6°of Roger Neilson

Episode 21 features Kendall Coyne. Kendall is a Team USA Olympic Gold Medal Champion, Pro Hockey Player, NHL Hockey Coach, and TV broadcaster! The fact that she is experiencing all these different hats in the game, at the same time, is absolutely incredible & inspiring!! How does she do it??? Listen in on this episode as she shares so many great experiences and wisdom about how to live a life in hockey that ANYONE can achieve and dream of:))

Episode 20 features John Farinacci. John is coming fresh off a HUGE CHAMPIONSHIP with Team USA at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships!! What makes this episode a little more special is the Player-Coach relationship between myself and John. I have been fortunate enough to serve a role on his personal performance team for several years now. I loved how we were able to dive deep into his thoughts on how he grew up in the game, the role his parents and family have played, his thoughts on the different styles of coaching he has experienced, and of course...what he learned and experienced from the World Junior Championships!! I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did:)

Episode 19 features Coach Christian Burrus. He serves as the Developmental Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Chicago Blackhawks. In this episode, we dive into the personal journey of Coach Christian and his road to coaching in the NHL. He shares an open and honest perspective I believe many listeners will appreciate. We discuss his thoughts on professional development, what to look for in balancing your team's energy, how to tap into your players personal strength and conditioning needs, and how he uses technology to keep up with players across the world today! 

Episode 18 features Coach Darryl Belfry. Coach Belfry is the author of an incredible book called, “Belfry Hockey: Strategies to teach the WORLD’S BEST ATHLETES”. We HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who simply wants to become a better teacher!  In this episode, we dive into the mind of someone who has had a very unique experience and perspective in the game of hockey. Coach Belfry has had the opportunity to work with the best of the best in the NHL today. Players like Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews and John Tavares, are just a few of the household names he influences with his teaching wisdom.

In this episode, we took the opportunity to dive deeper into the history of some core concepts that make up Coach Belfry’s philosophy. Topics include: What is the fundamental difference between Coaching and Teaching? How do you develop your line of questioning as a coach, and why questions are at the core of your teaching process. Why is focusing on a players strengths, such a valuable long term approach to influencing and teaching players? And...How does your environment play into your own development process as a coach? These are just a handful of the core concepts we dive into in this episode. Get your pen and paper ready!!

Coach Darryl Belfry is truly a modern-day Spider-Man of teaching wisdom and knowledge!

After listening to this episode, you’ll understand why;) 

Episode 18 features Coach Darryl Belfry. Coach Belfry is the author of an incredible book called, “Belfry Hockey: Strategies to teach the WORLD’S BEST ATHLETES”. We HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who simply wants to become a better teacher!  In this episode, we dive into the mind of someone who has had a very unique experience and perspective in the game of hockey. Coach Belfry has had the opportunity to work with the best of the best in the NHL today. Players like Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews and John Tavares, are just a few of the household names he influences with his teaching wisdom.

In this episode, we took the opportunity to dive deeper into the history of some core concepts that make up Coach Belfry’s philosophy. Topics include: What is the fundamental difference between Coaching and Teaching? How do you develop your line of questioning as a coach, and why questions are at the core of your teaching process. Why is focusing on a players strengths, such a valuable long term approach to influencing and teaching players? And...How does your environment play into your own development process as a coach? These are just a handful of the core concepts we dive into in this episode. Get your pen and paper ready!!

Coach Darryl Belfry is truly a modern-day Spider-Man of teaching wisdom and knowledge!

After listening to this episode, you’ll understand why;) 

Episode 17 features Coach Pete Lenes. Co-Owner of Elev802. It was great to talk about the influences that inspired Swaggy Pete to not only become a professional player but to now become an online influencer for the game of hockey. We get into his philosophies with coaching and why he loves focusing on stickhandling for young players today. It was great to take this time and reconnect with Pete. We had actually worked together a decade ago when Pete was playing for the Trenton Titans in the ECHL. I was assisting the team as a Player Development Coach at the time, so it was nice to reconnect and catch up with an old friend in the game.

Episode 16 features John St. Pierre. John is the former CEO of Legacy Global Sports: Aka ‘Selects Hockey’, for those of you more familiar with the spring/summer Hockey world of our culture. What makes this episode a little more unique is the number of roles and hats John has worn in the industry. He’s a coach, Hockey entrepreneur, hockey parent, rink owner, and owner of a youth sports organization. 

Today we dive into his perspective on how he views people in the hockey industry, his thoughts on emotional intelligence in leadership, what he learned from the influence of so many incredible parents he met along his journey...many of these parents have children playing in the NHL today...and what were some of the common threads of the most successful players and families along the way. If you’re into understanding leadership principles in life and in the game, then sit back and enjoy the ride my friends:) 

As we continue to upload a few of our Pre-Covid episodes, EPISODE 15 features Coach Dave Barr. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience into our discussion today. Coach Dave played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Hartford Whalers, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars. He was also an assistant coach for the San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, and the Colorado Avalanche.

We discussed some key influences and mentors in his youth as a player, his unique perspective on coaching players today vs players from back in the day, how much he believes you can mentally push players to maximize their skills, why video is such a valuable tool for coaches, how he connects with his players today, and so much more! If you want to hear what a ‘players coach’ sounds like, then enjoy the show my friends:)

Sidenote: Coach Dave just celebrated his 60th birthday this past Monday!

Happy Birthday, Coach! Thank you for taking the time to share your incredible story with us:)

We’ve had a number of coaches ask me about Mindset Performance and Mental Conditioning. So, I thought it would be helpful and fun to discuss some concepts I have found are fundamentally important to influencing a players mindset & mental condition. Episode 14 is about a mental concept many of us have heard on several occasions:”Trust the Process”.

As important and real as this statement is, as a coach, I realized one flaw we had in how we missed a fundamental truth of how we teach this concept. How can one “Trust the Process” if one does not “Know the Process”? This is something I’ve noticed working with players from the youth levels to the NHL. There is a distinct difference between the best performers in the world, and the rest of the performers in the world. And that is simply...the best performers trust the process because they know the process. It’s as simple as that.

This episode helps coaches dive into seeing how much their players know their process, and we discuss one very important condition coaches must create in order for players to trust their process. We share one easy exercise to help you test your players' knowledge of their own process.

Earlier in the episode, I discuss a simple analogy we use with some of our players. Here’s a few extra notes to go with this analogy. One of the best analogies we’ve found for players to buy into “Trust the Process” is to teach them to build a relationship & ‘become best friends with their own skills‘, concepts and habits.

Ask your student: Do you have a deep and meaningful relationship with your skills? Just like trusting a best friend is built by knowing your best friend, trusting the process is built the same way. Get to know my process in a deep and meaningful way, so I can trust my process.

One example of mentally guiding a player through this experience is to discuss meaningful questions with them about their skills.

Let’s use shot selection as an example: How do I become best friends with the process of my shot selection? Where do I typically choose to shoot pucks? Do I find I miss opportunities to shoot, when I could have shot a puck? Do I notice I create more shots when I play with certain players? Why is that? What is different about my experience with those teammates vs other teammates? Is one type of shot easier to create for me than another? Could I position my body in a certain way to get my shot off quicker? As you can see, the possibilities of getting to know my process are endless. All it takes is having a Coach Who can help them learn to trust their process;)

Would love to hear your thoughts on this concept! 

As we mentioned last episode, We took a little bit of a break over the last few months, so were excited to bring you some of the episodes we haven’t loaded yet. This episode today might be my favorite one yet. During the pandemic, we started this initiative in our ‘Roger Neilson’s Coaches Connection’ Facebook group called ‘Coffee with Coaches’. We had guest panels join us live with other coaches listening in and asking questions. On this episode, we had 100 coaches from all over the globe join in on this very special panel discussion. Episode 13 features some incredible voices and leadership from Hockey Canada Women's National Team program. We have Gina Kingsbury, who is the Director of the Women's National Team. Troy Ryan, who is the Head Coach of the National team. And the legendary Mel Davidson, who is currently the head scout for the National Team, and also served as the head coach of the 2006 and 2010 gold medal Olympic teams.

Some key topics we touched on included: Why coaches should use this pandemic experience to professionally develop themselves. What resources have they been using during the pandemic to improve their own leadership skills. What were their thoughts on the state of female hockey currently. What’s the key differences to pay attention to when coaching girls vs boys. What has evolved in the game with developing players then vs now. What they believe is most important to building a championship culture, and so much more!! Get your notepad ready...this discussion was AWESOME!!!