Best Skate Forward

So, what do hockey scouts really look for? It’s a question every serious hockey player will ask as he or she approaches Bantam and beyond. Scouts rate players in five main categories: skating, size, game sense, character and skill. Glen Williamson, a former scout with the Los Angeles Kings, tells our players every summer at [...]

Everyone knows how great it feels to accomplish something that we really value and have worked hard at to achieve. The feeling of success is an important component in building self-esteem, self-confidence and a drive to be your best. The question is, who defines what success really is?  Externally, success is often equated with money, [...]

Playoffs bring with them what I call the “dichotomy of pressure.” As teams continue to win in the playoffs or at a tournament, each coming game brings higher expectations, which generate more pressure for players to perform at a higher level. Yet the more players internalize (or feel) this extra pressure, the tighter they tend [...]

After 25 years as a teacher and hockey coach at the prestigious Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, three-time Olympian Terry O’Malley knows his fair share about the development of aspiring elite-level hockey players.  In fact, with the help of his leadership, the Catholic residential and coeducational school for students in grades 9 through 12 [...]

If you really want to be successful as a coach, if you really want to motivate and inspire your players to take their game to the next level, if you really want to build mental toughness in your athletes and have them perform under pressure, then you would be wise to follow these very simple, [...]

Every hockey player — from the professional to the recreation-league player skating at the local rink — had to get a start on the ice somewhere. And for many players, particularly in Canada, that start came early, often before they even reached elementary-school age.  While there are learn-to-skate classes and other more informal programs for [...]