USA Hockey

Use these coaching strategies to push your players to be the best they can be.

Most athlete development experts suggest that it’s much better to move at the correct pace in your development process and not try to artificially speed it up. Q&A WITH COLLEGE HOCKEY INC. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MIKE SNEE Speed is such a critical component of today’s game.But when it comes to player development and preparing for the […]

“When you put that uniform on, you better come to work. We will be perfect in every aspect of the game.” The film, Remember the Titans, tells an inspiring and uplifting tale of a sports team coming together and achieving the highest level of accomplishment against seemingly unprecedented odds. The team’s coach Herman Boone pushes the […]

“Shoot pucks in different areas — close to your feet, away from you, receiving it and shooting it or one-timing it,” Hastings said. “You can do that with balls, you can do that with pucks.” For most hockey players, it’s now the offseason. That means our youngsters should be taking a break from the ice […]

Stick movement exercises with different sizes and weight implements: small medicine balls, large marbles, smaller pucks, weighted pucks, etc. Jim Radcliffe was the strength and conditioning coach for the gold medal-winning 2018 U.S. Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team, and has more than 30 years of experience at the University of Oregon. He’s played a significant […]

Managing their emotions on a daily basis is really important. The skill level piece of teaching the game, how every kid is on a different level – every kid learns at a different pace and every kid is motivated by something a little bit different. Coaching Q-and-A: Northeastern’s Berman praises small-area games, warns against early […]

It’s not just happening in hockey. It’s happening in all youth sports. It’s happening at home, too – screen time is through the roof with iPads, phones, computers, Fortnite and so on. Can your kid do a right-handed cartwheel? A somersault? Can they throw a baseball or a football? Do they know how to skip? […]

“Guys like that are out there possessing the puck,” Gosselin said. “That’s what we do today. That’s the way the game is played, and that’s what we’re promoting.” In 2011, USA Hockey rocked the youth hockey world by delaying legal body-checking from Peewees (ages 11-12) until Bantams (13-14) for boys. While most have accepted and […]

By playing multiple sports, kids will avoid burnout and overuse injuries, all while developing other skills and all-around athleticism that will ultimately translate into being a better hockey player. “I’ve never really been a one-sport kind of guy.” That’s been Hermantown native and New York Rangers blue-liner Neal Pionk’s stance on being more than just hockey […]