How to Become a Pro Hockey Coach
If you want to be a pro hockey coach, you probably have your sights set on the NHL. However, no one starts off as head coach in the country's division 1 hockey league. You have to start somewhere else and work your way up to the top. You can break into the NHL by following the lead of some of the current NHL coaches.
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Instructions
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Start as a player. A good number of pro hockey coaches played pro hockey earlier in their career. Some of them only made it to the minor leagues. Either way, it's a place to start.
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Coach high school or college-level hockey first. Okay, so you don't have what it takes to break into pro hockey as a player. Many NHL coaches started their careers coaching at college or lower-level teams.
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Move on to coach a minor league hockey team. The U.S. has 6 minor hockey leagues. You could gain valuable experience as a coach in any of them. Almost every NHL coach was, at one time, a great minor league coach. If you want to break in to the NHL, you should work hard to become a recognized coach at the pro minor league level.
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Go for a pro hockey coach job in the NHL. If you get awards as a minor league coach, you might get offered a job. Otherwise, you can try to build your way up by applying for an assistant coach position in the NHL.
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Tips & Warnings
Once you become a coach in a minor hockey league, you can find out about openings in the NHL more easily through your connections. Also, most minor league teams are affiliated with NHL teams. You might have an advantage breaking into the NHL through this affiliation.
Start looking for coaching positions through one of the pro minor league hockey teams. The six minor leagues are Western Hockey League, American Hockey League, Central Hockey League, ECHL, Southern Pro Hockey League and United Hockey League.
