Duck Soup: Anaheim’s Recipe for Success (1996)

Duck soup: Anaheim’s recipe for success (1996)
By Alex Carswell
Nov 6, 2001, 20:54

What would the coach of an NHL expansion team hope to see if he could look into the future? Probably a team where first-round draft choices are playing and contributing on a regular basis. Probably a team that had shaken the label “easy game” for opponents scanning their schedules. And probably a team that now expects not just to compete, but to win.

Well, as he looked around the locker room earlier this season, Mighty Ducks coach Ron Wilson must have thought he’d gone through the looking glass. The “expansion” Ducks had just reeled off four straight wins, five in a row at home, and taken down the past two Stanley Cup champions by a combined score of 13-6 in the process. The veterans were playing solid hockey, and the kids were starting to show signs of living up to management’s high expectations—some way ahead of schedule.

Paul Kariya, the first-ever Ducks draft pick (who sat out the team’s inaugural season before contending for Calder Trophy honors last year), was among the league leaders in goals scored. Oleg Tverdovsky was showing flashes of the brilliance that earned him the label “the Russian Bobby Orr” when he was drafted second overall in 1994. And Chad Kilger, an 18-year-old behemoth projected by management to be Kariya’s center of the future, had earned himself a spot on the roster and potted his first few NHL goals.

Special K’s

Kilger, in fact, had become something of a sensation in the preseason, playing bet-ween Kariya and Todd Krygier on a unit dubbed the “Special K” line. And while he provided the high fiber content you’d expect from a 6’5” power-forward prototype, he also displayed a sugar coated scoring touch, racking up four goals and 10 points in eight games. Those totals were good enough to tie him with Krygier for second, behind only Kariya, in Anaheim’s preseason scoring race.

How does an 18-year-old draft pick at his first NHL training camp end up centering the team’s top line?

“In talking with our scouts,” said Wilson, “Dave McNab in particular, he thought Chad was ready to play right away, so I thought, well, let’s get him out there. What we had planned for the future was that Chad would be the guy playing with Paul Kariya, so we might as well see right off the bat.”

And early on, things looked great. But Kilger pressed a bit as the regular season opened, and the Special K’s found themselves united only sporadically. But Wilson hasn’t lost any of the faith that Kilger earned himself over the exhibition schedule.

“I think Chad is just a little overwhelmed with the National Hockey League,” says Wilson, who scratched Kilger for an early-season match in Pittsburgh, and was pleased with how he bounced back. “But he’s been getting better and better, and that’s what you look for in young players. Sometimes players start fast and then fade in a hurry. You’re much better off building a guy; start with a solid base and go from there. And that’s what we’re trying to do with Chad.”

And when the team was struggling at the start of the season (dropping five of their first six games), Wilson didn’t see Kilger, or his other youngsters, as being the problem.

“You hate to rely on 18, 19, 20-year-old guys to show the 27, 28-year-old guys how to play,” he said after a loss to Philadelphia at the Arrowhead Pond. “It’s supposed to be the other way around.”

As for Kilger, Wilson is satisfied with his rate of progress.

“He’s played solid defensively, he’s created some chances. That’s all you can ask him to do.”

Wilson might also ask him to be dominant physically, the way Kilger was against Winnipeg the night he scored his first NHL goal. On his first shift he leveled Jets winger Dallas Drake, knocking him into the corner boards and out of the game with a fierce, clean check. And Kilger himself acknowledges the need to play tough.

“That’s part of my game,” he said after the 6-2 contest in which his tally proved to be the winner. “I’ve got to get into the game physically right from the start. If I don’t do that, I’m going to be ineffective out there.”

Already a star

Kariya, already a legitimate NHL star at the tender young age of 21, sees great things for his on-again, off-again center.

“In the past 10 years, not too many 18-year-olds can say they’ve played in the NHL—he’s made a great accomplishment just in that,” says Kariya. “He’s got a great attitude, he’s very humble and he takes things in stride, and I think that’s going to bode well for him. I’m sure that in coming years Chad and I will be playing a lot together.”

And that’s something that would bode well for any player—just ask winger Todd Krygier.

“He’s got great speed, great moves, and he can make plays and score goals. It’s been a good experience playing with him,” says Krygier, “and it’s given me more confidence in my play, too. Trying to feed him and make him the best player he can be, it’s helped me.”

Actually, Krygier helped himself quite a bit last season, when there was no Special K line. After being acquired from Washington for a fourth round draft pick in February, Krygier finished fourth on the Ducks in scoring, on pace for what would have been a career-best 52 points over a non-Lockout shortened schedule. That performance, coupled with the defensive savvy coveted by coach Wilson, was what earned Krygier, a new three-year contract and a chance to become part of Anaheim’s alliterative unit.

“I don’t think we’ll be together all year,” says Krygier, 29, of the Special K corps. “It’ll be on and off, just because Chad’s so young. Some games, like against Pittsburgh, they (wanted) him to just watch and learn. Other games he might play with different lines until he really develops his style of play. But I know that we’ll probably end up together somewhere along the line.”

Which is the way Wilson sees things shaping up as well. He likes the chemistry he saw in the preseason, and feels that once Kilger settles into his game, the trio will be reunited.

“They’re all the three parts of a line that any coach is looking for: a big power center, a playmaking, scorer-type winger, and somebody who’s going to play with them who can skate as well and is defensively conscious,” says Wilson. “And maybe another 10, 15 games into the season they’ll be able to come together and gel.”

Walking a tightrope

But this year’s Mighty Ducks team has more than just the Special K’s. Even before the surprising emergence of Kilger as an important member of the team, Wilson proclaimed his squad capable of making the playoffs in just their third season. And he bristled good-naturedly when asked by syndicated radio personality Jim Rome whether Anaheim would finish ahead of the cross-town rival LA Kings.

“What kind of a question is that?” replied Wilson. “Of course we will.”

And it’s that kind of confidence that had the Ducks flying high when the New Jersey Devils came to town.

“I said it early on and I’ll say it again: we’re a playoff team,” declared the coach after his charges dispatched the Stanley Cup champions, 6-2. “If we stay disciplined and use our speed when the opportunities are there, we can beat anybody. I think we’ve proven that.

“But I’m not a fool,” added Wilson. “I don’t expect to go into every building and win, and win by five goals at home every night.”

That tightrope between optimism and realism is one that Wilson fights to stay on, both because of the makeup of his team and the fact that there is a long-term plan in place.

“It gets to be frustrating for me sometimes,” says Wilson, “because I have so many young guys. But that’s part of my job; to be patient and understand you have to learn to walk before you can run.”

Yet the pressure to succeed can be a dangerous thing. The fans want to win. Management wants to win. In fact, the cover of the current Mighty Ducks media guide displays the motto “The Future is Now.” Pressure? Of course Wilson wants to win, too. But at what cost?

“It’s so hard from a coach’s perspective not to lose the focus on where you’re going,” says Wilson. “The idea is that everybody sticks together, and you can’t skip steps. When you try to skip steps to get there a little faster, usually you stumble and fall back down the staircase—and that’s what we have to avoid doing.

“You’ve seen it happen everywhere. (A team) will go on their plan for two or three years and it’s looking okay, and then somebody’s expectations change. Maybe you do a little better one year than perhaps you should have done. Then you say we should jump off from this (higher) point, when you’re really at this (lower) point. And when you jump, you miss—and, boom, you fall right back down the stairs again.”

Ducklings must grow

So Wilson hopes to win his share of games and make the playoffs while not sacrificing the development of his many “ducklings,” as he tagged the core of youngsters who are not rookies, but not seasoned veterans either. Guys like Oleg Tverdovsky, Milos Holan—whose battle with leukemia is something everyone wants to win right now—Mike Sillinger and Steve Rucchin.

For his part, Rucchin has developed into one of the team’s best players. A supplemental draft pick in 1994, the 24-year-old center was playing Canadian college hockey—the hockey equivalent of Siberian exile—at the University of Western Ontario when the Ducks discovered him. Since coming to Anaheim last year, he has demonstrated exactly the kid of two-way proficiency that Wilson appreciates.

“Paul Kariya’s clearly our best player, but from a coach’s point of view Steve Rucchin’s the kind of guy who, when the game is on the line—when you’re a goal up or a goal down—you’re looking down (the bench) to say ‘Rucchin, get out there.’ And he just does his job.”

Rucchin, who had long ago given up on a pro hockey career and was pursuing a career in medicine, is now considered a vital part of Anaheim’s future. And Wilson is thrilled with his development, both on and off the ice.

“Last year, he was very wishy-washy about being an NHLer. He didn’t know how to handle it. But now he’s seen the dressing room and he’s starting to take a leadership role. And he’s starting to demand more of himself—he’s not just happy with being in the lineup. Now he wants to score a couple of goals and a couple of assists, and make sure he’s not on the ice for any goals against.

“He’s 24 years old,” notes Wilson. “He’s got another 10 years ahead of him—if he doesn’t bail out on us and become a doctor.”

Sillinger is another 24-year-old who has found new life on Anaheim’s Pond. The high-scoring Junior player was relegated mostly to fourth-line duty over four years with a very deep Detroit squad. But since coming to Anaheim he has seen time centering for Kariya, and more recently on the left side of Kilger—where he seems to have helped the youngster regain his confidence and his touch.

The other team

That Anaheim has acquired and drafted players who are making an impact right on schedule is no surprise given the past successes of their management team. General Manager Jack Ferreira had an excellent draft history while with the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and San Jose Sharks. He chose his team wisely in the 1993 Expansion Draft, making goaltender Guy Hebert the very first Mighty Duck. And he hired a coach with the patience to see his mix of kids and expansion-draft veterans through a long-term plan.

“Realistically, to win the Stanley Cup,” Wilson muses, “I’d say you can do it in seven years the way things are right now. When you’re drafting all these 18, 19-year-old kids, then they’re all mature at 24, 25. Then you’re looking at a situation like the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Islanders when they came into the league. It took them seven, eight years to win the Stanley Cup. And if you build through the draft, that’s what it’s going to take you.”

One other thing those two dynasties had in common, however, is something that’s not so common in hockey today: stability, both in the front office and behind the bench. Does the man who was just given a one year contract extension see a stable coaching presence as part of the long term Stanley Cup strategy?

“That’s very important,” notes Wilson. “But it’s easy for me to say—I don’t control that. But when you analyze any successful franchise in any sport, the formula for success is the same. And stability is part of that.”

In other words, with enough patience—from management, from the coach and from the fans—what started as an ugly bunch of ducklings might just blossom into a Stanley Cup swan.

This first appeared in the 01/1996 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

More Youth Coaching with Pat Burns

More youth coaching with Pat Burns
By Alex Carswell

This first appeared in the 01/1996 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®

©BBS

A coach plays a big part in how much any youngster enjoys his formative hockey experiences. That’s why parents and youth hockey organizers would be well advised to consider what kind of coach they want in charge of their kids.

At the professional level, as well as the upper echelon of Junior hockey, team success is always foremost on a coach’s mind. But what about when working with kids? Should a coach think solely about doing what he must in order to win games, or should he emphasize things that help kids develop their individual skills?

“Well, I think its a mix of both when you’re in minor hockey,” says Pat Burns, now in his fourth season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, “because you’re going to have some kids who do things better than others. Just like in the NHL, some players do things better than others. It’s the same thing in minor hockey. Some kids are going to be better skaters, and others may not be as good skaters but they’ll be good penalty killers or checkers, so you have to kind of draw out the talent that he has the best that you can.”

In other words, by using a particular child to his own best advantage, you can also help the team to victory. And likewise, by playing to the strengths of your individual players, you don’t force a kid into an uncomfortable position of being expected to do something he or she may not be able to do.

“You can’t take a kid who can’t skate well and make him a perfect skater,” says Burns, who coached his way up through the ranks from peewees to become a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top bench boss. “It’s difficult. A lot of these things are God-given gifts.”

But the lesson of using players with specific gifts to their own, and the team’s, best advantage holds true all the way to the NHL.

“I’ve got a guy (on Toronto), Bill Berg, who’ll go through a wall for you but he’ll never be a great skater. But he works hard and tries hard, and yet he’s reached a level in his skating where he’s not going to get any better. As a coach you have to accept that, and as a player he has to accept that. And his peers have to accept that around him. But, also, he has a role to play.”

And playing that role earns him the respect of those peers.

“Another player won’t want to lay that role,” notes Burns, “you know, the disturber, or the instigator who’ll bother the best player on the other team. Other players don’t want to do that; they just want to go out and play. Bill Berg can’t do what Doug Gilmour does.

“And I think in minor hockey you have to try to find each point where it’s appropriate to explain each team-oriented situation. You’ll say, Listen guys, little Johnny here is our best scorer and he’s going to play on the power play. But little Peter here is a good penalty killer and he’s going to (do that).”

They should do it all

Which is not to say that you should let a coach pigeon-hole any kid right from the start.

“You have to let them try it all. At the peewee and bantam (level) everybody’s got to do everything, but when you get to the midget age, just before Junior, then you have to start specializing.

“I think the main thing,” says Burns, “the most important thing for a coach to do is let the kids play, and not overcoach them. Because there’s a danger in overcoaching them. I’ve seen (minor) coaches take systems they see from us in the NHL and put them on the ice and the minor hockey level, and that’s dangerous, because the kids aren’t mature enough to handle stuff like that, and they’re not playing at that level.

“(In the) systems that we play, everything is structured. And in minor hockey, you can’t structure (that much). You have to let the kids see what kind of talent, and what kind of things are going to develop for them as they get older and older.

“That’s why I think it’s dangerous when I see coaches overcoach and try and put a system into a peewee team, say 11- and 12-year-olds. That’s not right. You have to let them play.”

But, obviously, winning is a big part of what sports is all about. It’s in the psyche of everyone who plays or coaches. That’s why it’s important to be clear about what you expect from a youth coach, and what he or she should expect from you.

“If you’re hired to coach a hockey team, to develop a young hockey team, I think it’s important to know that the people who hired you know what your role is, and know what they expect of you. Now if they hire you and say ‘You’ve got to win every game,’ then as a coach you have to stand back and say now wait a minute, do I want to do that? So (how you approach the job) depends on what’s asked of you—or what’s told to you—and that’s very important. And that should be specified up front. If you’re going into coaching minor hockey you should ask (the team organizers), What do you expect? What do you want?

“In the National Hockey League, of course, they want the Stanley Cup.”

F-U-N

But when it comes to identifying the single most important thing any youth coach can do while directing his charges in practice, says Burns, there is no question. It’s getting them to have fun.

“That’s the main thing—a very, very important thing that people forget. Skating is always important, but you have to have things that are fun to do while skating. And every kid when he gets on the ice wants to have the puck. He wants to have the puck. That’s the game of hockey. So when you do skating drills—and I even do it on the pro level—give them each a puck. Let them play around with it, shoot it on the boards. That’s what kids like.

“You can have a five- or 10-minute session of skating which is called conditioning, but when it comes to skating the kid wants to have a puck. And you can see it.

“For example, you take some kids and skate them around the ice, it’s nothing but mayhem. But the minute you throw that little black thing on the ice, the attention span completely changes for every kid. Their faces light up, be-cause that’s the game of hockey.

“So that’s the most important thing; to give the kids drills where they’ll be able to play with the puck. Plus, that’s where you find out what a kid can do. Maybe he can really rifle the puck. Maybe he can really pass the puck, or stickhandle. But if he doesn’t get to use the puck he won’t develop those skills.

“In short, the kids aren’t athletes—they’re kids. And kids need to have fun.”

And if you can find—or be—a coach who understands that, then your child’s youth hockey career should be a happy one. And maybe even their pro careers.

“We’re with guys in the NHL,” Burns points out, “and they still like to have fun!”

— Alex Carswell

This first appeared in the 01/1996 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Bustin’ Out: Adding Options to Your Breakout

Bustin’ out: adding options to your breakout
By Greg Siller

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®

Figure 1

Breakout plays are used by a team to move the puck out of their defensive zone and into an offensive attack. The ability to effectively move the puck out of your own end is important both defensively and offensively. Defensively, it means that you have eliminated the offensive threat from your opponent. Offensively, it means that you have possession of the puck and now have an opportune to score. … Continue Reading

Respect Your Officials

Respect your officials
By Fred Pletsch
Nov 6, 2001, 20:37

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®

Terry Gregson. ©BBS

The perfect hockey referee should have the speed of a sprinter, the endurance of a marathon runner, the mind of a professor, and the tact of a diplomat. And it helps if they’re stone deaf and have 20/20 vision, too.

Terry Gregson always gets a laugh from the last part of that description. But the one-time president of the NHL Officials Association is striped-shirt serious when he says he has some real concerns about the state of officiating today at the youth hockey level.

Gregson, 1994’s Number One ranked official according to the NHL rating system, and the man chosen to work Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals that year, watched a lot of youth-level games during last season’s NHL lockout.

“The USA Hockey referee development program and the Canadian Level Six program are producing qualified officials for elite levels, but you’ve got to see people through the formative years to get them to that point,” says Gregson. And I’m not sure that’s being done.”

Five years is the average amount of time a person serves as a hockey official and, according to Gregson, shattered confidence is the main reason they give it up.

No slack for the ref

“If a 14-year-old defenseman makes a bad pass or a bad play in a game, everybody says, ‘That’s okay, he’s just learning.’ But if a 16-year-old referee, who’s basing everything he’s doing on personal judgment, makes a slight error in judgment, everybody is all over him.”

People will always have an emotional interest in the outcome of a game, but Gregson does encourage youth hockey organizations to hold open meetings for parents, coaches and team personnel—mandatory attendance once a season would be his ideal—to give them some insight into what officiating is all about.

Officials are on the ice to keep the playing field level, and apply the rule book in the interests of fairness and justice. Coaches, players and fans, on the other hand, judge the outcome in terms of a win or a loss—and it is the vested interest in victory that colors their emotions toward officials. Gregson says it’s amazing how perspective changes when the “win/lose” factor is removed from the equation.

“I’ve been involved in heated Stanley Cup games and been visited between periods by personnel already eliminated from the playoffs. They’ll say things like, ‘There have been some tough calls to make out there, but you guys are doing a great job.’” Meanwhile, two weeks earlier in a series involving their team, those same people were prepared to nominate Gregson for the title of worst referee in the history of hockey!

Gregson strongly believes that all coaches should be made to work a few games as a referee or linesman.

“It’s easy to criticize when you haven’t walked in their shoes, but maybe (they) should try it and see what it’s like, because I don’t think for a minute we are going to get people to watch hockey from a neutral standpoint. But I think they should watch it from a more respectful position.”

The 42-year-old Gregson feels that young players can be encouraged to serve as officials because it’s going to get them more of that precious ice time. “When you serve as an official,” Gregson notes, “the hockey-playing skill that’s bound to improve is your skating, because you do so much of it.”

Do the hustle

And if youngsters are going to try the zebra’s life, they should remember that effort is critical. “First impressions are important, and I think it’s important for young referees and linesmen to show lots of hustle—because if you look the part, and are a good skater, people will probably accept your judgment and point of view a little better.”

Visual awareness is an acquired talent that Gregson believes can help be developed through officiating, thereby enhancing a player’s skill level. “You can’t have tunnel vision and be a good official. You have to learn to see the whole ice,” says Gregson. “You’re able to watch breakouts develop and forechecking systems. It’s going to give you a better understanding of the game if you pay attention. An experienced official knows how the game is going to develop, and the ‘hot spots’ on the ice to watch for. Officiating can help improve a youngster’s field of vision on the ice.”

It’s imperative that youth hockey organizations start treating their officials as they would another member team. “There should be ice time available for clinics for officials to get out there with their head official and do some practicing,” stresses Gregson. “Teams get time to practice and coaches get time to get together and discuss drills and techniques. But how often do officials get together during the season—in a non-threatening environment—to work on positioning, maybe get a refresher course on new rules, and be critiques by an experienced peer?”

Officials, likewise, should consider themselves another “team” in the community. A sense of teamwork can be instilled through pizza party video analysis or hot-stove nights, hockey social outings, and charity fund-raising projects.

“You might think I’m talking from an idealistic perspective,” says Gregson, “but I strongly feel (officials) should form (their) little association and make it feel like another team in the community.”

The person in charge of assignments in a hockey association must realize the enormous power they wield in shaping the development of impressionable young linespeople and refs. Gregson advises that assignments be done in a very thoughtful manner, and recommends that a young official be teamed with an experienced one at all times.

On an individual basis, Gregson tells officials to just be themselves: quietly confident but never cocky, arrogant or stand-offish.

He says the difference between the best officials and the rest is how one handles confrontations. You’ll get a lot further by communicating, Gregson points out, than by coming on in an aggressive manner.

Fred Pletsch is a veteran OHL and AHL broadcaster who currently covers the Cornwall Aces for CJFS radio.

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Get in Gear and Stay Fit

Get in gear and stay fit
By Wayne Anderson

They’re some of the oldest questions in hockey—especially roller hockey: How do I know if my son/daughter’s skates fit right? Is my stick too long or too short? The answer to these and other fitting equipment questions will be explained below. Just keep on reading, and learn how to size yourself up.

There are some general guidelines to properly fitting your equipment, but personal preference is also a factor once the player wearing the equipment becomes slightly advanced. Some of the basic do’s and don’ts of fitting equipment are listed below.

… Continue Reading

The Pro Schedule

The pro schedule
By Mitch Korn
Dec 27, 2007, 08:32

After spending the past four seasons as the goaltending coach for the Buffalo Sabres organization, I thought I’d share some things that seem to separate the pros from the rest. Here’s what makes them so special.

While being an NHLer appears to be very glamorous (and at times it is), it is an enormous commitment, and a very demanding life. If you are like Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur or Trevor Kidd, among others, you play almost every game—and with just two goalies on most squads, you can’t miss practice.

A demanding schedule

The schedule is unbelievable. The players simply do not stop for eight months. There are no days off, no weekends, and certainly no vacations. The players are either traveling, or on the ice every day. On game days, they skate twice! Those who cannot handle it run out of gas, either physically or mentally.

Heck, the schedule is tough for me—and I do not have to face the rigors of actually playing!

Here’s a typical week:

On Tuesday, players begin arriving at 9 AM for treatment from the trainers (most everyone has some injury that needs attention). From 10:30-Noon there’s practice. At 3 PM, a flight to, say, Hartford (normally a charter). And of course there’s a midnight curfew.

On Wednesday, players begin arriving at the rink at 10 AM to prepare, watch (opposition) Hartford practice and receive treatments. At 11:30, we practice. At 1 PM, the team meal. From 4:30 on, the locker room is open for medical treatment, rubdowns, and equipment (sticks, etc.) preparation.

Puck drop is at 7:30, then a midnight flight back to Buffalo that gets in around 1:15.

Thursday starts with an 11 AM practice. Most players begin arriving at 9:30, however, for medical treatments, physical therapy, etc. Often, players make personal appearances in the early afternoon or evening—from hospitals to card signing, they are very active in the community.

Friday, players begin arriving at the rink early for treatments. Practice runs from 10:30-Noon. At 3 PM, the charter flight departs for Montreal, where the midnight curfew is in effect.

On Saturday, players begin arriving at the Montreal Forum around 10 AM. At 11:30, practice starts. The team meal is at 1:15. At 5 PM, the locker room opens, and at 8 o’clock it’s gametime versus the Canadiens.

Bed down after the game? Not quite.

The midnight flight to Buffalo arrives at 1:30 in the morning, and then the following day a morning media conference is required. Media interviews, often quite a distraction for the players, are also required before games. Is Sunday a day of rest? Well, no. But the 10:30 AM practice is optional. Those needing treatment take it as required. Those who were not in the line-up or who played very little the prior night hit the ice. Options are over at 11:45, when the team meeting is held. At 4 PM the locker room opens in preparation for a 7 o’clock home game against Boston.

Monday and Tuesday, it’s more of the same: 11 AM practice, medical treatments, strength training and rehabilitation that’s done before and after practice. Those who were not in the line-up or who played very little stay on the ice for “extra work,” and do extra off ice—in the weight room, etc.—too.

Wednesday, practice is early, 10 AM. The team meeting is at 11:45, and the game starts at 7:30.

And so it goes.

Between traveling to and from arenas, airports and their homes—along with taking the time to eat very nutritious, excellent meals (fuel in is fuel out!)—along with doing personal appearances, meeting with the media, working out with the strength coach, etc., there is very little time left for much of anything else.

Yet a home life has to fit in somewhere! Most players also have a wife and children.

Other demands

A tolerance for pain is also a player’s prerequisite.

NHL goalies are tough. They have bruises everywhere, even with the best of equipment. They play hurt and with pain. They have to, if they want to keep their job. And yes, it is a job. If you can’t play, someone else will. While they are team oriented, players are always concerned about keeping their job—and about how they might do on their next contract.

Mental toughness is also required. It’s not easy “getting up” for every practice and all 84 games. The best goalies in the NHL do. They are able to keep that demanding schedule and “come to play” almost every night. And when things don’t go right, they are able to bounce back immediately. They have great confidence levels. They believe in themselves and back it up with their performance.

Naturally, a strong work ethic is vital to success.

There is no “floating.” Too many others want your job. While some do float, they often don’t excel over the long run. They come and they go. The best players are on the ice early, and stay on late.

In Buffalo, I can always count on Dominik Hasek to display those work habits. In the past, I have been most impressed with Bill Ranford’s work ethic, seeing him practice as many as four times on off days. Even on game days, he’s the last off the ice!

True big-leaguers take responsibility. It’s easy to blame the defense, or the centerman, etc., when a goal is scored, but the best NHLers take full responsibility for each goal. It’s their job, regardless of any mistakes in front of them, to stop the puck. They have fire—a great desire to make the difference and never be content to give up goals that should go in. They want to be amazing. The best don’t dwell on goals. They don’t let the goals upset them, but rather use them to get fired up and not give up another. They respond to coaching, and never have an excuse.

The amazing thing?

These NHL players may be the best at what they do now—thoroughbreds, with exceptional physical and mental skills and great athleticism. But don’t be scared! They started just like every other youngster, playing house league, travel team, getting up at 5 AM on a Saturday morning.

They started out like you.

The difference? They took advantage of their opportunities, improved their game by mastering all of the above.

Work hard, everyone, and you can too!!

Mitch Korn is the goaltender coach for the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. In addition, he is an administrator at Miami University (Ohio) and directs the 8-week Summer Hockey School. Miami has Division I ice hockey in the CCHA.

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Ready… Set… Stop!

Ready… Set… Stop!
By Robby Glantz
Nov 6, 2001, 20:29

Yzerman: A skilled stopper. ©BBS

If you are a frequent reader of this column, you are no doubt aware that I am constantly striving to teach you what it takes to attain more speed while skating. And hopefully, by now, you are beginning to master some of these techniques for speed. With that in mind, the question we’ll address here is: ‘“Now that I’m getting all this speed, how about helping me learn to stop?”

That’s a very logical question, so let’s examine some methods that will improve your ability to perform the so-called “hockey stop.”

Forward Stop

In ice hockey, as you are surely aware, the change of direction using the quick stop—both forward and backward—is a vital fundamental. You must consistently work on and practice this very difficult skill, no matter what your level of play, in order to see marked improvement. And as with any other skating skill—because you are pushing yourself to get better—you are going to need to do your share of falling down while practicing. But do not look on this as a failure. In fact it’s just the opposite; it means that you are getting closer to stopping properly now that you are breaking out of your comfort zone.

Here are some tips to keep in mind while working on your forward stop:

• Bend your knees so deep that it feels like your going to sit your butt back on the ice.

• Keep your eyes forward, your chin up and your back straight.

• Be sure to turn your hips 90° (a 1/4-turn) from the direction you were traveling, with both skates turning at the same time.

• In making the stop, the outside skate should slide along the top of the ice on an inside edge, with the snow coming off the middle-front part of the skate (the ball of your foot).

• The inside skate should trail the outside one and also slides on top of the ice, but on an outside edge. Again, the snow should be coming off the middle-front part of the edge.

• Your feet should be staggered at this point (not heel-to-toe even), with the inside foot in front of the outside foot by almost a full skate length.

• Body weight should be distributed with the greater percentage to the outside skate (inside edge). If not, and you have too much weight over the inside foot (outside edge), then the skates will slide out from under you causing you to fall or lose your balance.

• Be sure to counterbalance the stop with your upper body, by keeping your shoulders parallel to the ice, rather than leaning or dropping the inside shoulder down towards the ice.

Skating Imagery: When performing the hockey stop, it is important that you think of it more as a hockey “slide” first, and a hockey “stop” second. In other words, do not put the cart before the horse. Too many players think they can come to a screeching stop as if, for example, they are changing directions on a basketball court. However, when you watch the most skilled stoppers in the NHL, such as Wayne Gretzky or Steve Yzerman, in slow-motion, you will realize that they actually slide their skates along the top of the ice before they come to a stop.

An “off” side?

Finally, when teaching the art of the hockey stop, inevitably someone asks the question about why one stopping side is stronger than the other. And it should be noted that every pro player I have ever worked with has a weaker side, not only when stopping, but when turning and performing other maneuvers as well.

The only way we have found to make your bad side stronger is to work harder on it, and not to ignore it just because it becomes frustrating. But to take that one step further, really try to focus and concentrate on exactly what it is you do on your good side that allows you to perform the maneuver well. Once you have the steps sorted out in your head, it should then be easier for you to transfer those same techniques to your weaker side.

Robby Glantz, power skating coach for the Los Angeles Kings, Swedish champions Malmö, and the German National Teams, conducts skating programs throughout North America and Europe.

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Stay Sharp: Getting the Most from Your Skates

Stay Sharp: Getting the most from your skates
By Robert Hineline and Andrew A. Turnbull
Dec 27, 2007, 08:05

Illustration #1: Shallow hollow for goaltenders Deeper hollow for defensesmen. Normal hollow for forwards.

With your skates sharpened correctly, you’ll skate better and get more enjoyment from your time on the ice. Whether you’re an NHL professional, an amateur player, or you just enjoy a good workout on your hockey skates during public sessions, knowing what to ask for from your local skate sharpener should help you get the most out of your skates.

There is a great deal of science and technology associated with skating, including skate design and skate sharpening; the field is known as “skateology.” While you don’t need to be a skateologist to get the most out of your skates, it helps to understand some of the terminology, to know how sharpening can affect the performance of your skates, and what questions you should ask.

There are some skate sharpening definitions that you’ll want in your hockey vocabulary. These include the parts of the blade, like the “rocker” and the “hollow,” and terms for blades that are flawed like “out of square” or “high edge.” Since the material used to make your blade influences how long it will keep an edge, you’ll want to know about blade material. You’ll want to know how often to get your skates sharpened, and some hints for problems that may result from incorrectly sharpened blades.

The Rocker

No, not Tommy Lee or Eddie Van Halen. The “rocker” refers to the curved profile of the blade running along its length. Whereas skates of former generations used to be flat, forwards and defensemen of today skate on curved blades, which are said to have a “rocker” (netminder’s blades are flat, and have no rocker). Along the curve of the blade, or rocker—which runs front-to-back—there is a balance point which affects the center of gravity for the skater.

When skates are first purchased, this balance point (or pivot point) is in the center of the rocker. Many skaters will be satisfied with the rocker left alone with the balance point in the center. However, if you are a defensemen, you may want that balance point moved forward along the curve of your blade in order to set your center of gravity back, providing an advantage for backward skating. Meanwhile, the forward may want the balance point moved to the rear of center in order to shift his center of gravity forward, providing an advantage for forward skating.

The skater who thinks that his skates make him feel like he is falling forward or falling backward may have the balance point in the wrong location. His problem might be solved by requesting that his skate sharpener move the balance point of the rocker either forward or back along the curve to correct the center of balance.

The Hollow

The “hollow,” also known as the radius of hollow, refers to the depth of the groove ground into the running surface of a blade during sharpening. If you turn over your skates and look at the groove between the two edges of the skate blade, you’ll see the hollow. The depth of that hollow can influence your skating, and different skaters will select different hollows for their skates. Decisions regarding the hollow will often depend on what position one plays and also on the hardness or softness of the ice surface.

When the hollow is shallow, making the bottom of your blade relatively flat, you are more likely to hydroplane along the ice. Forwards and most recreational skaters who want to get speed out of their skates will demand a relatively shallow hollow. However, when the hollow is deeper, the blade will cut deeper into the ice, providing for more control.

Defensemen, who need to be able to turn quickly and make quick starts and stops, will prefer a deeper hollow. Goaltenders choose much flatter hollows than the skaters in front of them, especially the “sliders” and “butterfly” style goaltenders who tend to stay in the crease. But the skating goaltenders who come out of their crease often use a deeper hollow than their stay-at-home counterparts, for better turning and more bite into the ice.

The hardness of the ice surface you usually skate on may also influence your choice in depth of hollow. If the ice is soft (for instance, it’s slushy and has lots of ruts in it), you may want a shallower hollow to help you hydroplane over the ice. When you skate on harder ice (which doesn’t get very chewed up, even during public sessions) you may choose a deeper hollow to permit more of a bite into that hard ice.

The unit of measurement for the depth of the hollow is based upon the radius of a circle on which the hollow would accurately fit. In illustration No. 1, three different skate blades are shown positioned on top of circles, each with a different radius. The top blade was cut for a goaltender, using a 1” radius, so it has a very shallow hollow and is relatively flat. For the middle blade, the skate sharpener made the radius of hollow 1/2”, which is the hollow of choice for most forwards and recreational skaters. In the bottom example, the defenseman’s blade can fit accurately upon a circle with a 7/16” radius, which means its hollow is deeper.

Have skates, will travel

Players from the Southwest who are taking a trip to play in Canada should keep in mind that the Canadian ice tends to be much harder than Sunbelt ice. Some northbound skaters use a 3/8” radius for a much deeper hollow during the trip. However, upon returning home they go back to the shallower hollow.

Your local skate sharpening expert will likely have a radius of hollow gauge which he can use to set the grinding equipment to your desired hollow. This gauge has numerous cutouts of portions of circles of various radius lengths. At some skate shops, the sharpeners may use other lingo to identify different depths of the hollow. It’s best to spend a few minutes with your sharpening expert to let him know your preferences for the rocker and hollow, and to understand how he identifies the various settings.

Hip to be “square”

A skate that is out of square, or has a high edge, has one edge that is higher than the other. This can lead to a skate turning much more easily in one direction than the other. This is analogous to driving a car that needs a front-end alignment.

The way to determine if your skate has its two edges square to the side of the blade is to turn the skate upside down, hold it up to where you can look across the length of the blade, and place a quarter over the two edges. If the side of the quarter and the side of your blade comprise a “T”, then your skates are correctly in square. But if one side of the quarter sits higher than the other, you have a high edge, and your skates are out of square. See illustration No. 2.

Blades of steel

Modern hockey skate blades are made from either “high-speed steel,” “stainless steel,” or they may be “titanium-coated” (these are the gold colored blades). High-speed steel is less expensive than stainless steel, but unlike stainless, high-speed steel can rust. If you find rust spots on your stainless steel blades, its because you’ve come in contact with someone wearing high speed steel.

Titanium coats may be put over either high-speed steel or stainless steel when the blade is made. A titanium-coated blade does not rust, keeps its edge longer, and does not get dinged as deep when coming in contact with other objects. Titanium-coated blades, naturally, are more expensive than the other types.

If you use the hard plastic walking guards, use them only for protecting and transporting your skates, but not for storage. Since the plastic walking guards get damp, they can rust your blades if left on the skates for long periods. For storage, the best thing to do is take the walking guards off, wipe your blades dry and put them in cloth blade guards.

When should I sharpen my skates?

A rule of thumb for beginners and recreational skaters is to sharpen the skates every 10-to-15 hours on the ice. For example, after skating at fa handful two-hour public sessions, it’s time to get your skates sharpened. This is especially important for beginners because they need consistency in their edges while climbing the learning curve of skating ability. Some hockey players may choose to get their skates sharpened before every game, even though it can be rather expensive.

Out of square (above); correct (below).

Do your skates need to be sharpened? Here’s how to tell: Hold the skate upside down with the toe in one hand and the heel in the other. Holding the skate up to the bright lights inside the rink, pivot the skate toward you the same way you would turn a thermometer toward you when you’re trying to read it. If there are dull spots on the skate, they will show up as little spots and lines of reflected light, and it’s time to sharpen.

The “tilt-and-look” method is superior to, and safer than, the old method of running the back of your fingernail across the blade to see if you leave shavings on the blade. Injuries are reported about once a month by people who use this rather inaccurate method. Neverthe-less, some people use the fingernail method to test consistency of the sharpness of each edge of the skate.

Can skates be too sharp?

Yes. Beginners can run into deep trouble if their skates are too sharp. For most skaters who have skated less than two or three years, some amount of “tuning down” (dulling of the blades) will be required. If the blades are too sharp for the skater, he may find himself stopping too fast—the skates stop, but the body keeps going.

Some skaters will take their freshly-sharpened skates and run them along a piece of wood to tune them down. This is a less accurate method than having your skate sharpening professional use a consistent method of tuning down your skates to your ability and your desire. Goaltenders usually request that their skates be tuned down more than skaters.

Was the sharpening done correctly?

Here’s how to tell: First, take a look at the bottom of the blade and observe the “grain of the sharpening” along the length of the hollow. Do the lines run straight along the length of the blade, or are they crooked and run crossways between the edges? Straight lines indicate that the skate was ground correctly. Crooked lines will lead to friction and slow you down. Another test is to carefully run a pen along the length of the hollow and check to see if the line you have drawn runs straight and smooth.

Incorrect handling during a sharpening may lead to a skate blade getting “burned.” If the blade is discolored after sharpening, the skate may have been overheated from being held to the grinder either too tightly or for too long. This means the “temper” (or hardness of the metal) may be lost, which leads to edges wearing off faster.

Diagnostics

If you find that at certain speeds your skates wobble back and forth and become difficult to control, this probably isn’t due to your skating ability. It’s probably due to one or both of your skates being out of square (having a high edge). Try the method described above for determining if your skates are out of square, then take your skates along with a description of the problem to your skate sharpening professional.

A skater who finds his skates slip too much may need a deeper hollow. As mentioned above, the deeper hollow will permit the skate to bite into the ice better.

If your skates seem “sluggish” after a sharpening, and you’re used to getting more speed, you may be used to a shallower hollow. Going to a shallower hollow will provide you more speed, but—in the trade-off—you may give up some of your cornering abilities. l

Robert Hineline is a veteran skate sharpener. Andrew A. Turnbull is a freelance writer.

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Living on the Road

Living on the road
By Sam Laskaris
Nov 6, 2001, 20:00

Daniel Cleary, Greg Smyth and Rick Vaive probably don’t have a lot in common. Cleary is a highly-touted teenage hockey prospect, Smyth is a journeyman pro defenseman, while Vaive—a former NHL star—is now in charge of a minor pro franchise in South Carolina.

All three, however, are willing to make plenty of sacrifices to continue their hockey careers. These sacrifices include leaving home and loved ones behind to frequently spend a good chunk of their time on the road.

Cleary, a native of Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, left home at age 14 to further his career. He played one year of Tier II Junior A hockey in Kingston, Ontario, before moving up to the higher-caliber Ontario Hockey League. Cleary, who’s now in his second year with the Belleville Bulls, is projected to be one of the top picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.

Cleary, who turns 17 on December 18, felt he didn’t have much of a choice but to leave Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost province, in order to get noticed.

“You just don’t get much publicity in Newfoundland,” he says. “I always played just for fun, nothing serious. But then I decided there’s really no way I can lose out. I’ll just go somewhere where the competition is better and see what I can do. People were telling me I’ve got a chance to do something, and why not take the chance and see what happens?”

Cleary more than held his own during his first year in the Junior ranks. He collected 46 points, including 18 goals, in 41 contests with the Kingston Voyag-eurs. Those stats aren’t too shabby considering he was playing in a league which had an age limit of 20.

Dirty nose and big bills

“I wasn’t afraid to get my nose dirty,” Cleary says. “But when you sit down and look at it, there were players (in my league) up to six years older. That’s a big difference.”

It was also a huge adjustment for Cleary having to live with billets instead of his parents, older brother and younger sister. His current billet is a single mother who has a 15-year-old son. But it’s not as if he doesn’t keep in touch with his family and friends back home.

“I’ve got a phone bill big enough to knock you down,” notes Cleary, who racked up $750 in calls during a recent two-month stretch.

Even now, his third season away from home, Cleary, a 6’, 200-pound left winger, admits he occasionally still gets homesick. This season’s yearning for home has been further fueled by the fact that he now has a girlfriend back in Newfoundland.

But having a certain amount of freedom while pursuing a hockey dream also has its advantages. “I love it, man,” Cleary says of life away from home. “You need a break once in a while. It makes going home more enjoyable.

”And he probably would have just as much fun if he had the same competition closer to home.“Sometimes I wonder why there can’t be a league like this in Newfoundland,” says Cleary, who had 81 points (26 goals, 55 assists) in 62 games with the Bulls last season. “If most of the other guys on the team want to go home for a little while, they just have a one- or two-hour drive. But for me, it’s a four-hour plane ride. I realize, though, it’s just part of the game. This is just one sacrifice of many I’ll have to make.”

Other Newfoundlanders who left home and made it in pro hockey include John Slaney and Dwayne Norris, both of whom are in the Colorado Avalanche organization. Cleary believes many other players from his home province could be making the jump but simply aren’t.

“There’s a lot of talent going to waste down there,” he says. “Not everybody can do it. But if you go to the right town and play for the right team, you never know how far you can make it.”

Spell “journeyman” S-M-Y-T-H

Smyth, who began this season with the Chicago Wolves of the International Hockey League, is one player who has logged his share of miles—and that’s just moving from team to team. Since turning pro in 1986, Smyth, who is nicknamed “Suitcase,” has had stints in the NHL with Philadelphia, Quebec, Calgary, Florida, Toronto and Chicago. He’s also toiled in the American Hockey League with Hershey and Halifax and in the IHL with Salt Lake City and Indianapolis.

“I’ve been all over North America,” he says. “I’ve been able to travel from the east coast to the west coast and meet a bunch of neat people, and also play with some of the best hockey players in the world.”

His nomadic lifestyle does create obvious problems. “Having to move all my furniture and change my address so much is something that is a pain in the butt,” admits Smyth, who was born in Oakville, Ontario, located 20 miles west of Toronto.

During his pro career, Smyth has never spent a full season with just one team. Though he’s lost official track, he believes he’s spent five full seasons living in a hotel. He’s doing the same thing in the Windy City this year, living in a hotel, which is conveniently located (a two-minute walk) from the Wolves home rink.

“Living in a hotel is not something everybody can do,” Smyth says.

“It’s really hard for some people. But I don’t mind it.”

Though his phone number and zip code have changed as often as some people cut their hair, Smyth, 29, prefers to look on the positive side of things. Being single, he doesn’t have to worry about whether his comings and goings will cause inconveniences for others.

“It would be nice to settle down,” he said. “But it would be hard to settle down when you know your life is so erratic. To move a family is hard. I can tell that just by watching and learning what teammates have done.”

Smyth believes even some teammates who have stayed in the same place for lengthy periods have disrupted family lives because of their hockey careers. “Being on the road a lot can be tough,” he points out. “When you go over to different guys’ houses for dinner, you can see what’s going on.”

Smyth added he has not purposely avoided marriage because he’s a hockey player who always seems to be on the go. “Right now I’m having a lot of fun being single,” said the 6’ 3”, 215-pounder who is hoping to play pro for another six years. “I just haven’t met the girl I want to marry yet. Hopefully, it’s in the plans some day.”

Smyth’s many moves have also enabled him to become a bit of a geography buff. “Any city you stay in, you learn a little something about it,” he notes. “I don’t think it’s ever been glamorous for me. But the travel has been fun. And being a single guy, like I said before, I get to do what I want.”

Even executives travel

Vaive, who was born in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, has also been on the go since he was 17. That’s when he left his family, who by that point were living in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to go play Junior A hockey in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

After two years at the Junior level, Vaive turned pro with the Birmingham Bulls of the defunct World Hockey Association. He then spent 13 seasons in the NHL, having stints in Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago and Buffalo. After spending the 1992/93 campaign as a player/assistant coach with the Hamilton Canucks of the AHL, Vaive then took over the coaching duties with the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League.

“I love hockey,” says Vaive, who, now in his third season with the Stingrays, is also the club’s director of hockey operations. “I couldn’t see myself doing anything but being involved with it. I’ve been in hockey my whole adult life.”

Though he’s no longer involved with the NHL, Vaive—who in the ECHL has to face clubs such as the Jacksonville Lizard Kings, Louisville Riverfrogs and Louisiana Icegators—is hoping for a return to the world’s premier league.

“Ultimately the goal is to get to the NHL,” he says of his coaching/managing career. “But much along the lines of players, sometimes you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.”

Before any moves are made though, Vaive said he’d first have to consult some people; Joyce, his wife of 14 years, and their two sons, Jeffrey, 10, and Justin, 6.

“When you’re a player, you don’t have much of a choice,” Vaive notes. “Now (discussing it) is something I’d do before moving to a higher league or a different city. Now my family has to be a huge consideration when there’s a move. It’s something I’d definitely sit down and talk with them about.”

Vaive admits that when he was jetting from city to city in the NHL, and even now that he’s bussing around ECHL centers, he doesn’t really mind life on the road.

“I enjoy the travel,” he says. “But that’s not to say I don’t enjoy being at home. The thing is, you’re never away more than eight or nine days. It’s not as if you go away for 2-to-3 weeks.”

Vaive adds, however, that his constant travels are not conducive to a perfect family life.

“I’m sure (Joyce) didn’t enjoy me being away and (her) being the only one to take care of the kids and a dog,” he admits. “But no matter what line of work you’re in, when it comes to professional sports, there’s going to be travel involved and your life is going to revolve around that. It just becomes second nature no matter what you do. It’s part of my life and I just have to get adjusted to it.”

Now that he’s coaching, Vaive said there’s really not that much spare time he has to kill; he’s usually busily preparing strategies for his next game.

As for his players, they often have some time to burn, especially on the bus trips that can last as long as 16 hours.

“Some guys sleep, watch movies or play cards,” Vaive says. “And for the most part buses are now equipped with gadgets so guys can play things like SEGA golf. It’s almost like taking a bunch of kids out. Though all of us are over 20, we still act like kids at times.”

Cleary, Smyth and Vaive. All kids at heart who have plenty of roads to travel in pursuit of their pro hockey careers.

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®

Youth Coaching Tips from Pat Burns

Youth coaching tips from Pat Burns
By Alex Carswell
Nov 6, 2001, 19:57

©BBS

Before he transformed the Toronto Maple Leafs from perennial losers into a perennial Final Four team, before he won 204 games with Montreal, and before he built a .594 winning percentage as an NHL bench boss, Pat Burns coached kids.

“I started with Peewees, Bantams, and Midgets,” says Burns, “(before) going on to Major Junior hockey, which is more of a business. It’s not really youth hockey. (But) Peewee, Bantam and Midget—that’s more of the recreational thing for the youngsters, although it depends whether you work at an elite level or a participation level.

“I worked in the elite level most of the time,” says Burns, recalling the quality of player he coached. “You’d see the kids starting in Peewee (and) you could almost see them going all the way to the NHL.”

Of course, not all hockey dreams come true, something youth coaches and parents must remember. Burns believes that even with promising athletes a youth coach has an obligation to keep a level head—that to do otherwise is a disservice to the young player.

“You start seeing around the age of 15 or 16 whether a kid is going to have any chance to be able to get (to the NHL). But remember, only like one in a thousand kids makes it. So you have to be careful not to make the kid believe that he’s going to play in the National Hockey League.”

That’s not to say that a youth hockey coach can’t have an impact.

“You help the kid along, and if there’s any potential talent that you can see, that you can guide a little bit—and maybe help the parents along, too. But it’s a very dangerous thing to tell a kid he’s going to make it.

“We’ve heard this story many times: that if this kid had a chance he could have made it; that if this kid had a break he could have made it. Well, no. If the kid had been good enough, hewould have made it.”

These are words that stem from ex-perience. It was after returning from the St. Louis Blues training camp that Burns, then a Major Junior player, realized he would never be good enough to compete at the NHL level. So he quit hockey and became a cop. But once he got back into the game—he stood in behind the bench for a sick friend in the early 1970s, and has been coaching ever since—his awareness of hockey’s real world made him a better coach.

The parent trap

Burns emphasizes that parents are often guilty of filling their children with dreams of grandeur, and adds with a laugh the best thing they can do to help a kid enjoy youth hockey: “Leave them alone!” But many parents don’t.

“That’s a problem in minor hockey, that the parents want to overcoach or—you hate to say over-encourage—but sometimes it’s true.” And Burns says even one parent’s overzealousness can have a devastating effect on a team, and a coach.

“If you criticize the coach in front of the child, that’s going to reflect itself, because the kid’s going to tell his teammates, ‘Well, my dad said (the coach) doesn’t know what he’s talking about.’

“When a coach is put at a minor league level, there’s a confidence you have to give him at that point. The people who put him there obviously have screened (him) and decided he knows what he’s doing.

“I think what the parents tend to do—because of the illustrious million-dollar careers now—the parents would love to see one of their kids get right in there, and say ‘Hey, my son’s going to make a million dollars a year.’ And they want to push it.

“That’s where the stories often start of ‘this guy could have made it if he’d had a break.’ Well, as I said, I completely rub that one out. If he’s good and he has the drive, he’s going to make it. And parents sometimes forget that. They prefer to think that their kids were somehow overlooked, badly coached, or badly managed.”

Yet a good hockey parent is the most important element in any kid’s playing experience.

“A child loves to play hockey when his parents or family are present. (When) he does something good, he needs that kind of encouragement. But he doesn’t need the distraction of being discouraged through parents who get up and call referees expletives and call other kids expletives.

“You can’t do that in minor hockey.”

— Alex Carswell

This first appeared in the 12/1995 issue of Hockey Player Magazine®
© Copyright 1991-2001 Hockey Player® and Hockey Player Magazine®