Youth Hockey Podcast

Out of order, but still just as fun. We had to post our nationals podcast early.Lance talks about the smartest way to end a game.Corwin gets into the safety of kids on the ice. How the coach has to be the final say.Randy gets into the tactics of hockey. He loves it when a plan beats up brute force.

Randall thanks a special fan of the podcast. It's so cool meeting people who love the podcast. We were at nationals and we had the warmest welcome.Lance explains how to get noticed at tryouts.Corwin gives the coaches' experience watching a tryout. First to the puck is his motto.

Playoff hockey in the youth world. Everything is coming down to spring. Lots of new things for a young hockey player.Lance talks about how different coaches (on the same team) managed games. When one coach was missing, the style of play changes. The favored players changed. It was a chaotic mess and he loved every minute of it. That's my take. :)Corwin talks about how teams see each other in the playoffs.

Randall looks into a few flashes in the pan who were aided by early maturity. There are kids who will appear at 12u and just rocket past the kids. Are they benefiting from a mirage? Lance has several examples of how kids have been pushed to the top by growth spurts only to come back to the pack later. Corwin amplifies this with talk about hockey birthdays.

Lance talks about the 10-7 rule in college hockey. He knows about how to get your kid ready for college with course choice preparation in high school. Corwin talks about the Canadian college process. Randall has a game relating to world juniors. Corwin knows the kid who helped put the US on top this year.

Lance got an email about a five-year-old hockey player. The question was: how do they start out and then get to where his kids got? Corwin talks helmets and kids. Randall talks about how the fit of the skates makes all the difference.

Randall goes through the reporting on the top twenty youth hockey scandals as presented by AI. Corwin has a more personal approach. Lance thinks that every team his kid played on were choirboys and the other teams are filled with thugs.

Lance talks about how people are quitting hockey in their teens. Corwin is a bit shocked by the number. He talks about how it might be part of the lower levels. Randall makes a point about AAA girls teams.

Club envy. So many people go there. Is it the best place to vacation? Does your kid get lost in travel because of swaps? Lance knows how to get from one club to the next. Corwin thinks that San Diego needs more clubs to jump around to.

Lance talks about how reputation shapes a season. There are kids who get a lot of attention because of who they are. Randall gives some much needed perspective on how Lance's kids were perceived. Corwin knows how to put all the pieces in place for the players who have a reputation regardless of level.

Randall tries to get to the bottom of why people are so committed to their ideas in youth hockey. Don't try to get people to listen to yours. Corwin keeps us balanced by noting that kids need to be able to grow into their talents. Lance tells the podcast audience how frustrated he was with waiting his turn.

Corwin takes on the topic of travel. What are the rules in stay to play? How do the decisions about tournaments get made? Will anyone be happy with a decision that is not their own? Lance went across the country several times for his kids. Driving. Flying. Walking. Running. Waverunning. Randall notes that there is often issues with hotels with all of the different families. It's still been pretty chill for most of the hockey time.

Randy smells the panic in all the teams who are just about to begin their seasons. It is so desperate, and fun. Lance reports on crazy parents, refs and rinks. Corwin thinks that refs should throw more people out of the arena. OK, that's not true.

Lance talks about a cold rink in Simi where his kids frustrated him by alternatively loving and hating the ice. Corwin talks about San Diego ice which is made from pure champagne. It's true. Look it up. Randall had a Groupon. Yes, a Groupon set him head first into a life of cold mornings and parking lot altercations (watching, not participating).

Lance used to pay for a newsletter that ranked all of the hockey players in North America. It was the best money he ever spent. Randall likes to think about how rankings push the buttons of other parents. Good to keep them on their toes. Corwin talks about how Canada keeps track of players. And there are a lot of them.

Randall answers questions from listeners. There are so many good questions coming in the mail Corwin gives a coachie perspective and breaks the hearts of parents that think that winning is everything. Lance reflects back on his journey when answering a question about his boys.

Corwin Talks managers. He has important criteria for a team manager. Lance talks fundraising. Randall updates the podcast on the top talent meeting in Chicago last weekend. Man could those CCM 68 bantams put the puck in the net.

Lance has a theory that coaches and how much they matter in the development of a young hockey player. Randall has his own take. Corwin talks about player buy in as an important part of the player coach relationship.

Corwin talks about equipment and how to know when it needs to be replaced over the summer. He also peppers Randall and Lance with trivia. They underperform on most questions.

How do you get your kid promoted to a better line? It's something every hockey dad has thought about. It has kept them up at night. Randall has some stories on how he's seen the promotions play out over the years. Lance takes it to another level. Corwin looks at it from the perspective of a coach. It's pretty informative.

Randall sets the tone with some tough love on parents who stalk the sidelines with outbursts during the game. Take some allergy medicine and sit. Corwin talks about the constant critics that can get in a kids head. Mistakes are part of the game, bringing up each one does not need discussion. Lance has the stats on the best goalscorer of all time in Squirt hockey. Hint. It's a Canadian.

Coach Corwin talks about how stars of the game are always chosen from one kind of player. Where is the love for the support players? Randall talks about how violence in the sport is not uniquely Canadian or American. There is something else that determines how much blood will be on the ice. Lance talks about some of the barns that his kids have played in.

First notes on how hockey teams are built in the offseason. Coach Corwin knows what makes the best captain. He lets the kids vote, but then uses his own judgement. Lance talks about the elements of his best season and how he participated in it.

Corwin has tips for your kids over the summer. How do you get them advantages going into the next season. Lance gets his kids on the ice in Las Vegas. Family fun that ends in hitting the tables. Randy remembers how Lance got his kids on a Canadian team, thus bringing everyone together in their love of hockey, Canada and Vegas.

Randall talks to short dad about why his kid is not on the first line. Lance talks about the years of cutthroat competition and where it got the kids who participated. Corwin knows how to balance lines. He talks about how it looks on the bench.

We have a Canadian. We have reached the point where Canada itself has come to the aid of the podcast. We are so proud. Corwin Nicolochat is a bona fide coach and player of the game with insights that Lance and I are in awe of. Randall talks about tryout frenzy. It's the glorious time of the year when rumors are more important that truth. Relationships are strained between neighbor, brother, sister and dog-walker alike. Nobody can breathe until the list of who made the team is posted. Lance talks a bit about how his kids were recruited over the years. It's pretty cool when the coach is reaching out and making you feel special. That's what I've heard at least. Lance says it's great. We really don't like Lance. Corwin introduces class to the podcast. We're not sure if we like it or not. We definitely like him.

Special Announcement from the YHP gang.

What is the worst thing that someone on your own team has said to you? I can tell you that the nastiest comments come from your "friends" in the stands. Rolly has some history with parents who have tried to get him banned from a rink. Rolly! The nicest guy around. Lance is pretty well known all over the country for the skirmishes with parents on his own team

Lance has a great topic. How do you deal with the outcast on the team. Is there a way to draw them in? Is it better to leave it alone or rally to a cause. Rolly talks about how friendships are not formed under duress. Sometimes kids need be left alone in dealing with roster issues. Randall talks about parental friction. Hint. There is lots.

Rolly knows stuff. He shows it in this episode. He takes on the profiling of skates and how that effects a skater and what they can do on the ice. He mainly sticks to two of the systems for profiling skates, but he gives great advice for those in the market to do some aftermarket upgrading of the blade. Randall talks about how he always trusts any skate shop that employs a guy named Doug. Doug knows how to sharpen skates. Lance asks questions about when skate profiling should be on the agenda for a young skater. He also manages to make us all laugh twice.

Randall has a story from his kids playing league hockey. One kid was getting a beat down and the other came to the rescue. It's not fun to get in a fight, but a brother can sometimes be good at having your back. Rolly has insights on teams that have multiple returning players and those that are fresh starts for everyone. The chemistry is different. The culture is sometimes different. Lance loves the ducks. He credits them for the formation of ice in So. Cal. A duck could crap in his path and he would shine his shoes with the droppings.

Rolly talks about some of the meager options to watch your kid play hockey at tournaments and local rinks. New Youtube options are especially interesting to the crew. Randall talks about hockey for girls. His daughter is currently playing. The landscape is interesting and the rules are different (just like in the game). But in the end, the sport is a great one for the maidens of mayhem (a real team in Iowa). Lance is so checked out that when I listened to this, I took a shot every time he talked. Stone cold sober at the end.

Lance does not like the new numbers for youth sport participation. He remembers some things that pushed his kids away. Rolly thinks that coaches need to modulate their approach to the younger groups. Randall thinks that the phone somewhat is replacing the kids' enthusiasm for activity. It also is replacing other parts of the growth of some kids. Kathy joins the podcast with invaluable insights on how a kid views hockey. And how a mom views hockey through their kids' eyes.

The podcast talks about how teams sometimes fold in the middle of the season. It's something that seems like it's an extraordinary circumstance, but it happens more than people think. Lance talks about how both his kids were pushed up on the same team then treated less than generously when the season ends. Rolly gives us a cautionary tale about sandbagging.

Randall takes a listener's email on tournaments and turns it into a frenzy of conversation. Rolly talks about the Boston tournaments that only have two periods for the regular games and only one period for the semifinals and finals. He also has a take on the Brick tournament in Edmonton (in a mall). Lance talks a little about Quebec peewee tournament.

Randall decides that the idea of cuts should be part of the stands. Cut the parents. Not the kids. Just kidding, but sometimes it seems like kids are best off on their own. Rolly reports on the Californians on the national team. There is some good news. Kids from the coast are scoring and winning medals. Lance talks about the camps that lead to the national program. His kids kept going to the camps and having great memories of hockey glory.

Lance did not want to leave his home. He talks about how the next generation is just catching up to the experience in his youth. Coach has a lot of suggestions for what kids need when they leave the home. He has great ideas about how to prepare a modern kid for free range roaming. Randall runs into a parent who left the rink two years ago swearing that they would never be back. At tryouts. It is a bit strange watching somebody who was too big for the neighborhood rink come back.

Coach talks about how many players from California are making a splash nationally. Is there a trend? Is there a way to get your kid into that upper echelon? The kids from the west coast are getting opportunities. Lance looks at how his kids started out and sees if he can refine the process for the next group of mighty mites. Randall has a new segment to end the show. IDTA (I was definitely the asshole) Youth Hockey edition.

The podcast is back! The podcast crew talks about how kids train during the summer. Each member of the team has their favorite activities. From spin class to beach runs. We all have our picks. The ice is melting at the barns around the summer. Some rinks are holding up better than others. Fantasy tender is the name of the game to end the show. Where would you like your kid to get a tender from?

Rolly gets us all ready for summer. It's time to hang up the microphone for a month and get back at it in the fall. He will recharge and be better than before. Randall talks about bubble players and bubble parents. Are there ways to make sure you kid is not on the bubble? Are there parents who you wouldn't mind if they don't make the cut for the next year's team? It's partially in jest, but there is some truth in it. Lance talks about how his kid misses shifts for penalties. It can really affect a kid lower on the roster. We love all of the listeners. Thank you for tuning in. We will be back in the August.

Coach talks about the update to the Gladwell examination of hockey players in Outliers. There is science to the idea that maturity has a statistical advantage. Lance examines the break between kids who have hit their growth spurts. The scoreboard is merciless. Randall tries to give balance to the idea that kids with late birth months are going to always be disadvantaged. They will have their day on the ice!

Lance talks about the best bantam programs in the nation. He also digs into the SoCal programs. Is there a program that is consistently the best in the region? Are there programs on the rise? Rolly talks about how programs grow and fade back east. He seems to know every program Lance brings up on the list. It's a bit frightening. Randall gets questions about the girls. They have some great programs growing across the country. The future feels bright for the women's side.

Lance takes a strange stance. He backs the refs in youth hockey. He tries to make the case that they are just doing their job and deserve universal respect and patience for a hard job. Coach modifies this to be a little more in line with the product on the ice. Are they doing the best job possible? Shouldn't we expect the effort to match the level of professionalism they seek to be treated with? Randall moves on to talk about what it takes to get thrown out of a game in California. Refs have actually thrown out the wrong person in the stands too. It's hilarious.

Randall looks at the So. Cal landscape and decides to zoom in on the club hoppers. Who are they? Why are they hopping? Will they ever be able to just walk to another club rather than jumping? Lance decides that it is often about moving up. Lateral moves are not the way to club hop in his humble opinion. Rolly gets into the stats of how many slots are really open on a given team. The numbers are often disheartening.

Rolly brings skating guru Jason Yee onto the program to talk about video feedback, shin angle, Finland, Mckinnon and more. He credits this coach as the best resource in hockey for a young player in his developmental years. Lance asks about the corkscrew. It turns out to be one of the secrets of the game for Yee. Randall knows when he's out of his depth and stays quiet. You heard right. It's like I'm barely even there. That should improve our ratings. :)

Randall digs up a hockey league for kids that is totally outdoors. It's the kind of thing that CA kids can't even imagine, but it sounds like the kind of place most of our kids would love. Lance talks about the way hockey without coaching can be the best idea for a kid who has only seen the game as a structured event. Rolly talks about how enthusiasm goes hand in hand with pond hockey. There's no pressure. There are no parents. It's just the kids and the sport.

Rolly brings up some of the classic "coach speak" moments from his time with his kids in the sport. He can't believe how long the deceptions can last. Honesty brings confrontation. Is that the right way to do it? Randall takes on the idea of how defensive coaches sometimes put the defense in the spotlight. This means they sometimes want to involve the defense in ways that favor the position. Lance is tired of recruiters talking out of both sides of their mouth. He is not taking any prisoners with his opinions. The story about being told there are no first, second and third lines don't hold up in games.

Lance has a take on how to gauge success in a hockey season. He wants his kids on the ice at the important moments. That's necessary for a good season. Coach agrees and talks about how merit can play against a player in some circumstances. Randall wants his kids to fit onto the team. It's a difficult thing to quantify, but fitting in makes for a good season in his experience. Fairness is almost impossible to expect. So, go for a situation where he or she is comfortable and happy (this is a bit of a unicorn, but it sounds good).

Welcome to Laura, our guest host for the week. Laura keeps her sense of humor as she talks about youth hockey. She knows the ins and outs of social media and how hockey seeps into a family dynamic. It's hard to let go of the experience, but she talks about that too. Lance is a big fan. He read her book and loves the way it conveys the hockey landscape to an audience of experts or newbies. Randall is just trying to keep up. He does get in some questions about how Laura's experiences have brought up interesting comparisons in his own life. He also brings back the end of the podcast "Character" to the delight of Lance.

Rolly builds the best coach possible from his experience. Each layer is painstakingly analyzed in Coach's best practices. He shares his years of experience and judges accordingly. Randall recounts a strange strategy that worked in a tournament. Lance talks about communication with coaches. It can be strained, but it can also be something that elevates the young player. Understanding is key. Lance is the master of getting information out of a coach.

Randall makes an observation that almost all players who make it to the NCAA share. He's seen a lot of fast, skilled kids bail out of hockey. He's never seen kids with this attribute get drummed out of the sport. Lance talks about the idea that concussions lead to more concussions. What evidence is there? Rolly takes a nasty swipe at Randall, then makes an excellent point about new tech that might help with concussions. Randall rises above the abuse and finds common ground with his old friend.