Download - IP/Novice Player Development
INITIATION PROGRAM & NOVICE DEVELOPMENT
www.hockeynovascotia.ca
LONG TERM PLAYER DEVELOPMENT Doing the right thing for the player at the right stage in their development
Viewing player development as a long term process….it is 10 year process not a 10 month process
The broader the foundation of players the more successful the game of hockey will be in Canada
A need to better educate parents on the hockey development of their child. It is okay for parents to want their kids to get to the highest …levels but they need to know the best way to go about it
“If you play games year round, the season never ends. So you don’t get better each year, you just get older. You need time to create new habits and dimensions to your game.”
LONG TERM PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Aligning player development resources (skills manuals, DVD’s) with coach development and education resources so that coaches are doing the right things at the right time.
The game has changed…more options, more money, more technology, pressure to do what others are doing 12 month a year
Adopting a player- centered approach and not treating the development of all players the same way.
LTPD…Areas to Address Coaches feel pressure to work on things they should not be working on (systems, special teams)
Young players over compete-----under train & learn
The best coaches usually work at the higher levels. Need to focus on coach education and parent education
•In a 60 minute full ice game, players have the puck for an average of 8 seconds
•10 skaters……1 puck…….what are the other 9 skaters doing
LTPD….Areas to Address Focus on supporting the complete athlete not just the athlete training and competition
Example of Goalies…..easier to teach athletes to the technical side , instead of teaching to block and then try to make an athlete
Recommend other sports, activities to get away from hockey and avoid burn out
Remove the focus of winning at all levels and age
Introduce athletic skills in a systematic and timely way
Find ways to keep players involved with different programming options
LONG TERM PLAYER DEVELOPMENTView LTPD as we would the school system...curriculum in each grade
There is pre school, elementary, junior high, high school, university
Hockey is IP, Novice, Atom, Peewee, Bantam, Midget, Junior
Should be a progression (games are exams)
It doesn’t matter who the best peewee player is
INTERESTING FACTS 83-96% of age group champions are not the one who win when it counts- Dr Steve Norris
In Finland, every individual plays all positions until the age of 12. There is no specialization before that- Tommi Niemela (Finland World Junior Champions with country of 5 million )
Every year, more than 3.5 million children under age fifteen require medical treatment for sports injuries, nearly half of which are the result of simple overuse
Until It Hurts: America’s Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids” by Mark Hymen
INTERESTING THOUGHTS Development is like farming. You can’t speed farm. It’s a process and the process takes time.
– Mike Boyle
CROSS ICE HALF ICE HOCKEY
NO LIMITATIONS ON HOW TO USE ICE
Cross-ice hockey:3 games2 games and a skills area2 games and a rest area
THE DIFFERENCE
Cross-Ice hockey
Half-Ice hockey
FULL ICE vs HALF ICE
THE FACTS
U8 HOCKEY USA / NHL STUDY
A cutting-edge NHL analytics team puts the test to youth hockey for the first time ever. Watch this video and see what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXhxNq59pWg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB_Ygapyl7cUnder 8 Stats
Adults on Lake
PUCK BATTLES
Full Ice Cross Ice
Stats taken from Hockey USA/ NHL Study
SHOTS PER PLAYER
Full Ice Cross Ice
Stats taken from Hockey USA/ NHL Study
INDIVIDUAL PUCK TOUCHES
Cross IceFull Ice
Stats taken from Hockey USA/ NHL Study
PLAYER PASS ATTEMPTS
Cross IceFull Ice
Stats taken from Hockey USA/ NHL Study
PASS RECEPTIONS
Cross IceFull Ice
RECAP
Cons
•Kids are a little late learning all of the rules the rules: off-sides, icings, faceoff locations,•Kids don’t get ‘structured’ game situations•Parents attitude: my kids are too good for cross-ice hockey
Long Term-Athlete Development research tells us young players need more interaction in their games, which is exactly what cross-ice hockey does. Many minor hockey associations across Canada and USA are starting to mandate and promote cross-ice games.
Here are some of the pros and cons.
Pros
•More efficient use of ice time …and as a result more ice time for young players•Allows more kids to be on the ice at the same time•Increases the use of the core skating skills (Agility, Balance, Coordination)•Increases the number of puck touches per player•Provides a better environment for teaching ice awareness and hockey sense•Promotes stronger passing, pass receiving, and puck support•Allows young goaltenders, when introduced, to experience more game-like action•Creates a stronger degree of challenge for the more advanced players by having them face more opposition on a smaller amount of ice space•Builds the confidence of our lesser-skilled players because they are more involved in play•The best players are challenged simply by the fact that others get in their way in a smaller area. It forces them to change direction , protect puck and play in traffic instead of avoiding it•Better for Goalie Development….more pucks come to the net…read different situations
1. 6x more shots on goal/ player2. 5x more passes received/ player3. 2x more puck battles/ player4. 2x more puck touches/ player5. 2x more pass attempts/ player6. 2x more shot attempts/player7. 2x more change of direction pivots8. 1.75 shots/minute vs 0.45 shots/minute playing full ice9. Turns out the actual stats of the U8 game resemble those of an NHL game10. Simply put “The numbers show what is good for a child.”
10 FACTS TO WHY CROSS ICE - HALF ICE HOCKEY IS BETTER FOR PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
USEFUL INFORMATION & EXAMPLES
USEFUL INFORMATION
But to fully understand how Auston Matthews got to where he is, you need to know that when he was a boy, he spent thousands of hours on tiny rinks – not much larger than an end zone – fighting off two or three other kids, stickhandling in and around masses of skates and sticks to score a half-dozen goals every game. Every game was 3-on-3, which meant more time with the puck, more time in close quarters and a need to find a way through a tight spot.
Auston Matthews (1st Overall 2016 NHL Draft)
What he didn’t know was the typical development path for NHL prospects. He saw other parents in Arizona paying more than $20,000 a year for their kids to travel across the country on AAA teams at nine and 10 years old and he figured that there had to be a better way.Or, at the very least, a more affordable one.Having his son play on the smaller sheet, for hours on end against all kinds of competition, made sense to the new hockey dad. He thought that it was similar to how so many soccer greats started in the slums and gyms of Brazil with their own makeshift games of futsal, the 5-on-5 version of soccer.
Brian Matthews (Auston’s Father)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/why-everyone-in-hockey-is-talking-about-auston-matthews-toronto-maple-leafs/article30508528/
Jim Peplinski, Former NHL PlayerFormer Calgary Flam player, Jim Peplinski, shared a story on the topic that summed it up nicely.
Peplinski told me that Bob Johnson used to run half-ice practices for the Flames. "He'd put us through the paces for 45 minutes, and we'd be bagged. Way more stops and starts, turns and battles in small spaces. It was a great change of pace from regular practice, but it allowed guys to keep improving their skills and it also was a great way to maintain cardio," said Peplinski.
I'd suggest if NHL players can benefit from half-ice practices, then minor hockey kids will as well, as long as the coach running the practice knows how to effectively introduce drills.
The best advice Peplinski said during the Hockey Alberta Summit was, "Don't mix amateur and pro hockey." He gave a pretty interesting example. "You don't need to be at the game 90 minutes early in atom and peewee to prepare. In the NHL we were playing ping pong before the game, we weren't sitting in our stalls for 90 minutes mentally preparing," said Peplinski.
George Kingston, Former San Jose Sharks Coach
When I went over to Europe to study the game, I noticed right away that the Europeans were developing much more skill into their players simply because they practice more,” said Kingston, who was part of Hockey Canada for more than a decade and had different roles with the 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1994 Olympic teams.
“But their practices were more like small period games, and mini games and mini challenges, competitions to get faster, to be better with the puck, to be able to shoot faster, to be more accurate, all of those things were done in practice. They spent no time on systems.“Their practice ratio for kids was up to five practices with no games, and maybe an occasional game. They didn’t really need games because what they did in practice emulated a game, in fact it was much better because the kids touched the puck more often.”
Why should kids between the ages of 5-10 be playing and practicing on the same sized ice surface as pro hockey players? It makes little sense to me.
The most important aspects of hockey are skating and puck control. Kingston outlined how practicing and playing games on a smaller surface will improve young player’s skating, but also their puck-handling skills.It is crazy how infrequently kids actually touch the puck in a game, Kingston informed me
Brendan Shannahan, NHL Hall of FameYou have been involved in almost every level of this game, and perhaps may be the best person to ask: Where
is this game heading in five years, 10 or even 20? Is it going to be very different from what we see? Where do
you see the sport going and/or where would you like to see the sport go? — Naved
I see people now proposing different ideas to slow the game down a bit, whether it’s putting the red line back in
or allowing defensemen to hold up for each other. But ultimately I think those efforts will always be futile.
Players are not going to get slower. You can’t unteach the skills that are being developed at every level now. My
view is that regardless of what rules are instituted, the game will continue to get faster and the players will
continue to get fitter. In coming years, it’s going to become more and more difficult to distinguish the first line
from the fourth line, and also between a forward and defenseman. In short, hockey players will continue to
become more complete than ever.
INTERESTING LINKS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vncBvxrl7gIACADIA MINOR HOCKEY
TASA MINOR HOCKEY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZzImaPlTFQ
HOCKEY USA U8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB_Ygapyl7c
HOCKEY USA LAKE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXhxNq59pWg
CROSBY- MACKINNON https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IonVks2Zvs4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-22mI_uLiAgTEAM USA WORLD CUP
2017-2018 SEASON
Beginning in the 2017 – 2018 season, players in the Novice age category (7-8 years) will play on a modified or smaller ice surface until Jan 15th of each year. Hockey Nova Scotia believes this aligns with player development principles, the progression of our Initiation category and cross-ice and it is our hope that as players grow the rink size expands as they learn the basic skills and concepts of hockey. Hockey Canada is amongst the last organizations to look at ice modifications. With Sport Canada’s focus on the long term development of athletes we have been exposed to the modification of many of the other major sports in Canada. Picture this: A 7 year old soccer player playing on a World Cup field. Or an 8 year old baseball player standing at home plate with a pitcher60 feet, 6 inches away.
NOVICE SEASON
DEVELOPMENT SEASON: start date in respective associations until December 1st
HALF ICE / CROSS ICE SEASON December 1st – January 15th
FULL ICE Season January 15th with a maximum of 15 games (can still play half ice games)
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Coach education (evaluating as well)
Officials / Monitors on the ice
Penalties
Benches/ Dressing Rooms
Goalies (some Novice teams have only 1 goalie)
Jamborees events with both full ice and cross ice events
DISCUSSION ON BARRIERS WITH IMPLEMENTATION
HOCKEY NOVA SCOTIA CONTACTS
DARREN SUTHERLAND: DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT [email protected]
BRAD TAYLOR: MANAGER, DEVELOPMENT [email protected]