Pro

Who would ever think that the one biggest obstacle to achieving success on the ice and reaching your hockey dreams would be your own frustration and self-directed anger whenever you make mistakes or fail? When you get impatient and upset with yourself for messing up — because you feel that, at your level, you shouldn’t [...]

Everything good this season will result from the energy of your players! When it comes to playing your best game, understanding how to re-energize is every bit as important as mental toughness, or knowing the team system, or game preparation. NHL coaches pay intense attention to the energy of both their individual players and their [...]

When the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks’ owner, Bill Gallacher, wanted to revamp the Hawks’ hockey operations in 2008, he turned to Mike Johnston — a sought-after coach who knows there’s a lot more to hockey than what goes on after the puck drops. With nearly 10 years of NHL experience, Johnston has an impressive track record [...]

My wife, Jenn, and I really enjoyed the 19 seasons of minor hockey that our three boys played. Our oldest son, Ben, who now plays professional hockey, was a Novice player during the last season that I played in the NHL. So, while I was having my first experience coaching minor hockey, I was finishing [...]

No matter what the sport, every young athlete who is fully committed and focused on the improvement of skills will look to gain every competitive advantage available, whether it means putting in a few extra hours of practice, eating right or soaking up tips and tricks through television, books or the Internet. And for many [...]

For many minor hockey players — and their parents, too — the hockey tryout process can be both exciting and unnerving. When players are working hard to make a top team, the added pressure to play their best can often lead to jitters and, worse, self-doubt — a combination that ironically leads to underperformance. Add [...]

Another hockey season is upon us, and I’m sure parents and players have entered it with feelings of both excitement and anxiousness. As a strength and conditioning coach who is dedicated to developing young athletes for long-term success, I’m often asked by parents about the best ways to prepare and motivate young hockey players for [...]

Anyone who has been involved in sports for any length of time — especially contact sports — knows that concussions are a risk.  And because such an injury is tough for the average parent, player or coach to detect, and because so many myths surround the injury, it’s something that can easily go undetected in [...]