Volume 2, Issue 5 - January, 2002

 "From the Right Wing…"

ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS  #21

Dan Bylsma’s Newsletter --- A Feature of West Michigan Hockey Camp, Inc.

TThis month's issue contains:

 DAN'S TIP OF THE MONTH   THIS MONTH'S QUESTION   TRUST FUND AUCTION   TIPS FROM HOCKEY CAMP   DAN'S HONOR ROLL

  COACH'S TIP   THE SAYING OF THE MONTH   DAN TRIP IN THE NHL   DAN & JAY'S BOOKS   A WAY TO SUBSCRIBE

DAN’S TIP OF THE MONTH FOR PLAYERS…

The single most asked question we get on the web site comes from players wanting to know the ins and outs of playing college hockey - recruiting, scouting, or getting a college scholarship.  We thought it might be useful to invite a coach whose opinion we respect (because he recruited me) to give you the straight story.  Bill Wilkinson is the coach of Wayne State University's Division I program.  He was also the Head Coach at Western Michigan University where I was happy to give him a headache or two when I played at Bowling Green (I scored a goal while killing a 5 on 3 penalty and my only hat trick in college came against Western) and he was also an Assistant coach at Bowling Green when my brother played at BG.  It would be an honor to play for Coach Wilkinson and he has sent more than his share of players to the NHL.  He has agreed to give us the current state of college recruiting.  Here's what he has to say:

"Personally as a coach I like to see players that have had some playing experience after their high school graduation. This brings the student/athlete to us physically and mentally more mature than if he comes to us right out of high school.  Can a player come right out of high school? Absolutely, but must clearly be a cut above his classmates to compete against the older players he's going to encounter.  Every player matures at his own pace.

"We recruit student/athletes from all areas of the continent and by all means. Emails, letters, video tapes, or just plain phone calls can get the ball rolling.  If you are interested in a certain school and have the capabilities of visiting on an "unofficial" capacity take advantage of that. Coaches may have the time to showcase their program to you, but if not you at least will have put your name and face in front of them.

"With any correspondence you send to a school try to include your SAT or ACT results and if you have been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse requires that you have 13 core courses: 4 years of English, 2 Math, 2 Science, 1 additional course in English, Math or Science, 2 Social Sciences, and 2 electives in which you have earned a GPA of 2.0 or better. The SAT or ACT also has a minimum that will be needed to reflect eligibility. ACT minimum is 18 and SAT is 810. There is a sliding scale that applies to GPA and Test Scores that determines eligibility for everyone. It is the job of the NCAA Clearinghouse to declare you eligible to participate in college athletics, no longer is eligibility declared by the school you apply to. However, be aware that different colleges have different admission standards. The Clearinghouse declares you eligible, the university's admissions office declares you acceptable. The better the student is academically the more attractive he or she becomes to any coach.  After all, balancing academics and athletics is what college is all about!

"What do I look for in a player?  Good question!  What are our needs?  I don't look for a goalie if I need defensemen.

"As to general characteristics, I prefer to have players with speed and brains. I try to watch to see if they think well on the ice! Can they anticipate the play? Have they got the foot speed to get there if they see what is happening?  If they have the speed do they now know what to do - who to pick up defensively, where to go on the fore-check or penalty kill rotation.  Just the little decisions that have to be made in a split-second of time.

"I know that 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog' is a worn out phrase, but it's appropriate.  Attitude and intensity can make up for a lack of talent - and Danny Bylsma playing in the NHL is a textbook example of that. There are a lot more players playing at the college and pro level because of shear determination than ability. Every team needs players with character not a team full of characters!

"If you are interested in playing Division 1 college hockey there are two things to keep in mind: playing the best competition you can is by far the most advantageous way to advance your chances of becoming the best player you can be (and that's not always an easy road to follow), and, you must play beyond the high school or midget level. You will have a distinct advantage going into the college hockey scene as a mature student.  Be ready to play not watch.

"Recruiting is now a new science. Often I go to watch a player that I have a lead on and come away liking someone else.  Like everything in life - timing is extremely important!"

Thanks Coach!

I noticed that Coach Wilkinson didn't say anything about how many goals or assists you have.  What he did say can be summarized in this month's SAYING TO PUT IN YOUR LOCKER.

There is also something in Coach Wilkinson's last paragraph that I don't want you to miss.  In our books and in the newsletters I've repeatedly said, "Treat every practice, every shift, every game as if this is your chance to show what you can do because you never know who's watching."  Now you know: it could be Coach Wilkinson!

Dan Bylsma

THIS MONTH'S BEST QUESTIONS ON THE WEB SITE…

Dan: How can my 8 year old increase his acceleration... Concerned Parent A.

Dan Bylsma

MY CHARITABLE TRUST FUND...

The kids' auction was a success.  Twenty-six kids entered 138 bids and the hat and the book went for $35.50.  Two individuals (new friends of mine - Warren Anderson of L.A. and Ron Falk of Grand Rapids) and the Bollman family of St. Joseph, MI, each offered to match the winning bid so 142 quarters turned into $142.00 in the trust fund.  My thanks to them and to all the kids who bid and they will all receive a little token of my appreciation.  The bidding was so fast and furious at the end I'm inspired to have a kids' auction again soon.

Next up on the auction is a pair of L.A. Kings tickets to the Kings/Stars game April 8th Sec 114, Row 14 (14 rows from the ice on the Kings' goal line), an autographed stick signed by the Kings, an autographed stick signed by the Stars, our first book, and a pass to visit the locker room area to get the sticks and meet my friend Ian Laperriere.  Since not many of you are in the area and can take advantage of the tickets, the auction will be announced on the "LetsGoKings" web site as well as here.

  The bidding will start now at $50 and will be closed on February 1 at 12 midnight E.S.T.  You can see the rules for bidding and place a bid by going to the Charitable Trust Fund page on my web site www.DanBylsma.com or by clicking here and going to the bottom of the page. 

DAN'S TIP OF THE MONTH   THIS MONTH'S QUESTION   TRUST FUND AUCTION   TIPS FROM HOCKEY CAMP   DAN'S HONOR ROLL

  COACH'S TIP   THE SAYING OF THE MONTH   DAN TRIP IN THE NHL   DAN & JAY'S BOOKS   A WAY TO SUBSCRIBE

NOTES FROM DAN'S HOCKEY CAMP (from the video analyst)...

I was watching a Ducks' game on TV recently and they featured some Mites skating between periods.  As the kids skated, I saw an obvious problem we often see in younger skaters.  It's a bad habit that if not corrected results in a very difficult problem to correct in older skaters.  It's the problem of not replanting the skate directly underneath the skater after the stride.  When I was watching these little guys at the Ducks game, some of them looked like they were skating on railroad tracks.  It became really noticeable when the tykes skated away from the camera.

Some knowledge of how muscles are trained may be helpful to understand why it's important to correct this problem early.  Skating is not an activity that comes naturally to most kids whose legs are trained to walk and run.  A skater has to train his muscles to stride/plant/glide.  Certain tasks will be "remembered" by your muscles.  Bad technique that is repeated requires re-training those muscles to correct the problem because muscles have memory.  So good skating fundamentals taught early can avoid having to teach an old muscle a new trick.

Then a little bit of skating philosophy.  The goal in skating is to get as long a stride as possible to make the most efficient use of the available energy in the leg muscles on each stride.  While we often concentrate on skating in a seated position to lengthen the end of the stride, it's also important to replant our foot directly underneath so we can add length to the beginning of our stride. 

If this problem is not readily noticeable to a parent or coach, one way to see this problem is to have your skaters line up along the boards and skate along the blue line as fast as they can, one a time, from one side board to the other and observe if their skates ever touch the line.  A skater with good technique will be replanting each skate on or very near the blue line.  A skater with excellent technique will plant his right skate to the left of center of the blue line thereby lengthening his stride even more.  Todd Reirden (D-man - Atlanta Thrashers) who is a counselor at Dan's camp is an outstanding example of great technique as he actually plants his right skate to the left of the centerline of his body; left skate to the right of the centerline, etc. 

There are several reasons why young skaters develop this bad habit.  One is that when they first start skating, they tend to shuffle along and by having their feet more outboard (like out-riggers), they feel more secure on their skates.  As they get more proficient, they will lengthen the end of the stride but often retain replanting in the same "out-rigger shuffle" style.  Another reason is that they don't have a good knee bend (the don't skate from a seated position).  This can be a double whammy.  Not only are they missing out on a longer stride at the end of the stroke (as we've talked about in earlier issues), but they're also forced to bring their skate forward quickly to avoid falling forward and plant their foot early (and short of their center) - they don't have time to bring their foot underneath themselves or they'll fall.  A third reason may be they are not taught the correct technique or concentrating on lengthening the end of the stride and being unaware that replanting correctly can also add length to the stride (and therefore speed).

The blue line is typically 12 inches wide.  If a skater is replanting outside the edge of the blue line - he or she is losing at least six inches of his potential maximum stride.  And while six inches isn't much, it's 20% to 25% of the stride of a young skater.  If you are (or are coaching) an older skater, using the goal line, which is only two inches wide will be an even more challenging test.

Here's an easy drill to teach any skater what replanting directly underneath feels like.  Have them click the heels of the skate that's replanting with the gliding skate when they are skating slowly in warm-ups.  Obviously we don't click our heels together when we're skating in a game, but by doing a drill where they click their heels or by clicking their heels in slow skate warm-ups, they will be training their muscles to replant properly which hopefully their muscles will "remember" when they are skating full out.

DAN'S TIP OF THE MONTH   THIS MONTH'S QUESTION   TRUST FUND AUCTION   TIPS FROM HOCKEY CAMP   DAN'S HONOR ROLL

  COACH'S TIP   THE SAYING OF THE MONTH   DAN TRIP IN THE NHL   DAN & JAY'S BOOKS   A WAY TO SUBSCRIBE

PARENT TO PARENT from Jay...  

Because of the age change rules adopted by USAHockey, there are a number of players who will be moving from being a first year (minor) Squirt to first year (minor) PeeWee.  This is significant because it means they will go from a non-checking league to a checking league. 

This situation has revved up the arguments about checking:

 1) We should start it in Mites so they grow up with it and it's not such a big deal when it is allowed in PeeWees. 

2) We shouldn't allow checking until Bantams when the weight/size disparity in the age group isn't as great.

3) We shouldn't allow checking in youth hockey at all because it drives smaller skilled players out of the game.  It's argued that changes the game from one of artistry to mugging - perhaps a reason why most of the skilled players are coming from Europe and the muckers from North America.

All the while the adults are arguing these points we've learned from talking to parents and Emails we've received that some kids can't wait for the booming to start, some kids are apprehensive, some kids are frightened, and some kids are quitting the sport. 

And this is happening in hockey over the issue of checking while kids of the same age and younger don't seemed to be concerned about the kind of head-to-head hitting that happens in youth football.  Acknowledging that football may attract a different kind of kid, what's the parent of a concerned, perhaps smaller, more skilled player to do about the issue of checking in hockey?

Unfortunately the word "checking" has become synonymous with "hitting" even though they are two separate things.  Checking as it could be done is allowed below PeeWees; that is - entanglement with the puck carrier to hinder or prohibit his advancing with the puck.  So we think the first thing a parent should do is remind the timid player that they've been involved with checking already.  Then, I can't imagine a Mite or Squirt player that hasn't had a bad fall or a collision with the boards.  Most players have survived more than a few of those bone-jarring crashes without so much as an after-thought.  His or her equipment has provided the necessary protection in those instances and it may help to point out that hitting should have no worse effect than those crashes.   

There are three more things you can do as a parent to minimize the fear factor and the real effects of hitting/checking.  The most important thing is to be sure your player has up-to-date equipment that fits properly.  A new set of shoulder pads may just be the magic feather that will allow your player to fly un-afraid.  Second, it's important that your player learns how to check properly and that includes learning how to take a check.  In our November issue, Dan wrote about how to protect yourself when you're near the boards as well as in open ice (an important point of that article is learning to "check back" to lessen the impact of an oncoming hit).  Third, it's important that your league's administrators make it clear to players, coaches, and officials that illegal checks will not be tolerated.  

Perhaps it goes without saying, but hitting for the purpose of putting a skilled opponent out of the game or intimidation in youth hockey is intolerable.  What part of having fun, or increasing athleticism, or teaching life lessons - the reasons we put our kids in youth hockey - does deliberate injury or intimidation fall under?  I believe to encourage that behavior from the stands by screaming, "Hit him! Hit him!" is just as unconscionable as for a coach to say, "Let's try to take out Number 9".

All of this is to say that your attitude toward the game may go a long way toward how your child reacts to the introduction of checking.  By taking proper precautions with equipment, by being sure your players have some instruction in checking, by minimizing your expressions of over-concern, and limiting your over-zealous encouragement you can minimize the fear of entering PeeWees and the probability that the child's fears may come true. 

Jay M. Bylsma

THIS MONTH'S SAYING TO PUT IN YOUR LOCKER...

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

                                                                                                                  Albert Einstein

Our thanks to Carmen Yannelli for sending us this quote.

ONE KID'S TRIP TO THE NHL - current installment...

   Hockey has been the topic of conversation in our country in the past weeks like never before and like those of us in the sport never wished it would.  My father and I have been contacted more than a time or two by the national and local media to give our opinion of the "rink rage" case.  We've seen all sorts of experts on various TV shows talking about the State of the Union of youth sports in general and hockey in particular.

One such expert claimed that the reason for the rise in rink rage is the motivation to qualify for college