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Friday, October 24, 2014, 10:09PM
Q: At the older and higher levels of hockey, what separates the great players from the good players?
A: As players get older and more physically mature, the physical skills like speed, strength and size become slightly less decisive than they were at younger ages because the discrepancy in those skills narrows among older players. So many of us who have coached at the older levels have learned over the years that hockey sense (the mental skill of the game) is what separates great from good as players progress through the 14U/16U ranks and beyond.
Decision-making skills are critical to be effective at higher levels of hockey. Size, speed and strength can be negated by great hockey sense. The understanding and awareness to make the right decisions with and without the puck is what really creates a special player.
What many of us have also learned is that it’s really difficult to teach the mental part of the game.
So how do you enhance a player’s hockey sense? I believe that cross-ice hockey at the younger ages helps do it.
Putting physically gifted young players in smaller spaces is important. It challenges them. It puts them in an environment that creates diverse decision-making situations repeatedly. Experiencing that kind of environment is really the only way to develop the mental skill.
And, as players get older, hockey in small spaces takes on a slightly different, but no less important role. It becomes all about putting the players in game-like situations as often as possible to simulate what will happen in a game. Nothing simulates these situations more frequently and competitively than small-area games. It’s an efficient tool for building hockey sense and stamina.
In my opinion, hockey sense could be the most important skill of all to insure long-lasting success in the game. And the development of that hockey sense starts early, through under-coaching at the lower levels and allowing young players to fail and be creative in both practice and games.
There are three key components to being an effective player: effort (how hard a player works and competes is extremely important), decision-making (mental skill/hockey sense) and execution (the physical skills of the game). All three are critical, but where we’re too often falling short is in providing the mental training and development for our players.
Give me a smart player over a really fast, big or strong player any day. Give me a player that has all three, and then you have a very special player.
Thursday, October 23, 2014, 10:17PM
Early fall is ice hockey's second "silly season." The first is in the spring, immediately following the end of the actual hockey season. This is when parents start scrambling like mad to find the "right" select team for their young hockey player.
What they don't always understand is that nothing is guaranteed, even in youth hockey. The composition of the team you thought you were joining might well change - and change dramatically - by the time your child suits up in the fall. That can mean the addition of another goalie who will challenge your child for ice time. (Trust me, anyone who takes a "club" or "select" hockey official at his or her "word" is begging to be disappointed.)
And the fallout is all too predictable. Johnny (or Janey) isn't getting as much ice time and Mommy and Daddy think is appropriate. So they start playing "musical teams" with their child, looking for a better situation. I saw one glaring example of this in youth hockey, when a father (I'll call him "Joey") moved his son ("Billy") to four different teams over two years. Billy was a good kid, always cheerful and smiling, but he wasn't a very good goaltender. Pucks just found their way through him, constantly, regardless of how much additional instruction he got. But Joey kept insisting his child ought to be a starting goalie, which meant he had to keep changing jerseys.
And Billy went along with it, primarily (I'm guessing) because he didn't have a choice. Along the way, I'm convinced Billy actually started to believe what his father was preaching. Billy thought he was better than he was. Which, of course, almost always leads to disappointment. Which got me writing about the topic. Let me know what you think ...
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Wanderlust is not the best trait of a quality keeper
The youth sports landscape has become increasingly complicated these days. Spring and summer have transformed into bizarre migration seasons for young athletes, where players and their parents move to a new school, a new team, or a new program in the hopes of finding a "better fit."
A better fit, of course, is parent-speak for "a place where my kid will get a fair shake, because he hasn't gotten one yet." I've seen this phenomenon happen at all ages. Many coaches have.
"Yeah, kids are jumping everywhere. If they don't like what's going on, they go somewhere else," Boston University legend Jack Parker told me once. "I will give you an example. When I was recruiting Tony Amonte (in 1987), he was a terrific player at Thayer Academy. He was 17 years old at the time, trying out for the Junior Olympic team. Now, they let him try out, because he was such a talent and they knew he was going to be on the junior team in the future. But there was no way he was going to make the junior team as a 17-year-old kid.
"But they let him try out, and there was a game on the South Shore, and they were playing a junior all-star team," said Parker. "Tony came out after the game with a long face on. His father said, 'What's wrong with you?' And Tony says 'What's wrong with me? I didn't play much. Didn't you watch the game?'
"And his father says, 'That's what's bothering you, Tony?'
"'Yeah, I didn't play enough.'
"'Well, Tony, let me ask you something. Do you want to play more?' And Tony says, 'Yeah, of course I want to play more.'
"And his father says, 'Then play better, Tony.' He didn't say 'The coaches are screwing you,' or 'You're way better than those other kids.' He just said 'Play better.' And that was it."
Youth hockey could use more parents like Mr. Amonte. Jump ahead 22 years, to June 2010, when a 39-year-old Tony Amonte was named the head coach at Thayer Academy. His athletic director, Matt McGuirk (Thayer, class of '92) knew things were going to be different when Amonte returned. Very different.
"When you and I were playing, there was one all-star team in town, and if you didn't make it, you played for your youth team," McGuirk told me three years ago. "Now, there's 55 all-star teams, a lot of for-profit organizations that will, quite frankly, tell you anything you want to hear if you're going to give them $5,000.
"What Tony represents is not so much a complete 180, but the bottom line is, there's no politics involved with his gig," said McGuirk. "You come out, you try out for the team. If you make the team, you're going to be an integral part of the team, whether you're a first-liner or a fourth-liner.
"Tony is all about the Old School meets the New School, and I think that's really important. In this age of enablement, this age that there's always another option, this age of materialism, Tony is all about getting to the core of it. You show up, you go to work, and you go home. The message is so important now, especially with kids today. If you want something bad enough, you can get it. Tony is of the school that you have to earn it. You've got to earn everything you get."
Amonte agreed with his former teammate, noting that the landscape, and its inherent wanderlust, has irrevocably changed, "not only high school hockey, but hockey in general. There are different forces pulling these kids everywhere. Keeping these kids in school is going to be a task, and I think it's going to be a task for every coach."
"It's tough," said Amonte, parsing his words carefully. "There's a lot of competition (for players) out there. There are tons of teams, and everyone wants to win."
As a result, the hockey landscape is filled with bedouin players, nomadic tribesmen roaming from rink to rink, program to program. And the situation is particularly applicable for goaltenders, for one obvious reason. While there can be 12 to 18 positional players per team getting ice time in any given game, there is usually just one goaltender. Most teams carry two or three goaltenders, but too many coaches, with their blinders firmly fastened on in their relentless drive for wins, will ride their No. 1 netminder upwards of 80-90 percent of the time. Sometimes every minute. Which, of course, can lead to disappointment and bruised feelings for the kids who aren't playing. And for Mom and Dad.
"Parents are part of the picture now," said McGuirk. "Being able to solve a problem by moving laterally rather than actually solving he problem through work ethic and determination, is more of the trend now. "
I've seen it firsthand. One glaring example comes to mind, a young man who I've coached since he first strapped on the pads at age six or seven. I've watched him grow, and become a very solid young netminder. Not spectacular, but solid. His freshman year, he attended a nearby prep school, but transferred to another for his sophomore year because his prospects of varsity playing time looked dim. After his junior year, a season in which he was the clear-cut starter, the young man was on the move again, leaving his prep school squad for a junior team. "We felt it was in his best interests," I heard, admittedly second-hand, from a "family adviser."
Really? I'd like to know just what those "best interests" are. I know it's a subjective term, but being the starting goaltender at a prep school with a good academic reputation seems like a pretty sweet arrangement to me. But junior teams offer more games, and supposedly more exposure, which supposedly equates to a better chance for a college scholarship or other opportunities. Clearly, going the prep school route didn't hurt Cory Schneider (Phillips Andover) and Rick DiPietro (St. Sebastian's School), but I recognize that they were exceptional talents. It has to be tougher for the middle-of-the-pack goaltender.
This is where character comes in. Developing character means learning to deal with adversity. And the best way to deal with adversity is to work harder. A determined work ethic is the gritty sandpaper needed to create an exquisite piece of furniture. It is the resolve that will sustain you as you get older, and life throws you curve ball after curve ball.
"That's the big dilemma. Do you take the kid with the heart, or the kid with the skill," said Amonte, when asked what is the greatest character trait he looks for in recruits. "I go for the heart every time. You can teach the skill, you can teach the systems, you can tell them where to be, but if they don't have the work ethnic, it's never going to be there.
"It's a learned skill too," he said. "Every day on the ice is a day you can get better. That's the way I look at it. You can try something new, you can try to get better, and do something you didn't do the day before."
Amen. You don't measure heart or work ethic by the miles that you've logged transferring between programs, or the number of teams you've played for. You measure it in effort you put in during practice and games, and in the weight room, off-season and in-season. As you start your season this fall, recommit yourself to that work ethic, and to your team.
FINIS
Thursday, October 23, 2014, 9:17PM
09/02/2014, 4:00pm MDT
By USA Hockey
Mike Cavanaugh, the University of Connecticut men’s hockey head coach and one of the game’s top recruiters, believes that all college hockey coaches initially look for the same things in a recruit: “Skating ability, the ability to make plays and a high-grade hockey IQ.”
Cavanaugh knows firsthand how to evaluate a college hockey prospect. Prior to taking the reins at Connecticut, Cavanaugh spent 18 years as an assistant coach and associate head coach at Boston College, during which time the Eagles won four national titles. In all, Cavanaugh helped groom 22 All-America selections and more than 30 NHL players. A large part of Boston College’s winning foundation was built on Cavanaugh’s ability to not only recruit premiere talent but also find premiere talent that fit his program’s culture both on and off the ice.
Cavanaugh will be the first one to tell you that college hockey recruiters don’t merely evaluate players’ on-ice skill set. To get a full evaluation of their true ability, potential and character, Cavanaugh considers a host of other factors, too.
“We also look at little things like how good of a teammate the player is,” said Cavanaugh. “How well a player handles adversary and criticism and coaching is also very important.”
Cavanaugh offers the following advice on what college coaches seek in prospective recruits:
Style of Play
“I think it’s important that coaches recruit to the style of hockey that they want to play,” said Cavanaugh.
There are 59 Division I hockey teams and all of them have varying degrees of team identity and playing style.
“Union won the NCAA championship with fast and mobile defensemen like Mat Bodie and Shayne Gostisbehere,” said Cavanaugh. “The coach decides what style he wants to play and then recruits according to that model.”
The Whole Game
When Cavanaugh watches a prospect, he judges the player’s entire game, not just the highlights. The player’s actions and reactions to negative and positive situations between whistles and on the bench are included in his evaluation, too. This is important for 14U/16U players to remember, because emotions can often run high and then swing low if they’re not in control.
“I watch the player throughout the whole game,” said Cavanaugh. “We watch his body language on the bench. Does he try to lift up his teammates? How does he handle the coach’s criticism during the game? These are the things you can’t see on video.”
Work Hard on the Ice and in the Classroom
At Boston College, renowned Eagles head hockey coach Jerry York has two basic principles for the foundation of the hockey program: Compete for championships and graduate players. Cavanaugh has carried this tradition with him to UConn.
“When I recruit a player, I tell him that if they don’t want to go to class, they should go play major junior hockey,” said Cavanaugh. “If you’re going to come to UConn, I’m going to push you as hard in school as I do on the ice.”
Cavanaugh truly believes that there’s a direct correlation between kids that do well in school and kids that succeed on the ice.
“I know that the teams I coached at B.C. that won championships were always led by a senior class that had guys flirting with 3.0 GPAs or better,” he added. “I think as a hockey player, if you’re going to put the time and effort into school, hockey will be the fun part.”
The Importance (and Unimportance) of Size
Cavanaugh also wants 14U/16U players to know that they shouldn’t be discouraged if they are smaller in stature.
“If you’re good enough, you’re big enough,” said Cavanaugh.
He points to outstanding Boston College alums and current NHL players Nathan Gerbe (5-foot-5), Johnny Gaudreau (5-foot-9), and Brian Gionta (5-foot-7) as examples of players who were often overlooked because of their size but achieved great things through hard work and heart.
Parents’ Role
“The college decision is four years that will shape the next 40,” said Cavanaugh. “That should be the student-athlete’s decision. That being said, it’s important that the parents provide their child with a strong sounding board and guidance. They can express their opinion and present the facts. At some point in their life though, the child has to make decisions on their own.”
Cavanaugh illustrates this point by telling a story about the time he recruited a player for Boston College.
“The player’s dad went to a rival alma mater and I assumed the dad would guide the kid to that school,” said Cavanaugh. “I was pleasantly surprised when the kid committed to B.C. Later on, the dad told me that the one phone call he never wanted to get was from his son asking him why he sent him to that school and not the one he really wanted to go to. That really shaped my views.”
The One Constant
A true college hockey prospect is comprised of many desirable traits, but there is always one constant.
“Work ethic is a given,” said Cavanaugh. “Everybody that plays for me works hard. I would think all 59 Division I coaches would say the same thing.”
The Big Radar
Cavanaugh believes that there are many different paths that can lead to Division I opportunities for a 14U/16U player.
As long as players are dedicated and routinely practice their basic skills, play hard and act as good teammates, good things can happen for any player in any city. After all, college coaches have huge radars and they’re always looking for talented players.
“I flew to Minnesota to watch a certain player,” said Cavanaugh. “But during the game, I noticed two outstanding players on the opposite team. I inquired with the coach of the two opposing players. We took another look at these two kids and really liked them. We recruited them and brought them out for a visit. We couldn’t figure out why these two kids weren’t being heavily recruited. Now, both Johnny Austin and Spencer Naas are on our UConn roster. It all worked out.”
Friday, October 3, 2014, 3:54PM
 The Vipers family suffered a terrible loss on September 20th when we learned of the death of our 97Viper Patrick Gill.
"Your tireless energy, infectious smile and passion for life was contagious, you are a person of honor and character and will be forever missed"... Coach Somerville (GBV Team 97)
The Vipers will be distributing #11 helmet stickers to the coaches tonight. For the remainder of the 2014-15 season, all Vipers will place a sticker on their helmet in remembrance of Patrick. (Stickers should be placed on the rear of the helmet behind the players left ear.)
Please keep the Gill family in your thoughts and prayers.
Sunday, September 21, 2014, 12:54PM
 The Vipers Family suffered a terrible loss on Saturday morning when we all learned of the death of our 97Viper Patrick Gill. It is with the deepest heartfelt sadness that we share the unfortunate and tragic news.
“Your tireless energy, infectious smile and passion for life was contagious, you are a person of honor and character and will be forever missed”… Coach Somerville (GBV Team 97)
Please take a moment to reflect through prayer to honor this fine young man and his wonderful family. Our deepest condolences go out the Gill family and friends during this very unfortunate time.
Services:
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Visitation – Thursday, September 25th (3:00-8:00pm), St. Mary’s Church 155 Washington Street, Winchester, MA, Liturgical Wake Service – 8:00pm @ Church
- Service – Friday, September 26th (11:00AM), St Mary’s Church – (see above), Wildwood Cemetery – 42 Palmer Street, Winchester, MA
We will miss you, Patrick.
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