|
Working
With The Team You Selected
By:
Nicholas Gismondi
RMHS Instructor
Nicholas
A. Gismondi is a sports broadcaster for Fox Sports Detroit
covering the Ontario Hockey Leagues (OHL) Plymouth Whalers
for the past seven years. He also is a sports writer for the
Detroit Free Press and columnist for Hockey Weekly Magazine.
In addition, he has been a guest instructor at numerous hockey
schools and camps throughout the Detroit area and a regular
speaker to local teams and coaches. Gismondi has had an extensive
playing career at the AAA level and has also coached for several
years at that level as well, winning numerous championships.
It's
fitting that an article pertaining to the craft of matching lines
follows up the piece which dealt with picking a team, frankly,
in many ways, they are the same, though now you are dealing with
the team you selected.
Here is where you're first test with the new team will begin. Now
that you have the personnel, constructing a working combination is
a whole other entity, which will take a certain eye, patience, and
most of the time will not be achieved on the first go. This job becomes
increasingly difficult if you happen to be a new coach to the age
level and have players on the team you have never seen before. Don't
worry too much however, after a few practices you will be able to
develop a good sense of what you have to work with. Many things come
into play when making lines. And again, like was used when selecting
the team, a critical and concentrated eye must be focused on all
of the players for the first few practices. I will stress again the
importance of utilizing the staff you have assembled in accomplishing
this goal. During the first practices of the year have them run the
drills, make sure to build those initial practices around drills
that concentrate on teamwork, passing plays, skating and shooting.
In fact you could structure the first number of practices on these
fundamentals. One whole practice could be all shooting drills, another
all passing plays, etc. This will be sure to give a solid foundation
on how to utilize the players on your team the best.
You need to look at a line as a skeleton of a building. When making
a skyscraper they take and put steel gurtars up around the outside
and then with the use of more beams strengthen the structure with
more supports. In a round about way, a line is the same concept.
You want players whose skills compliment and intertwine with each
other playing together. Personality and camaraderie also play a huge
role. Granted, everyone should learn to work together, but I can
guarantee you that players will be more apt to pass to their best
friend before someone they may not be totally fond of.
There are three general types of players that you want to combine
when forming a line offensively. Do your best to make sure that these
three "types" are together, with one of each on all of
your lines.
First of all you want a playmaker. Usually this will be your center.
He should have a good sense and understanding of the game, be a good
skater, and be a smart athlete with endurance. This will be your
lines quarterback, you should count on him to spear head the offensive
movement while also having a focus on the defensive side. This is
your all around player, you can find a few of these on a team and
there should be a player with these qualities on each line, consider
these your "type A" players. Most of the time they will
stick out almost instantly, and you can count on them to also be
leaders, possibly the type of player that could make a good captain,
don't solely focus on this now, but it's always good to be hunting
for your leaders.
Your second players are what we will refer to as "type B",
these are your grinders and hard workers. You ant one of these on
each of your lines because they are slightly bigger guys that have
no tendencies to stray way from the tough play. You can look to
"type B" players to dig in the corners and come out with
the puck. They are also the ones who won't give up on a loose puck
and will most likely be the guy hustling to the would be icing call.
It's also nice to have these guys on the ice because they will be
able to protect your "type A" player. If your "type
A" guy is getting hounded by the oppositions tough guy, your
"type B" player can interject or at least run interference
and in sorts block for the "type A" player.
Your third and final player is your "type C" player; this
is an athlete similar to your "type A" only this player
is the lines sniper. You know the guy I'm talking about, the one
who can sink a shot in the top right corner from center ice with
a blindfold on. Well ok, maybe not that good, but you get the picture.
This guy will be a great compliment to the "type A" player,
because it will be those two who play off each other and hopefully
produce mounds of offense for you. Add your "type B" into
this and your line combinations will be able to terrorize the opponents
with great offense.
Now writing this all down is of course far simpler than actually
taking your team members and identifying your types. And there will
always be the instances where you don't have enough of these players
to field three or four lines depending on what your numbers are.
In a case like this, make sure that you put the most talented on
your first line, and filter the rest through in order of ability
through the second and third lines. And generally as long as you
have a good balance and nothing is too lopsided, then your end product
should be something that resembles a sturdy building.
As I said earlier, this process could take some time and may not
be fine tuned by the start of your first games, which is fine. Take
those games too into consideration, as they will aide largely in
determining who is who on your team.
Generally the same principle will apply when pairing up your defenseman.
You want your point men to be bigger guys and they should also have
an awareness of the ice. The biggest and most important thing to
consider when assembling your defense is to find two guys that work
well together. Eventually they will develop a sense of where one
another is on the ice and this will be the ultimate bonus for you
and your team. Here is where a major factor of friendship can come
into play. Broadcasting and writing about hockey has taught me a
number of things. And traveling with an OHL club has given me great
insight into the inner workings of friendships and how they mold
into things of beauty on the ice. The best defensive pairings that
I have seen are also some of the best of friends off the ice.
Coaching is far more than standing with your arms crossed on the
bench shouting orders. In fact it is one of the most difficult and
thankless jobs in the sport. But it can also be one of the most rewarding
jobs as long as you take and concentrate on the goal at hand, which
in this case are line combinations. Good luck and try to be sure
not to force the issue. In some instances, lines will form themselves
with a little help from you.
|
