First and foremost, we believe that to be the best, our elite players have to play against the best players, be challenged by the best players and ultimately succeed against the best players in the province and beyond. There is no disputing the quality of hockey that is played in the top tier of minor hockey in Ontario. It is possibly the best in the world and top-tier teams from across North America and the world attend tournaments in Ontario for that reason. Wild teams are gaining a reputation as a competitive organization and our successes in league play, tournaments and provincial rankings reflect that.

We also recognize that our coaches have a huge impact on the development of our players – good players become great teams thanks to great coaches. For this reason, the Wild dedicate a great deal of effort in selecting the best possible coaches for our 4 teams. Coaches are selected based on their level of coaching certification, their coaching experience, as well as their personal attributes such as leadership, discipline, motivational and communication skills. We give our coaches a great deal of control regarding the development of their teams. This allows them to tailor the most effective development plan depending on the needs of the team. In accordance with Hockey Canada guidelines, our coaches work on the following individual and team skills and tactics:
  

- Basic Individual Skills, such as skating, puck control, passing, shooting and checking;
- Individual Tactics: 1 on 1 skills, net drive, gap control, angling, puck protection, face-offs, shot blocking, etc…;
- Offensive Team Tactics: passing support, give and go, 2 on 1, 3 on 1, 3 on 2, attack triangle, drive and delay, cycling, etc...
- Defensive Team Tactics: puck pursuit, attack vs contain, zone coverage, forechecking, backchecking, etc…;
- Team Systems: team breakouts, team forecheck, faceoffs, powerplay, penalty kill, powerplay breakouts, etc…
 

Our teams also supplement their on-ice skill development with the following:

- Off-ice Training, which includes stretching, agility and balance, power, strength training, endurance and conditioning;

- Sports Nutrition and Hydration, which involves pre, during, and post workout nutrition and hydration requirements;
- Sports Psychology, which involves discussions and training on self-discipline, positive attitude, goal-setting, visualization, etc…

 

We also believe that in order to call ourselves an elite hockey organization, we have to support our coaches’ efforts to develop our young athletes so they can focus the day-to-day responsibilities of coaching the team. With this goal in mind, the Wild Association has instituted a supplementary Development Program that provides our teams with specialized skill development and mentoring. We have aligned ourselves with some of the best and most experienced technical hockey instructors in Eastern Ontario. The program includes the following components:
 

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR (Coach Mentor)
Brent Loney is the Technical Director (Coach Mentor) for the Wild Association. Mr. Loney has numerous years of playing, coaching and scouting experience at the AHL, OHL, and CJHL levels. The Technical Director is an important resource to the Wild Coaches. In essence, he supports the hockey development program provided by the Coaches, and works closely with the coaching staffs and the Wild Vice-President of Hockey Operations.
 
The Technical Director will regularly attend games of our 4 Wild teams and provide game reports to the coaches. These game reports will include player evaluations, team tactic and team system analyses, which will help coaches make any necessary adjustments to their development plans and strategies. The Technical Director is also available to participate in team practices, at the coach’s discretion, to teach certain team tactics or systems, work with individual players on certain skills, or even run the entire practice. Another very important facet of the Technical Director’s responsibilities is the promotion of Wild players to Junior, University and College coaches and scouts throughout the year. He can also provide or facilitate team presentations regarding the OHL, CJHL, CIS, and NCAA, and what it takes to make it to these next levels in hockey.
 

Tom Dempsey was hired as our goaltending coach/resource for all Wild teams. Tom has a very solid reputation in our region. He has over 18 years of goalie coaching experience and is currently the goalie coach for the Major Junior Ottawa 67’s and the Carleton University Men’s and Women’s hockey teams.

Tom will work with our goalies at the Minto Ice Studio (small ice) approximately once every week or every 2 weeks.Tom’s approach involves one-on-one instruction, practice, assessment and correction.


VIDEO ANALYSIS

 Premier Video Coaching (Paul Shilton) will provide video analysis services to each Wild Coach using the state-of-the-art Steva software which permits quick and efficient sorting of game videos. With this ‘sorted’ video, the Coaches will conduct video teaching sessions with their players
For further information on the Eastern Ontario Wild Development Program, please contact the VP, Hockey Operations.