By davidvandergulik / June 30, 2024
What does it take to truly excel on the ice? When we consider traditional player development, we see a heavy emphasis on physical skills like skating, shooting, and puck handling. These fundamentals are critical, no doubt, but their mastery only scratches the surface of what goes into creating next-level players. That’s why I’m excited to talk to you today about Hockey IQ or Hockey Sense.
In the modern game, success belongs to those who not only out-skate their opponents but also out prepare or out-think them. This makes it vital to cultivate a hockey sense that incorporates great habits and awareness to improve a players dynamic game strategy for a self-made leading edge.
In this way, it becomes possible to claim greater control over the details, habits, player tendencies, and decisions that influence or factor into the game creating advantages and opportunities on the ice. Essentially, as the sport of hockey continues to evolve, so too must our approach to player development.
Every elite player looking to advance their hockey career has a strength and conditioning program, a skating program, and even a shooting program. A hockey IQ program is the next frontier in player development. It delves deeper, focusing on the finer nuances of the game that give players an edge, the missing piece in their development. If you’d like to learn more about how this evolutionary approach moves beyond physical prowess, with the emergence of the Hockey IQ coach, I hope you will join me and read on.
Every elite player looking to advance their hockey career has a strength and conditioning program, a skating program, and even a shooting program. A hockey IQ program is the next frontier in player development.
Leveraging the Power of Intangibles on the Ice
Did you know that the word “intangibles” carries significant weight in the world of hockey? This is because there is so much more to the game than the measurables that we track on the score sheet. Advanced statistics and analytics are tools that try to help teams and scouts find players who already possess a strong hockey sense, but teaching players these intangibles remains an art form. One that is subjective and ultimately limited by time and ability of coaches to teach them.
To develop into a smarter hockey player—gaining an advantage over the thousands of athletes all competing for the opportunity to play in the NHL—it is key to be aware of the many intangibles that are always in play on the ice, plus how to use them to tip the balance of play in your favour.
While these details may be harder to quantify, they offer a unique set of opportunities for players to add meaningful value to their game. Through my Hockey IQ Mentorship Program, I teach clients how to rethink which aspects of their skillset they spend time and attention on and how these choices impact their development. Over time, the intangibles that we leverage become a firm foundation for significant performance gains.
For example, players learn how to use their routes and momentum to become reliable defensively and yet dangerous offensively, finding soft areas, skating with momentum toward the net as the shots are taken. In turn, that momentum also allows them to be first on loose pucks and rebounds, further extending the play, ozone time, and offensive opportunities. With self-awareness, forethought, and good habits, new advantages take shape in the details.
Discovering the Value of Hockey IQ or Hockey Sense
When describing the concept of mentorship in Hockey IQ for the first time, I like to use an analogy to demonstrate its value:
- The strength and conditioning coach helps players skate longer and harder
- The skating coach trains players to skate faster and more efficiently
- The shooting coach teaches players to make the most of their scoring chances
- The hockey IQ coach helps players learn the details to create those chances
Everyone agrees, there is more to elite players than pure physical talent. All players, even in the NHL, will benefit from watching their game shifts through a different lens or with a different perspective—to be individually supported, mentored, and challenged to improve the finer details in their game.
To truly gain an edge today, players need to spend time working to improve their hockey sense, becoming more attuned to the dynamics in play on the ice, their skating habits, and their stick and checking habits. In this sense, Hockey IQ coaching represents an exciting new resource for advanced hockey development, offering players and teams a novel pathway to excellence.
Intangibles Hockey IQ Mentorship Program
Drawing on the cultivated hockey sense that allowed me to pursue my passions and play in the NHL, my mentorship program goes beyond just studying the game. Utilising video analysis, direct consulting, and an industry leading learning platform, it enables the development of habits, self-awareness, attunement, and accountability—and an understanding of how these factors can unite to inform effective strategies for unlocking true potential on the ice.
Each client works 1-on-1 online with me as we watch their recent game footage and pinpoint opportunities for improvement. Players will grow awareness to understand fundamentals critical to their development allowing them to take control of their careers. After each session, players will be tasked to focus on specific hockey IQ keywords evident in their game. We reinforce these keywords through follow up videos in the intangibles coaching app and we work to establish feedback loops to ensure continuous improvement, with follow-ups during subsequent meetings.
All of my clients are further supported through the intangibles app which offers hockey IQ keyword videos, visualisation exercises, and habit accountability tracking, covering our complete development process. Within this framework, together, we focus on the goal of getting 1% better every day. Players are given specific challenges to incorporate into and evolve their habits, both off and on the ice. Visualisation plays a central part in this process allowing the subconscious to assimilate new behaviours.
Hockey IQ fundamentals that I focus on with players to help them become a complete player:
- Pace
- Awareness
- Angles & Routes
- Body Positioning
- Stick Positioning
- Checking Habits
- Demanding the Puck
- Puck Decisions
The Path Forward in Player Development
Both at the amateur level—during critical development years—and when seeking progression at a more advanced level, players are often restricted by the quality and availability of coaches in their local area. Equally, there is an overwhelming amount of systems and details to teach, making it challenging for a small coaching staff to cover everything. Coaches can continue to focus on teaching systems, strategies, set plays and other concepts, and leave the details and fundamentals of hockey sense to the specialist, Hockey IQ coach.
Intangibles Hockey IQ Mentorship Program offers an accessible online opportunity designed not to undermine coaches, but to support them, their teams, and their players, as they work together towards shared goals. In this sense, the integration of Hockey IQ coaching into any player development plan represents a forward-thinking approach that addresses the complexities of modern hockey and the shortfalls of current player development.
In conclusion, I believe that Hockey IQ coaching is set to play a pivotal role in the future of player development, creating a foundational advantage for those who truly, deep down, want to achieve their dream of playing in the NHL. If you would like to know more about the Intangibles Hockey IQ Mentorship Program, explore the packages currently available or consider scheduling a session with me today to see for yourself.
