How Wayne Gretzky Spent His Summer Growing Up
The youth hockey offseason is upon us. Congrats on making it through the craziest season of our collective lifetimes.
We are starting our summer phase, so you’ll only see our Sunday newsletter hitting your inbox until the Fall. Parents, players, and hockey coaches (and writers!) need time to recharge and come back fresh.
A Look At NHL Demographics
From 1980 to 2020, there has been a meteoric rise in the number of Swedish players in the NHL, growing from 19 players to 93. Over the same time period, Finland has gone from 5 to 43. Their shares have grown alongside other European countries.
What are they doing differently?
The Podcast
In one of our best episodes, we hosted Ted Suihkonen on “Hockey IQ Podcast”. You can find the episode and more on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website. Ted grew up in the USA and is now the Director of Player Development for Loko Yaroslavl in Russia. They aren’t the richest club and cannot throw their financial muscle around (See potential #1 2023 NHL pick Matvei Michkov). Yet, given their recent output of talent, they’re arguably the best development club in Russia.
He said something very interesting when comparing North American & European development that we wanted to share. To paraphrase for simplicity:
The game of hockey never really changes. What you do see is culture’s effect on player development.
In North America, there is a lot more specialization. In Europe, kids are still playing other sports.
Wayne Gretzky’s Summers
Quick story - I’m at the rink giving a skating lesson and one of the fathers of a U10 or U12 player made a comment about seeing if I was available for lessons a few times a week because “we need to get back on the ice and get work in”. In my head, I’m thinking, “… but it’s July.”
I asked the kid, “What other sports do you play?”
Immediately he answers “Baseball”
Which do you like better?
“I like them both, but I like hockey best.”
You sound like Wayne Gretzky. He used to put his bag in the garage each summer and wouldn’t touch it until hockey season came back.
Now you see the dad’s mental wheels spinning as he says “Oh really?”
Benefits to Growth
Benefits to athletic growth aren’t just specific to one sport.
Physical - Diverse base of physical tools. From sportsmedicineweekly.com:
“Participation in multiple sports can improve coordination and muscle control. Performing a variety of movements, such as during varying sports, can help developing athletes gain proper skills. These skills may provide prevention against injury.
Growing athletes benefit from the development of all the components of neuromuscular control such as endurance, power, strength, agility, speed, flexibility and stability.”
Mental - New cognition develops as they learn to solve problems in different ways and see the game from a new light. As Rachel Doerrie mentioned on our podcast, playing soccer can have huge benefits that translate back to the ice rink, particularly as it relates to vision.
This spring/summer, allow hockey to take a backseat to other sports. Chances are, it will result in a refreshed - and better overall - player in the fall.
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