Lessons From the Quinnipiac University Ice Hockey Program
A Review of Rand Pecknold's Amazing Program
Greg here, wanting to pass along a cool video I came across on Rand Pecknold’s Quinnipiac University men’s hockey NCAA program.
Normally I send stuff like this to paid supporters, but we’re sending this one out to all today. Enjoy the goals with my notes below. Cheers.
Quinnipiac Hockey Overview
Quinnipiac College began sponsoring men's ice hockey as a varsity sport for the 1975–76 season at the Division 3 level. They became Division 2 for a season in 1997-98 before becoming Division 1 NCAA starting in the 1998-99 season.
Rand Pecknold has been the coach through the transition from D3 to D1. He took over the program in 1994 while remaining a high school history teacher. He became the full-time head coach once the program became Division 1.
They quickly rose to prominence with their first D1 tournament appearance in 2002. In 2013 and 2016, they lost in the National Championship game. They eventually won the 2022-2023 national championship over Minnesota.
Reminders on the Wall
In the locker room, you’ll often see painted inspiring words, but rarely will you see the details of the game attached to the wall.
For the goalies:
Challenge
Protect Five hole
Contest Every Shot
Play Big
Program Pride
“We do what we do here. We win hockey games. Our kids graduate, they graduate with honors. They do well in life. They do well in NHL and pro.”
Rand clearly cares for his players beyond the ice and takes pride in preparing them not only for hockey but also for life.
Practice
There is a lot of work on various micro-skills, like knocking pucks out of the air and crisp one-touch passing from multiple directions.
“We do a lot of things outside of the box. And i think that’s why we win”
Pregame Off-Ice Warmups
This is extremely chaotic looking when they are warming up on the basketball court. They have a group playing basketball, another playing sewer ball, and throwing around a football.
Then the team heads into the gym for a more organized team warmup. Yet they still start with a fun wiffleball game. They are VERY energetic through it all.
Pregame Rituals
There are the normal things like a 5-minute pre-game coaches meeting.
They play a ton of fun games and talk prior to the game. One is shouting out who they think is going to have a good game that night. The others are hilarious… gotta check it out below.
Overall the program brings energy, good vibes, and a ton of enjoyment. Seems like an absolute blast to play at Quinnipiac.
Further Reading