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USA Hockey’s New Development League
USA Hockey’s new Development League is the biggest structural change to American youth hockey in over a decade. It’s the third of three big swings by USA Hockey after creating the NTDP in the late 90’s and the ADM in the late 2000’s. Both of those were huge successes and USA Hockey is banking on this new league being the third. The DL looks to create a clearer path for the country’s best midget hockey players but also raises hard questions that every Tier 1 club operator, coach, and hockey parent should be asking right now. I am cautiously optimistic about it, but as with anything as big as this, nothing is perfect and there are pros and cons. So let’s walk through why the DL exists, what it could do, and where it could potentially have some obstacles. Why USA Hockey did it The short answer: Tier 1 hockey
There Is No Such Thing as “The Hockey Mom”
Let me start with this: I am a hockey mom. It’s a title I’m so thankful for, and a badge I wear with honor. What I’m not is “the” hockey mom, and neither is any other mom in your rink. Last week, a piece called “Please Stop Asking Men What Women Think About Hockey” made its way around our corner of the internet. If you haven’t read it, go read it. The writer covers a lot of ground, but one idea stuck with me more than any other: stop treating women as a monolith. She was writing about fans and media. I read it as someone who has spent most of my adult life in and around youth hockey, and I recognized the same pattern right away. I’ve seen this game from just about every seat in the rink over the last couple (at least) decades. I started on the
College Hockey’s New World: What Changed in Year Two
It’s that most exciting time of year– college hockey is back! Last fall, I typed that same sentence. And then spent almost 3000 words unpacking all the reasons we were in a brand-new world. CHL players were suddenly eligible. Revenue sharing had arrived. Programs were working around a new 26-player roster limit. The transfer portal was still churning. Former professional players were entering NCAA hockey through doors that had never previously existed. College hockey had changed so quickly that nobody really knew which developments were permanent, which were a market correction, and which were simply the product of one chaotic offseason. Now we have another year of evidence. And the clearest conclusion is this: the college hockey evolution continues. CHL Continues to Rise In 2025–26, 174 of the 516 incoming freshmen tracked by College Hockey Inc. came directly from the Canadian Hockey League. That was nearly 34% of the entire class.
3 Things I’ve Learned From Barry Smith On Player Development
I’ve been fortunate to learn so much about hockey from Barry Smith over the past few years. Here are three of the biggest things I’ve learned on player development
An Amazing Note From a Hockey Director
An amazing note from a hockey director to his families setting the tone for the season filled with positivity.
The Reality of Stay to Play in Youth Hockey
Stay to Play policies for youth sport tournaments are getting out of control.
From People to Process to Principles
Youth hockey organizations are powered by people. And one of the great privileges of our work is getting to know so many of them. The officers, directors, coaches, administrators, and volunteers who give an unreasonable amount of themselves to make this game work for kids. They solve problems, absorb headaches, and routinely take on work that exceeds any reasonable mandate. They are the angels among us and every interaction should start and end with ‘thank you’. Which makes this next part a little awkward to write. Ironically, there’s a vulnerability that can grow alongside great leadership and administration: dependency. Not because those aforementioned people are doing anything wrong, but because they’re doing so much right. They alone possess all the knowledge, experience, and relationships required to keep the organization running smoothly. Things work so well that there may be little urgency or incentive to ask whether they would work without
ADHD in Hockey
Understanding and learning from hockey players with ADHD
How to Build a Great Culture Before the First Practice
If your organization waits until the first practice to start building culture… you’re already behind. One of the biggest misconceptions in youth sports is that culture is built in the locker room. While practices, games, and team events absolutely shape culture, the foundation is almost always laid weeks – or even months – before the first puck drops. Culture begins with communication. It begins with expectations. It begins with leadership. The organizations that consistently create great experiences for players and families understand that the preseason isn’t just about getting ice schedules finalized or handing out jerseys. It’s the single greatest opportunity they’ll have all year to establish who they are and what people can expect. Because first impressions have staying power. Every Organization Has a Culture Whether you intentionally create it or not, the question isn’t whether your organization has a culture, it’s whether you’re creating it on purpose. If
What Can Hockey Learn From Soccer?
Every four years the planet pauses to marvel at the spectacle of the World Cup. Something like 5 billion people will watch some portion of the event this year—or about 60% of Earth’s population. With a stage that large and a spotlight that intense, there is a natural temptation to study the countries that produce the best players and reverse engineer their blueprint. We look for the drill, the coaching method, the academy model, or the competitive structure that explains the outcome. But the more useful lesson is usually not found by staring at the very top of the pyramid, it’s found at the base. Before a country produces world-class players, it first creates (or at least tacitly accepts the evolution of) their youth sports environment. That environment determines how children enter the game, how often they play, how much freedom or pressure they feel, how long they stay, and
3 Things I’ve Learned From Barry Smith On Player Development
I’ve been fortunate to learn so much about hockey from Barry Smith over the past few years. Here are three of the biggest things I’ve learned on player development
An Amazing Note From a Hockey Director
An amazing note from a hockey director to his families setting the tone for the season filled with positivity.
The Reality of Stay to Play in Youth Hockey
Stay to Play policies for youth sport tournaments are getting out of control.
ADHD in Hockey
Understanding and learning from hockey players with ADHD
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