Pro Tips with Steve Valiquette Analytics Founder Believes Compete (and Journaling) Crucial
Key Takeaways
- Only 250 players across all positions earn a Division One NCAA roster spot annually from 18,000 U.S. youth hockey registrants — roughly a one percent success rate.
- Valiquette identifies his age-16 summer training five hours a day at Toronto's Jim Park Goalie School as his single biggest year of development.
- Commit to doing more than everyone else — Valiquette argues extraordinary daily effort, not talent alone, is what separates players who reach high-level hockey.
- Journaling is highlighted as a key mental tool for goaltenders looking to track growth and reinforce belief in their development process.
- Analytics and compete are not opposites — Valiquette's data work at Clear Sight Analytics coexists with a strong belief in old-school work ethic for goalies.
Steve Valiquette loves the way numbers can help us understand the game of hockey.
The former New York Rangers goalie founded Clear Sight Analytics shortly after retiring in 2012, after all. But even though his most recent appearance on the InGoal Radio Podcast contained a LOT of numbers (did you know shots after forcing east-west movement with passes below the hash marks are up 42% in the NHL?), he had a lot to say about the hard work and compete that have to go into becoming the best goaltender you can be.
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