Episode 364 Parents: Lessons from the USA Hockey Goaltending Symposium

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More thoughts from the USA Hockey Goal Tending Symposium through the eyes of David Hutchison and the parent segment brought to us by Stop It Goal Tending U the app.

Boy, I can tell you there was so much experience at this USA Hockey Goal Tending Symposium and Hutch is gonna get into it from a parent perspective what he saw in this week's segment. But if you want twenty five years of NHL goalie coaching experience at your fingertips, if you wanna tap into the goalie parenting expertise that helped Joey Decord reach the NHL, that's what you get with his subscription to Stop It Goal Tending U, the app. All the knowledge from Brian Decord has been an NHL goalie coach, scout and director, as well as all the insights and expertise from his staff at Stop It, which includes a long list of veteran NCAA coaches and guys working in pro. All delivered in easy digest chunks including five short daily primers, weekly style analysis and breakdown videos, and drills you can take on the ice with your team and coach. Plus, you get an InGoal premium subscription included.

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Impressions as a parent of the USA Hockey Goal Tending Symposium. Here's David Hutchison.

As you know, of course, by now, Kevin and I spent a weekend in Boston at the USA Hockey Goaltending Symposium, and I left with one overwhelming feeling. Our kids are in good hands. It's a bold statement in a sport that often gives parents plenty of reasons to worry. Hockey certainly has its warts and goalie parents know them as well as anyone. But after three days at the USA Hockey Symposium surrounded by coaches, researchers, administrators, parents, and goalies, I couldn't shake the feeling that there's a lot of good people doing good work on behalf of our kids.

It wasn't one presentation or one conversation that left me feeling that way. It was the culture. As hockey parents, and goalie parents especially, we gather in dark corners of rinks and we complain a lot. My kid doesn't get enough support. Who were these people running our sport?

It's all politics. We've all heard those conversations, and yep, many of us have taken part in them. Last weekend though, I had the privilege of spending three days with more than a 150 coaches and a full team of USA hockey staff. This wasn't a fringe gathering of goalie nerds tucked away in a meeting room. USA hockey presidents and past presidents were there too supporting the position and the people leading it.

So how is that now politics? Well, because it never felt like politics. It felt like an organization with everybody pulling in the same direction. 5130, well, it's certainly an ambitious vision, but beneath it is something much simpler, growing the position and improving goaltending from the grassroots up. As parents, we often judge youth hockey by the rink we're standing in today.

The symposium reminded me that there's a much bigger picture. There are people dedicating themselves to make tomorrow's hockey experience better than today's. We don't always see that work, but it's happening. The presenters range from names you'll all recognize, of course, NHL, PWHL, and international coaches to academics and local goalie coaches who had invested countless hours into research projects designed to advance the position. Their gold level coaching certification presentations covered topics like finding our future goalies, helping smaller goalies play big, goalie retention research, and many more.

There is this underlying theme that kept surfacing throughout the weekend as well, whether it was intentional or not, and that's develop athletes first. Teach kids to solve problems. Let them make decisions in dynamic situations. Give them room to explore instead of over programming every moment. As the speed and skill of shooters continue to rise, the thinking was clear.

We need smarter, more adaptable goaltenders, not simply better technicians. But one of the moments that stayed with me the most didn't happen during a presentation at all. I had the chance to spend some time talking with Jeremy Swayman's longtime coach at the University of Maine, Delphi Michaud. He talked about much more than goaltending, of course. And as he described the culture they tried to build and the responsibility coaches have to help shape young people, I caught myself having an unexpected thought.

I wish my son could have spent time in a program like that. Not because I thought it would make him a better goalie, but because I thought it would make him an even better young man. As a parent, I don't know that I could pay a coach a higher compliment. Now culture matters. That same feeling carried throughout the entire weekend.

Watching Colin Delia work on the ice, well, that was impressive. Meeting him afterwards left an even bigger impression. We'd never met before, but instantly, he had me talking goaltending as though we were colleagues had known each other for years. There wasn't an air of NHL goalie about him. He was just somebody who genuinely loves the position and enjoys talking about it.

Katie Burt also left me with the same impression. Outstanding coach on the ice, and despite somehow never having crossed paths before, she wandered over to our booth a couple of different times simply to talk goaltending. No agenda, no rush, just another conversation with someone who clearly loves the position. None of those were isolated moments. Reflected the atmosphere of the entire symposium.

Coaches had driven or flown from literally every corner of The United States and indeed, the world. Parents had brought their goalies from across the country. Professional goaltenders gave us part of their summer to help coaches become better teachers, researchers openly shared ideas, and administrators listened. More than anything though, I felt like I'd become part of something special. There was expertise everywhere, ego was almost nowhere.

Now I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the research surrounding intermediate sized nets. If you've listened to the InGoal Radio Podcast over the years, you know I've been banging the small net drum since 2019. Like many topics in youth hockey, it's become surprisingly polarizing, or perhaps it's not surprising. The former graduate researcher in me loved seeing the research, but it wasn't the statistics that truly convinced me. It was the video.

Watching side by side footage of games played with intermediate sized nets versus regular have produced one of those rare moments where you stop taking notes and simply think, well, that settles it. You can immediately see young goalies playing the position the way we teach it instead of simply trying to survive guarding a six by four net. At the same time, shooters were being challenged to create and finish quality scoring chances instead of simply firing pucks at 24 square feet guarded by a nine year old body. Whether you agree with intermediate nets or not, that almost misses the point. What gave me confidence wasn't the conclusion, it was the process.

Good people asking hard questions, gathering evidence, challenging assumptions. It's exactly how our sports should evolve. While the coaches were the primary focus of the symposium, there was also a day dedicated to parents and goalies who were invited to observe the sessions, visit the trade show as well. It gave me the opportunity to meet many of you in person, which is always one of the highlights of these events. Thank you so much to everybody who stopped by and said hi.