November: Topping Up The Energy Tank 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 team as a whole. Coaches at this level design their daily practice plans more around energy conservation than strategy or even power play development. Until they learn to maximize their energy, your players cannot reach their highest potential. Every hockey season has its cycle. It ranges from times of intense tournament play, to days off, to easier practices. Each part of the cycle demands a different energy load and a different approach to re-energizing. One specific part of this season cycle that often gets overlooked is post-tryouts. Some associations even hold their tryouts right after the season ends in the spring, in part to make this fall cycle less dramatic. However, many associations across North America move their players from off-season training directly into the intense output of tryouts. Teams are picked, practices begin and most coaching staffs like to enter an early tournament to help their team come together ... this is the intense time in the energy cycle that I want to focus on here. I participated in tryouts (training camp) for close to 30 seasons. As a player, I loved camp. This was a time to