Volume 2, Issue 6 - February, 2002

 "From the Right Wing…"

ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS  #21

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

(Printer Friendly Version)

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…

This is about the time when players and their parents start thinking about if and where they will play next year.  For some of you, it's a simple progression in your association's structure; that is, you were a major PeeWee on the AA Travel team, next year you will be a minor Bantam on the Bantam AA Travel Team.  Others of you have choices.  There may be several associations in your area, all looking for the best talent.  Nowhere is that more prevalent than in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. A father/coach, Scott Moulson, from that hockey hotbed assembled his thoughts on what parents and players should look for, and look out for, when it comes to being scouted and scouting potential teams and coaches to play for.  Here's his advice:

1. You can learn a lot about a coach from when he starts recruiting.

Every coach keeps in touch with the superstars, the small group of coveted players. That’s normal. Some coaches with good teams are out recruiting half a team in December. Remember, the season lasts eight months. If you are good, but not in the top 10% being recruited in January or December - before the season is half over,  that coach is giving up on someone and is admitting a prior recruiting mistake. It’s not always the coach’s fault, but you better make sure you understand who he wants to replace and why. Otherwise, you might be next season’s outcast.

2. Promises are made to be broken, don’t ask for them and don’t believe them.

It’s nice to hear, “I promise your son will be double shifted, wear the C, play PP and PK.” Fact is there are so many variables a coach faces in a season, the good ones know they cannot keep those promises. Stick with a coach who says, “I am thinking playing him in this position and in these situations, but everything on my team is earned. Here’s what I looking for from players who will earn those spots.” Understand what he likes, even dislikes about your son’s play and decide for yourself if there is a fit.

3. Personal development is more important to a player’s future success than the quality of your team.

Better teams play more games against better competition than weaker ones. That is good for personal development. Better teams tend to shorten their benches more than weak teams. If you sit on a bench and don’t play, that is disastrous for personal development. Each one of Matt’s friends that we discussed above eventually rebounded from being cut/shuffled around to become the “go to” guy on another team. Good practices are fine, but being on the ice in crucial situations (power play, penalty kill, and last minute) is necessary to develop. Go with a team that will play you in these key situations.

4. Do your homework - Games.

Just as leopards seldom change their spots, coaches seldom change their styles. What may appear on the surface to be a good program may not be. Watch games. Does the coach use all his players and do they all seem to be contributing? Does he rely on one or two or five superstars to win games? If he relies on a few players who get all the ice in key situations to win games for him, you may be watching a good recruiter, not a developer. Again a player’s future success depends on how well that player develops relative to his peer group over time. That peer group includes thousands of players around the world several years older and younger.

5. Do your homework – Practices

To skate faster, shoot harder, think quicker, etc you must practice these skills at a high pace in practice OR you must do outside work that focuses on these skills. Some coach’s focus on systems, some focus on individual skills. If you need to work on skating, it might be better for you to go to a coach who emphasizes individual skill development such as skating or stickhandling at his practices rather than a systems person. You may go to a great skating school or practice with an older team in your organization – and systems or the thinking part of the game are what you need to work on. Go to a coach that will help you there. In ten years when you want to play pro, you will need as many of these skills as you can possibly absorb and develop.

6. Take off the rose colored glasses, assess yourself and a new coach objectively.

Recruiting time is a wonderful time of year. Love is in the air. If you get an offer, chances are the new coach has watched you. He has picked out a few minor flaws he can point out to you and he will also let you know he can help you improve. The pitch goes something like, “(insert present coach here) is not using you right. You will do (insert promises here) on my team.” Remember, your existing coach has to deal with 16 players as will the new coach when you join his team. Don’t expect miracles and don’t believe every promise. Understand your strengths and weaknesses and play for the coach that realistically explains what he will help you with and how he will help you given the other demands on his time..

7. Throw away the crutches

In Dan Bylsma’s book, he talks about pros that always have an excuse. "If I could play in the AHL with better players, if I got a chance in the NHL, if I had different linemates, if my coach let me play a different style." The guys who make it are the ones that throw away the excuses and focus on making themselves better. They do not worry about who is on their line. Over the years many times we have seen parents blame a coach for a player’s poor play, only to have another parent come to us after the fact to tell us what a detriment that player was to the team. If you are not brutally honest about where you fit in the pecking order and what you have to work on, you will always be looking for the magic formula, a new coach, a new set of teammates, and you will always be disappointed.

8. Let the player make the final decision on where he is going to play

It took me about five years to figure this one out. If there was a difference of opinion on where one of my kids would play, and if I pushed them in the direction I wanted, the result was failure. When they chose, the decision was without exception the right one. Upon reflection, I think that is because a big part of development is attitude and enthusiasm for the game. If a player shares the same philosophies, principles, and characteristics as his coach, there is a good chance they will work together well. I have seen this with players we have tried to recruit. Where the parent asked all the questions and was obviously making the decision, invariably that player was looking for a new team the next year (if not earlier). Young players can be very perceptive in this area. By all means, jointly discuss the decision making process. Parents can expose players to different coaches, but they must step back and let the player make the decision.

9. Assess the type of parents associated with the club

A coach could win every game during a season and some parents would still complain. Some of these parents can destroy the chemistry on even the tightest teams. Sometimes reputations are undeserved. More often than not, the rule “where there’s smoke there is fire”, applies to minor hockey. I have seen 12 year olds publicly ridiculed for their play by teammates’ parents who do not comprehend the words “leadership” and “teamwork”. Do not underestimate the damage these people can do. Trust your instincts and do not worry about turning down an otherwise acceptable situation because you are concerned about a problem parent. September to March is a long time for anyone to live with a mistake.

10. No matter what your decision, once you have made it, live with it – no excuses

One of the players who plays against my son is Darryl Moore of the Brantford Eagles (Mid-West Jr. B). Darryl is not a big player. He broke his arm and was out of the line-up for several weeks. When he has been in the lineup, his linemates have changed just about every game. To top it off, Darryl’s team has won ONE game out of TWENTY-FIVE this year. He had all the ready made excuses, but did not use them. Instead, he concentrated on his own development. Guess who is going to Western Michigan on a full NCAA Division I scholarship next year? Once you have made your decision, refuse to be sidetracked from being the best player you can be, no matter what happens.

11. Not just for recruiting season - hockey dreams do come true if you want them bad enough

A lot of well-meaning people like to remind us that making the NHL or even an OHL or NCAA team is like winning the lottery, very unlikely. That is a great phrase to remind us to make sure we are having fun while moving towards our goals and have alternatives if things don’t work out. Facts are, players from Ontario will make it, and those players will not necessarily be the most talented minor hockey players. Don't let anyone talk you out of your dreams, but don’t underestimate the price you have to pay to get there.

FINALLY, HAPPY RECRUITING SEASON TO ONE AND ALL!                  Scott Moulson

Scott Moulson is the father of Matt Moulson, the young player who earned a full ride to Cornell that we featured in the November Newsletter.  What Coach Moulson says expands on what we've said a time or two; tryouts are not to see if your son or daughter is good enough to play on this team or that, rather it's to see if this team or that is good enough for your son or daughter. Our thanks to Mr. Moulson for his insights and willingness to share them with us.  To read Coach Moulson's entire piece, click here or go to www.danbylsma.com/Scottltr.htm. 

Dan Bylsma

THIS MONTH'S BEST QUESTIONS ON THE WEB SITE…

Dan: My son plays AAA midget hockey and the parents of our team have recently voted to allow the consumption of alcohol for the parents on the team bus on road trips. We voted against this and are appalled that parents want to break the law and be a negative example to our boys. Recently both assistant coaches got drunk on the bus and an injured player who wasn't going to play brought and consumed alcohol. The GM and the management of the team won't do anything about it because they claim they don't want to hurt the morale of our first place team at this point in the season. We have rules in our association which states that no player will be allowed to consume alcohol at any team function but there is no enforcement because of the playoffs. Can you give us some advice? Frustrated Parents

 Dan Bylsma plus Dad, Mom and my three brothers

MY CHARITABLE TRUST FUND...

The auction for the King's tickets, team signed sticks, and locker room area pass exceeded all expectations for a couple of reasons.  First, the high bid for the package was a whopping $1,625.  Then, the high bidder has auctioning off the second ticket for $300, proceeds of which he has also donated to my Fund - total $1,925.  Also two other King's fans offered to donate some additional packages.  One item - a casting director offered a walk-on part on Tom Cruise's next movie - that auction will come up at a later time. 

Another generous individual offered two tickets to the Kings/Canucks game on April 2, 2002.  Great seats - Section 107, Row 10 Seats 17 & 18 plus (in his own words):

"The second item is somewhat unique - I believe it's one of your first NHL jerseys. I bought the jersey from the Kings at the equipment sale they had in March 1996 at Iceoplex. It is a road #42 CCM jersey of the style used in 88/89 but it has the Bylsma nameplate.  Upon further examination from the inside, the nameplate has been changed. The old one was slightly larger than Bylsma - #42 was worn by defenseman Steve Richmond for nine games in 88-89 and by Dominic Lavoie in eight games in 93-94. I'm pretty sure that the NHL logo was on all the jerseys by 93-94 so that would mean that this is probably the Richmond 88-89 jersey that got renamed for you in the 1995 preseason since the Kings went to Starter for 1996-97.

It does have a couple of areas of team repair - including the neck - so I believe it is your pre-season away jersey before you stayed up with the Kings full time."

I'm not sure, but this may be the first NHL jersey I ever wore in an exhibition game against Phoenix in 1995.  Because not many of my hockey family can use the tickets, I'm going to post this auction item on the LetsGoKings.com web site also.

The bidding will start now at $50 and will be closed on March 1st 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. 

Mary Beth and I are very grateful for those of you who participate in these auctions.  The response has enabled us to help kids who otherwise would be hard pressed to play the game - either in terms of fees or equipment and we've been able to help some people who are fighting the battle of stillbirths.  Thank you very much.

P.S. There will be another Kids' Auction in a few weeks.  I have some great stuff including a numbered (#279/1999) Wayne Gretzky Farewell souvenir puck.

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 ...

(This is a reprint of an article that appeared in the Newsletter last February.  Because the subscription list is about 1000 families larger than it was in 2001, we though it worth repeating)

This may seem a bit early to think about summer hockey camp, but my father tells me mine is already nearly full.  There are nearly 500,000 kids playing youth hockey in the US and I have room for only 100 kids in my camp so that leaves a lot of you wondering if you should send your player to a summer hockey camp, and if so, whose camp should you consider. 

Why send your player to a hockey camp?  An important consideration is the skill level and teaching ability of your player’s present coach.  If the coach was like my father, he was a great coach, but he didn’t know from sic’em about skating fundamentals.  So he sent me to summer hockey camp to learn the things he couldn’t teach me.  If, on the other hand your son or daughter plays for a coach who knows skating fundamentals and knows how to teach them, you will have different considerations than my father had for sending me to camp.

I like to think of a good camp as one that functions like a doctor’s office for players.  If your child isn’t feeling good, you might try home remedies or over-the-counter medicines, but if the malaise persists, you would take him to the doctor for a check up.  A good camp should be able to review the player’s skating technique and prescribe a remedy to help the player correct or improve his technique.

I also think summer hockey camp can be a great carrot to elicit desired behavior.  Your player’s opinions to the contrary, there’s no constitutional right to go to summer hockey camp.  It should be a reward for good citizenship.  Better study habits, personal housekeeping improvements, diligent attention to assigned family chores, and perhaps earning some of the cost are things that can be made a condition for shelling out the big dollars for summer hockey camp.  (In case you kids are reading this, believe me when I tell you that these were all conditions for my parents to allow my brothers and I to have the privilege to go to a summer hockey camp.) 

One of the reasons my parents sent my brothers and I to summer hockey camp had nothing to do with hockey.  They thought it was important for their kids to attend college.  So they sent us to hockey camps at colleges so we could see what it was like to be on a college campus, be in a college environment, and live in a dorm.  It was one of their tricks to influence us.  It worked because we all thought it was our decision to go to college – it never occurred to us that they had anything to do with our decision.

What camp should you consider?

A camp that promises two things: fun and skating skills – in that order.  I think fun is the most important consideration because as the name suggests (and some parents forget): this is summer hockey camp, that is - summer, we’re going to play a game, at a camp.  Games, summer, and camp should be about having fun.  Besides, if the player is not having fun, the learning will be marginal at best.

Why is skating important?  This game is all about skating.  During an average game your player will have the puck on his stick for 20 seconds at most.  He or she will be skating for 15 to 20 minutes which should give you an idea of the importance of being a good skater.  So I would encourage you to look for a camp that will teach your player new skating skills, improve existing skills, perhaps diagnose and correct flaws in the player’s skating technique, and emphasize drills that will show the skater how to work on improving his or her technique.

How can you tell what a camp will be like?

The best way is by word of mouth from other hockey parents whose kids have attended other camps.  You can also study the brochures at your local rink or the information most camps provide on the Internet.  Look for the key words ‘fun’ and ‘skating fundamentals’ as well as other things that you might think are important… well qualified instructors, instructor-to-pupil ratios, good role models, special skills (goalie instruction?), university environment, indoor off-ice facilities in case of rain, etc.

Should you consider having your player attend more than one camp?

Yes, but I would only consider more than one camp for my child if the other one is a math camp, band camp, science camp, Bible camp, space camp, Odyssey of the Mind camp, orchestra camp, drama camp, Boy or Girl Scout camp, or just plain fun camp.

Should I, a coach or parent, consider attending a summer camp for adults?

I know that many coaches, like my father, lack the ability to teach skating fundamentals - truth be told and admitted, some of you don't skate that well yourself.  The most important thing you can do in terms of improving your players' skill level and consequently their performance is to improve their skating fundamentals.  It's a battle to play the game if you can't skate proficiently.  So I strongly recommend going to a skating clinic or adult camp where you can learn the fundamentals and how to teach them.  The key here is to learn the teaching techniques so you can pass them along to your players and then reinforce these techniques throughout the year.  Several coaches who come to the adult session of my camp tell me they come for just for that purpose.  I think they really come because it's a great time and they have a chance to re-live their childhood - but those are difficult reasons to sell back home. 

 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.