Donna Helgenberg and Tara Lane
From Edge Changes to Line Changes —
Considering Hockey Coaching Opportunities By Jordan Mann, PSA Hockey Skating Committee Chair
I
n early 2020, I had some pretty good luck. I was the head coach for a 10U AA hockey team based outside of Chicago in the Central States Developmental Hockey League, and we were on a late-season roll. We had won eleven of our last twelve games, squeaked out a couple of overtime victories against higher-seeded opponents, and somehow made it to the state finals. Then for about an hour and a half, the luck ran dry. But hey, second place in state is decent. A few hours later our 16U AA team stepped into the same arena, flipped the script, and were crowned state champions for the second time in three years. I had been an assistant and/or skating skills coach for that team for seven seasons at that point. Two state finals games! Another trip to nationals on the horizon! Life was good! Behind the bench in the finals was an odd place to find a figure skater. I had grown up on 6am patch sessions, triple jumps, and pretending that I was running my long program way more than I actually was (shhhh…). For me,
hockey was reserved for pickup games when the ice was open at midnight on a Friday. Or on the blacktop of a friend’s cul-de-sac on a Sunday. I had good friends that played on elite teams, but I did not grow up immersed in the game. My professional life began as a figure skating coach, and for a while I did primarily that. So how did my coaching career veer off in such an unexpected direction? How did I end up coaching against former NHLers instead of former Grand Prix skaters? Well, at one point I was asked, as most of you certainly have been, the six words that changed everything: “Can you make my kid skate faster?” Well, yes, I guess. I started working with some local players on their skating mechanics, and it snowballed from there. I immediately found a passion for the game, immersed myself in the sport, and found every opportunity to learn. I was beyond fortunate to have some phenomenal mentors and some people who took chances on me. But the bottom line was simple: I knew skating in an environment where too many did not. That gave me a niche, which opened up doors to do more. Skating is skating. It is the different application of the same principles that separate Connor McDavid from Nathan Chen. As a PSA member I had attended Hockey sessions at conferences, and I had my Hockey 1, 2, and 3 certifications. So, when I was asked to join the Hockey Skating Committee I jumped at the chance. Our committee is made up of some top-notch hockey skating coaches, all with a background in figure skating and decades of hockey experience:
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