I enjoy inspirational and reflective quotations. They don’t solely have to come from athletes but from any accomplished individual and any historical era. Collectively, my favorite quotations come not from hockey but from arguably the greatest motivating coach in sport history – Vince Lombardi. It is with this in mind that I collect goalie quotations. I am certain some of these are familiar to you. For those of you who are not familiar with them, I hope you enjoy them and have a laugh. Share others with us in the comments section and tell us a story about what it means to you, how you came across it and when you cite it most often when talking hockey. Here’s a small collection to enjoy!

“There is no position in sport as noble as goaltending.” – Valdislav Tretiak

“Only a goalie can appreciate what a goalie goes through.” – Jacques Plante

“Goaltender is a normal job. Sure ! How would you like it if at your job, every time you made the slightest mistake a little red light went on over your head and 18,000 people stood up and screamed at you?” -Jacques Plante

“Most fans go wild when they see a goalie make what looks like a great save, but the chances are what they are seeing is a save that was made from being out of position.” – Mike Richter

“It is pretty tough for a goalie when you look at it. You’re always the last line of defense. If you let a goal in, you can’t go to the bench and hide between the guys or anything” – Kirk McLean

“Playing goal is like being shot at.” – Jacques Plante

“Goaltending is a suffering position. Your equipment protects you from injury, but not from pain, every time you go out there. And if you allow a goal, the red lights go on for everyone to see. But you get to be a hero too!” – Kevin Constantine

“It’s the only way I can support my family. If I could do it another way, I wouldn’t be playing goal.” – Glenn Hall

“The goalie is like the guy on the minefield. He discovers the mines and destroys them. If you make a mistake, somebody gets blown up.” – Arturs Irbe

“Because there wasn’t enough time to play 54” – Grant Fuhr , after being asked how he could play 36 holes of golf in the middle of the Stanley Cup Finals

“Sixty minutes of hell” – Glenn Hall

“Only Dunlop has seen more rubber than I have” – Dominik Hasek

“Quit while there is still time – at about 12 or 13 years of age!” – Gilles Gratton

“The pressure is unreal. Most of the goalkeepers they feel the pressure. The only ones that don’t worry are the ones too dumb to know what’s happening to them.” – Tony Esposito

“The quintessential bad-luck position. Pucks can go off bodies, skates, bounce into the net.” – Mike Liut

“The only job worse is a javelin catcher at a track- and- field meet.” – Lorne Worsley

“I’d like to hear them be a bit more creative, though. I’ve heard ‘you’re a sieve, you stink’ my whole life and you can tell it’s obviously affected me.” – Ryan Miller

“Little Alan Bester, I’ve often said, has seen more rubber than a dead skunk on the Trans-Canada highway.” – Don Cherry

“In biblical times, I stoned people to death. Now they are repaying me by hurling pucks at my head.” – Gilles Gratton

“Roses are red, violets are blue, they got ten, we only got two.” – Gerry Cheevers

“I can’t hear what Jeremy says because my ears are blocked with my two Stanley Cup Rings.” – Patrick Roy

“There’s an old saying that when it gets tough the tough get going. You have to work your way through these things.” – Ed Belfour

“I don’t fear stopping a 100 mph slap shot. I fear not stopping it!” – Roberto Luongo

“If you focus on your technique and your technique is perfect, you will have success.” – Benoit Allaire

“Sometimes you can press a little bit and you’re trying to do too much and you’re trying too hard. You want to win so bad and you want to help the team so badly that you end up trying too much instead of letting the play come to you.” – Ed Belfour

“I play a position where you make mistakes. The only people that don’t make them at a hockey game are the people watching.” – Patrick Roy

“The day they put me in net I had a good game. I’ve stayed there ever since.” – Terry Sawchuk

“I’d like to thank my teammates. Without them , I can’t win the Vezina Trophy. Goaltending is the most team dependant position that there is in hockey.” – Tim Thomas

“Because the demands on the goalie are mostly mental, it means that for a goalie the biggest enemy is himself. Not a puck, not a opponent, not a quirk of size or style. The stress and anxiety he feels when he plays, the fear of failing, the fear of being embarrassed, the fear of being physically hurt, all symptoms of his position, in constant ebb and flow, but never disappearing. The successful goalie understands these neuroses, accept them, and put them under control. The unsuccessful goalie is distracted by them, his mind in knots. His body quickly follows.” – Ken Dryden

“I would always ask myself, ‘do you like to practice? ‘ And I always enjoy going to practice, and that’s why I never quit.” – Tim Thomas

“You don’t have to be crazy to play goal, but it helps.” – Bernie Parent

“Nobody wanted to win more than I did. Nobody !” – Ed Giacomin

“The Rangers!” – Lorne Worsley , then New York Ranger Goaltender, when asked which team gave him the most problems.

“Goaltending beats top notch scoring anytime!” – Eddie Giacomin

“We are the short of people that make health insurance popular.” – Terry Sawchuk

“My focus was always first and foremost to stop the puck. I never let the other players on the other team get to me.” – Andy Moog

“I just made up my mind I was going to lose teeth and have my face cut to pieces. It was easy.” – Johnny Bower , on deciding to become a goalie

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” –Vince Lombardi

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge but rather a lack of will.” –Vince Lombardi

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Over at the InGoal Facebook page in recent days we’ve been hosting some impromptu quizzes…we’ve posted small clips from photos and asked people to guess who they come from. If you aren’t following us on Facebook – please do! Until then, here are the shots – hit the comments below and let us know the answers. You’re on your honour – don’t check out Facebook until you have tried these.

A. Which NHL goalie is this?

B. What are we looking at here – and who does it belong to?

C. Again, which NHL goalie is this from?

D. Whose mask does this come from – and who is it?

E. This is Ondrej Pavelec’s gear – whose “autograph” is that on the blocker? Why?

F. Finally, this piece of gear recently arrived at the InGoal Offices for testing. What is it?

If you enjoyed that - go to the InGoal Magazine Facebook page and “like” us to follow along next time.

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Entries for the Warrior Custom Goal Equipment Contest are now closed. Thank you to all who participated. The three winners will be announced at InGoalMag.com as soon as they have all been contacted successfully.

Ken DeNardo Photo, All rights reserved

The Warrior Ritual Custom Pro Gear contest is almost over. Entries close on December 31st. If you aren’t signed up yet, go and register now. There are three sets of gear up for giveaway – you can be one of the first goalies outside the NHL to wear this exciting new line.

In addition to a free entry, InGoal and Warrior have also given everyone a chance for a bonus entry. And today we’re introducing one last chance for a bonus entry – a scavenger hunt.

So here it is…you’ll need a few links to find what you need.

Warrior’s hockey page on the web

The InGoal review video of the Ritual pads and the review of the Ritual gloves.

The Ritual review in the InGoal Magazine December Edition

With those resources, simply answer the questions and complete the form below – along with your original entry to the contest, you’ll have a free bonus entry.

Form has been removed – contest closed

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This is the fourth of four quizzes in a series. If you haven’t tried quiz #1 or quiz #2 , or quiz #3 you should give them a go as well!

Late last season Vancouver's Roberto Luongo asked the coaches to see that Corey Schnieder got into enough games to see his name on the Jennings Trophy with Luongo. The number of appearances required to qualify is the answer to just one of the 25 questions in this quiz.

This quiz will be a real challenge to anyone who has only been following the game in recent years – but it will be a great chance to begin to learn a bit about the history of the game. When you’re done how about leaving a note in the comments and tell us how you did?

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The road to the top of the professional hockey world is a very long and bumpy one. It requires a lot of talent, hard work, dedication, perseverance, timing and luck. This article will discuss the Everest-like mountain climb up which all goaltenders must journey to get to the top.

Regardless of your fate in hockey, we all start and end in the same place. We all start in House League and everyone, including the Hall of Famers, if they continue playing, end in the Beer Leagues. What happens between these two ends of the spectrum is based on many variables. Some, you control yourself. Others, leave your ambitious dream to the fate, circumstances and decisions of other people. The diagram provided illustrates the long and difficult climb which any young goaltender must navigate to reach the top of the goaltending profession. Let us look at this journey in some detail.

Everything begins in minor hockey which can range in caliber depending on community size and player availability. Minor hockey is also the longest and arguably, the best part of the journey. It is here that your love of the game grows, many life lessons are learned and lasting friendships are forged. It is during these formative years that most of your skill development will and must happen. You must develop all the specific technical skills and attributes necessary to be successful as a goaltender (Ed. note: although, like Chris Osgood you never stop learning). It is not really important at what level you play to begin with since many excellent players come from smaller communities and towns. What is important is access to a lot of ice time and quality instruction; however, at some point if you are progressing well you may think about relocating to a ‘AAA’ centre to play against better competition and gain some exposure for yourself. The reality is that almost all goaltenders who go on to higher levels are initially seen in the ‘AAA’ stream.

During the formative years, training cannot be limited to technical development. Becoming an elite goaltender requires much more. Scouts and recruiters are searching far more frequently first for strong athletes with a great attitude. As the saying goes, “technique can be taught and improved, but attitude cannot.” You should also be developing general athletic skills such a agility, balance and improved coordination through a multi-sport approach. You actually will help your progress as a goaltender by participating in a wide variety of sports. You will encounter different auditory and kinesthetic stimuli that will develop your neuro-muscular systems. Time away from the arena is also part of any well planned 52-week periodized developmental program.

Being introduced to sports psychology is also beneficial to a goaltender’s progress and long-term survival. Unfortunately, this is an area ignored by many coaches. Why? They either do not understand the merits of time invested in this part of athletic growth or do not have any training or knowledge of the discipline. Confidence, focus, re-focus, and dealing with adversity are but some of the topics with which a goaltender must become well-versed.

A final area of importance is actually learning how to play the game! Technique is a wonderful thing but reading, reacting and anticipation are an entirely different set of attributes. There are mechanical drills for practicing techniques. There are tactical drills which will teach you (through failure and success) to look for off-puck options and to develop feel and anticipation. Finally, competition and experience will eventually lead the goaltender to see the game going on in front of him/her.

After many years of minor hockey, you arrive at your major junior draft year. This is a crossroads point for many players. Some lose interest in the game while others gain greater interest in things such as high school sports, earning money, partying with friends and of course the opposite gender. This is also the time when you will start, or will have already started, the transition from multisport athlete to a sport specialist. Due to anatomical, physiological and endocrine changes to your body typical of this age, you may now start to place a greater emphasis on off-ice training while continuing your on ice skill development. For those players who have worked diligently you hope that your name will be called on draft day. However, even if you are selected, it is important to understand that most goaltenders drafted by CHL (WHL/OHL/QMJHL) clubs will never play in these leagues.

For goalies going undrafted, DO NOT give up! THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER OPTIONS. The road remains a difficult one but part of becoming successful in hockey is the persistence to continue in the face of adversity. If you really want it, you will have to fight for it. Remember, some goaltenders start with great promise and fade with time (To this effect, I am reminded of an expression I learned from one of my surgical professors who said, “today’s promise is tomorrow’s disappointment!”). Other goaltenders may be overlooked or are under-rated at draft time. They nevertheless persist through the system, and continue to develop and grow. With success, they eventually go on to greater opportunities.

In Canada, opportunities exist from junior ‘A’ through junior ‘C’. The majority of these clubs allow anyone to try out for a fee. In many cases this is just a fund-raising opportunity for the clubs since they have pre-determined the majority of their roster including goaltenders prior to the commencement of training camp. All you can do is go out and try to get someone’s attention and sometimes a diamond in the rough is found.

In the United States there are equally viable junior options including the NAHL (North American Hockey League) and USHL (United States Hockey League). The USHL is the only US-based Tier I hockey league. The league is presently thriving and boasts an ever growing number of Division I scholarship recipients and NHL draftees, including goaltenders.

The NAHL is the largest US-based junior ‘A’ league. Its mandate is to showcase midget and junior-aged players for subsequent progression to collegiate and professional ranks. The league’s success includes goaltenders presently employed in the NHL, including one Hobey Baker award winner.

Two final options for undrafted players include both US and Canadian-based prep school programs or returning to minor hockey at the midget level.

Conversely, if you do get drafted by a major junior club–that’s great! However, just remember a few things:

1. There are only two goalies on each team so there are not a lot of positions available with which to begin.
2. You will usually only see a couple of under-aged goaltenders good enough to crack these lineups. This tells you that the CHL is generally a league for slightly older goalies. This is because the competitive level is higher and it is a serious business. You could potentially be facing players four to five years older than you. This can be very difficult especially if you have a poor team in front of you!! If you decide to go this route you should be prepared to work very hard in practice and sit on the bench most of your rookie season to pay your dues. However, major junior hockey is generally the quickest and most direct route to the professional ranks.
3. If you play, you are now ineligible for the NCAA. The reason a player loses NCAA eligibility by playing major junior hockey is that this level is NOT considered amateur athletics.

Despite being drafted, the possibility also exists of playing junior ‘A’ or junior ‘B’ hockey for a club affiliated with the major junior team by whom you were drafted. This option has worked out for many goaltenders. It provides you with the opportunity to play against higher caliber players and should allow for continued development since you are actually playing (and not riding the pines!). If you have a choice then play Junior ‘A’ and not below. Why? The caliber of play, the attitudes and expectations are always higher at junior ‘A’ than at lower levels. Furthermore, Junior ‘A’ clubs usually have larger budgets which allow for specialist coaches and daily ice-time versus no coaching and only one or two practices per week for a junior ‘B’ or ‘C’ team.

As illustrated in the diagram, many players also move back and forth between these lower level junior leagues and the CHL.

Eventually you arrive at your NHL eligible draft date. You could be playing at any level of junior or collegiate hockey but most players drafted come from the CHL, NCAA or from Europe. Once again, things may or may not go your way. You are getting closer to the top of the mountain and the competition is stiffer. The majority of goaltenders who play major junior, junior ‘A’, NCAA Division I or CIAU hockey will never get drafted to the NHL. Each club only has so many draft picks and a lot of time and effort is invested in trying to make the correct decisions. Some teams also prefer not to develop goaltenders and would rather obtain them through trade or free agency signings. This may lower the number of goaltenders selected. As mentioned, you also have to contend with an ever growing pool of goaltending talent available overseas. Some of these goalies will even be playing junior hockey in Canada or the United States under European import rules.

If your name is not called at draft time the journey can still continue. Undrafted goaltenders are frequently offered invitations to rookie camps as free agents. If you signed as a free agent you will have to start in a minor-pro league and work your way through the system by beating other guys into which clubs may have invested more originally. If you were playing in the WHL, OHL or QMJHL and you remain undrafted another option exists. You could take your educational package and attend a Canadian university with a solid CIAU hockey program and further your development and future opportunities while getting an education. Otherwise, professional opportunities may be available overseas. However, it is important to note that a CHL educational package is rendered null and void if, at any point, you sign any type of professional contract!! Undrafted NCAA Division I graduates can also explore minor-pro or foreign options once their eligibility has expired.

It is equally important to note that the majority of goaltenders that are drafted to the National Hockey League initially return to the junior ranks and ultimately have to battle in minor professional leagues just like their competitors signed through free agency.

Please look at the diagram and see some of the journeys other goaltenders have taken:

1. Ray Emery started out in Junior ‘C’ hockey and eventually reached the OHL’s Sault St. Marie Greyhounds. He was drafted in the 4th round by the Ottawa Senators. He has played in the AHL,NHL and KHL.
2. Thomas McCollom was playing Junior ‘B’ hockey in Buffalo. He had some success and went on to play major junior hockey in the OHL . He then played for the US National junior team and was drafted in the 1st round by the Detroit Red Wings. He continues his battle in the ECHL and AHL.
3. Many great goaltenders including Grant Fuhr (1st round), Patrick Roy (3rd round) and Martin Brodeur (1st round) played elite minor hockey, were drafted to major junior clubs and then by NHL clubs. Their stories are well documented.
4. Curtis Joseph was not drafted to the OHL. He played junior ‘A’ hockey in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Thereafter, he attended Notre Dame College (Prep School) in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. He received a scholarship to Wisconsin University (NCAA Division I) and after being bypassed in the NHL draft signed with the St. Louis Blues as a free agent.
5. Mike Ouzas, a former OHL goaltender of the year, was not drafted to the NHL. He took his CHL educational package and attended the University of New Brunswick and won a CIAU national men’s hockey championship. He was given a free agent contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and continues to battle in the AHL and ECHL.
6. Jonas Hiller was a star in the Swiss Elite league and signed with the Anaheim Ducks as a free agent. He is presently their starting goaltender.
7. Jaroslav Halak, a Slovakian national was drafted in the 9th round by the Montreal Canadiens. He played in the ECHL, AHL and eventually made it to the NHL.
8. Carey Price (1st round) had a successful major junior career prior to being drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. He won a Calder Cup championship in the AHL prior to arriving in the NHL.
9. Marty Turco (5th round) and Ed Belfour (free agent) both played NCAA Division I hockey prior to becoming NHL goaltenders.
10. Philip Grubauer, a German national, completed his major junior career in the OHL as an import. He won the 2010 Memorial Cup as a member of the Windsor Spitfires. He was drafted by the Washington Capitals (4th round) .
11. Ty Conklin and Dan Ellis played in the USHL prior to moving on to collegiate and then professional careers.
12. Several goaltenders including Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings) and Hobey Baker award winner Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) developed in the NAHL prior to moving up the goaltending ranks. They are currently the starting goaltenders for their respective clubs.

Everest photo by "haxhaven" via Flickr

Everything at the junior level and beyond is about winning and your opportunities, or the lack thereof, are all performance-based. At the truly elite level, goaltenders have a combination of size, great mobility, excellent technique and are highly competitive in nature. The difference between making it over the “Hillary Step” (Everest reference) and reaching the summit of the profession is very difficult. Like Mount Everest with its quickly changing weather, the window of opportunity is often also a narrow one in goaltending. It is a difficult life of two-way contracts, one week contracts, one game contracts, and opportunities that rightly or wrongly can seem more than a little unfair. You may earn no more than $300 per week and you can be replaced in a second’s notice without explanation. You may travel from small town to small town on a bus and get nothing for dinner except a couple of slices of pizza or a sub sandwich. You live out of a suitcase and may leave loved ones behind making family life difficult at best. You hope for an injury to provide you with an opportunity to advance but an injury may just as well end it for you. As you can see by the diagram, and personal stories provided, there are many way to goaltending’s summit. The odds of making it to the top of the profession are slim. While fortunately the journey is not life-threatening but it is nevertheless an exhausting Everest-like climb.

In conclusion, I am reminded of the personal story of Rick Knickle. Mr. Knickle played 17 seasons of minor-professional hockey for 18 different clubs in 5 different leagues. In February of 1993 his persistence was rewarded when he was called up by the LA Kings to replace an injured Kelly Hrudey. He won his first NHL start versus the Tampa Bay Lightening , ultimately playing only 14 NHL games in total. He was quoted as saying, “After all these years in the minors, playing in every little town and all those bus rides, it was all worth it.”

NB: I wish to thank my friend Mitch Korn of the Nashville Predators for making valuable suggestions subsequent to the initial draft of this article!

Everest photo thanks to Haxhaven

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We have a winner in the Passau Hockey / InGoal Giveaway.

Tim Pancioli of Commerce, MI is the lucky winer of a $450 Passau Chest/Arm uint- and he’s a university student so I’m sure it will be a welcome addition to his gear living on a tight budget!

Tim’s name was randomly selected by Passau’s own Hugo Beaudry. After we compiled a list of over 1900 entries Hugo picked a rondom number – 1230 to be exact – and that matched up with Tim – a bonus entry he gained in fact for completing one of our challenges.

Stay tuned for more InGoal giveaways – we’ve got  several more planned – once we get the excitement of the Finals behind us!

Special thanks to Hugo and Passau Hockey for their support!

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Contest is now closed and a winner is being contacted! Thank you for entering.

Last chance to gain bonus entries to the contest!

InGoal and Passau Hockey have recently brought you another fantastic giveaway – a new Passau Chest/Arm unit worth $450!

By just entering your email address you are entered into our random draw taking place on June 1st.

So far we have over 1400 entries in the contest!!!

We also have given you ways to gain extra chances to win.

• Friend Passau on Facebook and you gain a second free entry!
• Like InGoal Magazine on Facebook and you gain yet another free entry:

• We also gave you a web site scavenger hunt to gain another entry.

Is it worth trying these? Absolutely! We’re amazed how few of you have taken us up on these extra entry offers…it’s amazing how hard it is to give things away! So if you’ve entered…go grab those extra chances…

Today we are unveiling the last chance to gain extra opportunities to win. It’s a bit of a “freestyle” chance….

Let people know about the contest in any way you want. Just let us know on the form below the email you used to enter the contest and what you did to promote it. You’ll get one extra entry for trying just about anything…but do something that really rocks our server logs and gets people visiting InGoal and we’ll award you lots of bonus entries…as many as 10 for really grabbing our attention.

What can you do?

• Follow @inGoalMedia, @dhutchis and @kevinisingoal on twitter and then go tweet about Passau and InGoal
• Make a video about why you want to win and post it on youtube.
• Put up a poster in your local rink and send us a photo of it.
• Tell all your goalie friends about the contest…
• Post a notice on one of the goalie forums on the internet
• Post something about the contest on a Facebook goalie group.
• Use your imagination!

Contest closes when the puck drops Wednesday for the Stanley Cup Final – Luongo vs. Thomas!

Good luck to everyone.

Contest closed – Entry form removed

Thanks to Passau Hockey for sponsoring this giveaway.

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Contest is now closed and a winner is being contacted! Thank you for entering.

New ways to gain more chances to win!

Not long ago we unveiled the latest InGoal giveaway – sponsored by PAssau Hockey. We’re joining together to give one lucky reader a Passau Chest/Arm unit – a fantastic piece of gear worth $450.

If you haven’t signed up – go do it now. All you have to do is enter your name and email address. We won’t share it with anyone, ever. Promise. But come back when you’re done. There’s more.

But there’s more here than just a sign up and forget it…each week we’re bringing you new ways to join in on the fun.

Last week we let you get two extra entries in the contest.

Go friend Passau on Facebook.

Go Like InGoal on Facebook:

Amazingly…despite emailing every entrant in the contest less than half the people have bothered to do this! So it’s well worth your while to go and do those two things now…but come back!

Now today we have another way to gain an extra entry…

Please visit the Passau web site for a little scavenger hunt… and don’t forget – you can change the language in the upper right hand corner. Find the answers to these three questions:

1. What is the weight of the Chest unit?
2. The pads have a boot taper in four sizes…standard, 1/2” and 1”. What is the fourth?
3. How many straps INSIDE the trapper hold the hand in place?

And for one more entry we’d like you to check out the new InGoal online magazine. If you haven’t seen it yet it’s found at:

http://magazine.InGoalMag.com

4. Who is the goaltender on page 10?

Enter your answers here along with the email address you used to enter the contest.

Contest Closed. Form removed.

Thanks to Passau Hockey for sponsoring this giveaway.

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Our good friends at farparker.com have two things going that should interest lots of InGoal readers:

First, if you’d like a chance to win a signed Roberto Luongo Olympic jersey just go “like” farparker’s Facebook page. The give-away will only happen if they hit 200 “likes” and aren’t there yet so if they do – your odds of winning will be pretty solid!

Go and like farparker.com on Facebook now.

You could be a winner and the odds will be great!

Second, you can help support HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER by purchasing one of farparker’s calendars.  It’s a great hockey-related opportunity to give.

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During the past couple of seasons I have had the opportunity on four separate occasions to watch four different coaches take a chance on altering team chemistry in a similar fashion. Let me explain the situation and hopefully raise some thought for debate amongst the readers of this article.

During the 2008-2009 season at the Minor Pee Wee ‘AA’ and Minor Bantam ‘AA’ levels I saw coaches attempt to take on players at some point of the season past try-outs when these players became available to their respective associations.

The first coach had a meeting with the parent group of his ‘AA’ team to see if they were willing to bring this player on in mid-stream. Ultimately, the parent group agreed to bring the player on the team both because they knew he would help the team win and secondly because the kid needed a break due to some personal circumstances.

At the Minor Bantam ‘AA’ level a poor decision was made to cut a former ‘AAA’ player and he went all the way down to the ‘A’ level. A player then moved out of town prior to commencement of the season and the coach wanted to bring back the former ‘AAA’ player he had cut. As with the first coach, this coach asked the parent group for their approval. This parent group took a different approach and chose not to welcome this player even though he would have been the 9th skating forward. These parents chose to be down one player and get more ice time for their own children as opposed to the team above. The coach respected their decision.

During the 2007-2008 season, at Major Pee Wee ‘AAA’, a boy moved into town mid-season and wanted to join the local ‘AAA’ club. Again, the coach did ask permission from the parent group regarding a decision. The coach absolutely wanted the player on the team. The player was a defenseman and some of the parents of defensemen were opposed to the decision. The coach ultimately took the player on anyway.

The final example of this scenario comes from a Major Pee Wee ‘AAA’ team this past season. This team had an excellent season winning two tournaments, a league championship and a provincial championship bronze medal (I was the goaltending coach). Prior to the provincial championship tournament the coach unilaterally brought up two APs to play for the team. He did this without asking the parent group or without the permission of the association. These players did help the hockey club secure the bronze medal but they got more ice time than a couple of the weaker regular players who had fought through the entire season. Some parents did complain to the association’s executive members but the season was essentially over.

Here are some relevant questions for debate sake:

1.Do you, or do you not, take a chance on altering team chemistry when you bring on players who have not been through the try-out process and the battle of a tough season just for the sake of winning?
2.What message are you sending the players that you chose at the time of try-outs?
3.What Pandora’s box are you potentially opening with the parents of all the other players?
4.Will their be arguments?
5.Will their be parent coaching from the stands to counteract the coach’s decision and how much will that affect tactical play?
6.Does the coach need the permission of the association or (once he has the job) does he have to autonomy to make these decisions unilaterally?
7.Is winning more important in minor hockey than the self-esteem of young athletes?
8.Will the team accept or reject the new individual in the dressing room and will he / she fit in or be a cancer?

In junior hockey, and in the professional ranks, the objective is to win and win at ALL costs. Furthermore, at the junior level and beyond, hockey is a business and the decisions organizations make are based on winning and whether a player can help that team win. Minor hockey is different in my opinion. If you have chosen someone to play at the competitive level and the parents have paid good money, I believe you deserve to play. You may not deserve equal ice-time but to get past over by someone who has not been there the entire season is something about which a lot of parents will be extremely angry. If you find yourself in this situation (as a coach) the least you should do is to have a meeting with the parents and respect their opinions as a democratic majority. I say this for the following reason. If the AP is a good D-man then I have found that all the parents of the forwards are generally in favor of the addition and all the D-parents are against it. Why ? Obviously because it affects their child’s ice-time. How would you feel as a goalie parent if the coach wanted to bring in a 3rd goalie for a championship run ? Clearly you would not be happy and therefore if you, as a parent, find yourself voting on a situation like this try and take into consideration the thoughts and concerns of others.

Do I like to win? Yes, but not all costs. The time to make personnel changes is at the try-outs and if a player is disappointing you throughout the entire season get rid of him for the following season The optics in a situation like this are quite easy to determine and especially the coach has to be careful how to proceed and ultimately come to a decision.

Remember the movie Miracle and how Herb Brooks brought in a player late in the team evaluation process ? He was playing psychologically with his players minds and they got offended by the move. They did not want this player around since they had all bonded already and felt they were a united family. Brooks got the answer he was looking for and dismissed the new player.

In the end, remember to consider different factors when pondering such a move as a coach or parent. If players are injured that is an entirely different matter but remember TEAM CHEMISTRY is an EXTREMELY important component of a championship team and can be a very fragile thing!!

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