The culture of the team comes from the top. A great coach will communicate his or her vision, and develop players both as individuals and as a group.  Everyone needs to be part of the ride, the win, the loss and the season. To make it to the upper ranks or win a championship, everyone needs to be all in and play. Bench players need time to develop and feel part of the win too, even if they play only a few minutes, get them in. Starters need time during the game to rest and be kept on their toes when they make mistakes. Hockey is a game of mistakes, everyone makes them.  Learn from mistakes and losses and wins. Continue to ask Why? How? What went well? What can we improve? Pivot and be flexible to change things up, players need to trust their coaches. Opponents do not need to know what is coming at them. Opponents need to be surprised by something out of the ordinary that they cannot study on your prior game films. Be a team player, if your coach puts you in a new position, go for it. Try it. Great coaches should define responsibilities for each player and tell players why they were chosen for the team and let each person know their key role. This key role may and probably will  be fluid as the season progresses.  Great coaches are developers of athletes and people. All this being said, one coach’s vision of you does not define you as a player or person. Always remember that their opinion of you is their opinion.  Another coach may view your talent entirely differently. And you can change your current coach’s opinion of you. Don’t give up, hard work, one hundred percent effort and engagement will pay off.  Treat every practice like a playoff game. Use your strengths to stand out in practice. If you are fast, use your speed to beat everyone one on one.  If you are the best locker room person, speak up and motivate everyone on the bench and in the locker room. Don’t complain. Train privately away from the team to work on individual skills with professionals with unbiased eyes. We train small groups and conduct private lessons every weekend at Boch Arena in Dedham from 730-930am on Saturdays and Sundays. Our annual once a year sale starts Oct 1 ending midnight on Halloween to save 15% off all training except for The Prague Tournament and Training Camp Summer 2022. Sign up for our mailing list as we annually send out a quick tip of the day every day in October during the sale. We are proudly the official development camp of Hockey East and The Boston Bruins, and proud partners of Bauer Gatorade and Dunkin Donuts. www.proambitions.com