Volume 5 Issue 4 | April 2018
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Fear, Greed, Broken Dreams: How Early Sports Specialization Is Eroding Youth Sports
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By J.J. Adams
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Kyle Turris is an NHLer because of his dog. Well, maybe not exactly, but while growing up his golden retriever deserves at least some of the credit for turning Turris into a 12-year NHL veteran. His ball-obsessed dog would chase a young Turris around their Burnaby backyard, the future hockey pro carrying a ball in his lacrosse stick as his hyperactive blur of fur tried to snag the hard rubber prize.
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Chicago Blackhawks 6th Annual 3v3 Hockey Series
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The Blackhawks will host the 6th annual 3v3 Hockey Series on June 23-24, 2018. Cost is $575 per team. Teams can have 1 goalie and up to 6 skaters. Each team must have at least 3 skaters to participate. If you are a skater or goalie without a team, we will be keeping a Free Agents list. If we receive at least three skaters and a goalie of a similar age, we will form a Free Agents team in the appropriate age group. To join the Free Agents list, email Sam Ratty at sratty@chicagoblackhawks.com to add your name to the list.
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Detroit Ice Dreams Provide a Place to Play Hockey
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By Greg Bates ~ Life has come full circle for Jason McCrimmon. Coming up through the hockey ranks as a youngster in Detroit, he played for the Detroit Rockies out of the Jack Adams Ice Arena in Detroit and went on to play professionally for six years. McCrimmon ended his hockey career in 2011-12 after one season with the Danbury Whalers of the Federal Hockey League. Even after his playing days were over, McCrimmon knew he wanted to stay in the game. He found his way back to Detroit.
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Torey Krug's Crucial Lesson in Development
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By Jessi Pierce
~ Torey Krug admits he moved up too quickly as a youth hockey player. A product of Michigan’s HoneyBaked and Belle Tire clubs, the Livonia, Michigan, native said playing as a younger player on a team with older guys “seemed like the right thing to do.” But those older players were also getting bigger and stronger. And Krug wasn’t. He quickly realized he made a mistake of jumping to the next level too soon.
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Increasing Contact Confidence at 8U
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By Michael Rand
~ Body-checking isn’t legal in USA Hockey-sanctioned youth leagues until the 14U level for boys, and for good reason. Until then, players are developing basic skills while also adjusting to their growing bodies. That said, the fact that body-checking is not allowed in games at the 8U, 10U and 12U levels doesn’t mean fundamentals of body checking can’t be taught and practiced along the way. Quite the contrary, they not only can be – they should be.
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Why Losing Is Good for Your Hockey Player
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By Sam Weinman ~ In consecutive seasons coaching my son’s 10U hockey team, we went from often losing by five or six goals a game to losing just a handful of games all season. Trick question here, but which experience do you think was better for my son’s development? Losing is a complicated concept in sports, and hockey especially. For those of us who coach and who have played the game our entire lives, it’s part of our DNA to define success by scoring more goals than the other team then lifting some piece of hardware at season’s end.
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Hockey & Ice Cream: The Inside Scoop
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By Steve Mann ~ Believe it or not, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Eat ice cream all day long, and eventually just the sight of a single scoop will turn your stomach. What is true with ice cream can also be true with hockey. Over-doing it at the rink, particularly for younger players, can be detrimental – possibly causing physical or mental burnout or injury. As the youth hockey season winds down, it’s a good time to think about what’s next and whether or not playing more hockey over the summer is the right thing to do, or, if it’s time to mix things up.
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Body Contact Should Be Taught at Every Level
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By Mike Doyle ~ In hockey, body contact is as inevitable as skating, passing and shooting. Whether it’s intentional or not, an adult league, women’s game, 8U, 10U or the NHL, there are varying degrees of body contact at every age and skill level. With that mindset, coaches at all age levels should introduce and develop their players to the concept of body contact, whether they are in a division that allows body-checking or not.
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Coaching Puck Possession in Today's Game
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By Michael Caples
~ USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program assistant coach Greg Moore knows a little something about puck possession. The University of Maine product put up 45 points his senior year with the Black Bears. After a 10-year pro career, Moore returned to the NTDP – a program he played for from 2000-2002 – as an intern assistant coach before earning full-time status last summer. He talked to USA Hockey about puck possession and how to coach it in today’s game.
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Off-Ice: Dryland Spring Progression I
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On-Ice: Flank Small Area Game
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