Canada’s silver medal
performance at this
year’s World Junior Hockey
Championship has silenced the criticism of Canada’s hockey system that resounded after last year’s disastrous eighth place finish at the
tournament.
But some coaches and hockey administrators
believe Canadians still lag
behind Europeans in skill
development.
Bobby Lowes attended a few of the games at this year’s world
juniors, which were held in and around Winnipeg. The head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings was stunned at how every player on the Russian squad skated and handled the puck with the same dexterity during warm-ups, whereas there was a
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big disparity in skill level
between the players and the scorers on the Canadian team.
Lowes has first-hand experience dealing with players trained under both systems. He has two Europeans on his squad. Although some elite Canadian kids are as skilled as the Europeans gliding around the WHL, the majority of them can’t keep up, said Lowes. He believes the problem stems from a lack of
practice in the minor leagues.
“We might get into team play with our kids maybe way too soon. It’s funny, we seem to want to play lots of games. I think games are
important, but I also think practice is important.”
It is a sentiment shared by minor hockey league coaches and officials. Kids often play more than they practice, despite the Canadian Hockey Association’s recommended one-to-one practice-to-game ratio.
Doug Hergenhein coaches the Airdrie Xtreme, an Alberta AAA bantam hockey club. After watching the last two World Juniors, he is convinced that Canada is falling behind countries like Russia in term of fundamentals like puck-handling, skating and passing.
“We’ve got to get back to the basics, teaching these kids the development side from the younger age all the way up.”
But even where there is a desire for more practice time, resources are limited. His crew of 14 and
15-year-olds struggles to maintain a one-to-one practice-to-game ratio.
“There’s so darn many teams out there,” said Hergenhein.
What precious time is available at the local rink is doled out in one-hour chunks.
“By the time you hit the ice and stretch out and everything it sure doesn’t give you a lot of time to work with them and develop these kids.”
Most rural rinks face less demand for ice time than a larger community like Airdrie, which is on the outskirts of Calgary. Yet practice time is still limited because parents and volunteer coaches aren’t interested in practices, said Kelly McClintock, executive director of the Saskatchewan Hockey Association.
“It’s a lot more fun for a parent to watch a hockey game than it is to watch a practice. Ultimately that sometimes becomes the deciding factor as to whether they practice or play games.”
In Canada there has always been a philosophy that kids should be playing, not practising, said
McClintock. It’s not uncommon for kids under 10 years of age to play one game during the week and up to five during a weekend tournament. It leaves no time to squeeze in a practice.
“It’s sometimes very difficult to educate parents that kids don’t learn during games. A kid may only touch the puck an average of maybe 40 seconds or a minute at most during a hockey game.”
European clubs approach the game with a soccer mentality where they practise daily and play once a week, said McClintock.
Bobby Lowes believes it is time the Canadian Hockey Association refocused its minor league
program, maintaining the gritty character of Canadian hockey but allowing more time for effective practice drills.
The CHA is very much on-side with that idea. There is a proposal before the board of directors to
enforce a two-to-one practice to game ratio throughout the minor hockey system. Mark Howell
realizes it will be a tough sell to parents because it means decreasing the number of games the youngsters play.
“We don’t have the ice time to increase practices without taking away games,” said Howell, the CHA’s manager of minor hockey.
The new system won’t require any more time on the part of parents and volunteer coaches, but instead of playing 50 games a year kids will play 25.
“Instead of having two games and one practice, you might have two practices and one game.”
It’s a matter of educating parents about the value of practices. That’s part of the reason the CHA has increased its communication department from one to five people. The idea is to get parents, coaches and minor hockey officials to buy into the program instead of ramming it down their throats, said Howell.
He figures it will be a three-to-five year process, but even if it takes 10 the CHA is committed to the idea.
“We’re not just going to let it die.”
