Article

By Ryan Walter
Courtesy Hockey Now

Playoffs are my favorite time of the year to play and to coach... but they can also be the most challenging.

As the pressure of the playoffs increases, different people (players and coaches) react in different ways; some can easily hijack their hopes for playoff success. Coaches must not only develop tactics and processes relative to their opponent, but also manage the emotions of their team members to entice their players' best game. To help coaches maximize their playoff success, I recommend that coaches focus on 5 areas:

1- Tendencies & Tactics
Coaches ultimately must sell their team on a system of play that players will believe in. Players are looking for a practical systemic team approach to beating their opponent. As each round of the NHL playoffs concludes, coaches are looking closely at the tendencies of their potential (they may not be sure of who they will play next) opponents and solidifying the tactics that will create maximum impact against them. Coaches particularly examine areas of the game like controlled forechecks, breakouts, faceoff losses and wins, and the variety of ways each opponent likes to execute every area of their game. The fun part of coaching is to play the chess game of matching their tendencies with your team's response.

2- Players under Pressure
Most great playoff players and teams learn how to handle the pressure through the crucible of past failures. The Oilers lost to the Islanders in the early 80's, but learned what it took to win by losing... and went on a pretty good streak.

I have seen particular coaching personalities pull in the reins and tighten the rules as pressure mounts. General Tiny Freyberg articulated one of my favorite thoughts regarding this reaction: "You can't treat a man like a butler and expect him to fight like a warrior." Players need to learn and grow, and this takes a mature combination of challenging performance and emotional support.

3- Refocus on Team Values
The fire of increased pressure will always challenge coaches to question or forego our personal or team values. We must always resist this tendency, and instead keep these values before our team!
Reminding the team who they are and what they stand for is important re-grounding that players need during pressured times.

4- Pull Together Instead of Apart
Guard against the emotional lows that can creep into playoff thinking: "Oh well we have already had a pretty good season." Or, "If we lost now it would not be the end of the world." The mind can play terrible focus-tricks especially when groups of people get tired. The battle for teams is to pull together mentally and emotionally, focus on each other's strengths, and not allow their thinking to separate them. Pressure can glue people together for life or pull people apart. Don't let the latter happen.

5- Focus on the Process, Not the OUTCOME
Finally, this is a very important aspect of winning in the playoffs. John Wooden said, "I don't focus on winning and losing, I focus our team energy on practicing the details that give us the win." Well said. Successful playoff teams focus more on the process of getting their best game on the ice and less on: "Oh no, we are down 3 games to 2." Coaches must help their players re-focus on the process that produces the desired outcome.

These 5 areas of focus work incredibly well for minor hockey coaches also. As you prepare for your next season, find your own ways to implement your system of play, which includes: tactics and tendencies, helping your players learn to play under pressure, finding ways to focus on team values, encouraging your players to stay together, and teaching your team to work the process instead of worrying about the outcome. These 5 focus points work equally well during the playoffs and throughout the regular season!