Thinking Outside the Capture Box is written by Chris Baird.
I started part time in December of 2006 with the Spokane Chiefs as their video coordinator. I would’ve been down at the rink to watch the Chiefs anyways, so to be there and get paid for it (EVENTUALLY) seemed like an added bonus. My brother’s girlfriend (now wife & my sister-in-law – shoutout Steph) worked with the team and reached out to me as the team was looking for “someone who knew hockey, but more importantly knew computers”. I was told it was a foot in the door at the time if it ever lead to anything. Eventually 11 years later in 2017 I joined the team full-time as Assistant Director of Hockey Operations. To be clear, I still don’t know who the Director of Hockey Operations is to this day.
My background is and has always been tech-centric as it has been one of my loves as far back as I can remember. My dad has a passion with vehicles and that love was passed on in some shape or form to me with computers.
I’ve always felt like my biggest asset that I bring as a video coach is that I am an IT guy first, and a hockey guy second. I’ve been blessed to be around coaching minds of all kinds for nearly 20 years to help me grow my knowledge of the game and what they are expecting out of me. It changes from coach to coach so being able to adapt and being welcome to those changes is a necessary skill to have in this business. What I bring on the IT side of things is something that I feel like is what sets me apart.
Being in Junior Hockey there’s limited budgets. Every road game brings a different setup that is never identical to the last. Coaches will make some requests that at first doesn’t seem possible, BUT an important part of this job is despite wanting to go with your gut with the “no that’s outside our capabilities” response, to actually take the time and look into it. I’ve struggled with too quickly shutting down requests, but more often than not there are ways to MacGyver some things together. But you have to be ready more often than not for things to turn out more like a MacGruber sort of invention instead of a working solution.
Putting yourself in situations like above, whether it it results in the problem being solved or not are the best ways you are going to learn. More often than not there is a skill or something to take out of everything you do in this profession.
I want to share things that I’ve learned and some of the things I’ve found handy over the years with the hockey video coach community. Hopefully I am able to communicate it in a clear concise way that anyone is able to follow along to and have succeed in their own way.