Adam Purner

I started volunteering with a local Junior team, logging home games and editing film. From there, I gained more responsibility and then got the opportunity to work with USA Hockey as a development coordinator and then with the US Women's National Team. Three years ago, I got my first shot in the American Hockey League and have been working as a video coach since.
 
Transcript: "What was your career journey into professional hockey? Well I started out volunteering with the local junior team, the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. So my first season I just logged home games for them and did some editing of game film after the games. And the next season I was given more responsibility doing some pre-scouts and just more video and going on the road with the team on a pretty regular basis. I did that for five seasons and each season I gained more and more responsibility. I also worked with USA Hockey Goaltending as a development coordinator in the Pacific Northwest. I did that for a few years and then I got the opportunity to work with the U.S. Women's National Team. I've been doing that for four years now. And then three years ago I got my first shot in the American Hockey League. So this is my third season in the league as a video coach."

My favorite part of being a video coach is getting to pre-scout and break down opponents, watch games live, and review games to get a better picture of how individual players are performing.
 
Transcript: "What is your favorite part of being a video coach? Well, I love to watch hockey. I always have and always will. So the fact that I could find a career where I get paid to watch hockey games has been a true blessing. So I enjoy pre-scouts the most, to be honest with you. Breaking down an opponent and seeing exactly how they're playing the game and then trying to come up with a strategy to counteract that. Live marking games is always entertaining. You feel like you're really engaged in the gameplay and you get a good feel for how your team is playing and then when you review games, you get a better picture of how individual players might have played."

Find out what the coach needs from video analysis, find out their background with software, show them the basics and help with any bumps along the road. Communication is key.
 
Transcript: "How do you coach a coach to be better at video analysis? The biggest thing for me when I start working with a new coach is to find out what they need from the video that I'm providing them with. What their end goal is and what they're looking to get out of the footage. Then find out what their background is with the software that we're using and go from there. Showing them the basics of how to use the software to get what they need out of it and then help them out with any bumps along the road. Also, that will help me find out what I need to provide them with when I'm marking a game or breaking down pre-scout footage. Biggest thing is communication to find out what their needs are."

Network with other hockey coaches and video coaches, work camps, attend conferences, get tutorials and training from software companies, and meet people with more experience than you.
 
Transcript: "What advice would you give to someone starting out in video coaching? I'd say get out there and network with as many hockey coaches or video coaches as you can and learn from everybody that you talk to. That's what I did. I've worked for a lot of different coaches and staffs and I've learned from everyone. If you can work camps and get more experience, that's always helpful. And attending conferences from some of the video editing software companies is always really good. You can get some tutorials, you can get training, and you can meet other people that have got more experience than you do. And that might set you up for success in the future."

Teams can start using video analysis around age 12 and above, while individual players can start to use it for skating and skills coaches to identify areas for improvement right around ages 12-14. Examples of this can be found in the National Hockey League.
 
Transcript: "What age group should teams start doing video analysis? I think around the peewee age, so 12, you, and above is a good time for teams to start using video to break down their games, use examples from the National Hockey League, and that kind of stuff. As far as individual players, I think skating coaches and skills coaches can use some video work to break down players' tendencies and areas for improvement, starting right around that age, 12 to 14, you."

Teams are now pulling their goalie earlier than just one minute left in the game, often with as much as three minutes left. It depends on the game flow and possession of the puck, and teams have seen success from doing so.
 
Transcript: "When is a good time to pull your goalie? Well traditionally most teams would pull their goalie with about a minute left in the game when they're down by a goal, but now people are pulling their goalies earlier and earlier, sometimes with as much as three minutes left, sometimes even more. And even if they're down by more than just one goal, it really depends on kind of the game flow. If you've got possession of the puck and you're applying a lot of pressure, you can definitely pull your goal goalie earlier and teams are seeing a lot more success pulling their goalies earlier than the one-minute mark. So it's really team-dependent, but it's definitely trended towards pulling the goalie earlier."