There’s an old saying in sports about hitting home runs in baseball, scoring touchdowns in football or scoring goals in hockey: “Nobody asks how, they just ask how many.”

As you start your youth hockey season that will include ups and downs, it’s important to stay focused and keep your eye on the prize. 

In youth hockey, that prize should be development, improving fundamental skills and ending the season a better hockey. Of course championships are great as well, and typically if players are improving throughout the season, championships will follow!

And this is where they ask how many, not how. But the how is a key to how many. And the how is:
• The how is hard work.
• The how is the 10,000 pucks shot in the driveway, basement or training facility.
• The how is the extra strength training and powerskating.
• The how is teamwork, selflessness, discipline, character and focus.

As you start your own youth hockey season, work on the how, and ultimately it will lead to how many!

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

When it comes to applying your hard work from hockey camp this summer, what is your goal to make it matter?

Each summer at our hockey schools we teach a wide variety of hockey skills including shooting, passing, power skating, speed, agility and of course, scoring! We enjoy watching hockey players develop and improve fundamental skills, as well as helping them understand what it really takes to become a better hockey player.

There are no secrets in the ingredients for success, and it all  starts with a big helping of hard work. What the best players understand is that while the ingredients may be similar for any players path to achieving their goals, it’s the recipe that differs from player to player. And the top players understand that the recipe, just like a favorite food, requires discipline.

Summer hockey school is a great time to fine tune your game and work on developing your personal goals. Everything that you worked on this past summer will play an important role in your success this season. And to really make it matter this season, an emphasis needs to be placed on continuing to improve on the skills learned over the summer.

It’s easy to get lost in the excitement of the start of the season and get caught up in some early season success. By mid-season however, it’s not uncommon to fall back into bad habits or taking short cuts. Players need to take the instruction learned over the summer and apply it each and every practice. Think of this in terms of building the foundation to a home. Each layer of bricks will continue to support the structure of the house, and every layer must be as strong or stronger than the previous.

In the same way, hockey players must advance through their development consistently striving to improve skills, and adding to a strong foundation that will lead them to becoming a great hockey player and achieving their goals.

So with the hockey season upon us, and to really make it matter this season, write down your greatest strengths and also areas of your game that require improvement.  Think back to what you learned at summer hockey school and how you can apply that knowledge at every practice and every game.

Continue to work hard and tweak the ingredients in your recipe for success. When things are going great continue to stay focused, and when you find a challenging time, think back to your foundation and the skills that you have developed.

And most of all this season, make it matter!