New Job For Neilson

[PantherB]

Coach Corey has agreed to lead Training Sessions for Nottingham's u15's team where his son, Logan plays. Corey said the main goals for this new venture is to assist in the development of Nottingham's junior players, focusing on development but whilst making it a fun environment where he hopes to change the mindset of youngsters from 'It's all about participation and winning their league' to putting Participation at the back of their minds and instead, focusing on winning and not giving up.

Great news for the kids in the Nottingham system and hopefully Corey can get the best out of them and one day, perhaps get a shot with Panthers or elsewhere.

This won't mean much to most but it's a great thing to happen, British Junior System is tosh and we know how Corey has developed most of Panthers' own British players so hopefully this is the start to changes happening.

www.nottinghampost.com/New-job-Nottingham-Panthers-coach-Corey-Neilson/story-29199293-detail/story.html

[wgray]

Completely agree, it's brilliant for him to be involved, this may have something to do with him being signed to a 2 year contract with the panthers and his future in place, so they are allowing him time to participate and develop the youngsters for their own sake and for the panthers

[iginla]

More like,he's there because his son plays for them and he doesn't rate British coaches.....sorry i don't buy the crap !

[PantherB]

He doesn't rate British coaching because it's garbage 99% of the time. They give kids the wrong attitude when it comes to playing. Credit to Corey for stepping up to the plate though EIHA won't do anything about it and most parents won't pay out for better coaching. I know in Sheffield Neil Abel started running extra training for Sheffield's Junior Teams but wanted £10pp per session.. Parents refused to pay it so he decided to do it for free, using his own money and time.

It's no surprise why so many look to head to Europe's or North American juniors/college hockey

[NotMartinTuma]

Apr 29, 2016 22:11:40 GMT iginla said:

More like,he's there because his son plays for them and he doesn't rate British coaches.....sorry i don't buy the crap !

You don't need to buy it, you already talk it.

[shmyrohdear]

You don't buy the crap? Pull your head the sand mate. The coaching is poor by the majority yes but that's again due to the feeble mindset of sport in this country. Win at all costs is the mondset we should be pushing and teaching kids early, look at the top hockey countries world wide they all raise their talent on hard work and the mindset of winning and winning big. Doesn't matter what the reason is, what matters is the change that's happening. Positivity doesn't hurt you know.

[pantherdman]

As long as this is just for the summer.
Personally I'd prefer him to focus on winning the league 100%

[humbucker]

A rather disingenuous attitude towards a dedicated group of junior coaches who do the job gratis and have done for years. Corey has been here for several years so why the sudden interest and what might happen twonyears down the line, hand coaching back to what a number believe to be sub standard voluntary coaches? The Panthers, when they do recruit, have players who have played the game for a number of years prior to being picked up by any senior team and nearly all coached by volunteers. The juniors are, in the main, of little interest to senior teams until they hit their teenage years when the process, if selected, of producing the finished article begins and some interest is taken of their further development. I certainly am not of the opinion that most of the coaching is tosh or that 99% of coaching is sub standard. The fact of the matter is that there is no money put into the sport except via the pockets of the parents, guardians, or even us old grandparents who just might have a few quid. I do remember back in the 70s/80s a number of pros playing for the Panthers being involved at junior level with the likes of Terry Kurtenbach and others being around and lending a hand. Perhaps if the senior teams took more interest in development of the sport we might just get somewhere but I don't hold your breath for too long. The coaches, however poor, those not in the know think the coaching is at junior level that is all we have at present and I can't see a real push for a change coming all that soon. I agree that it is good to, at last, observe some interest in junior hockey by a senior coach and hope that this maybe a stimulant to others to be involved. I would at least ask that some respect be given to those that have kept junior hockey alive and have dedicated so much time to late night training, for some, diruption of life for many, and I am not evend taking into account the travelling that occurs at weekends.

[PantherB]

Apr 30, 2016 17:52:20 GMT humbucker said:

A rather disingenuous attitude towards a dedicated group of junior coaches who do the job gratis and have done for years. Corey has been here for several years so why the sudden interest and what might happen twonyears down the line, hand coaching back to what a number believe to be sub standard voluntary coaches? The Panthers, when they do recruit, have players who have played the game for a number of years prior to being picked up by any senior team and nearly all coached by volunteers. The juniors are, in the main, of little interest to senior teams until they hit their teenage years when the process, if selected, of producing the finished article begins and some interest is taken of their further development. I certainly am not of the opinion that most of the coaching is tosh or that 99% of coaching is sub standard. The fact of the matter is that there is no money put into the sport except via the pockets of the parents, guardians, or even us old grandparents who just might have a few quid. I do remember back in the 70s/80s a number of pros playing for the Panthers being involved at junior level with the likes of Terry Kurtenbach and others being around and lending a hand. Perhaps if the senior teams took more interest in development of the sport we might just get somewhere but I don't hold your breath for too long. The coaches, however poor, those not in the know think the coaching is at junior level that is all we have at present and I can't see a real push for a change coming all that soon. I agree that it is good to, at last, observe some interest in junior hockey by a senior coach and hope that this maybe a stimulant to others to be involved. I would at least ask that some respect be given to those that have kept junior hockey alive and have dedicated so much time to late night training, for some, diruption of life for many, and I am not evend taking into account the travelling that occurs at weekends.

Fair comments! The volunteers do, do a great job, well as great as they can anyway. A lot of it is down to parents too but kids in the UK rarely look at ice hockey as a actual career for themselves unless they're turning heads and getting opportunities, but even then you'll be fairly lucky to see some take the chance with both hands and try their best, which is down to cost and other committments.

The UK system is garbage, there's no other way to describe it. I say that after spending quite a while watching the Sheffield juniors and they've been destroying everyone over the last couple of years, they make Nottingham look like a bunch of first time 'there for the fun' players. I remember a game last season, a Sheffield junior team beat Grimsby 22-1, Cole Shudra being the key player and destroying the lot of Grimsby players. There was probably 2 players on the ice who took it seriously for the whole game and they were both players who'd been invited to play for that team after spending previous time with the other junior teams in Sheffield's academy. The others took is so seriously that they started taking faceoffs with the butt-ends of their sticks. The attitude of most in the junior systems stinks, coaching is one thing but they'll never get anywhere with their attitudes. The coaches for Sheffield, aren't that bad, depending on which team you're part of. If you're in a B team, the coaches of A teams generally look at you as a disabled kid, the coaches rarely ever have full control of training sessions too, of course you're supposed to have fun but countless times you'd see kids skating around doing nothing, messing around.

When current and former players do agree to do some coaching, they usually ask for around £10 for the session if it's an individual, 60-90 minute session. Not a lot of money, but yet still, parents complain about it and either force the coach to do it for free or the opportunity to be taken away from everyone.

Corey taking up this role is brilliant, he's vastly experienced and has a general interest in developing British players, regardless of if his kid plays for that team or not. Corey is the sort of coach who will make things fun but serious at the same time, but he won't be held back from speaking out if someone does something wrong or isn't paying attention. The links Corey has can also be a big boost to these kids too, he could end up having them invited to national trials, Okanagan and maybe even abroad.

[humbucker]

Whilst I might agree with some of your statements there are also a number of generalisations included with only limited experience to back them up. Realistically the chances for any player to make a career and a satisfactory income long term are remote. Better that they take their education seriously and look to the future after hockey otherwise their potential for a reasonable income for life will be reduced significantly. A number of sports look to importing players, look to football, and the places for home grown players in other sports as well are naturally reduced. Over the years I , among others, have witnessed players who were taught by supposedly poor voluntary coaches and within a perceived garbage system have broken through to play at the highest level. Players such as Ashley Tait, Tony Hand, Matthew Myers, Robert Lachowicz and many others taught by volunteer coaches haven't done that badly. I agree that the numbers coming through are less than in the past but cannot accept that is all down to the coaching. Maybe the attitude of up and coming players has changed and certainly when they reach their teenage years other life interests come to the fore and the interest in ice hockey can reduce accordingly? When I watched pee wee hockey many years ago and when Ashley Tait and others were coming through the mantra certainly in Nottingham was that it was considered an honour to wear the shirt and not a right, and the discipline was certainly a lot tougher in those days. A player earned his place and with no guaranteed ice time as the player had to earn that as well. I certainly think you have some good points to make and as I say there are certainly some that I can agree and relate to. I was just thinking Sheffield v Grimsby even I hated that one when Nottingham took to the ice up there. Seen bigger ice in a gin and tonic that is unless the facilities have changed since I last visited that particular rink.

[PantherB]

Apr 30, 2016 23:35:33 GMT humbucker said:

Whilst I might agree with some of your statements there are also a number of generalisations included with only limited experience to back them up. Realistically the chances for any player to make a career and a satisfactory income long term are remote. Better that they take their education seriously and look to the future after hockey otherwise their potential for a reasonable income for life will be reduced significantly. A number of sports look to importing players, look to football, and the places for home grown players in other sports as well are naturally reduced. Over the years I , among others, have witnessed players who were taught by supposedly poor voluntary coaches and within a perceived garbage system have broken through to play at the highest level. Players such as Ashley Tait, Tony Hand, Matthew Myers, Robert Lachowicz and many others taught by volunteer coaches haven't done that badly. I agree that the numbers coming through are less than in the past but cannot accept that is all down to the coaching. Maybe the attitude of up and coming players has changed and certainly when they reach their teenage years other life interests come to the fore and the interest in ice hockey can reduce accordingly? When I watched pee wee hockey many years ago and when Ashley Tait and others were coming through the mantra certainly in Nottingham was that it was considered an honour to wear the shirt and not a right, and the discipline was certainly a lot tougher in those days. A player earned his place and with no guaranteed ice time as the player had to earn that as well. I certainly think you have some good points to make and as I say there are certainly some that I can agree and relate to. I was just thinking Sheffield v Grimsby even I hated that one when Nottingham took to the ice up there. Seen bigger ice in a gin and tonic that is unless the facilities have changed since I last visited that particular rink.

You make a great point in talking about when watching Tait and how it was considered an honour rather than a right to wear a jersey, with discipline being a lot tougher too. The coaching here seems to get players off to a fairly good start but there doesn't seem to be much they can do with ice time being so limited so more often than not you see coaches 'lend' their players to A teams or the next age group above, which is fair enough. I'd love there to be less moaning when former players ask for a bit of money to coach kids, if we get things right we'll be able to develop players in the UK who can make a career out of Ice Hockey, the ones coming through at the moment always ship themselves off abroad, which is fair enough too but one day i hope things are sorted out enough where there is a clear system and a large group of volunteer and former players coaching. Grimsby is still very much the same i believe haha! Small enough to take a decent shot from inside your defensive zone. Solihull isn't much better!

When looking at our own Brits, like you spoke about, with Myers and Lachowicz coming through the British Junior System, they can produce talent and they're proof of that, Myers even took himself to the ECHL (something i'd like Lachowicz to do). I wasn't around when they were coming through the system so i can't talk about what it was like but i only get the impression that it was 100x better than what it is today. I pay a lot of attention to the North American and Scandanavian systems so that probably does influence my opinions on our system somewhat. The young players that do come through and look promising just very rarely stay in the UK, and understandably will jump on most chances to play Juniors elsewhere. If they grow past their potential due to those moves, and end up playing in the ECHL then we'd be unlikely to ever see them in the UK and for GB whilst they're at their best, the ECHL won't release our Brits for the World Championships due to the season still being in play and Playoffs approaching.

I have high hopes for the development of British players and i do think Corey giving his hand in helping train the u15's will help significantly, then perhaps he might be able to get a few more of them doing the Clarke Camp during the summer, only way to get better is to keep working hard and playing.

[humbucker]

A big amen to most of what you have to say and think in many ways that we probably agree on most of what has been said to date. I may have been around longer than I care to think about and around hockey for much of that time so it seems. The one thing that I believe is that we in Nottingham are short of that final step for those players seeking to continue hockey at a pro level, an EPL team. We have in the recent past shipped players out to other clubs usually Peterborough or even Swindon and how in ever the coach over here assesses them I don'really know. I asume the coach has reports and may observe them at training sessions in Nottingham but whether or not that is sufficient I am again unsure. I do think that Corey's input will prove useful in support of the team coaches and the u15s as long as this is not a distraction from the main job for which he is paid. I think that he is professional enough to allow that not to happen. Interesting when you look around at the sons of ex imports such as Fred Perlini, Ron Shudra, and the up and coming Corey Neilson's son, Logan Neilson. I do think that Sheffield has a good set up with a very active junior section plus NIHL 2, NIHL 1 and an EPL team training and playing out of the same venue. Sutton Sting are also using the same facilities playing in NIHL 1 although not affiliated to the Sheffield club. In Nottingham there is little if no opportunity to make what is a huge leap from the Lions to the Panthers so have to travel. There are still many Nottingham coached players plying their trade and talents around the hockey circuits and doing ok. I am wondering about Ollie Betteridge and where he might be next season as he certainly had plenty of ice time at Swindo Wildcats but little during his season with the Panthers. Maybe a return to the EPL for him, we shall see?

[Nottingham Lions]

Congratulations to Robert Lachowicz in signing for a tenth season with the Panthers. You should be commended for your loyalty and commitment to the organisation.

Credit must go to all the coaches from within the Nottingham Junior Ice Hockey Club that supported, coached and guided you over the years from an early age. A local natural talent that has grown and developed through the junior ranks into a top National and International player.

Have a great 2016-17 season.

[titch]

So, Ollie Betteridge & Robert Lachowicz are not prime examples that the coaching in Nottingham actually works then? Surely it's more down to the player and their personal ability than putting the blame on any junior coaching system?

The development system in football is still sub-par compared to most countries and we have billion pound development systems in England, yet we struggle to push out Owens, Beckhams & Rooneys on a yearly basis. If you get people like Rob & Ollie who will give it 100% and they're GOOD enough, they'll manage to find a way into the EPL/EIHL someway, surely?

Maybe the attitude does need to change in the junior system, if they're prioritizing 'participation' over 'winning' as some people are saying. How close do the Lions & Panthers work together? Is there a set path to keep progressing? If not, why not? I've noticed that the Sheffield teams work very close together to keep pushing British players through and they have no issues winning the league.

[Nottingham Lions]

Another success story for the development of up and coming players in Nottingham.

www.nottinghamlions.co.uk/index.php/news/news/top-stories/item/lion-cub-set-to-leave-the-pride

Good luck next season Connor, fly the flag in 2016-17.

[Nottingham Lions]

Nice work by East Midlands Today this evening showing off the development work that goes on behind the scenes at the National Ice Centre.

If anyone missed it or wanted to see it again click the link

[Deleted]

He's a busy lad this year, Corey takes up station behind the Team GB bench as assistant coach.

Let's hope the extra experience can lead us to gold next time round.

[humbucker]

Craig Wallis, a product of the Nottingham Junior Club and for a couple of seasons with the Nottingham Lions has picked up a contract with Peterborough Phantoms in the EPL. He left the Lions last season to play for the Peterborough Islanders, equivalent to the Lions but South, and having iced a couple of times for the Phantoms last season has made the move up. Slava Koulikov the Phantoms Head Coach has been keeping an eye on Craig's progress and obviously believes he is ready. Our congratulations to Craig and hope his development continues. He now joins Connor Glossop, Tom Norton, and Marc Levers in the Phantoms line up.