Snipe Lights Exclusive Interview Series With NHL Shooting and Scoring Coach

Tim Turk Part 3: The Evolution of Hockey Training and the Satisfaction of Watching His Players Make It to the NHL

Tim Turk specializes in teaching shooting, passing, and puck control. He has coached for five NHL teams and a laundry list of individual NHL stars like Connor Bedard, Nazem Kadri, and Nick Foligno.

In part three of our exclusive interview, Tim talks with Snipe Lights about how he has witnessed an evolution in hockey training, including the psychological element, and how much satisfaction he gets out of watching his players break into the NHL.

Snipe Lights is a portable light-up shooting target system that encourages players to stay engaged in training through fun and competition. Light-up shooting target systems like Snipe Lights make it easy for players and coaches to implement Tim’s training into trackable workouts.

Snipe Lights: What has surprised you most about the evolution of hockey training in general and in shooting specifically?

Tim Turk: I think it’s a combination of how stick manufacturers have progressed with different materials, transitioning from wood to composite sticks, and how the messaging in coaching has evolved. Society, and even the culture around schooling, has become more nuanced and, at times, political in terms of how we communicate and motivate players.

Over the years, I’ve also noticed that some players respond well to a more old-school approach to how I deliver my message, and others find it harder to apply what I’m teaching without a different way of getting my message across. For example, I could be trying to teach the same concept to a 10-year-old beginner and an 18-year-old who just got drafted into the NHL, and I would have to get my message across in very different ways for each of them. 

We also know a lot more now about things like attention deficit disorder, so that can also change my coaching approach. I remember working with a young player whose parents told me upfront that he had severe Attention Deficit Disorder. During our first session, he was immediately drawn to the pucks—they were like magnets to him. He was all over the place, so I thought, how can I engage him in a way that keeps him focused on the training?

So, I asked him what his favorite game was, and he said, “hockey.” 

Then I asked him, “Do you play anything besides hockey?”

And he said, “Nintendo.”

I asked him what his favorite game was, and he told me it was Jak and Daxter. That gave me an idea: I told him, “How about I be Jak, and you be Daxter? The pucks will be our bullets, and we’re gonna go shoot over there.” He loved it. Suddenly, he was focused, asking, “What do you want me to do?” I set up a drill where he had to maneuver around pylons while keeping control of the puck, and he was completely engaged.

After that first coaching session, his parents came up to me and asked, “How did you do?”

I told them I made the training into his favorite video game. They said, “All he talks about is hockey and how much he loved working with you!” Little things like that make coaching so rewarding.

Snipe Lights: It sounds like there’s a real psychological aspect to all this.

Tim Turk: 100%. People come up and ask me all the time and say, “I know you coach NHL players, but can you teach my eight-year-old?” 

I tell them, “Of course! How do you think I worked my way to coaching in the NHL?”

I remember doing a presentation at a World Forum during the World Championships in Prague last May. Someone asked me, “How do you like your job?” I told them, “I’ve never woken up and thought, I don’t feel like going to work today. Every day presents a new challenge, and even when I’m under the weather, the energy from the players rejuvenates me.”

Sometimes I’ll run into people who I haven’t seen in a long time, and they will tell me that they see me everywhere online now and that they are proud of me. I appreciate that so much. 

Snipe Lights: Watching kids develop into adult players and even into the NHL must be incredibly satisfying. Is there a particular player you coached that stands out for you?

Tim Turk: Absolutely. Back in 2008 or 2009, I was working with the Montreal Canadiens. I started there in 2005, just before Carey Price’s first summer development camp. A few years later, the Canadiens made me their official shooting and scoring coach.

During one camp, there was this undersized player from Western Canada who had been drafted in the fifth or sixth round. At that level, players are often projected as career AHLers, maybe third-line guys at best. But this player stood out. He had an incredible work ethic and a knack for getting results despite his size. He just plugged away as a little guy in front of the net. But he needed to improve his shot.

Throughout the camp, I noticed he was always the first to skate over when I blew the whistle. He’d kneel right beside me, listening intently and asking thoughtful questions. By the second day, I was thinking, “Who is this kid?”

At the end of the camp, during his exit interview, the coaches asked him what his favorite part was. He pointed at me and said, “Working with that guy. I need to fix my shot, and I’ll go wherever he is to do it.” That player was Brendan Gallagher.

He followed through, showing up at a camp I ran in Calgary that summer. He outworked everyone, including players projected to be NHL stars, and he made them all look silly. Brendan is still with the Canadiens to this day, wearing #11. Every time someone asks him about his shot, he brings up my name.

And you know, all those kids that were in that group were projected to make it in the NHL? None of them are there, except for Brendan. 

Stay tuned for part 4 of our interview series with Tim Turk as he delves into how he keeps up with new technologies and analytics in hockey training. 

Also be sure to check out Tim on Instagram, YouTube, and his website here!

Related links:

Snipe Lights Exclusive Interview Series with NHL Shooting and Scoring Coach Tim Turk

Snipe Lights Interview with NHL Shooting and Scoring Coach Tim Turk Part 2

Snipe Lights Builds Confidence and Self-Esteem in Young Hockey Players