Adam oates Players' Tribune article

Algernon
Posts: 8295
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2015 12:55 pm
Location: In Putin's Country

Adam oates Players' Tribune article

Postby Algernon » Fri Apr 08, 2016 10:58 pm


mikey
Posts: 42242
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:58 pm
Location: More of a before-rehab friend...
Contact:

Adam oates Players' Tribune article

Postby mikey » Sat Apr 09, 2016 8:07 am

What a beaut. Thanks for posting. I have found myself evolving in such a way over the last little bit myself. Adam Oates is actually one of the influences in my demeanor behind the bench. I used to want nothing but defensive play. Try to win zero to negative one. Even when I was at the pro roller level where defense is not a real choice, I put in structure that would befuddle other people....in fact, I once got a letter from the league that told me to stop playing like that because it's not in the spirit of the sport. You know you have defense on lock when you get a letter that says "hey, you're ruining the sport!"

Now, though I still need proper defense and all that. And I can dump a 50 pound bag of sand on the rink when needed...but now I am much more focused on skill development, I reach out to the guys that teach these things and ask for tips, drills, tape anything...you can play in a system and win, and I love to win...but I asked myself, "are players leaving my tutelage better than when they began?" and because I could not definitively say yes, I decided to make that huge weakness a strength.

The team that I coached this season had their first winning season since 2002 i'm told. They had won 3 out of 36 or some amount of games in the previous season and in my first year we made the playoffs and won a playoff game before bowing out to a nationally ranked opponent. But more importantly, I know players left this season better than when they came in. I know they felt good about themselves, good about their game and good about their season. I erased some of the loser culture - which I was very blunt about - in the room and helped them gain confidence (you can't do anything well athletically without confidence) and unleashed their skill...

I would rank it as one of my most successful seasons as a coach. And I hope to do even better next year. Oates is 100% right on everything in that article. He has such an insane attention to detail, he really ought to be a skills coach himself. He was a Gretzky disciple on the rink, but he is carving his own path off of it....

FistOfCaufield
Posts: 2827
Joined: Mon May 04, 2015 11:09 am

Adam oates Players' Tribune article

Postby FistOfCaufield » Sat Apr 09, 2016 11:11 am

I was just thinking about this today. The evolution of the coach from a strict system to something that allows players to play to their strengths with maybe only some small coaching adjustments here or there.

This was just talked about with Sullivan, I forget if it was a quote or whatever... but the younger guys being allowed to make mistakes, but wanting them to try things, be aggressive. I wonder what the culture of that locker room was like under Bylsma when a younger guy would be benched for a mistake whereas a vet would not and the effect that would have on both vets and younger guys... I can't imagine it was healthy.

And for what he tried or had to do, Johnston I think would have had a tough road trying to fit this team into a different round hole. Perhaps they needed to be away from a rigid system, and only asked to be accountable to working hard away from the puck.

Craig
Posts: 7020
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:09 pm

Adam oates Players' Tribune article

Postby Craig » Sat Apr 09, 2016 11:28 am

One way or another there needs to be a defined system. The players need to have a foundation from which to explore. If its too rigid its a problem, but the flip side of that is edzo. Thats not conducive to players getting anything done either.

mikey
Posts: 42242
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:58 pm
Location: More of a before-rehab friend...
Contact:

Adam oates Players' Tribune article

Postby mikey » Sat Apr 09, 2016 11:30 am

That is correct. There needs to be guidelines/rules/do's/don'ts...goals need to be set...shifts must have a purpose...

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests