Concussion Awareness

With the advent of body checking at a younger age, coaches, trainers and parents need to be more aware of concussion symptoms.

Here are some helpful hints if you suspect a player might have a concussion.

Always assess airway, breathing and circulation. All players who experience a concussion must be seen by a physician before the player can return to play.

Definition:
Change in mental state (confusion) as a result of a trauma. May involve loss of consciousness.

Mechanism:
Blow to the head, face or jaw. May result from a whiplash effect to the neck.

Types of Concussion

First Degree: Player experiences brief period of confusion. There is no loss of consciousness. Symptoms are completely gone in less than fifteen minutes.

Second Degree: Player experiences a loss of consciousness (however brief) or player
experiences symptoms beyond fifteen minutes. Player should see a physician immediately.

Common Symptoms and Signs

-Vacant Stare
-Dizziness
-Poor coordination
-Ringing in the ears
-Delayed responses to questions
-Seeing stars
-Nausea, vomiting
-Sensitivity to light
-Inability to focus
-Sensitivity to noise
-Headache

Please note that some symptoms/signs may appear later so player should be observed even after symptoms/signs seem normal.

Mental Status Testing

For information only. Do not attempt to treat a concussion.

Always have the player consult a physician.

Orientation: Does the player know what the exact time and place is? Does the player know the circumstances of the injury?

Concentration: Can the player spell “world” backwards?

Memory: Does the player know the score of the game?

Any Loss of Consciousness – Initiate Emergency
Action Plan and Call an Ambulance
-Rule out possible neck injury
-Remove the player from further play
-Do not administer medication
-Notify the parent or guardian about the injury
-The player does not return to play unless permitted to do so by a physician

Return To Play

The return to play process only begins after a physician has given the player clearance to return to activity. If any symptoms/signs return during this process, the player must be re-evaluated by a physician.

1. No activity, complete rest. Proceed to step 2 only when symptoms are gone and a physician has given the player clearance.
2. Light aerobic exercise such as walking or stationary cycling. Monitor for symptoms.
3. Sport specific training (e.g. skating).
4. Non-contact drills.
5. Full contact practices.
6. Game play.

Note: Player should proceed through the steps only when it has been demonstrated that there are no return of symptoms. This includes long term symptoms such as, fatigue, irritable behaviour or sleep disturbance. If any symptoms return the player should drop
down to the previous level and must be re-evaluated by a physician.

Prevention

-Players
• Make sure your helmet fits snugly
• Get a custom fitted mouth guard
• Respect other players

-Safety Person/ Trainer
• Discourage checks to the head
• Recognize signs and symptoms of concussion

A Quick Shot is Better Than a Hard Shot

A hard shot is great but a quick shot is better... I have never witnessed a puck being shot through a goalie, so don't give the goalie time to set and get in the way of the shot.

Quick shots are more effective in getting the puck into the net.

Practice quick shots off both feet. A lot of players can't shoot while skating in stride.
They telegraph the fact they are about to shoot by stopping their feet and gliding before they shoot. Keep your feet moving right through the shot and learn to shoot off both feet.

What is a quick shot?... A quick shot is a shot that minimizes the time a goalie has to
set and react to a shot. If you give the goalie time to prepare for the shot it greatly increases the goalies ability to stop your attempt. If you shoot quickly the goalie is not set. The goalie may be: off balance, their stick is off the ice, moving the wrong way, back in the net to far, etc.

Weak-side ‘One-timers’ are a great example of a quick effective shot. The goalie is set
for the play on one side of the ice and the puck is passed to the opposite side of the ice and the player receiving the pass shoots on net in one motion before letting the goalie get set.

Quickness drill

One of the most important things in hockey is being quick. Quickness is measured not in over all speed (I consider that as a fast or slow player) but in starts and jumping into open spaces. Some players are not naturally quick but this can be improved!

Here's a great drill to improve a players quickness. Have a partner hold a tennis ball head high and stand 15 feet away from him. When he drops the ball, you try and get it before it bounces a second time.

This can easily be practiced anywhere, at home, on the road (out of town tournaments) and anyone can be your partner (mom, dad, sister, etc.)

The key is practicing! Practice this over the season and you will notice yourself getting quicker! And the coach will notice too!

Time to Lace Up for Another Hockey Season

The minor hockey years should be a magical period for our kids.

PAUL STOTHART

In hundreds of rinks across Canada -- thousands of minor hockey players will be immersed in the unnerving process of tryouts for competitive hockey teams. In areas such as Toronto, where competitive players were already selected in the spring, teams will begin the equally exciting process of preparing for the upcoming season.

The kids will be equipped with new gear and will be fresh from a summer of video games, soccer and hockey schools. Many over-enthusiastic Dads will undoubtedly have invested $220 in new synthetic hockey sticks -- to increase their kid's shot-speed from 12 mph to 15 mph. Parents and grandparents everywhere will be preparing mentally for another season of shuttling kids up and down the Queensway, the 401, the Bow Valley, or the Metropolitan.

Coaches will be dusting off their clipboards, enticing helpers to run the tryout sessions, and hiring experts to help with the difficult task of selecting the two best goaltenders. And the local hockey association executive will be poised to deal with the complaints that will inevitably follow the final cuts.

It is a time that is fraught with frayed nerves for kids, for parents, and for coaches. This is not surprising for, like it or not, hockey is Canada's game.

While Canadian kids by the millions play other sports and pursue dance and music lessons, none of these pursuits instill the broad passion and emotion that is associated with hockey. Even soccer, the global sport, remains dogged by one-nil scores and images of grown men flopping, diving and writhing like fish around the pitch -- it cannot approach the fervour with which hockey is treated in Canada.

The challenges that face minor hockey players and their coaches evolve significantly as kids grow for 10 years -- from child to adult -- through the minor hockey system.

In the 7-10 age bracket, the strongest players are those who have attended power-skating and hockey camps since they were five years old. These kids will be capable of "going end to end," victimizing defencemen who are desperately trying to back-pedal. The challenge for coaches at this stage is to provide all kids with relatively equal ice-time and attention. One challenge for the top kids is to withstand the taunts from parents, some of whom will jeer the star players for "not passing" or will perceive their own child as being short-changed by the coach.

For 11-12 year olds, the games become longer in duration -- usually 45 minutes stop-time. This can present a deceiving picture of progress or lack thereof, as the extra time allows strong teams to run up scores in the final minutes of games. What would have been a close 4-1 score the previous year in short games can easily become a 10-2 score in this age bracket. The challenge for kids and coaches is to persevere and to continue to work on their basic skills and team play.

Kids in this age bracket often present an entertaining mix of dressing-room personalities -- some are in mid-puberty talking with bravado about kissing girls while others remain more comfortable talking about Lego. The notion of teamwork is also beginning to take form: I recall an incident from my minor peewee team last season where one player realized he had forgotten his mouthguard at home and, by league rules, would therefore be unable to play. Not to be fazed, a teammate quickly pulled an old mouthguard from the mouldy corner of his hockey bag, squirted water in it, and lent it to his teammate for the game! Kids are also beginning to develop self-confidence and attitude; after one particularly strong game last season my post-game remarks were: "Hey, you kids are starting to learn how to play hockey," to which one cheekily replied: "Yeah, and you're starting to learn how to coach!"

By the time kids have reached 13-14 years of age, the games become more physical and dominant kids of a few years earlier discover that there is no longer much room to manoeuvre on the ice. The gap in basic skills -- skating, agility, and stick-handling -- narrows. Those teams that were not competitive a few years previously begin to compete quite aggressively. Some players also begin to drift away from the physical play and the time commitments toward other interests.

Age 15, as young as that may seem, is currently the most important year for competitive minor hockey players. This is the year that will determine whether a player will continue in a top stream -- destined for Junior A or university hockey -- or whether the player will evolve toward a more recreational stream. Scouts are present at many games to observe players in this age bracket. The top players become those who develop unique skills: exceptional quickness, a powerful skating stride, clear vision of the ice, strong physical presence, or an explosive and accurate shot.

The minor hockey years should be a magical period for our kids. The advice for parents, as their kids evolve through these years, is simple. Encourage your kid to practise hard and to play clean. Focus on the entire team and not simply your own child. Don't criticize star players because they want to score goals. Don't count ice-time minutes. Don't burn your kids out. Emphasize school first and foremost. Enjoy the games and the times. In many of these respects, there are life lessons to be learned as our kids move through the minor hockey years.

Paul Stothart lives in Ottawa. He was two-time Canadian university player of the year while at Queen's University and subsequently played in Europe and with Team Canada in Russia. He has coached minor hockey for several years. He scored 50 goals last season on the outdoor rinks of Ottawa.