My name is Cory Thorson, and heading into my second season as an assistant coach here at Saint John’s University (SJU), I am starting to understand how much time, effort and planning goes on behind the scenes to produce a successful hockey team. Before this past season I looked at coaching as all X’s and O’s. I have learned that there is a lot more that goes into building a successful program.
The purpose of this blog is to give readers an inside look into what I do as an assistant coach throughout the year. I am going to break down my routine into three different seasons: Pre-season, In-season and Post-season.
Pre-Season: August 1st – October 17th
Recruiting:
• Discuss with the head coach what we lost from the previous season and what our needs are for the following season.
• Develop a list of blue-chip recruits to watch throughout the season. This list usually consists of around 50 players.
• Create a schedule and gameplan to be able to see all the blue-chip recruits in action.
Coaching:
• Develop and communicate information about off-ice workouts and training with our players.
• Discuss a season calendar and ice schedule for the upcoming season with head coach.
• Establishing what had worked for us during the 2nd half of last year and gather film of these factors to be able to show our players entering the season.
Culture:
• Establish communication with the leaders of the team. Become a good sounding board and mediator between the players and the head coach.
• Communicate with our leaders in regards to creating a team culture and standards that our returners and newcomers will live by.
In Season: October 17th – March 15th
Recruiting:
• Narrowing down our blue-chip list to those players that we are most interested in and that we have the best chance to get.
• Encourage our recruits to apply to school and to really start thinking if SJU is the place for them.
• Tuesdays and Thursdays I will sneak out of practice early to attend Minnesota High School games. At these games, we start to create relationships with players for future recruiting seasons.
• On open weekends or weekdays when there are junior-hockey games, we will try to get out and see as many of our blue-chip players as possible.
Coaching:
• Work with head coach to create practice plans that will help establish a game plan for the upcoming games as well as work on things from the previous weekend.
• Daily discussion on who will be in the lineup or not be able play due to injury.
• Put together video in regards to prior games strengths/weaknesses and upcoming opponent to present to the players.
• Put together pre-scout hand-out for the players regarding upcoming opponent.
• Plan for post-game meals for all away games.
Culture:
• Strengthen communication and trust between myself and the players. Seeing that I am still a young coach, I try to relate to the players and establish a trust with them so they feel that they can talk to me about things that may going on in the locker room or in their personal lives.
• Keep locker room and focus moving in the right direction. Don’t allow the team mindset to slip.
Post Season: March 15th – May 30th
Recruiting:
• Get current blue chip recruits on campus for an overnight visit to truly see what it is like to be a student at SJU. This is also a great opportunity for our current players and our recruits to meet each other.
• Help get all financial aid packages finalized for these blue chip recruits.
• Get commitments from players to fill in vacated senior positions.
Coaching:
• Minimal coaching with some reflection from the season. Focus should be on recruiting and shifting towards the following season.
Culture:
• Establish new leaders for the upcoming season.
• Help the head coach organize the end of year banquet to honor the past season’s seniors.
• Shift returning players focus to offseason and workouts.
Finally, I have learned that it takes a lot of patience and sacrifice to get into the coaching fraternity. I am currently only a part-time stipend coach here at SJU. I love working at SJU, but I also have aspirations to advance in the coaching world. In order to continue developing a great resume and coaching experience I work a full-time job in June and July. This also helps me supplement my income as being on a 10-month stipend position here at SJU does not pay all the bills. In order to grow my resume, I was the lead instructor for a youth hockey camp, as well as coached a 2008 birth year AAA team.
I hope that you enjoyed reading this blog and I am looking forward to this season as I feel we have the team in place to win a lot of games.
