It’s been a fun season from the peewees to the pros. With two NHL players (Nikita Kucherov and Nathan MacKinnon) eclipsing the 100 point mark and another (Connor McDavid) about to do the same, there have been plenty of goals and talent to celebrate!

With most youth hockey tournaments complete we are in the ‘inbetween season’ and depending on where you live, that can mean many different things. Here in Massachusetts for example, we are in tryout mode as our youth hockey teams for next season are chosen in the coming weeks. 

In other parts of the country where teams for next season are chosen in September or October, you are likely spending the next few weeks in a spring league or development league as well as making final plans for summer hockey training.

One of the biggest decisions players are faced with at this time of the year is this:

How bad do you want to achieve your hockey goal?

We have talked about goal setting in a variety of past articles and the importance of this can’t be overstated. 

What’s Next?

Regardless of how your hockey season started and ended, whether you felt like you deserved more ice time or anything else, what happens next is more important than what happened last. And it all starts with deciding how bad you want to improve your skills and take your game to the next level.

One of our favorite past articles was about a player who showed up every day for summer workouts. While friends were sleeping in, going to the beach or doing other things, this player was dedicated to sticking to a schedule, never making an excuses. Hockey was important enough to the player that there was always a way, never an excuse. The results and success of this player spoke for themselves. 

So as you make important decisions about how, where and when to train this summer, we invite you to join us at one of our summer hockey schools located in 12 states.

The only real question that remains is, will you find a way, or will you make an excuse?

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!

A few years back we wrote this article about the great ones making it look easy. After watching Connor McDavid compete and win the skills competition at the recent NHL All-Star Game, we were reminded just how easy the great ones make it look!

Social media is full of skill videos featuring hockey players making incredible dekes and dangles and then finishing with a storybook goal. Watching this talent leaves everyone on the edge of their seat wondering ‘how’d they do that’? The answer is really quite simple: practice!

This summer we enter our 30th year of summer hockey camps in 12 states. It never ceases to amaze our pro staff how much the talent of young hockey players increases with each passing season.   

The level of play from peewees to preps has gotten to a point where each and every year the discussion in the coaches room is whether the level of play can continue to improve. Amazingly enough, each year skills do improve and the level of play does get better.

Last year at summer hockey school after watching a player make a move that literally brought the coaches to applaud, we asked the player where he learned the move. The answer, not surprisingly, was by practicing it. Over and over and over again. 

Like so many do, this player saw a goal scored on social media and immediately tried it. Then again at practice, and then again at home, in the basement and in the driveway. Everywhere and anytime this player had a stick and a puck, ball or anything else, he was practicing the same move.

Repetition and muscle memory are key to athletic success and within a relatively short period of time the player became successful with this move. After several more hours of practice he became great. Soon, he would ready to try it in a game!

There is an old saying in sports and life that “The great ones make it look easy” and when it comes to hockey skills this is definitely true. However, as we have talked about in past articles, the great ones only become great after spending hundreds or even thousands of hours honing their craft. 

We encourage you to become great! Start by identifying an area of your game that needs improvement and dedicating yourself to working on it until it becomes natural. Find a great deke or dangle on the internet and work on it until you become great!

Thank you for reading. We invite you to train with us this summer at one of our hockey camps! For dates, locations and to register, click here.

Do you ever wonder why the same teams always find themselves in the playoffs, championship game and even winning the title?

In past articles we’ve talked about Winning Being A Habit and that To Be The Best, You Need To Set Goals Like The Best. When it comes to winning, it’s pretty obvious that the best teams have good players. These players are doing all the little things that add up to the big things! But why is it that certain teams and programs always seem to produce winners?

It starts with skill, talent, work ethic and all of the ingredients that you would expect in a successful recipe. However, there is something that we’ve noticed in recent years, especially at the youth levels, that great teams share.

Selflessness. (Related Articles: “Are You A Me or We Player” & “That You Do Is More Important Than Who”)

As we watch teams, from the good to great, we are always intrigued by the top players. We watch their skill sets, their style and how they interact with their teammates. From an individual standpoint, this is important because much of the time as the top players go, so goes the team.

More specifically, if the team relies on the top player for everything, other teams can usually contain the threat. But if that top player (or players) relies on themselves for everything, and tries to do everything either out of selfishness or not trusting that teammates can get the job done, well this is separation between good teams and championship teams.

What we mean is this: How bad does a top player, or any player for that matter, want to score themselves vs. making sure that the team wins.

We’ve seen players in game changing moments shoot from bad angles for example, rather than sliding the puck to a teammate for an easy tap in goal. We’ve seen players that want the notoriety of scoring in the big game or scoring a big goal seemingly more than an assist on a teammates goal. These things don’t happen on championship teams.

The teams that are playing for the championship are the teams that operate like teams! The players, all the players, want the team win more than the individual stats. Championship teams make good hockey decisions, they make good hockey plays, they are unselfish and we is always more important than me.

As you head towards the playoffs we wish you the best of luck at your Mass Hockey USA Hockey or local tournament! We hope that your team comes together and plays like a team and when that final buzzer sounds, you are celebrating a well-deserved championship!

Thanks for reading and as you set goals for next season, please accept our invitation to join us at any of our hockey schools this summer!

When it comes to taking your game to the next level, what are your goals? How are you going to accomplish your goals?

The New Year brings new beginnings, on and off of the ice. For hockey players it’s an especially exciting time with holiday tournaments setting the stage for the second half of the season and playoffs.

It’s also a great time of the year to take a pause and evaluate your season.

• Are you improving your skills?
• Are you a good teammate?
• How many of your preseason goals have you accomplished?
• What are your New Year’s resolutions for hockey?

Only one of ten people who set a New Year’s resolution actually fulfill it!

Are you going to be part of the 90% or part of the 10% that dedicate themselves to becoming better. In this case, becoming a better hockey player includes developing skills in all areas of the game.

The great news is that we are going to incentivize you to keep your New Year’s resolution! For a limited time, all of our summer hockey camps are 10% off. Simply choose the date and location that works best for you, and our coaching staff will work hard to take your game to the next level!

We wish you nothing but the best in the 2024 and we hope you score like never before!

For 2024 Greg Carter Summer Hockey School dates and locations, click HERE. Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!

Thanksgiving is the perfect time for hockey players to reflect on the their season, and more specifically, all of the reasons they love the greatest sport in the world!

Coaches

Coaches play an integral part in the development of hockey players and if you are fortunate enough to have a really good coach, make sure they know how much you appreciate them! It takes a lot of time, energy and dedication to coach youth hockey teams, and what you see on the ice from a coach during practice is only part of the story. There is a lot of practice preparation that goes into that one hour practice session and game strategy. Oftentimes the coaches are the first to arrive and last to leave after a game or practice. To this day, I can still remember my favorite coaches and the important skills they taught me!

Equipment

Technology advancements in equipment over the recent years has been nothing short of amazing. Protective equipment like shoulder pads, gloves and pants (breezers) that used to absorb sweat and water and up weighing what seemed like five pounds heavier at the end of the game, have been replaced with ultra lightweight and super durable protective equipment. Skates are amazingly light and players are spoiled not having to go through a week long painful – sometimes tearful – break them in. Perhaps the greatest advancement has been in stick technology as once a player is strong enough to benefit from the flex, the ability to develop a crazy hard shot is just a matter of putting in the time

Parents

Hockey parents are the greatest sports parents ever. Parents willingly wake up long before the sun comes up only to stand in a freezing cold ice arena for that 6 a.m. mid-January practice. They travel hundreds and thousands of miles each season and attend enough weekend tournaments that they are on a first name basis with the front desk at the hotel. The dedication of hockey parents is awesome!

Opportunities 

There are more opportunities than ever for hockey players to develop their skills. From regular season hockey teams to in-season weekly skill camps and clinics. There are plenty of AAA teams and of course summer hockey camps and summer hockey schools. Skill development is a marathon, not a sprint, and there are so many great opportunities for players to master the fundamental skills required to reach their full potential

The Game of Hockey

Perhaps that best thing to be thankful for is the also the most simplistic, the basic fact that kids have the opportunity to play the greatest sport in the world! Hockey has brought so much excitement, joy and happiness, taught so many life lessons, developed so many friendships and brought so many people together in such a positive way.

Enjoy the season, fight through the adversity and always remember that hockey is a sport to be enjoyed, win or lose!

Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. Stay tuned for our Early Bird Special featuring 10% off of your Summer 2024 Hockey School registration! For details, dates and more, click here.

As players move forward and gear up for the 2023-24 youth hockey season, it’s important to take the time to reflect back on what was accomplished during your summer hockey training. This should include making plans to maximize development for full impact this season!

Start by thinking back to last hockey season and the skill areas in which you struggled, how you planned to improve, and your goals for summer hockey. The areas that you identified as needing work in your post season evaluation were hopefully the key areas of focus over the summer. 

Now is the time to apply everything that you learned, as well as show off those skills that you mastered on the ice this summer. Whether you worked on your speed, stride, shot or stick handling, apply what you learned to every practice, every game and every shift this season.

Hockey is a game that requires many skills, and putting forth the time and effort in the off season to work hard on your development is part of the equation, but what you do on the ice this season is the true test. Are you prepared to apply your development to your everyday hockey experience? Remember, practice makes perfect!

Good luck with the start of your season, thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!