About the Author:
Dave King is a Canadian hockey coach who has coached Canadian College, Major Junior, in the NHL, Canada's National/Olympic teams and coached in six countries.
Early in his career he coached Canada's World Junior team to its first gold medal leading to the success Canada has had since then. His U of S hockey team won the Canadian University CIS championship in 1982 and he coached Canada to a silver medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics. He also coached Canada's Mens Hockey team at the World Championships to three silver medals in 1989, 1991 and 2017. He became the first North American to coach in the Russian Super League and the Russian KHL going to the league semi-finals both times. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1992 and the Order of Hockey in Canada with Mark Messier and Paul Henderson in 2012. King is considered to be one of the best teachers in the game and Dave Tippett, coach of the Edmonton Oiler's supports that with this comment. "To this day, I have not met a smarter hockey coach or a better mentor for coaches worldwide. Hockey has evolved over Dave's four decades of coaching and he has been at the forefront of that evolution"! Dave has written two books, the first one The King of Russia; A year in the Russian Super League in conjunction with Eric Duhatschek. This book is available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. The second book is Loose Pucks and Ice Bags also available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com
About the Book:
Dave King has written a very interesting and entertaining book about hockey. It's a book that appeals to a hockey fan, a coach or a player. King has written it in such a way that a rather technical game is explained to the reader in a very concise yet simplistic way. The book is formatted in such a way that every chapter is short, to the point and followed up with points of wisdom. Reading the book allows one to watch this fast and exciting game with more understanding allowing the reader to gain more appreciation for the game of hockey. As Mike Babcock, Stanley Cup winning coach and 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist has said: "Kinger is one of the greatest hockey minds of all time. He has coached at every level and in numerous countries from Canada's National/Olympic team for 10 years, in the NHL for 15 years and abroad in four other countries. His experiences provided him with an unbelievable education that he has shared with many coaches and players improving the way the game is coached and played." As well, NHL Coach of the Year and Stanley Cup Champion Barry Trotz commented: "After reading the book, King's colorful anecdotes, years of wisdom and incredible grasp on present day coaching tactics makes this a must read for coaches, players and fans".
Link for book:
amazon.ca
amazon.com
Excerpt from the book:
Chapter 18 " Possession is 9/10's of the Law... What About Hockey?
Having the opportunity to coach Canada's National/Olympic team throughout the 80's and 90's gave me a real appreciation for the fact that ice surface size had an influence on the possession game. Playing on a larger European surface, the passer often had more time and the receiver had more available space to utilize to get open. On the smaller North American ice surface, it automatically created more congestion in every zone making passing and receiving the puck much more challenging.
Often, sports like hockey, basketball and soccer are referred to as possession games. However, in soccer you have a very large field which automatically helps possession. In basketball, the rules restricting a lot of physical play often gives the team with the ball a real advantage and in both sports, prolonged or quality possession exists a lot. In hockey, there are times when you have the puck but the opposition is close and physical. Therefore, you don't have quality or productive possession as they are controlling you!
This means in hockey, some situations recur in a game where possession is not an advantage, almost a disadvantage. This creates a " risk-reward" element to making decisions, as sometimes the risk to keep possession is far greater than the reward at that moment. It is smart puck management, not possession, that often is the most important. For this reason, there are situations when having the puck is like "holding a hand grenade with the pin pulled". It is better to give the opponent the puck. Just make sure you give it away where you want them to get it! There are also situations when the opposition plays a passive, compact style with numbers back so you have no choice but to use smart shoot-ins with a plan to get it back.
One must realize it is good to have extended, quality, productive possessions as this leads to success. However, in some games it is not always how long you possess the puck, but how many short, productive possessions you get in critical areas or at critical moments that make the difference!
In today's game, we all realize players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. This combined with a short shift philosophy has really increased the pace of the game. The need for coaches to continue to work on individual puck control skills and collective possession tactics is clearly evident. As well, coaches must continue to help young players learn to become smart risk manager's so they learn to develop into higher percentage decision makers with the puck.
Dave King is a Canadian hockey coach who has coached Canadian College, Major Junior, in the NHL, Canada's National/Olympic teams and coached in six countries.
Early in his career he coached Canada's World Junior team to its first gold medal leading to the success Canada has had since then. His U of S hockey team won the Canadian University CIS championship in 1982 and he coached Canada to a silver medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics. He also coached Canada's Mens Hockey team at the World Championships to three silver medals in 1989, 1991 and 2017. He became the first North American to coach in the Russian Super League and the Russian KHL going to the league semi-finals both times. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1992 and the Order of Hockey in Canada with Mark Messier and Paul Henderson in 2012. King is considered to be one of the best teachers in the game and Dave Tippett, coach of the Edmonton Oiler's supports that with this comment. "To this day, I have not met a smarter hockey coach or a better mentor for coaches worldwide. Hockey has evolved over Dave's four decades of coaching and he has been at the forefront of that evolution"! Dave has written two books, the first one The King of Russia; A year in the Russian Super League in conjunction with Eric Duhatschek. This book is available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. The second book is Loose Pucks and Ice Bags also available on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com
About the Book:
Dave King has written a very interesting and entertaining book about hockey. It's a book that appeals to a hockey fan, a coach or a player. King has written it in such a way that a rather technical game is explained to the reader in a very concise yet simplistic way. The book is formatted in such a way that every chapter is short, to the point and followed up with points of wisdom. Reading the book allows one to watch this fast and exciting game with more understanding allowing the reader to gain more appreciation for the game of hockey. As Mike Babcock, Stanley Cup winning coach and 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist has said: "Kinger is one of the greatest hockey minds of all time. He has coached at every level and in numerous countries from Canada's National/Olympic team for 10 years, in the NHL for 15 years and abroad in four other countries. His experiences provided him with an unbelievable education that he has shared with many coaches and players improving the way the game is coached and played." As well, NHL Coach of the Year and Stanley Cup Champion Barry Trotz commented: "After reading the book, King's colorful anecdotes, years of wisdom and incredible grasp on present day coaching tactics makes this a must read for coaches, players and fans".
Link for book:
amazon.ca
amazon.com
Excerpt from the book:
Chapter 18 " Possession is 9/10's of the Law... What About Hockey?
Having the opportunity to coach Canada's National/Olympic team throughout the 80's and 90's gave me a real appreciation for the fact that ice surface size had an influence on the possession game. Playing on a larger European surface, the passer often had more time and the receiver had more available space to utilize to get open. On the smaller North American ice surface, it automatically created more congestion in every zone making passing and receiving the puck much more challenging.
Often, sports like hockey, basketball and soccer are referred to as possession games. However, in soccer you have a very large field which automatically helps possession. In basketball, the rules restricting a lot of physical play often gives the team with the ball a real advantage and in both sports, prolonged or quality possession exists a lot. In hockey, there are times when you have the puck but the opposition is close and physical. Therefore, you don't have quality or productive possession as they are controlling you!
This means in hockey, some situations recur in a game where possession is not an advantage, almost a disadvantage. This creates a " risk-reward" element to making decisions, as sometimes the risk to keep possession is far greater than the reward at that moment. It is smart puck management, not possession, that often is the most important. For this reason, there are situations when having the puck is like "holding a hand grenade with the pin pulled". It is better to give the opponent the puck. Just make sure you give it away where you want them to get it! There are also situations when the opposition plays a passive, compact style with numbers back so you have no choice but to use smart shoot-ins with a plan to get it back.
One must realize it is good to have extended, quality, productive possessions as this leads to success. However, in some games it is not always how long you possess the puck, but how many short, productive possessions you get in critical areas or at critical moments that make the difference!
In today's game, we all realize players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. This combined with a short shift philosophy has really increased the pace of the game. The need for coaches to continue to work on individual puck control skills and collective possession tactics is clearly evident. As well, coaches must continue to help young players learn to become smart risk manager's so they learn to develop into higher percentage decision makers with the puck.
