Too Serious, Too Soon: The Professionalization of Youth Hockey - EP 343

Merry Christmas fam! On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to answer a question from one of our listeners: how do you best coach really young players? What drills can you do to balance making it fun, but also continue to develop their skating and stick abilities? TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! Shout out to this Short Shifts supporter: SkateTech Skate Sharpening & Equipment Repair Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

This week Topher and Jeff talk with Drew Shore, former college and NHL player. This is a must listen episode for those aspiring to play high level hockey. In this episode we talk about: — How development is a process: find the best fitting program, not the flashiest — Earning more rope by working hard every day — The emotions of the game and trying to let things roll off your back — Shifting your mindset from “I have to do this” to “I get to do this” AND SO MUCH MORE! Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and Crossbar!  And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out! Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

On today’s FRIDAY FACEOFF episode, Toph and Vechs debate allowing icing on penalty kills at the youth level. Are you pro icing or pro non-icing? TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating, and share on your social sites! Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to talk about teams that have a wide range of skill and how to best coach the skill discrepancy. TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW!  We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! Shout out to this Short Shifts supporter: SkateTech Skate Sharpening & Equipment Repair Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

This week Topher and Jeff continue their heated discussion from our latest FRIDAY FACEOFF episode on AAA Mite Hockey. We had so much to say on that episode, that we had to keep it going and transition into the topic of the professionalization of youth hockey. In this episode we talk about: — The pressure to perform and how it’s making kids fall out of love with the game — Encouraging kids to diversify their skills by playing other sports — Making it despite the system, not because of it AND SO MUCH MORE! Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and Crossbar!  And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out! Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

On today’s FRIDAY FACEOFF episode, Toph and Vechs discuss the controversial topic of Mite AAA hockey. Pop in your headphones and buckle up as we got FIRED UP this episode. TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! (...plus a couple of minutes again, excuse our rant!) We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating, and share on your social sites! Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Vechs wants to talk about playing 4 on 4. We discuss defensive and offensive strategies that we recommend to master 4 on 4 play. TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW!  We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! Shout out to this Short Shifts supporter: SkateTech Skate Sharpening & Equipment Repair   Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

This week Topher and Jeff talk with guest Nick Robone, current University of Nevada, Las Vegas Men’s Ice Hockey Associate Head Coach. We cover so many different topics in this episode, it’s truly a listen for any player, parent, or coach of the game. In this episode we talk about: — Prioritizing relationships over the X’s and O’s in coaching — American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) hockey as a great option for kids looking to play college, but not at the D1 level — Robone being a victim of the Las Vegas shooting and how it influenced his outlook on hockey AND SO MUCH MORE! Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, CuredNutrition, Helios Hockey, and Crossbar!  And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out! Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

On today’s FRIDAY FACEOFF episode, Toph and Vechs discuss the cost of hockey. We asked on our socials if you can play Tier 1 hockey for less than $20,000 per year, and we received A LOT of responses, so let’s get this 🔥 conversation going. TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! (…plus a couple of minutes!) We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank

On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to talk about angling. We’ve talked about it a lot on the pod, but since angling is such a huge part of the game, it's time we dedicated a full episode to it. TEN MINUTES ON THE CLOCK STARTING NOW! We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating and share on your social sites! Shout out to this Short Shifts supporter: SkateTech Skate Sharpening & Equipment Repair Follow us: IG: @HockeyThinkTank X (Twitter): @HockeyThinkTank TikTok: @HockeyThinkTank Facebook: TheHockeyThinkTank