🏒 Rise and Grind! Day 2️⃣ on tap of @PPP_Prep Peak Showcase action! Kicking things off with @owls_mih vs Top Speed Hockey Academy
Mark Bilotta
@mbilotta
@_Neutral_Zone Head Scout, New England & Director of @MassNZ • Husband • 3rd Degree 🥋• Proud Beard Owner • Podcaster • Ethos: Be excellent to each other 🎸
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Game on from @WorcesterIce as @PPP_Prep Peak Showcase gets underway with a tilt between @SKSAHockey and @WABVHockey
🎥 PLPG to follow!
🎥 PLPG to follow!
👀 We are less than 1️⃣ month from kicking off the @NCAAIceHockey season and the Top 🔟 freshman classes are all 🔒 in.
Every team has posted their rosters and @TheNCHC checks in with 4️⃣ Top 10 classes.
Find out who is matriculating for 26-27:
neutralzone.com/ncaa-recruitin…
Every team has posted their rosters and @TheNCHC checks in with 4️⃣ Top 10 classes.
Find out who is matriculating for 26-27:
neutralzone.com/ncaa-recruitin…
Putting this out there and nominating it for quote tweet of the year, well said @8394Canucks
💯 The academy systems, travel teams, private leagues, etc., have turned youth hockey development into a compartmentalized, elitist venture, hyper-focused on maximizing individual skill while neglecting the ‘team game ’.View quoted post on X
Every tryout and evaluation has become a combine. Emphasis on gameplay and scrimmaging has been replaced by a cold, isolated assessment of hard skills, and players have adapted to that reality. They frequently switch teams or even towns to get the next best opportunity, so they never develop the most important thing in team sports: the bond you make with your teammates. The chemistry that develops with linemates. The way you see the game on the ice when you’re not just thinking about yourself.
Players as young as U9 and U11 become risk-averse and play conservatively to avoid mistakes. Mistakes are tracked. The creativity and beauty that Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr, Bure, and Datsyuk brought to the game were only possible because mistakes were tolerated in their development.
Youth hockey development has become an industry capitalizing on parents' fears that their child will fall behind. The system produces players that are automated and optimized for specific skills that will get them ‘noticed’. But like a student who studies to pass the test but doesn’t really know the content, their depth of understanding of the game is very shallow.
Kucherov is saying the quiet part out loud here. The No. 1 thing that has become obvious across all US youth levels: the game is faster, but the IQ is lacking.
Players may have size, speed or other intangible advantages right now, but the biggest separator at all levels is IQ.🧠
Players may have size, speed or other intangible advantages right now, but the biggest separator at all levels is IQ.🧠
When asked how the game has changed over the years, Nikita Kucherov gives an answer only he can…
“The game is faster….but very dumb. Low IQ.”
When I followed up asking “In what way?”
He says “the hockey way”
Classic Kuch.
#GoBolts #NHLView quoted post on X
