[book review] The Hockey Coaching Bible

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Hi folks! If you’re looking for gift ideas for the hockey coach in your life, or are wanting to build your own coaching skill set up, look no further than “The Hockey Coaching Bible” next time you’re in your favorite bookstore or shopping online. 

Editor Joe Bertagna teams up with 15 other current and/or former coaches to bring readers 16 chapters that each approach a unique sector of hockey. Individual skills for forwards, defencemen, and goaltenders are all addressed, as well as practice plans and drills for team skills like defensive, offensive, and neutral zone play (the included diagrams that accompany the drill descriptions are particularly helpful and thorough), as well as penalty kill and power play. Beyond the technical points of the sport, the book goes in depth on scouting opponents (both domestic and international), building a team from scratch and harnessing the support of the community, ethics behind the bench, and more off-ice topics. Basically, it all but goes out on the ice and does all the coaching for you.  

The only minor drawback to this book in my opinion is that it is set with a heavy slant towards NCAA/American hockey that some readers may not feel they relate to. With that being said, the skills and concepts taught in this book undeniably apply to all levels of hockey, and are easily adaptable to fit any coach’s current entry point to the game. It also does a great job of including female hockey into its presented narrative. I don’t hesitate to recommend this book to any current or aspiring coach, or to any current player looking to gain some sapience that he can bring to his or her team. Also, calling itself the hockey “bible” might be a little sensationalized, but it is a truly great and expansive resource, and a definite and necessary upgrade from its predecessors like “The Hockey Handbook” from the 1950’s. 

“The Hockey Coaching Bible” is an extremely helpful resource for any aspiring or current hockey coach. The insights found within it made me have to fetch my highlighter so I could highlight many profound sections that I wanted to be able to recall later. I have already put some of the book’s acumen into practice during my own coaching sessions. To continue to be good conveyors of knowledge, coaches and teachers of any kind should never stop learning — hockey coaches who add this book to their repertoire will give themselves a boost in this department for years to come.

-SDC

***WANNA WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK? READ THROUGH THE REVIEW BELOW, AND FIND OUT HOW!***

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Featuring the insights, strategies, and experiences of the sport’s top coaches, The Hockey Coaching Bible sets a new standard for those who teach the game, develop the players, and dominate the ice. Whether head coach or assistant, at the youth level or professional, you will find a wealth of information to improve performance and strengthen your program.

You’ll go inside the game with 16 of hockey’s most respected teachers:

• Tom Anastos
• Joe Bertagna
• Mike Cavanaugh
• Bill Cleary
• Rick Comley
• Mark Dennehy
• Mike Eaves
• Guy Gadowsky
• George Gwozdecky
• Nate Leaman
• E.J. McGuire
• Marty Palma
• Jack Parker
• Mike Schafer
• Ben Smith
• Hal Tearse

Every facet of coaching is covered. The book features the most effective drills for developing players at each position and in-game strategies for various game situations, including offensive, defensive, and neutral-zone play and power plays and penalty kills.

In addition to on-ice Xs and Os, you’ll find sage advice for building a program from the ground up, furthering your professional development as a coach, and gaining community and parental support for projecting a positive image and earning the respect of your players and supporters.

Never has there been a more comprehensive coaching resource on the game. With The Hockey Coaching Bible, you’ll build your program into a powerhouse.

About the Author:

Joe Bertagna has been a collegiate hockey administrator for more than 30 years. Since 1997, he has served as commissioner of Hockey East, the preeminent conference in college hockey, whose member schools have earned seven NCAA championships under his leadership. Before his move to Hockey East, Bertagna served 15 years with the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), where he held the positions of tournament director, executive director, and commissioner. Both with ECAC and Hockey East, Bertagna has been a champion of women’s hockey, having initiated ECAC Division I and Division III league play and led the formation of the Women’s Hockey East Association, whose championship trophy is named in Bertagna’s honor.

In addition to his commissionership of Hockey East, Bertagna is executive director of the American Hockey Coaches Association, a position he has held since 1991. He also serves on the board of directors of both USA Hockey and the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation. For 40 years Bertagna has operated his own clinics for thousands of goalies of all ages.

 

Preview “The Hockey Coaching Bible” with these selected topical excerpts:

Respect for rules and officials: Tom Anastos — Michigan State Head Coach

Gap control: Jack Parker — Boston University

Practicing the power-play breakout: George Gwozdecky (Denver University) and Michael Zucker (Bench Metrics)

“The Hockey Coaching Bible” is available for purchase in Paperback, e-book, and Kindle versions from the Human Kinetics bookstore and Amazon. You can also search for ISBN-10: 0736062017 or ISBN-13: 978-0736062015 through your favorite bookstore.

Follow @davecunningFollow @Human_KineticsFollow @CunningAthletix

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***TO WIN YOUR OWN COPY OF “The Hockey Coaching Bible”, DO THE FOLLOWING:
1. ANSWER THIS TRIVIA QUESTION: Who won the 2015 Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coaching of the year?

2. TELL ME WHAT TEAM YOU CURRENTLY COACH, OR ASPIRE TO COACH (I want to give this to someone who needs it).

Good luck!***