coachKidsSports.com

A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice. - Bill Cosby

They say you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy.  A hockey coach in Montreal is trying to prove that the same thing applies to hockey goons.

Clint Butler was a professional hockey player rising as high as the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, a Quebec based minor league.  While playing professionally, Clint didn't make anyone forget Gretzky, Keith Gretzky…  In 67 professional games Clint got both kinds of points, a goal and an assist, for a grand total of two professional points. 

But what he lacked in touch he made up for in touching; usually with a fist, sometimes a stick, a glove or an elbow.  In his short career, Butler managed to spend 542 minutes in the penalty box.  That's over 8 minutes a game!  That's a fighting penalty plus a regular penalty, with a minute left over.  Not included in that total is the 35 game suspension he received just two years ago for going into the stands after a fan.  To be fair it was 25 games for the fight with the fan, the other 10 was tacked on for assaulting a linesman.

Just the kind of guy I want behind the bench of my son's team…  But yet he was coaching his son's Bantam (13-14) team this year. 

Apparently the son was looking to prove another saying — "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" — in a game this week.  During the game he threw a punch at an opposing player.  At that level a single punch is cause for immediate ejection and possible suspension.  Yet Clint didn't like those rules.  He immediately started yelling at the official, then started with the physical abuse.

When Marcotte (referee) then ejected the coach, they said Butler began throwing water bottles on to the ice before pulling plywood from the timekeeper’s bench and hurling it toward Marcotte.

So what does it take to embarass a 13 year old hockey player?

Butler’s younger son reportedly tried to stop the incident from escalating further, grabbing his father’s leg and pleading: "Stop, Dad!" 

Apparently flying construction materials do the trick in the Butler household.  I am glad to see that someone has a sense of perspective, too bad it's the kid who was throwing punches five minutes earlier.

And the award for Understatement So Extreme it Should be British:

"Other coaches have got one or two-year suspensions, but in this case it was more extreme. He amplified things. The plywood — that’s the first time we see this."

 And I hope the last.

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. - Wayne Gretzky

In my mind, hockey is the greatest game.  It's fast, tough and exciting.  I grew up playing the game, starting when I was five years old.  Which means I don't remember learning how to skate,  It was just something I always did, it was as natural as walking.

After college I decided to get involved in youth hockey and volunteered to coach a house league team.  That's when I realized that I knew how to skate and I knew how to play the game, but I didn't have a clue how to teach the game.

I think I did what most new coaches did then, throw the pucks out on the ice, put a couple of pylons on the faceoff dots and yell at the kids to listen…  Yeah, it was pretty much a train wreck.

The internet makes things easier today.  Enter "Hockey Drills" on Google and get over 38,000 results.  I haven't been through all of them, but there is one I wish I had all those years ago.  HockeyCoach.com has sections for coaching, practice plans, drills and a Discussion Board.  I wish there were more drills for beginners on the site, they are the group that needs the drills the most.  But I sure could have used this section on skating drills when I was coaching…

Whether the kids are Mites or Juniors, there are plenty of drills here to plan your practice or at least add a couple of new drills to keep your practices fresh.

THREE. There is a danger (a considerable one, based on the evidence so far) that over-coaching can promote an atmosphere where the pro athlete's brain neutralizes his physical gifts rather than augments them. - Matt at Battle of Alberta

That's the fine line of coaching isn't it.  As a coach you need to teach, but you want your players to react instinctively rather than think.  The teaching process takes time — something you don't have much of as a rec league coach — which is why it's a good idea to narrow your focus…