The Influence of Darryl Belfry
If you’ve clicked to get here, you’re likely familiar with Patrick Kane, Auston Matthews, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Mat Barzal, John Tavares, Dylan Larkin, and Claude Giroux.
They all have one thing in common. All are clients of skills coach Darryl Belfry.
Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with Darryl on our podcast. This post is a brief primer about Darryl and the impact he’s had on each of us individually.
Who is Darryl Belfry?
Darryl Belfry is one of the best minds in our sport, and certainly one of the most progressive voices in the game.
He has been a pioneer in the Player Development space and has forged a path from youth hockey to the 1% of the 1% of the NHL. He started working with Patrick Kane at a young age and helped develop him into arguably the greatest American hockey player of all time. While retaining an impressive roster of clients, he works as a consultant with the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and the Chicago Steel (USHL).
Dan and I could both go on and on about how Darryl has helped transform the game and player development. He’s a true innovator and thought leader who has continually found ways to create value for his players and push the game in a positive direction.
A hearty endorsement of his recent book, “Belfry Hockey: Strategies to Teach the World's Best Athletes”
Books are awesome. I’m a huge believer that every time I purchase a book I’m stealing knowledge. It’s an inexpensive way to gain insight and wisdom into the greatest minds. Where else can you get someone’s life’s work and experiences distilled in one place for under $30?
We cannot recommend “Belfry Hockey: Strategies to Teach the World’s Best Athletes” enough. It’s simply the most thorough, enjoyable read we’ve had in a long time.
With the holidays right around the corner, we’ve been asking all of our podcast guests for book recommendations. You can check them all out over at our website under “Book Recs”
Hockey IQ Podcast
You can find our episode with Darryl here:
For a complete list of episodes, check out our website.
Greg’s Take
Book - After following Darryl’s work since 2010, this was a treat to read. Even after all this time, I’m inspired to think about the game more deeply and in a different light each time I see Darryl’s work. It was amazing to dive deeply into his mind and processes. You can feel his struggle and drive to become the best.
My favorite part of his book was how he dove into the teaching aspects of coaching rather than strictly dealing with hockey technicals. You can know all the knowledge in the world, but it’s useless if you can’t teach well. Beyond my own copy, I’ve already bought a few copies as gifts.
Podcast - Darryl’s hockey dad story is my favorite podcast moment to date (Dwayne Blais’ was a close 2nd). Nothing beats a great hockey family story. Dan & I both eat up his work and listened to all of his other podcasts so we really felt the need to ask questions that no one else has asked before. The resulting episode did not disappoint. Make sure to check it out and bring a notepad for notes. You’ll learn something, we guarantee it.
Dan’s Take
Book - I first met Darryl in 2016, when he came to Columbus to provide guidance to the Belfry Columbus Youth Development Association instructors. Right away, I was captivated by the way he talked about the same game that I previously thought I was more than capable of explaining/teaching. To use his wording in the podcast, he “poisoned” me.
When I watch a hockey game today, it’s through a totally different lens than prior to 2016. His book does an incredible job of giving the reader a glimpse inside his mind/processes. Having spent some time with him (and plenty of hours watching YouTube clips), I can point to passages throughout the book and recall similar anecdotes from my prior experiences.
His reinforcement of video (Ch. 13 Video-To-Game Transfer) as a highly-effective teaching tool is something that rings true with me to this day. Within our CYDA, the use of video is a hallmark of the program, and I feel incredibly lucky to have seen him use these tactics up close and personal with some of the NHL’s elite.
Podcast - Last year, fellow (and now former) CYDA coach Adam McHugh and I were fortunate enough to attend Belfry’s 88 Summit Camp in Estero, FL, as video assistants.
Even after spending a week together, there were a million questions that Adam and I had in our minds. Like I said on the podcast, being at this event was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and something I’ll never forget. In the episode, I asked Darryl how the 88 Summit co-teaching events, in which players shared their thought process while watching their plays on a screen, could theoretically be even better in the future.
In my mind, it was perfect, but to Darryl, there are always ways to improve. And that says it all.
Further Reading - Darryl is looking to create skills that separate and transfer to all levels of the game
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