Development

Three Phases of the Hockey Season

A typical Ottawa Jr 67’s AAA hockey season is divided into three blended phases that complement the individual and team development philosophy and club motto “Excellence Through Development”:

The timelines of the Phases are intended as guidelines and are at the coach’s discretion in consultation with the VP Development.

Coaches are required to notify players, parents and liaison when transitioning phases.

Click here to view the PDF version of the 3 phases

1. The Culture Phase

The Culture Phase is the first phase of the hockey season. The goal of the culture phase is to build and set the 3 pillars of the 67’s way. Those pillars are:

Team first mentality
Hard work and compete level
Coachability

LEVERS THE COACH CAN USE: The coach can use ice time, special teams, and shortening the bench in key moments (last 5 mins of a game, end of period, or to regain momentum) in order to ingrain these pillars into the team culture.

The team can move into phase 2, The Opportunity Phase, once all players consistently display the 3 pillars.

2. The Opportunity Phase:

The Opportunity Phase is the second phase of the hockey season. The goal of this phase is the evaluation and the development of the players. Winning is not the ultimate goal of this phase. Just like in Culture Phase, the coach can limit a player’s ice if there are culture issues. During this phase, the coach will generally roll 3 lines. No permanent dedicated PP/PK in this phase. All players given the opportunity to practice and play in all situations to develop, be fully evaluated, and to determine the situation(s) that best suits each player prior to phase 3. The coach might have set PP/PK for a game, or set of games, but this will be done on a rotational basis.

The team can move into phase 3, the winning phase, once all players have been properly evaluated. The head coach must get permission from the VP Dev before moving from phase 2 to phase 3.

3. The Winning Phase:

The Winning Phase is the third phase of the hockey season. The goal of this phase is to emphasis winning, while maintaining a balanced development approach.

During the winning phase, the coach can set the lineup that gives them the best chance to win. This includes setting the PP, the PK, and more frequently shortening the bench in key moments (last 5 mins of a game, end of period, or to regain momentum). Each player on the team will have a role on the PP or PK.

Development

The Ottawa Jr. 67’s AAA player development model continues to be focused on development of the entire athlete. Although the 67’s club prides itself on winning, we strongly believe it must come the right way, through core skill development and game specific teaching for all players. Our motto remains “Excellence through Development”. Our Jr. 67’s teams have been very successful over the past few years winning league championships and moving players on to the OHL, tier two junior and NCAA opportunities. Still, our players are not professionals and should therefore be expected to have far greater focus on individual athlete and core skills development over winning and losing. Going forward the Ottawa Jr. 67’s club will demand that all players are expected to be accountable and responsible for their individual preparation.

The 67’s club will through on–ice and off-ice activities with the support of our coaches, external and technical resources, ensure that age appropriate skill development is a priority with each of our teams.

Overall the 67s’ will emphasize the following:

1. Accountability for preparation, focus and performance – mental development
2. Engage all players in skills improvement through practice, skill development and game situations
3. Create positive and competitive team environments
4. Build better hockey players and overall good citizens.

Off-Ice Development

Hockey is a physically demanding sport that requires specific and significant strength and conditioning in order to ensure the long term development of our athletes. It is important to remember that strength and conditioning training during the season is for the athletes to maintain strength and endurance during the long hockey season. Proper hockey specific training will help provide injury prevention, a strong core, speed , agility , power and stability on the ice. Our off-ice program will focus on overall general strength specific to hockey, speed and agility, balance, core and lower back conditioning as well as stretching with plyometrics before games and practices.

On-Ice Development

The on-ice development program will be similar to past years, with key input from the coaches in establishing specific areas for improvement and skill development. Practices will be augmented with skill development expertise from external skating and goaltending consultants as agreed to by coaches and the club. Coaches will follow-up with each player on their progress ensuring they and the player have an understanding of how best to incorporate the plans for continued development.

Coach Development

As in the past, the 67’s will support coaches where we can with external consultants and resources that will aid them in their responsibilities. A Coach mentor will be made available to all of the Head Coaches, the mentors role is to support the coach and act as a second set of eyes at games primarily in addition to attending one or two practices throughout the season. This person will have a high degree of technical knowledge providing advice on skill development and player preparation for all levels.
Coaches, will also have the ability to access technical tools to support them in practices and games in addition to sharing strategies regarding player development.

Development partners

The Jr. 67’s AAA Hockey Club is pleased to announce our partnerships for the 2023/24 season. Our external suppliers work closely with the Club and our Coaches to supplement and maximize development for our players.

thefitnesslabottawa.com
@thefitnesslabottawa

www.gladiatortraining.ca
@gladiatorstrengthconditioning

Skating and Skills

Goaltender Development

Perfect Skating

perfectskating.ca
@perfectskating
@perfectskatingottawa

www.facebook.com/JenkinsGoaltending
@coachjenks

www.gardienplus.com
@gardienplus

Training and Conditioning

Coaches Selection

Coach Profile as established by the Jr. 67’s Coach Selection Committee

In order to conduct the Jr. 67’s AAA coach interviews, our committee established an ideal coach profile that lists a number of key competencies that we felt that every coach should possess and which provide the coach with the basic capabilities with which to run an effective program. This list is not exhaustive of all the competencies required, however it does provide a sense for what key capabilities the committee is targeting.

Consequently, these competencies formed the basis of our interview guide (i.e., what questions were asked) and our final selection decisions.

An ideal AAA coach should be able to demonstrate ability to:

Communicate effectively and in a positive manner (written and oral) with both adolescents and parents
Adapt his/her program and/or approach to the developmental needs of the age group (e.g., adjust training / practices to the age and caliber he/she is interested in coaching versus simply constructing a miniaturized version of major junior or pro)
Design and implement a year-long plan which includes all key elements of athlete preparation for elite hockey (AAA) competition (e.g., integrate both mental and physical training techniques throughout the year i.e., off-season, pre-season, in-season)
Link age/level-appropriate skills with the game tactics and strategies
Refine players’ individual skills through advanced skill analysis strategies
Be innovative and open to using or experimenting with different approaches
Effectively manage the competition environment through expert handling of: pre-game, between periods, and post-game meetings and adjusting game tactics and strategies during game and/or tournament
Deal with emotionally-charged situations in a professional manner
Make effective use of assistant coaches, trainers, training specialists
Establish a program that is in philosophical alignment with organization values and goals
Solve problems using a fair and thoughtful process
Provide appropriate guidance to players/parents re. typical social (e.g., school) and emotional issues facing adolescents
Deal with club and/or branch political issues, structures, policies, etc.
Consistently lead/coach successful teams/programs at the level sought – success defined in terms of:
- win/losses; tournament and/or league championships;
- player all-around development; assistant coach development/mentoring; and
- building a sense of pride and commitment to the team and/or organization.

Coach Mentor Roles and Responsibilities

It is the Club’s mandate to also help develop our coaches. The mentor program is designed to help develop our coaches as well as our players. The Mentor works closely with VP Development.

The responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Game and Practice Observations Monthly Coach Meeting and Round Table Accountability Evaluation Creating and Developing a Club Coaching Guide and Monthly Reporting Template

Game and Practice Observations

The 67's Coach Mentor typically attends 2 practices and 1 game per month for each of our teams and provides a comprehensive report to the coaches and VP Development. Although the coaches are ultimately responsible for creating and modifying their development and season plans based on the players progress the Mentor's feedback will help coaches make any necessary adjustments to their plans and strategies to maximize the development of our players

Monthly Coach Meeting and Round Table

Accountability

Evaluation

Creating and Developing a Club Coaching Guide and Monthly Reporting Template

The 67's Way

The Ottawa Jr. 67’s AAA Hockey Club the most successful and recognizable Association in the city. Players should take great pride in representing the Club and wearing the famous “Barber Pole”. The Jr.67’s are committed to the development of the entire athlete, which includes skill development, mental preparation and focus. Our players are expected to be accountable and responsible for their individual preparation and participation in all aspects of our programs.

The “67’s Way” will assist players with a consistent approach to expectations and preparation for practices and games.
Our coaches will outline their rules and policies for their respective teams, but the “67’s Way” will be consistent across the Club and include the following:

Players are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner at all times, on and off the ice, while representing the Jr. 67’s AAA Hockey Club
Players are expected to arrive at the rink and be in the assigned dressing room 40 mins prior to practices and 60 mins prior to games
Players are expected to follow and be responsible for the on ice practice uniform standards assigned by the coach which will consist of a 67’s logoed practice jersey and socks
All 67’s teams will follow the same pre-game/pre-practice warm up that will be provided by the Strength and Conditioning Coach
Players are expected to bring their warm up kit which will consist of running shoes, 67’s t-shirt and 67’s shorts, to every practice and game
Players are expected to have a back up stick at all practices and games