An Amazing Cornell Hockey Alumni Weekend
This past weekend, I traveled back to Cornell for alumni weekend to see a bunch of my former teammates and to congratulate Coach Schafer for his own “senior night” after being at the helm of the Big Red for 30 years. As I sit here and write this, I can’t help but feel so grateful. […]
If 99% of People in Youth Hockey are Great, Why is it so Broken?
We’ve talked a lot on the podcast the past month or so on the differences between the types of models for player development around the world. In most parts of the US and Canada right now, we have a competition and opposition model, not one that prioritizes development. The best models have competition on the […]
Tier One Hockey is Out of Control
If you have a kid that isn’t in love with the game, or parents that aren’t in love with the game – the chances of the kid being an elite hockey player WHEN IT ACTUALLY MATTERS IN YOUR LATER TEEN YEARS go down the drain.
Aces In Their Places
Authenticity. Consistency. Enthusiasm. A roadmap to being the best leader you can be.
5 Things Youth Hockey Managers Do to Kickoff a Successful Season
After (seemingly) a lifetime of involvement in youth hockey, I have a confession to make: I have never been a team manager. While spending the better part of 12 seasons as an administrator in our local association (and even longer involved in the game), I wore many hats and worked with countless team managers over […]
5 Life (and Hockey!) Lessons from the 2024 Summer Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have come and gone. My household, for one, is sad to see it go. For the first time since 2016, the host city had overlapping daylight with the continental United States, so we could watch all the action live or on short tape-delay. And if you were running Daddy […]
Want to Play in the NHL? Develop GRIT
Choose to run into the hard. Choose to embrace the fear. Understand that it’s all part of a process to make you unstoppable.
5 Tips for the Rookie Head Coach
No matter what level you’re coaching, you need to set some standards for players, parents, and the rest of your leadership team.
10 Ways Parents can Cultivate Competitive Spirit
As a parent of a youth hockey player, you play a pivotal role in shaping your child’s experience on and off the ice. While nurturing a competitive spirit is essential for success in hockey, it’s crucial to strike a balance between encouraging healthy competition and ensuring your child enjoys the game. Here are some strategies […]
How to Create Awesome Environments for Player Development
How we create our learning environments is a huge determining factor in the engagement of our players, their buy in to what we are doing, and the intention they put into their own player development.