I’ve yet to run across a hockey player who wanted less playing time. As such, understanding how to gain more ice time is critical for each player.
What is Ice Time?
Ice time is about trust. A coach wants to trust that you can fulfill the team's needs given the situation. A player must know what they are doing on the ice; otherwise, why would a coach play you?
Early in Alexander Ovechkin’s career, he was benched late in games when his team was in the lead. The team didn’t need more goals, and trust in Ovechkin’s defensive responsibility was low. As Ovechkin developed a more mature defensive game, he was trusted to close out games when his team held a lead. Now, he has more empty-net goals than anyone in NHL history.
So, when thinking about how to increase their ice time, players should be seeking ways they can be more trustworthy in more situations. In many ways, that alone is just as important as improving talent.
Trust, Then Validate
Many players have a belief in showing coaches what they can do. It’s a “play me so I can show you” attitude. Yet, when it comes to trust building, players need to show inklings of what they can do before coaches will deploy them in those situations.
Where do players prove themselves?
Practice - Players need to be able to show in practice snippets of what they are capable of accomplishing. Games simply validate or detract from what is first seen in practice.
Do well in their current role/responsibility - A player must do a good job in the role currently given, then expand from there. If you do a poor job in your current role, why would a coach or a boss give you further responsibility and trust?
By building trust, players are able to create opportunities for themselves.
Don’t Tie Your Identity to a Role
I love this clip from LeBron James and Steve Nash about evolving and making an impact:
“If you don’t play the right way or have the right motives, it’s harder to evolve into a better player/winning player.” - Nash
“Just having the mindset that I am willing to do whatever (is needed for the team to be successful).” - James
“Young player always ask yourself, what am I avoiding? What do I not want to do because it’s uncomfortable. Because it’s out of my comfort zone. Because it’s not something I identify with. Don’t let your perception of your identity ruin being a winning basketball player.”
A role is relative only to your current situation. While you may be a scorer now, you may need to be something different in the future. Conversely, you may not be a scorer now, but may be tasked with being a scorer in the future.
Hockey IQ Podcast guest Jordan Schmaltz mentioned this as a regret and a mistake during his playing career. He was always the offensive defenseman and ran into a wall between the NHL and AHL (Listen on Spotify or YouTube or Apple).
Summary
Understand what is going on in the game and your role within that framework
Do your current job/role within the team well
Build trust with the coaches in practice
Avoid a limiting identity and be open to doing whatever needs to be done
Work to evolve and add more elements to your game
Further Reading