As Abraham Lincoln once said, "I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

Well, Paul Thompson's all the wiser after a recent foreign excursion.

Thompson wants to keep learning, as everyone should, and in January he travelled to the USA to take some time away from the weekend warriors in the Elite League to have a close look at how things are at the top level.

Thompson: American experience

It was a trip that Thompson had wanted to make for over a decade. He wanted to pick up some new hockey ideas, a training method here, a powerplay there, and learn about the marketing side of hockey in North America. With his coaching clinic again coming up in the summer, it was another opportunity for him to talk about the game amongst his peers, develop himself as a coach and learn a thing or two.

NC: Coach, tell us a little about your trip...

PT: I was really well looked after as I spent time with the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL. I managed to take two halves of two practice sessions while I was over there. I spent a lot of time with the coaching staff - the video coach and the assistant coaches and the General Manager Mark Bernard (former Manchester Storm goalie and Basingstoke Bison player/coach), who we all know really well from his time over here.

It was a two-fold trip really. I had a look at what they do from a coaching perspective and how they manage things, the other side was the business side - how they sell and promote games, what kind of things do they do which we could do back in Coventry. I went to the Chicago Blackhawks - Columbus Blue Jackets game and spent time in the General Manager's box, with the GM, president and some scouts. I had a tour of the arena, they showed me around and I met the players. It was a pleasure and great to see what they do and how they do it.

NC: Considering the environment you were in with the AHL and then in Chicago, were you in awe of your surroundings at all?

PT: No, I wasn't really in awe of them. We all do the same kinds of things. They have full time video coaches, fitness coaches and doctors which is what we do, just on a bigger scale. When you see what the Blackhawks do we're all in awe, if that's the right word, of that. We're all striving to make our teams as professional as we can, though we're not quite there. It's not really from a technical point of view, more from a financial one.

It was a fantastic experience and a fantastic trip. I caught two Ice Hogs games against the Houston Aeros and I saw the standard and type of play and I managed to spend some time with David Phillips. From a coach's perspective it rectifies what you're doing and what people want to take away from the NHL. We spent a lot of time sharing ideas, sharing plays and systems. We picked each other's brains there and that's what you do as a coach because coaches pinch ideas and I'm the best pincher out of the lot of 'em!

NC: How's Phillips doing?

PT: He's doing well, really well. When I got there they'd pulled him up from Toledo as they'd sent him down there for conditioning as they wanted him playing one-in-three. He's doing fine. They are very happy with him and I think he's progressing very nicely. He's got excellent coaching there and is looking very sharp. I felt that he was keeping it simple and playing within himself and I think he's got more to add. I told the coaches that.

NC: Is this trip going to have any impact on your coaching clinic in the summer (Thompson is currently working on the details for this year's event)?

PT: It may do - I met a lot of contacts. It's all networking and there are people over there who I've spoken to but hadn't got to meet. It was something I haven't had the opportunity to do over the last 15 years or so and it was something that I desperately wanted to do. I wanted to re-invest in me. I'm luckily enough at the coaching clinic to spend time with coaches at all different levels.

Hockey is a very small world. There are players in the Blackhawks and the Ice Hogs who have known players who have played here. It was a really intriguing experience.

NC: What are the chances of the Ice Hogs playing a game over here against the Blaze then?

PT: That's what we're trying to do. We are hopeful that we could get on the ice against the Ice Hogs sometime next season.

After talking with Thompson about his experience in the States, I learned one thing myself: We are lucky that the coach of our national team is so incredibly passionate about the game. Team GB and the Blaze are in good hands.

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