Rep Hockey – PARADIGM Sports

Why All Hockey Coaches Should Wear Helmets

Posted August 19, 2019January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

Picture of an image in the photo album I received after coaching peewee AAA

Having suffered a few major concussions myself I can relate all too well of the aftermath and challenges for recovery.

My last concussion had nothing to do with playing sports, however, it was when I was on a friends stag and while at one of the many bars we visited that evening that I share via those that told me after the fact as I have no recollection of the events I received a serious beating by three men when I jumped to the aid of my buddy who had been hitten over the head with a beer mug and knocked out.

The only recollection I have of the event was when I awoke in ICU of the hospital I had been taken to a couple of days later and had NO idea where I was, how I had gotten there, and recall vividly that I had the worst headache EVER.

At my side was my then-girlfriend, now my wife of 25 years who wept when I woke up saying she was so happy I was OK to which I said to her, OK? My head is exploding, I’m hungry and I want to get out of here.

Thanks to my mother being in a couple of major car accidents when I was young, the second leading to her being hospitalized for over a year while she recovered from a broken neck and back I have always had an aversion of being in hospitals, particularly ICU.

My girlfriend drove me home and took several pictures of my beaten face and bruising on my back and arms for evidence for the criminal prosecution which I buried away long ago (back in the day when digital was not commonplace as it is today) but another recollection I recall is how I did not recognize myself as my face was so bruised from the punches and kicks to the face I had taken.

I share this with you as I wanted you to know that I can relate the challenges that athletes face today when they are dealing with a major concussions, it took me over 3 months before I was symptom free from my last one (diagnosed) but as a result of this being my third, and the highest severity, concussion the specialist that I was dealing with said I would have to stop playing any form of contact sports which meant my club rugby and adult recreational hockey days were over.

Having been an athlete for the better part of my life to that point, most of which playing competitively in various organized contact sports it is the reason why I then shifted to playing slo-pitch (although as years evolved and I took the mound as a pitcher dodging the dingers was no the smartest idea) and coaching.

Looking back at dealing with the fog, headaches, balance issues, nausea and even bouts with depression and frustration I can say first hand that dealing with a major concussion is not pleasant, particularly when you are very active. The other part to this day that I have deal with is the complete loss of memory not only of the event itself but approximately 2 weeks prior to when I was concussed. Many of my friends at the time were members of the Vancouver Police Department, Paramedics, Fire Department who all helped me fill in the blanks as several were at the scene and argued that the criminal proceedings would be a slam dunk (which only one of the three was prosecuted due to “technical issues” but that is another story in itself)

As a result of my recovery forcing me to have bed rest, dark room for a few months, I also missed two months of my third term at BCIT of my diploma in Marketing Management that followed my degree in Physical Education in UBC as my career aspirations were to get into the business side of sports.

That never came to fruition until many years later when I recognized we are in the business of developing youth into adults, and I have now coached boys, girls, young men and women for over 25 years of coaching and as a result of this and other experiences I dealt with growing up taught me the importance of resilience and how to overcome adversity, one of the core life lessons one can learn thru sports.

Source: Mike Hensen/The London Free Press/Postmedia Network

I write about the impacts of concussions this week as recently read another article that Eric Lindros contributed to coincide with recent symposium regarding concussions and applaud him for becoming a passionate advocate for concussion awareness due to being forced to retire from the game, like his brother who did so much earlier in his career, as a result of concussions he sustained.

I don’t think anyone that has followed hockey can forget when Scott Stevens hit Eric in the playoffs where he blatantly hit him directly in the head at full speed leading to one of his many concussions. Stevens was infamous for those types of hits (another was the infamous blindside hit to Paul Kariya) but fortunately, the NHL has taken steps to eliminate them from the game and concussion protocols subject to evaluations if suspected to ensure a concussed player like Paul does not return to play in the same game.

Here as some of the numbers pertaining concussions in general, however, not specifically impacting the game of hockey that was highlighted in the recent article;

One in five of us have a lifetime risk of concussion
Half happen to youth under 19
60% during sport and recreational activities
One in 10 youth suffers concussion requiring medical attention
30% of those visits are recurring
Majority return to play within a month but 30% have longer-term symptoms

As I went thru each one of the points above, I check all the boxes but am happy to say have been symptom-free since I shifted to coaching many years back.

One of the kids that I coached in hockey the following year met many of the above also he was unable to return as he fell out of hammock in the summer and hit his head so hard on a rock he had to take a year off from all forms of contact so it does not have to be contact in hockey, or other contact sports like football, rugby, concussions can happen no differently than other injuries.

Fast forward from the day I woke up in the ICU, when I first started coaching Minor Hockey I did not wear a helmet, rather a baseball cap as did almost every other coach at the time as we naively thought we did not have to and did so for several years until Hockey Canada made wearing helmets mandatory for coaches.

This change went into effect in the 2008-9 season, after a coach in Alberta died after falling on the ice and other a coma with a head injury. At the time, like there is with any changes for safety reasons there was a lot of push back from coaches. The rule now applies to all winter minor hockey coaches of sanctioned leagues, Junior B, A, and university coaches.

Ironically, the very year that the helmet rule was implemented, I was coaching a couple of teams, helping my sons Atom A1 (AAA) team and also coaching an Atom rec team to honour my agreement with a player that returned to play I would coach his team after taking a year off after his father passed away.

During one of our early 6 AM practices for the Atom Recreation team, I was talking to my assistant coach explaining the drill set up as the kids were doing stick and puck before I knew it I was lying horizontal on the ice after player skated into me. Per my AC, he had caught an edge and slid into the back of my knew and I fell backwards and had hit my head on the ice. I did blackout for what felt like a few seconds perhaps more and then all the players and my AC came over and said COACH are you OK?

Thankfully I was able to get up and finish the practice (albeit felt a little woozy having my bell rung) and was reminded why coaches should be wearing helmets for their safety just as much as players wear for theirs.

It is that last point that I wanted to address in this week’s post, last week I was asked to present for the Pacific Coach Amateur Hockey Associations Coach Coordinator annual meeting on the changes to this year’s evaluation process of competitive coaches and the risk manager reminded all the coach coordinators that any outside skills providers they have on the ice MUST wear helmets. Many of which that also run skills sessions in Spring Hockey do not wear helmets when doing so but if they do so when on the ice for sanctioned minor hockey ice sessions the insurance could be voided.

I get the fact that wearing a baseball hat is more comfortable than wearing a helmet, and many skills providers are very adept skaters, but as a result of a helmet saving me from yet another head trauma, worse yet potential death, I can’t for the life of me understand how one wouldn’t.

To date, the helmet rule does not apply to spring coaches, independent skills providers that are not certified by Hockey Canada or NHL/AHL and other pro league coaches which has me shaking my head in disbelief how their insurance costs are not thru the roof as a result.

Kudos to Hockey Canada, PSO’s and RSO’s like PCAHA for mandating minor hockey coaches to wear helmets for their safety just as the players have to wear them for theirs.

I only hope that spring hockey programs, NHL and affiliate professional team (i.e. AHL) coaches would follow-suit and not wait for a coach to be seriously injured or die as a result of not wearing a helmet during practices.

That’s just my two cents.

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Why running short benches is NOT a good thing

Posted March 9, 2019January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

BONUS – Download a Free Copy of this Blog in PDF Format HERE

Last night I had dinner with my wife’s siblings as my sister in law was in town for a conference.

During dinner, my sister in law shared with me that my 12-year-old nephew had quit Hockey.

WHAT? My nephew quit a sport he once loved and when I asked her why her response was “he quit because a lot of teammates were not getting play when it was their turn as the coach was focusing on winning games”

He was playing peewee recreational team and was one of the stronger players because two years ago when he aspired to play rep (competitive level) they were advised by several parents that the only way he would make one of the rep teams (the association had 3 rep teams for peewee age group at the time) is if they signed a contract that was the only sport he was going to play.

Again, WHAT?

He opted to keep playing rec (house) so could continue to play soccer, ski, and other activities.

My head was spinning,

He was playing rec (house) and coaches are not permitted to run short benches.
He would have to sign a contract to play only hockey when he loved many other sports?

She further shared that parents they have talked to in the community have said their kids also quit hockey for the same reasons and the associations overall membership has dropped by a few hundred kids the last few years as a result.

This is a MINOR hockey association who have recreational coaches focusing on winning at all costs and not promoting multi-sport participation which are two of the major issues that is leading to kids quitting.

This just a couple of days after I shared an article on our social media pages called “Why ‘Shortening the Bench’ in competitive youth sports” can be a good thing written by Jamie Strashin for CBC Sports.

Soon after I posted, I received comments from parents in Canada and Australia who shared the same belief as I, that it was so short-sighted, although kids may win a game, perhaps get more games as a result, kids just want to play and in the instance of my nephew he quit because he did not think it fair for his teammates to sit on the bench when it was their turn to play.

Why did they sit? Not because they were tired or were being disciplined, but an adult pulled them back to one their “more skilled” teammates out in their place.

I have been against short benches since I started coaching youth sports and still am, regardless if it is competitive or recreational levels. The very fact that my nephew quit because his teammates were being deprived of ice time shows that he GETS IT even at 12 years old and I will applaud him for doing so when I see him next.

Ironically when I was up in Whitehorse running clinics this past season, I had one of the coaches come to me and expressed the very same concerns, her son was one of the top players on his atom “development” team and was getting much more ice time than his teammates, at times he was being told by coaches to stay out for 2-3-4 minutes at time.

Like the 10 year old player reference in the CBC article, her son was also 10, but in lieu of being held back for another player to take his turn, in his case stay out for shifts much longer than should have had.

Just two more examples of the adultification of youth sports.

Here is my take on running short benches;

#1 – Coaches choose the players for their teams, whether it be competitive or recreation

If you PICK THEM – you play them.

The coach that was quoted in the CBC article, whom is a non-parent coach, “I chose them to be on the team because I thought they were good enough. If they aren’t in a position to succeed, it’s my fault”

I could not agree more, it the coaches responsibility to develop ALL players on the team and they focus on doing so early in the season, as the season evolves and all players improve, collectively the team improves and ‘Voila’ Winning is a byproduct not the focus.

#2 – I believe that coaches that run short benches either (a) don’t have the training needed to develop the skills of all players or (b) think that winning at all costs is more important than giving all players an opportunity to contribute in all situations

90% of kids would rather play on a losing team than sit on the bench for a winning team

#3 – All parents pay the same fees, so all players PLAY. There are already lawsuits in the USA coming forth from parents due to the thousands of dollars they are paying for their kids to play to be reimbursed for their prorated fees and have others pay more for their kids that PLAY more.

#4 – Having surveyed hundreds of kids on my teams over the years what is not fun about youth sports, one of the top 3 answers I have received is “when coaches play their favorites” especially when it comes to crunch time in close games where associations have implemented fair ice policies to permit coaches to use their discretion to win games. Again, kids just want to have their opportunities to contribute to the outcomes of the games just like all their other teammates.

‘YOU WIN OR LOSE AS A TEAM’

There are so many examples I can cite, not just from Hockey, but others sports now as we continue to partner with various sports groups but the one that comes to mind for me over and over was a player whom I invited to play with our 3 on 3 hockey teams who was a great kid with great parents.

In our last season when all the boys were aging out of minor hockey (17 years old), we opted to play both small ice and full ice 3 on 3 and in our first couple of games of each, he would go out for a few shifts and I noticed he was gasping for air.

In the second game I walked up to him and said T, you ok?

To which he said with a big smile on his face, yep, just need to get back into game shape.

I then asked … “but you played on the Midget A2 this year (where they would have had 2 practices, 2 games, a dryland per week) so don’t understand why not in game shape”?

He replied “because I quit with 10 games left in the season because I was only getting a handful of shifts per game. The coaches was playing his favorites most of the games including power play, penalty kill, pissed me off as I just wanted to play so I quit”.

“My dad complained to the executive but they did not do anything, argued that it was rep hockey and only house had fair ice policies (where coaches are not permitted to run short benches).”

I shook my head in disbelief, just as I do every time I think of it.

#5 – In this particular article, 10-year-old players were the focus, which it he Atom age group, and regardless if they are playing recreationally or rep it is still a development age group

All kids, regardless of level, are to play and if a coach in BC had ran short bench in Atom he would have been suspended for doing so.

The main reason why coaches should not run short benches is the message you send to the kids, their parents …. Sorry kid, you are just not good enough be out there in key situations or give us a chance to score.

I believe this is one of the contributors why parents act up in the stands, if they come to game after game as I have and many other parents I know and watch their son or daughter sit on a bench when it is their turn to play knowing we all paid the same for them to do so, is no wonder why parents get emotional, angry as is evident daily in print, TV and social media.

Don’t get me started on the coaches that think they get a get out of jail free card for peewee and above, they should still be rolling all their lines all the way through minor hockey, when they are no longer playing to play, then they can earn their ice time (i.e. Major Junior and above)

The ONLY exception where you would tell kids to sit on the bench depriving them of playing time (or any minor sport for that reason) is if you have to discipline your players.

As the same coach in the article referenced, if they are not listening, screwing around may have to sit them a few shifts.

Other reasons, if they take a bad penalty or don’t get a penalty called on them for things like slashing, cross checking, knee on knees, head contact, hitting from behind, poor sportsmanship, using foul language, criticizing their team mates or not respecting their coaches, fellow or opposing players/coaches or officials including the scorekeeper/time keeper.

The very reason why short benches have become so common and we are turning a blind eye towards same is the shift in youth sports to win at all costs in lieu of just letting kids play kids for the love of the game.

Look at the past decade when teams go deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when players or coaches are interviewed after games, including when they put the hardest trophy in sport to win above their head they say “all 4 lines contributed, we had a lot of confidence and we HAD FUN.

Hmmm .. aren’t these the best players in the WORLD? Making Millions of Dollars a year even in the salary cap era?

Here is a great presentation from one of our For the Love of the Game Virtual Event guest speakers, VJ Stanley, that he did for a USA Hockey Level 4 coaches (equivalent to HP 1 level Coaches in Canada) and early in his presentation shares insight why coaches should PLAY all their kids in minor in hockey. About 7 minutes in to the presentation shows a vide when he talked to Ryan Callaha when he was captain of the New York Rangers.

Any coach can run short benches and play their “favorites” to win games.

GREAT coaches develop all their players and provide them the opportunity to contribute to the outcome of games and in doing so build their confidence and competence and winning becomes a byproduct as a result.