Author: thehockeysummitblog

School’s Out…..Now what? Ask Barney.

It’s that special time of year when the school year is coming to an end and young hockey players everywhere are thinking, “Great! Time to sit back for a while and do nothing…..”
Well that’s not the advice we give those who are anxious to achieve scholarships or financial aid packages in the future. In fact it’s just the opposite. It’s time to plan, get organized and be ready to seek more information. Yes, that’s right, learning even when not in school.
Last week this flog focused on some recruiting advice and we got some great feedback. People had some great questions so I thought we would build on that and get into the academic issues even deeper.
When I wrote “ask Barney” in the title, I did not mean the purple Dinosaur. I wanted to get some expert feedback from someone so I asked Craig Barnett, (Barney)who is the Director of Player Placement for our company to help out. Craig’s vast experience and knowledge pertaining to the process allows him to give valuable advice.

1985-1989 – Student-athlete at Plattsburgh State (NCAA III) – NCAA Champions

1989-1991 – Player in NY Ranger system (Flint IHL, Binghamton AHL, and Erie ECHL)
1991-1993 – Assistant Coach, Mercyhurst College (NCAA II)
1993-1994 – Assistant Coach, Kent State University(NCAA I)
1995-2002 – Head Hockey Coach, University of Findlay (NCAA I and III)
2002-2004 – Hockey Director / Assistant Athletic Director, Lake Forest Academy(Prep)
2004-2006 – Director of Athletics / Head Hockey Coach, Becker College(NCAA III)
2006-2009 – Director of Athletics, Mercyhurst College (NCAA II, NCAA I hockey)

I asked Craig for 7 bullet points relating to the academic process and issues potential college bound players and families should be thinking about and addressing. Here is his advice. Hope you can use some of it.

“Academically speaking, some questions families should be thinking of and asking colleges/coaches especially during visits:”
1. What type of academic support services are offered? For example, tutoring, extended time for test, academic advisors for student-athletes, resource rooms availability, extra assistance for students with diagnosed learning challenges, etc, etc. 

 2. Does the athletic department offer any of these services (mentioned above) specifically for student-athletes or is it all provided through the general student body?

 3. Does the college offer priority registration for classes for student-athletes – thus, give them more flexibility to take tougher classes in “off-season” and also allows to build their academic calendar around team practice and meeting times.

 

4. What is the colleges retention rate? What is the colleges APR score (NCAA Academic Progress Report)?  Are there any teams falling under the NCAA minimum standard?

 

5. What about summer classes – are those costs included in my athletic scholarship/financial aid package?

 6. Are there any other expenses above and beyond tuition, fees, room and board that are not covered by scholarships? For example, books, health insurance, travel home at breaks, etc.

7. Do High School AP classes transfer into this particular schools curriculum for college credit?

You can contact Barney at:
cbarnett@cardinalsportsgroup.com
 (814) 449.9868

Or If you see him at the rink over the summer at the many showcase events, make sure you say hello or ask him any questions you might have. You’ll recognize him. He will be the one in purple. 🙂

Thanks Craig! Great job.

Everyone have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend and remember who our real heroes are. The men and women of our armed forces that give us the freedom to enjoy our great game. Try to say thank you to one of them if you can.
Kerry Huffman Platinum Hockey Group/Cardinal Sports 609-339-5156
Khuffman5@gmail.com
www.khhockey.com
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Parentectomy

Recently I was fortunate enough to spend some time at the College Hockey Coaches convention in Naples, Florida. It was great to spend some time away from a rink with coaches and get an insight into some of their thinking.

While talking with one of the very well known coaches from a major division one school about a possible recruit for their program, I heard him describe the player in a very unique way.   He said to me, “yes we really like him a lot as a player but we are going to pass…..he needs a major Parentectomy…..” It took me a very short time to realize that they were not going to offer him a scholarship because of the actions of his parents…..
It got me thinking quite a bit about the recruiting and scouting process of young players and how many different factors can affect the situation. I thought I would share this with everyone.

One of the most important factors that schools and junior programs do consider is what is the players’ family like? Specifically what are the parents like?

I discussed it with our staff we decided to come up with five simple points of advice for parents. Specifically parents who have young players that are getting to that 14-15 year old age when the recruitment and scouting process starts to pick up and the game seems to change from just a game to a business opportunity for some. 
This is only our opinion and advice we are offering. We are parents too and have made many mistakes just like everyone else so take from it what you will. We have seen many players get recruited successfully and there are some common traits. Hopefully it helps prevent any more Parentectomies….
If you want more input please feel free to contact us anytime.

The five suggestions for Parents are:

1. Take a step back.
Be suggestive and be supportive but allow your young athlete to research things and make their own decisions concerning where to play and which route to travel. Trust their instincts. You’ve done an amazing job getting them to this point. Let it go a bit now, step back and watch the results of your good parenting. Enjoy the product of all the countless hours you spent driving all over the country drinking bad coffee and sitting in cold arenas spending time with your child. Let them begin to make their own decisions. It will then be their responsibility to make it work and usually they do.

2. The coach/gm is always right.
Always, always, always, always……Even when you don’t agree with them and know they are wrong. I know how hard this can be for some parents to hear or agree with but trust me. A coach who has had his feathers ruffled by a parent can do more harm to a player in a thirty second conversation with a scout than any bad game or tournament can do. Scouts and recruiters are going to talk to these people and listen to what the coach has to say over anyone else 98% of the time.  They rarely will ever listen to what a parent has to say so stay away from them. The best thing you can ever do at this point is keep a great relationship with the coach.

3. Remember, there are more important things in life than hockey.
I know this is where we might lose some people, but it is very important. We try to encourage parents to remember, this is about what your student athlete is going to be like at age 19 and 20 not at 14. Their journey is not complete. It hss only just begun……help them become well rounded. Encourage other interests and challenges. Take good breaks from the game that will keep them hungry to play. Young players can burn and fizzle out from too much pressing and pushing. Also be aware that no matter how good they are, and I mean even if they are hall of fame caliber players, they will not be playing when they are forty years old. 

4. Encourage them to work as hard away from the rink as they do at it.
Too much time, money and resources are wasted on showcases, tryouts and many things that rarely pay off. Invest in a good marketing plan for the player. Build a resume and bio that stand out from the rest. Make sure you have the right schooling and class requirements.  Get powerful letters of reference from people that are not involved in hockey as well. Tell them to think of it like they are a lawyer. Tell them to build their case. They are going to trial and better be prepared. Remember these numbers. There are roughly 28,000 high school senior age boys registered to play hockey with USA Hockey. There are 59 Division I teams and 77 Division III teams. Each of those bring on average 6 new players a season to their rosters and about half of those are from the US… that means only 408 of the 28,000 registered players will get their chance to play in college. That represents roughly 1.5% of registered players. I’d say it’s pretty competitive.

5. Enjoy the Process.
It should not be stressful. It goes very fast…..These are the last few seasons you will spend at the rink with your child. Be positive. It will be one of the last lessons you pass on to them. Positive, fun people get recruited way more!!!!! Think about it, who would you rather spend four years with……?

Kerry Huffman
Platinum Hockey Group
609-339-5156
khuffman5@gmail.com
www.platinumhockeygoup.us
Member of the NHL Alumni Association

All I Ever Needed to Know……

As the hockey season has relatively slowed down and everyone takes a ‘very little’ break from the game I thought I would take a break from just hockey talk and share and article I found written by Robert Fulghum titled, “All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”

My company does a lot of work with young hockey players trying to play College Hockey, so by no means is this intended to infer that they no longer pursue higher education. It is just a little something to get everyone thinking moving into the summer.
For all the graduates we worked with entering the ‘real world’, some great advice. Best of luck!

Enjoy!!!

“All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”


“Most of what I really know about life, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but here in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup ~ they all die. So do we.

And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology and politics and sane living.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all ~the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.



Kerry Huffman




39 turning 40

“Let your mind rest easy,
Sleep well my friend.
It’s only our bodies that betray us in the end…”
Bruce Springsteen/We Are Alive
Wrecking Ball

It is both a great time of year in hockey as well as kind of a sad time. It recently hit me that I am turning forty again. Another season is coming to an end and a lot of teams are involved in playoffs or play downs depending on where you are from. Soon we will look to next season which will be my fortieth involved in hockey in some capacity. Hard for me to believe. So in light of this ‘milestone’ I am allowing myself to ramble and muse a bit about the game. Thoughts from an old defenceman. I hope I don’t offend anyone. Remember, this game is about fun right?

I am lucky that my job has me watching a lot of hockey. Sometimes during the year it feels like too much hockey but then I realize it is never too much…..
The game is so different and yet in some ways still the same after all these seasons…..It is predictable and unpredictable all at once.

The Detroit Red Wings are still good and the Leafs will probably miss playoffs again….
The Florida Panthers will get in and The Washington Capitals may not…..yes all the experts picked that at the start of the season.
I hope my son has as much fun playing squirt hockey next season as he did playing these last two years of mite. I know it will be a challenge to equal the funny memories…..
The Toronto Marlboro Midget team is really good (again) …..and yet one of the best 97 birth year teams in North America is from Scranton, PA…..(with a bunch of Russian kids on it)?
Don Cherry is in a fight with Brian Burke. Not about European Hockey Players but about Ontario Hockey Players not playing for the Leafs….???
I watched my son break his wrist in a practice. Heal. Get over his fear of getting hurt again, and play again. My wife is not over her fear yet though…. That hasn’t changed. Moms don’t change…..:)

Hockey is everywhere. This year my company has taken on player profiles for kids from states including Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia……
There are players from 40 different states on USA College Hockey rosters…..
All that and I had a parent tell me the other day they had spent $37,500.00 on hockey related expenses this year.  Forty years ago my Dad spent under $200.00 for the entire season, equipment and all…..!
In 1986 I played Jr. Hockey and got a $17.00 a week meal allowance. This week I heard about an Eastern Jr. League coach making $200,000 per season……..
When I was a young player there was a team from Kitchener, Ontario sponsored by Bauer Hockey, we thought it was pretty cool…..now five of the elite youth programs in the States are sponsored by a Cable Company (Comcast), a Tire Company (Belle Tire), a Pizza Comany (Little Caesars), a Chocolate Company (Russell Stover) and a Ham Company (Honeybaked Ham)………

The game is fast and entertaining but at what cost? A the halfway point of the NHL season there were 548 man games lost to concussions…….forty years ago you only got your bell rung.
I was looking at hockey equipment in a store at the rink the other day and I picked up a pair of hockey pants that were lighter than some of my jeans…..
Forty years ago you were taught to move out of the goalies way so he could see a clean view of the shot. Today young players are taught to jump in front of everything and block every shot…..Ouch!

Forty years ago Bruce Springsteen was about to release his first album “Greetings from Asbury Park”. This week he released “Wrecking Ball” his 17th studio album. (had to get a Bruce reference in!)

The game was awesome forty years ago and is still awesome today……just a little different.

Simply put it was still just another fantastic year being around the game.

So forty years from now I don’t know but Detroit will probably still be good, the Leafs will be battling for a playoff spot, Moms will still be worried, hopefully concussions will not exist and the game will still be great!!!

(That and Bruce will have just released his 34th album…..:)

Even Wayne Came Off The Ice….

Thank you to everyone who requested my blog to come back. I took some time off to work on some other things but it is good to get back to having some fun.
As you know this blog is usually relating to my son’s Mite hockey team and our positive experiences together learning and growing. Sometimes you can learn things by the actions of others……..

“I’ve been stumbling on good hearts turned to stone….The road of good intentions has gone dry as a bone.”
We Take Care of Our Own
Bruce Springsteen

For all the coaches out there:

Two weeks ago our Mite team played a game against a team and the game was not pretty. It was one of those games where nothing went well for the other team. They were missing some of their players and it seemed like every time one of our players shot the puck it ended up in the other teams net. Almost every player on our team scored. During the game we took a time out to talk to our young kids about not running the score up, making good plays, passing the puck being respectful of the other team. It was a tough day and the score ended up 13-3. As coaches we felt bad for the other team but felt like we taught our kids to react properly.

Fast forward to this weekend. We played the same team and lost 6-4. What was upsetting was not losing. In my opinion at this age it is not about the wins and losses but what the kids are learning.  It was good for our kids to be humbled a bit after the previous weekend. What was troubling were the actions of the other coaches and the decisions they made.  They have a tremendous young player who was clearly the best player on both teams and maybe the best in the league. He just so happens to wear the number 99, so of course I was having Gretzky flashbacks that I thought I had buried. The coaches in their infinite wisdom decided to have this player play the entire game……never came off the ice. He either scored every goal or was involved in setting them up. Good for him, shame on the coaches. After the game they acted like they had won the Stanly Cup. This is mite hockey remember. If there are hockey gods, I’m sure they would have been severely disappointed by them. What are we teaching our kids? That it is good to sit back and let someone do the heavy lifting for you. That one person can decide your future. That it is important to win at all costs even if it sacrifices the confidence of your friends and teammates. Isn’t there too much of that in the country already?

The number 99 thing got me thinking about things.

There are legendary stories of Walter Gretzky, Wayne’s dad, walking from one side of the rink to the coaches’ bench to tell the coach to stop playing Wayne so much, that it was more important for the other kids to play more to improve the team in the long run. The other day I didn’t see any parents walk over to their coach….
I played with a lot of guys who played with Wayne and every one of them talked about him being the greatest teammate and person they knew. They all said he was a player that made everyone around him a better player. I think Walter taught Wayne a lot more than just winning at all costs.
When I was 18 and playing for the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team, we played an exhibition series against the Canada Cup team that was filled with the greatest players on the planet, including Wayne. Clearly we were outmatched and after two periods and being down 6-0, the coaches decided to split up the rosters to make the game better. The door to our dressing room opened and in walked Wayne, Mark Messier, Brian Propp, Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey. I’ll never forget the way Wayne spoke to us. He told us that our focus should always be on the effort, the process and in getting better- not what the current score was. It was incredible. He made everyone in the room feel better and raised our confidence just by the way he acted and carried himself. I am thankful that 25 years later the action of some misguided grown- ups made me remember that incredible experience with Wayne.

After the game I really had trouble shaking hands with the other coaches. I just felt like they really disrespected our great game. But then a couple of things happened that made me feel a whole lot better. After the game my family went out to dinner with one of our teammates and I watched them have a great time and SHARE a pizza. Driving home my son said to me, “Dad, we didn’t get beat by that team……….we got beat by 99……” I laughed and said I agreed. I could see him thinking, then he said, “Dad, don’t worry…. That coach can’t make 99 do the other player’s homework for them……”
Exactly son. Well said. Maybe we are teaching them after all.

What the Puck??
Driving home from Mite practice my eight year old son, who I have never heard say a bad word ever, asked me, “Dad, you know puck rhymes with a bad word…….”
There was no way I was going to ask him what he was referring to.
“Yes, Cade I suppose it does……what is your point?”
“Well what does Puck mean anyway? Why is it a puck??? Why are some black, some blue and some heavier than others?? What do you really know about the puck?”
I have been around hockey for about forty years and I did not have an answer for him. It was time to do a little research. God bless the internet.

The origin of the word “puck” is obscure. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests the name is related to the verb “to puck” (a cognate of “poke”) used in the game of Hurling for striking or pushing the ball, from the Scottish Gaelic puc or the Irish poc, meaning to poke, punch or deliver a blow.
It is possible that Halifax, NS, natives, many of whom were Irish and played Hurling, may have introduced the word to Canada. The first known printed reference was in Montreal, in 1867, just a year after the first indoor game was played there.
A hockey puck is also referred to colloquially as a “biscuit”. (Put the biscuit in the basket!!! I love that one!!! …..)
A standard ice hockey puck is black, 1 inch thick, 3 inches in diameter, and weighs between 5.5 and 6 ounces some pucks are heavier or lighter than standard.
There are several variations on the standard black, 6 oz hockey puck. One of the most common is a blue, 4 oz puck that is used for training younger players who are not yet able to use a standard puck. Heavier 10 oz training pucks, typically reddish pink or reddish orange in color, are also available for players looking to develop the strength of their shots or improve their stick handling skills.
Pucks are frozen before the game to reduce bouncing during play.
During a game, pucks can reach speeds of 100 miles per hour or more when struck. The current NHL record belongs to Zdeno Chara, whose slapshot was clocked at 105.9 miles per hour in the 2011 NHL All Star Game SuperSkills competition, breaking his own earlier record. The current world record is held by Denis Kulyash of KHL’s Avangard Omsk, who slapped a puck at the 2011 KHL All Star Game skills competition in Russia with a speed of 110 miles per hour.
 
So I relayed all this important information on to my son thinking how much he would be impressed with my work. He just said, “Thanks Dad,…Cool! Good night….”

The next night coming home from a skills practice my son asked me, “Dad, you know stick rhymes with a bad word too…….”

I’ll save that one for another blog………..

Shake Hands
My son plays for the Philadelphia Generals Mite/Squirt Patriot team.
Once again he recently made me think about things in an entirely different and positive way. My hope is that it makes you think that way too.
A couple of weekends ago we were playing at a local rink and it was a very competitive game. This is a little embarrassing to say but yes, Coach John and Coach Kerry found themselves raising their voices to the referees, disagreeing with many of their calls….. (Mite hockey, I know….not good….) The game ended and both teams shook hands as well as did the coaches and the referees.
On the way home my son said to me, “Dad, shaking hands at the end of the game is good.”
I inquired, “What do you mean?”
Cade said, “Well, after all the hard work and all the yelling and excitement, once we all shake hands at the end of the game it feels good…. it feels finished….it feels like it is time to go home….even you, coach John and the refs were friends again…..”
After a couple of years of these observations I now find myself looking for a deeper meaning of his musings. They are becoming ever easier to find.
I began thinking, how many times in life should we just shake hands and move on to the next game? We are all human beings and there are always times in life when we just won’t see things the same way and disagree vehemently on issues. I guess getting older, I now realize there is one side, the other side, and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. Whether it has been in business or family or even with friends, I know I have been guilty of not being able to shake hands, move on and live for the future the way I really should have. We have all been guilty of that. There really has been a lot of wasted negative energy. I wish there are things I could have done differently as I am sure you feel the same way.
Recently, there has been a lot of local coverage of the upcoming Winter Classic Hockey Game and Alumni Hockey Game being held here in Philadelphia. One of the interesting storylines of the game is that Bob Clarke and Eric Lindros will be participating in the game together and the implied mending of the fences of their supposed rocky relationship. If you are a hockey fan you have probably heard all the story lines and history of what had happened or supposedly happened. Who really knows and it really is not that important anymore.
I had the pleasure of playing for Bob when he was a General Manager with the Flyers and also playing with Eric on the same team for a season. They are both fiercely intense and bona fide Hockey Hall of Fame caliber hockey greats. They played extremely hard, and they apparently had extremely rigid differences of opinions at times. But guess what? It took some time but it looks like they shook hands and have agreed to move on to a more positive way. At one time both were captains and considered exceptional leaders. It looks like they still are.
Ok, now moving back from the Greats to the Mites.
My son and I were watching the news the other night during dinner and there was coverage of our military engaged in some battle in Afghanistan. He looked at me and asked, “Dad, those guys have Generals, we are Generals….why can’t they be just like us, shake hands like we do, end it, and everyone go home????”  
There are some conflicts that can’t be settled with a hand shake but most of ours can and should be. In the end most of them are really not that important.
So shake hands, because like my son said, “it feels good…. it feels finished….it feels like it is time to go home….”

Give Thanks for Good Coaches!
Thanksgiving-Webster’s Dictionary

1.
The act of rending thanks, or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies.
2.
A public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness.

As you probably know with this blog, I get a lot of my material from my son’s mite team, some former players and just from random thoughts that come into my head. (Scary, I know…) Being Thanksgiving week, I thought I would reach out and lean on a group of hockey people that we all should all be thankful for. After all this time I realize how grateful and thankful I am to all the people who coached me up along the way!!!
Coaches are fascinating individuals. I have played for ones that I loved. Ones I feared. Ones I hated at points but after time, pretty much respected them all. Many of them have a gift to be able to focus with extreme intensity on the current day, how to prepare and are meticulous planners. They know how to motivate and how to strategize to get the best results out of a group of highly talented individuals. They can knock you down to toughen you up and also pick you up when you have stumbled or been beaten down. Coaches do a lot for a team and can make or break a hockey season. Without question.
They are also very human and when they get time to take a deep breath and think about things, are a lot like the rest of us. They are also very similar to each other regardless of the level they coach at.
I reached out to a few local coaches from all levels and asked them two questions appropriate for this upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and this time of year.
“Coach, what are you most thankful for as a coach?” and, “What are you most thankful for as a person?”
Make sure if you have a young hockey player, have them read these answers. I only asked a few but there are thousands of mentors like them all over the country. Take note how little emphasis there is on winning and losing but on other more important things. Not one of them even mentions the words win or lose……Great Stuff!
Riley Cote-Assistant Coach- Adirondack Phantoms- American Hockey League: “I’d have to say I am so thankful for the Flyers for giving me an opportunity to coach with the phantoms and help develop young players and guide young men to become the best they can be. I am most thankful to have learned what true health really is.”
Bob Prior-Head Coach Princeton University-Division 1 ECAC: “As a coach I am thankful for the opportunity to educate young men that are driven to get better, I am thankful for the opportunity to be in a profession that I have a great passion for, I am awfully lucky.  There is a tremendous sense of fulfillment in working with these young men in watching them grow both as players and as people.As a person I am thankful for my family and friends everyday, I love the people that I am surrounded by on a daily basis and am excited every day that I wake up.  I learn from my family, friends, and student athletes daily and I am thankful they are in my life.”
Guy Gadowsky- Head Coach Penn State University Division 1: “As a coach I am grateful for great goaltending and as a person I am grateful for a great wife, both can make life a lot better!”
Randy Walker- NJ Junior Titans: “As a coach, I am thankful that I am still involved in this great game and get to watch both my sons build lasting relationships and memories like I did as a player.As a person, I am thankful for my wife and kids and the love (and time) we have to share with our family & friends.
Happy Thanksgiving!”

Jeremy Hall- Team Comcast u-16 AAA: “As a coach, I am thankful to be given the opportunity to work with high level hockey players and have a chance to impact their lives through this great sport. As a person, I am thankful to have a wonderful wife and beautiful little boy to share everything with.”

Roman Bussetti-Team Comcast Squirt Team: “As a coach I am thankful for the knowledge and understanding that the lord has granted me to teach and instruct this great game.As a person I am thankful for the well-being of my family, my friends and myself.”

John Seravalli-Coach of The Philadelphia Generals Select Mite Powerhouse Team (our team..): “I am thankful to be able to help players become better people first then better hockey players. There is nothing more rewarding as a coach when an ex-player comes back years later and thanks you for helping them to become a good person on and off the ice.  I am thankful to my parents who gave me an opportunity to play sports and get a good education so that I now can help others.”

This is a weekend to express how much we are thankful for. Make sure you do. Thank your coaches. Often they don’t get the recognition they deserve. Deep down they are great people as evidenced by those answers.

Remember their answers and at some point this weekend, step away from hockey and focus on being thankful for the following regardless of your win loss record.

1.      Your health
2.      Your family
3.      Your friends
4.      Your great country you live in
5.      Your ability to lean and rely on hockey when you need to.(and of course….great coaches!!!!)
We are all blessed!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

First Timers and Old Timers-One and the Same
Thank you to all the Philadelphia Flyer Alumni guys who took the time to get back to me and help me out with content for this week. Super guys and a phenomenal group to be associated with and as always, thanks to our Mite team.
It is a wonderful time of year. There is hockey everywhere. We are only weeks away from the Winter Classic game that is getting so much attention around this area and it seems like there are good NHL games on TV every night. With all the negative news recently in sports it is great to be in the heart of a hockey season.
While watching a Philadelphia Flyers game with my son Caden the other night I began to think of some other things to write about. Sitting there enjoying the game and his company, he asked me, “Dad, what do you miss most about hockey? Not like the guys you played with or the great fun you had and all that stuff I hear you talk about..…. What do you really miss about the actual game and playing??”
Wow. This from an eight year old. I had to think for a while and then I told him, “Cade, I just really miss the feeling of gliding along the ice at a speed I know I will never go again.”
Then like a normal parent, I turned the tables and asked him, “What do you love about playing hockey?” He said Dad, “I really love when I try to shoot the puck at a spot and it goes there….it feels great! …… and I love going to Chickie’s and Pete’s (our local sports bar) for chicken wings after practice….” Again, one of those moments that just made me smile for a long time.
I was so deep in thought after our little exchange. I had our two opinions but then felt the need to get more. I decided to ask my son’s Mite team the same question I asked him and ask my friends from the Philadelphia Flyers Alumni the same question he asked me. No one knew what I was doing or looking for, I just simply asked them to answer those questions.
Here are the results for you to enjoy. Remember some of these people are only separated by about 50 years…..But look at how close the answers are. I love it. I just took ten answers from each group and matched them up as best I could. The similarities are remarkable. It really is a great game.
Mite #1: “I like when the ice is all clean and we go out skating on it for the first time. We go fast…”
Flyer Alumni #1 Kevin Dineen: “There was always no better feeling than being the first guy on that clean smooth sheet of ice and having that building to yourself, just skating around and shooting pucks.”

Mite  #2: “I love it when a teammate passes to me and I score a goal……”
Flyer Alumni #2 Mark Freer: “I miss the tic tac toe of the puck in the games and practice.  There is nothing better than going down the ice in practice and zipping the puck around hard and fast hearing that smack as the puck goes from one stick to another.”

Mite #3: “l love right at the first faceoff when we are getting ready to play a game and it is exciting…..”
Flyer Alumni #3 Mark Howe and Chris Therien: “What I miss the most about playing is the energy that flows through your body as the national anthem is being sung and the building is coming alive. The anticipation and excitement of the contest ahead.” Mark Howe
“I really loved being at a faceoff and looking up realizing you we’re a member of the greatest league on the planet! The fans the scoreboard the noise….great feeling I truly miss!
Chris Therien

Mite 4: “I love going so fast on my skates…..”
Flyer Alumni #4 Kerry Huffman: “Cade, I just really miss the feeling of gliding along the ice at a speed I know I will never go again.”

Mite #5: “I like when it is a close game and then we win…….”
Flyer Alumni #5 Keith Primeau:” I miss coming to the rink in the spring for playoff hockey.
I miss the feeling of a big win and celebrating with my teammates, the close ones were the best”

Mite #6: “I love it when we score more goals than the other team and then we end up winning, it is awesome….”
Flyer Alumni #6 Bill Clement: “I actually miss the feeling of exhaustion after a shift. Also after a game, but only when we won. That feeling wasn’t any good after a loss.”
Mite #7: “it is fun to see us play really good…..like we were taught…..”
Flyer Alumni #7 Keith Jones: “I miss my seat in the middle of the bench. Sad that I’ll never to be able to purchase a seat with such a great view!!!!”
Mite #8: “What I love about hockey is standing in front of Sydney, our goalie, like coach Kerry told me to and blocking a shot by the other team, popping it off the boards to one of my teammates who take it up the ice and score.  The team gets a goal and I get an assist”!!
Flyer Alumni #8 Reggie Leach: “The most I miss about playing is getting a great pass from Bobby Clarke and letting a slap shot go from top of circle hitting the far corner of the net. Great assist, great goal…”
Mite #9: “I love scoring goals!!!!!
Flyer Alumni #9 Brian Propp: “I miss the excitement of scoring goals and doing the “Guffaw”.  I miss the intensity of playing playoff hockey and the focus on every game for the ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup.
I saved the best one for last.

 

Mite #10: “We do cool things on the weekend, sometimes after hockey we go to McDonalds!!!”
Flyer Alumni #10 Ed Hospodar: “I loved traveling and being with my Dad on game day. Yep, my Dad that’s what I loved and miss most about not playing hockey. Time with my Dad and having him watch me.”

Me too Ed.

Well said guys! Both teams!!!!!

All hockey players age but their hearts remain young……. and sometimes blogs write themselves….

Rookies and Veterans
Hockey just isn’t that important today.
Maybe I look at things a bit differently now knowing that my oldest son has committed to serve in the armed forces for this great country. It doesn’t even need to be said. I couldn’t be more proud of him.
In the hockey world, this time of year there is always talk of how impressive the Rookies are.  Today it is not about the Rookies it is about the Veterans. The important Veterans……
I hope everyone can have the opportunity to say thank you today to a member of our armed services. Current or former.
Whether you are American or Canadian, please take time away from hockey and sports to reflect and think about the true heroes of our countries. Not someone who got a hat trick last night or scored a game winning goal.
Heroes who give us the freedom and ability to enjoy hockey and all the other things we take for granted.
It is so easy to get caught up in our day to day lives and focus on scores, highlights and how our teams and young players are doing.  Just remember though that we are all part of a team that is fighting for something way more important than a playoff spot.

There are daily injury reports that are not putting players on a 7 to 10 day unable to perform list. There are members of our team every day going on an injured reserve list that will last forever….Remember that. Be grateful for their sacrifice. Be thankful for their service and if you can let one of our players know that, make sure you do. These are people who are not looking for a new contract, a highlight on Sportscenter or a scholarship. They are usually just appreciative of a warm thank you. A lot of them deserve our support now and will really need it when they are no longer in the service.

So today, let’s stop for a moment focusing on the horrifying story involving Penn State University and all the other negative news stories and spend some time thinking about the positive role models and people who secure our freedom every day. Rarely are they in front of a camera defending or explaining themselves. They just do their jobs and make sure we can go about doing ours every day.
There is always the weekend to go back to our mite games, our junior games, our pro games and all the fun that goes with it.
But today and every day, remember who really the true All Stars in this world are.