Hockey IQ
We like measurement. Hard numbers. Objective explanation. It harnesses a better understanding of ”the truth,” it builds trust, and accountability, and enables us to better understand complex systems. Strength, power and speed are relatively easy to measure. The improvement of these metrics insure we are meeting expectations in program design and performance enhancement for our players. The game of hockey, however, is a complex game of organized chaos. If the game revolved around strength alone, powerlifters could play in the NHL. If the game revolved around speed alone, the best players would be Olympic sprinters. If we hyperfocus on these qualities with binocular vision, we are measuring trees without respecting the forest. Reductionist thinking is problematic in complex environments.
Hockey IQ is the ability to adapt and adjust efficiently in a complex environment. What is a complex environment? Six players (including the goalie) moving at speeds of 20+ mph, playing on ice with minimal friction, handling a piece of vulcanized rubber moving at speeds of 80mph with a stick is COMPLEX!
Hockey IQ
Hockey IQ can make a player look fast. Not by blistering speed, rather position on the ice, how one processes the game, how one anticipates, how one responds, and how one slows the game down. Can we measure this? I don’t believe we can. That frustrates a lot of us, including myself. Wisdom comes at the user’s expense. It also teaches us that not all problems are solvable. Not everything can be measured.
Hardware (Left Side) vs Software (Right Side)
Take a look on the left side of the picture. All of these qualities can be measured. They are the equivalent of trees. Force plates resisted sprint machines, free weights, tendo units, etc., etc.
The right side, nearly impossible. How do you measure processing and anticipation, and game sense? Have we confused the left side (hardware) with the right (software)? External load measures and internal load measures are outputs (I understand the difference between the two). They are hardware measures, BUT they are massively impacted by the right side (software). Game speed, heart rate, total player load, explosive efforts! Smart players may not exert as much! They’re more efficient! They’re in the right spot. They take ice, they give ice. They slow the game down. An accurate measure isn’t always a good measure.
“Those who believe what can’t be measured doesn’t matter, also believe that what can be measured does.”
Improving Hockey IQ
I recently interviewed a friend and colleague Troy Smith on the High-Performance Hockey Podcast. He runs a business called Hockey IQ. Troy breaks down video into bite size pieces and views the game as a series of repetitive patterns. He also highlights the importance of hockey IQ.
Video courtesy of https://www.hockeyiq.ca/
“I really believe you can do it by teaching people to watch the game in a different way. The challenge with hockey IQ is that I’m not sure that a lot of people know how to measure it.” - Troy Smith
His opinion on improving hockey IQ parallels that of Coach Dave King.
“Reoccurring game situations that happen all the time. There are patterns to the game that exist. There not as clear sometimes as other sports such as baseball and football, but we have a pattern to our game. So, there are things we can help a youngster understand so his execution can be better.” - Coach Dave King
The sports car - driver analogy: No matter how robust the engine, the driver must control, turn and operate in diverse conditions.
Improving Software: The Mind
Perhaps the biggest tool to improve hockey IQ is the use of video. The game is played too fast. Video gives us the opportunity to slow it down and assess patterns, highlight positioning and spacing, while reinforcing principles of play.
I’ll never forget a story from a NHL GM reflecting upon the importance of hockey IQ. He said:
Player “X” goes to the shopping mall and attempts to find a parking spot. There is one spot available. He finds it. The next day player “X” comes back to the shopping mall looking for a parking spot. The parking lot is empty. He can’t find a spot.
Same car, same hardware, same engine, same lights, same ignition. It’s the driver that controls it all. The software. The driver can’t find a spot! Not the car!
Improving Hardware
Reinforcing pattens of play is best harnessed on the ice. Target Context, target environment. You can be the king of the driving range, but it all changes when you hit the ball is in the sand. I’ve written about this many times before. Skill work is king! ***Side note: there is a BIG difference between skill work and practice. Skill work is done in small groups enabling players constant repetition. Practice is done in large groups which has drastic impact on the practice plan.*** Blocked or random practice! Whichever suits your fancy. Kucherov is a prime example:
"All those little things that happen 25 to 35 times a game, I practice them. I want to be ready to pick any puck off the boards - backhand, forehand. I want to have my head up and be able to find open guys as fast as I can. I want to be in control. So, I work on that, and when the season starts with training camp, I don't struggle to make that play or get the puck off the wall so easily.”
Hands, feet, and mind as Anatoly Tarasov is fond of saying, the most important is speed of mind. It can make a mediocre skater blazing fast. It just may not show up on the KPI list. It’s not tangible. It’s great to increase horsepower, polish the paint and improve fuel efficiency, but the driver of the car perhaps is the most important piece of all. A metric that is simply too hard to measure.
