Best Team Spirit – Team and Individual Values – Norway

To get the best team spirit and values within the team the Norwegian National Hockey Team defined some team value words and the meaning of them in practice.

Norway scoring goal against Germany Hockey World Championships

“Can we control results or the outcome from a game? No, but we can control our physical preparation, our action and our values!”

Team Values – To beat the best teams!

– Disciplin (extremely good carrying through, we cannot afford careless performance)
– Engagement (We make each other good, and the opposite team bad)
– Enthusiasm (Positive body language)
– Clear roles and ownership of the role
– Desperation (work / practice hard and with discipline twice / day)

How do you show this when you step in to the changing room? How is your body language? What do you stand for? (More about body language is found here >>)

Desperation Succesful Team Values Norway

Inspire your self and your teammates to success!

Norway made one of their best World Championship Tournament results in 2012, they were “unlucky” to meet the coming world champions Russia early in the Play Off’s, a thing they could not control (who they will meet), but they were well prepared, 2-2 in the third period…
Russia 5 – 2 Norway (Quarter finals)
Russia 6 – 2 Finland (Semi-finals)
Russia 6- 2 Slovakia (Final)

Hockey Ironman – Norway

As one of the steps to develop Norwegian hockey, and the physical status of the players, the “Ironman” competition was started.

All the hockey players and teams are part of the Ironman competition, the players/team get points on their result in physical events, like 40 m sprint, 3000 m running, and different strength and jumping excercises. If you or your team is not physically prepared for the upcoming hockey season, it will be revealed here.

The Ironman event has put the physical off-season practice in focus, as planned from the beginning, this is also a big thing for media.

The score in the different physical excercises, are categorized on four levels 1. Machine (Elite level) 2. Towards the Elite level 3. Should be improved 4. Hobby level

Ironman Score Table Norway Hockey

2012 Ironman winner was Jonas Holos, to mention something, he had the time 10,30 on 3000 m running, not bad for a 95 kg / 209 lbs defenseman…

Norwegian Hockey To The Top

The most impressive presentation during the hockey coach training, was the Norwegian one. So good content and fantastic presentation by Roy Johansen (National hockey team coach) and his colleague from Olympic coaching team (Olympiatoppen).

Roy Johansen Norway Hockey Roy Johansen to the left, Dan Hobér to the right.

Norway started their development by thinking of, what are the best teams / nations doing? What does the best hockey player do, what skills do they have, and what skills are they masters of?

Then they continued with working with their own team identity, who are we? What can we be best in? What can we control? Can we chase the other team all over the rink?

As an output from this, Team Norway could get some answers and identify areas to focus on. The key area was the answer to the questions, What can we be best in? What can we control?

We can be physically prepared. Therefore they – Created a physical training development stair, with defined levels of, what is world class. – Started an “Ironman” competition for all players and teams, that is run before the season starts. – Defined their way of playing hockey – Defined team values, or valuing words to describe wanted behavior within the hockey team. – Set goals short and long term

Team Norway Hockey, Victory over Latvia during World Championships 2012

“Extreme goals – Requires extreme process” /Team Norway

To be continued…

Ice Hockey in Denmark

I will continue with the learnings from the hockey coaching training, I attended during the World Championships in hockey. Next up Denmark…

Per Bäckman the head coach of Denmarks national hockey team and Esben Nedermark GM Danish National Hockey Team started their presentation, with talking about how small sport hockey is in Denmark.

Denmark hockey team and coaches, From right to left, behind the bench, Per Bäckman, Tomas Jonsson and Esben Nedermark.

Danish hockey has:
– 4400 registered players
– 16 teams
– 24 indoor rinks

While there are:
– 5000 hockey officials/referees in Toronto
– 296818 licensed football players in Denmark
– 5800 badminton players in Denmark
and 6000 Floorball players

Still Denmark is in the highest division in hockey, I will altough also talk about Norway, they have done an impressive work, with small or similar resources (6700 registred players!

What have Denmark done then?

One of the focus areas have been to have short and quick attacks, if you have not scored after 15 seconds you can give the puck to the other team, like the Norwegian national football team manager “Drillo” Olsen once said.

The Danish team have also been working with tactic and the discipline to stick to it, teambuilding, social environment and technical skills (opposite to Norway). What they are not good in regarding the national team coaches, is the physical part, they are too weak. The hard practicing culture is not there…

About the future…

Regarding the future for Danish hockey, Per Bäckman was quite negative, “we are at the top now, we will not get better, and we will not get more players or rinks, we need to take care of what we have now and try to maintain that.”

Wrong attitude…

In my mind totally wrong attitude, you will always need development and try to recruit new players and develop the game, players and teams (like Norway, coming in later post). When you think you can not develop or are satisfied, you will start your stagnation and to roll down the hill you are climbing and be eliminated in the end!

Denmark hockey and floorball Danish Hockey a good story (name of the presentation) – They have done a good work, but it will not last for so long, with the attitude I have described above…

“You have totally different view on game system and tactics than Sweden?” “Yes, I can not understand, why you would chase another players on the ice for 60 minutes” /Per Bäckman