Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1541224
How Much is Your Time Worth? You've got 90 minutes of ice time. Every second matters. Yet before the first whistle, you've already lost valuable minutes—not to the practice, but to the little inefficiencies that add up: • 3 minutes at the board explaining a drill. • And repeat—with five drills per prac- tice, those lost moments snowball. By the end, nearly 15 minutes of your practice is gone—that's almost 17% of your ice spent standing still. Over the course of a season, those wasted minutes amount to thousands of dollars in lost ice time—and countless lost opportuni- ties for player development. THE HIDDEN COST OF PREPARATION And the wasted time doesn't stop once the ice is empty. For many coaches, the real grind is off the ice, in the hours spent preparing practices. Drawing drills on paper might seem quick—about 3 minutes per drill—but every time you reuse it, you're starting from scratch. With five drills per practice, that's 15 minutes of prep before every skate. Over a 60-practice season, that's 900 minutes, or 15 hours, spent redrawing drills. A digital drill library, on the other hand, might take a little longer the first time— about 10 minutes to create a drill—but once it's built, it's yours forever. From then on, adding drills into a plan takes only a few clicks. Building a full practice digitally averages around 8 minutes. Over the same 60-practice season, that's 480 minutes, or 8 hours of prep. THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE • Paper planning: 15 minutes per prac- tice × 60 practices = 15 hours a season • Digital planning: 8 minutes per prac- tice × 60 practices = 8 hours a season • Off-ice savings: 7 hours Now add in the wasted ice time: 15 minutes explaining drills × 60 practices = 15 hours of ice lost—nearly 17% of your season. Put it together, and a coach who pre- pares digitally can reclaim 22 hours a year—almost three full practices' worth of time. WHY PREPARATION PAYS OFF Once coaches start treating time as their most valuable resource, the benefits of preparation become clear: • Maximizes ice value: Every minute of ice is focused on development, not downtime. • Reduces chaos: When players know the practice plan before stepping on the ice, the session flows smoothly. • Adds player responsibility: With access to the plan, players can help set up pylons and pucks — time usually reserved for lengthy drill explanations. • Saves hours off the ice: Build drills once and reuse them digitally instead of redrawing season after season. • Elevates coaching quality: More time for teaching, correcting, and building culture. • Builds credibility:A well-prepared coach earns trust from players, par- ents, and staff alike. THE RIPPLE EFFECT Saving time changes more than your schedule—it transforms the whole environment. Players get more reps. Parents see value for their investment. Associations benefit from consistent planning and communication. When wasted minutes and hours are turned into meaningful teaching moments, everyone wins. And when coaches guard their most valuable resource—time—they set the stage for long-term success. Technology isn't here to replace the art of coaching. It's here to protect your most precious asset: your time. Whether it's your first season or your 30th, eliminating wasted time helps you prepare smarter, run more effi- cient practices, and give players the best chance to succeed. Goals & Assists Goals & Assists Save of the Year X'S AND O'S | By Steve Mann Photo / James Butler 09 NOV/DEC 2 0 2 5 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M Maximize your team's time on ice and help each player reach their full potential.