Recently the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation has had a number of experienced coaches from countries with rich hockey tradition visiting and working together with the youth teams. Last month Kevin Knibbs from Canada was in Budapest working with the U14 national team.
Kevin Knibbs is the director of K2 Hockey Clinics which is a private company whose goal is to provide quality hockey clinics for all levels of hockey players.
Knibbs started his career playing junior hockey in Canada where he played in towns such Portage la Prairie, Butte and Trail, where practices and game were very similar to what was portrayed by Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe in the movie Youngblood.
Knibbs would later go on to the University of Manitoba where he received a degree in education, after graduating college he spent some time playing professionally in Europe.
After his playing career Knibbs got into teaching at the highschool level before getting to coaching at skills camps and coaching camps. He would later work with hockey and travel the world holding skills camps, the last two years because of his friendship with Glen Williamson he has been in Hungary. “I worked with Hockey Canada in developing a skills program, in the past 35 years I have had the opportunity to travel, just before coming to Budapest I was in Croatia, and before that in England, I have worked in the past in countries such as Czech Republic, Australia, the U.S. and Canada. I have met a number of coaches from who I was able to learn from and I was able to pass on the knowledge that I had gained throughout my years.”
Coach’s Eye
With the advances in technology these days more and more often the computer and computer programs have become an essential part of player development and scouting which for a long time was just a video projector. There are number of great coaching programs out there but the one Knibbs uses is Coach’s Eye. This program can be downloaded onto a smartphone or tablet as well as a PC or laptop, the program is inexpensive and easy to learn.
Once a player or play is recorded the coach can then review the film and highlight specific aspects from the film, by circling or using arrows. The coach can also record his voice on to the film as a voiceover to point out specific point on the tape. Once the film has been edited to what the coach would like to highlight or to show the players, they can also send the video via email, thus having an online filmsession from the comforts of home.
“If we start to use programs like this we are then able to notice and see things that we need to work and therefore correct that might not be seen in live at practice or in a game.”
Knibbs has been retired for three years and now he devotes most of his time to his two great passions, traveling and hockey. “I am recently retired from teaching, however I am still involved with Hockey Canada and the skills programs, and time to time I fill in as a principle at high schools. I mostly travel, I feel that after 30 years of teaching I can relax and have some fun, so I travel and I do what I love.”