are running ahead of schedule - 15 minutes for a pregame off-ice dynamic warm up - and 15 minutes for team talk.
- Game day wear is an Atlantic Hockey Group track suit or casual pants (preferably not jeans) with a collared shirt (button up or golf shirt) - no ties necessary.
- No boomboxes or speakers - listen to your music through headphones - or better yet, talk to your teammates.
- Please refrain from coaching in the stands - we are going to do our best to coach on the bench and not from the bench. That means there will be lots of sonic space for players to talk to each other on the ice.
- No stick banging on the boards - a penalty can be assessed if we do.
- What we do and eat over the next two days will affect performance on Sunday - see information on Sport Nutrition.
Penalty Kill
We will talk about this pregame - see the Wedge +1 Penalty Kill. This is a penalty kill formation for use in our defensive zone. This formation is built on the sagging zone defense we practiced Wednesday night.
Outside our defensive zone I like to use the T Penalty Kill Forecheck.
Team Leaders
I usually have the team select their captain and alternates by secret ballot before we play our first games. That is not possible in this setting, so we will rotate the C and As through the team by alphabetical order. So game one this weekend our captain will be Jacob Belliveau and alternates will be Jayden Bond and Emmett Dagley. In the second game, Jayden will become the captain and Sam Hartlen and Levi Hebb will be the alternates. I have the Cs and As and will distribute them before the games.
I expect our C and As to shake hands with the other team's bench staff before the game starts and with the on-ice officials at the end of the game. When you are on the ice, you are our voice with the referee. What do I expect from team leaders (and you don't have to be wearing a letter to be a team leader):
- Be the first to serve their teammates and coaches and the last to be served.
- Be the first to lead by example in word and action.
- Be the first to praise others and the last to brag/draw attention to themselves.
- Be the first to defend their coaches and teammates and the last to criticize them.
- Be the first to confront violations of team standards and policies and the last to violate them.
- Be the first to encourage their teammates and coaches and the last to become discouraged.
Apr 10th
Rules & Regulations
AHG Rules & Format Spring 2023
Behaviour - Zero tolerance
Charlie Bourgeois, President of Atlantic Hockey Group (AHG), has asked us to share the following information:
As we prepare for our first games taking place this weekend, I would ask that you forward attached documentation to your players and parents. Our ZERO TOLERANCE policy will be strictly enforced. To provide our players, coaches and families with a great hockey experience we need our teams to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner. Let’s have fun however be respectful of the game.
Coach Conduct | Parent Conduct | Player Conduct
Practice Schedule
Our Wednesday, April 5th practice was postponed - we have two practices to add to the schedule as a result.
March 3rd
We have eight one-hour practices at Queens Place Emera Centre on our schedule. Seven of them have now been set.
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February 23rd
Code of Conduct
Here is a PDF copy of the Atlantic Hockey Group's Code of Conduct.
Scheduling
We have received the following scheduling information from the Atlantic Hockey Group:
We are still a few weeks away from having detailed game and practice schedules finalized due to several factors including:
- Determine the final confirmed teams as we are providing more time for several teams that are working hard to complete rosters allowing them to join us this spring.
- Confirming final schedules for provincial championships which take place in April.
- Finalizing agreements with many facilities for spring ice times.
If your parents are requesting information on schedules I would ask that you provide them the following framework at this time with the understanding that the detailed schedules will be released sometime in March.
Game Schedule
- First games will take place on April 8-9 weekend. NOTE: we will avoid conflicts for any levels taking part in provincials that weekend
- Championship Day will take place on May 20th weekend. Teams will play 2 games in one day.
- Optional Atlantic Cup event will take place in Halifax, June 2 - 4. For detailed information or to register please go to Atlantic Cup Registration.
Therefore parents should be aware that beginning on the weekend of
April 8 that they will be playing games on Saturday or Sunday up until
May 20 weekend. 2 games in one day.
NOTE: it is possible that teams could have one weekend with 4 games
or no games. Schedule will provide our teams a very competitive and
well-structured league with minimal travel. Another priority for scheduling
is to avoid overnight stays.
Practice Schedule
Teams will participate in at least 1 full ice practice per week beginning the week of April 3 for a total of 8 hours. Goalies will also take part in 3 hours of exclusive goaltending clinics led by our Atlantic Goaltending Academy.
Additional ice times will be made available for teams. A list of additional ice times at our different facilities will be forwarded in March. Teams will be invoiced directly from AHG.