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I would probably flip it around and ask what benefit travelling has for the squirt level. Given the same ratio of practice to games, i can only see in-house as helping. Just my opinion though. We try not to go crazy with sports but when a winter sport like hockey starts the same week as fall soccer, it is hard to not have some months where you cant avoid a lot of chaos. Being anchored at a single rink would help and be attractive over travel, even if the travel is only within the area.

In the end, this is USA Hockey's attempt to put 10U youth hockey in the proper perspective and attempt to promote DEVELOPMENT; as opposed to winning. You hit on a lot of the reasons why (accommodate multi-sport athletes, promote retention, develop organic talent). However, underpinning all of those is the fact that it's not lost on anyone in Colorado Springs how hypocritical it sounds for USA Hockey to expend a giant amount of time and energy promoting long term athlete development - while at the same time hyping their Tier system, national championships, and elite level teams. Those teams and events are SO elite that you simply can't be a part of them if you're not a single sport athlete, devoting multiple hours a week towards on-ice training...AND multiple MORE hours a week to hockey-specific off-ice training. USA hockey knows this...and they know how much it costs to make anything approaching this level of commitment. And, what's more, they know that, in the end, it is ABSOLUTELY BATSHIT CRAZY for ANYONE to be making that level of commitment as a 10U (or younger) player. It is an incontrovertible truth that NOTHING a player does (or doesn't do) at the 10U level really matters when it comes to his/her chances of 'going somewhere with hockey'...unless s/he gets so fed up with the game that s/he quits, of course. As a coach, I see coaches of 10U 'elite' and 'travel' teams doing absolutely horrifying things like teaching 1-2-2 or 1-3-1 trap style forechecks to kids that don't have the mental capacity to understand either the tactical or strategic implications of a specific forecheck system - instead of letting them develop the actual SKILLS that will translate to their games as they get older. "But, knowing where the weak-side wing goes in a 1-2-2 is a skill," you say. No. It isn't. You know what you call the 14 year old that 'knows where to go in a 1-2-2'? A Bantam B player. The player that has developed the individual playmaking ability to step outside that 1-2-2 box and create magic is the AAA player. You simply can't develop as a scorer...as a puck moving defenseman...as a weapon for your team...AS A HOCKEY PLAYER if all you're doing from 10U on is chasing team letters ('A', 'AA', 'AAA', 'Elite') as a result of pressure to 'be on the best team'. USA Hockey is throwing down their gauntlet and telling organizations/clubs that they need to forget about comparing themselves against the teams from the next town, remove the pressure to 'letter chase', and start developing their kids - ESPECIALLY at the 8U and 10U levels. Kids quit because they (and their parents) feel all this pressure (both time and financial) to start chasing letters at a young age, instead of allowing development to happen organically. The mindset of "10 year old Johnny isn't going to get better if he doesn't spend 8 hours a week on the ice" simply needs to go the fuck away. BenBreeg is absolutely right when he says, NONE! THERE IS NO BENEFIT TO 'TRAVEL' AT THE 10U LEVEL! Personally, as a coach, I freaking LOVE this. I wish all state level associations would ban all 8U and 10U participation in all post-season tournaments, there-by removing the vast majority of the incentive to engage in this stupid nonsense. I wish club hockey didn't start until 12U, there-by allowing the good hockey players to continue being good ATHLETES, instead of gradually turning into robots that only play hockey. And most of all, I wish that the damn parents would look at 10U hockey less like 'the first step to a college scholarship' and more like 'something my son/daughter does to get some exercise, learn life lessons, and have a Zamboni room full of fun while doing.' Just my $0.02....😉 ______________________ N.B. Speaking of pressure - the worst, most despicable things that coaches and associations do are reserved for these ridiculous birth-year Brick tournament teams that become all-encompassing, psychosis inducing all-star teams that turn ordinary, normal hockey people into raving, salivating lunatics. It takes about a picosecond for these teams to become 'pay to play' entities. "Want to be on my Brick team? Well, that means committing to two private lessons a week and at least three extra sessions of ice time. Oh, you can't afford that? Sorry..." Kids quit EVERYTHING to be on these Brick teams - they quit school and start home-schooling, they quit all other sports, they quit being kids. All for what? A $15,000 trip to Edmonton the summer after their Squirt Minor year? What. The. Ever-loving. Hell? "Oh, but Connor McDavid played in the Brick Tournament..." "News flash. Your kid isn't Connor Fucking McDavid...and if he was, you'd already know it." If you told a parent of ANY other youth sport what happens with the Brick teams, they'd laugh in your face at the absurdity of it all. There is a special place in hell for the organizers of the Brick Tournament...and for the coaches/organizations that have perpetuated it and allowed it to get to this level of insanity.

I don't know that at the squirt level I would put meeting other parents and kids (not even sure how that would work) as a benefit to travelling. We meet lots of people through school and local baseball, hockey, scouting, etc. Different levels of the game? It is squirts, it isn't like when you compare western conf and eastern conf NHL styles or different types of hockey in different high-level leagues. I don't feel it is monotonous to play baseball which is basically in-house, seeing the same people occasionally. In youth sports people feel pressured into travel, tournament teams, year round participation, and as I said, it should be up to those people to show why it is beneficial, especially at younger ages. I know of no research that advocates for accelerating this and lots against it. I saw an 8 year old at the rink in the fitness place getting 1-1 private coaching, basically bodyweight plyos and stuff. Can't imagine what it costs and how it was any better than him running around playing. The oddity of seeing young kids at the rink showing up with ties on is another head-scratcher. To me it all goes into the same lack of perspective bucket.

In a perfect world, these things wouldn't happen...but, as we all know, the world isn't perfect and asshats that shouldn't coach all too often wind up with a helmet and a whistle. It's just your lousy luck that you got to experience this at 10U. While I agree that intensity and accountability are important things to teach at any level, cursing at 9 year olds and teaching systems play to kids that don't have the mental capacity to understand is simply inexcusable. On behalf of GOOD coaches everywhere, I just want to say that I'm very sorry you and your son had to go through this at such a young age. Anyway. Moving on. As an objective observer, the only thing I would say about future hockey plans is that I would caution you guys about making any decisions while these wounds are still raw. Let the bad feelings dissipate and encourage your son to embrace his new team as a fresh start. Then, see how this year plays out and, as the season winds down next spring, you can start talking about what's next as far as hockey goes. Maybe he'll have an absolute blast on the B team and will be raring to go for his 10U major season...maybe he'll be done with competitive hockey. Either way, it sounds as if you'll be fine with it...which is AWESOME...but I would definitely wait a while before making any decisions there. Finally, regarding in-house hockey: There is a stigma that gets attached to in house hockey that really freaking irritates me. Let me lay it out simply - There is nothing WRONG with in house hockey! The kids that play in house don't love hockey any less than the AAA kids - in fact, they probably love it a hell of a lot more, because there's almost no pressure and there usually aren't any overbearing adults around that are treating every ice touch like it's Game 7 of The Stanley Cup Finals. The kids playing in house hockey are playing hockey because they derive JOY from playing the game! No, those kids are probably not going to play in the NHL; but....news flash...the vast, VAST, VAST majority of the AAA kids aren't either!!! And, let me tell you, as a coach, the in-house kids are (usually) infinitely more fun to work with than the AAA kids that have been told since they were 6 that they're the next Connor Fucking McDavid. There is precious little in this world that is more irritating than a 12 year old that never hears the word 'NO' and has been enabled by every adult in his life into thinking that it's okay to be a insensitive, self-important, prick. Create a team full of 15 of those kids and their obnoxious, know-it-all parents, and, ugh...there's a reason I turn down AAA coaching opportunities. Anyway. Have a blast with hockey this year!!! And next year, regardless of whether your son wants to play football, soccer, or in-house hockey, I hope the both of you march in there with heads high!!! Best of luck!

I ordered my Model 3 on Wednesday. Delivery estimate was 2-4 months and I had to make sure I got it by the end of the year for the full tax credit. I got an email yesterday saying it will be ready for delivery next Wednesday. Well, okay then. A bit sooner than I expected!

I'm getting incredibly close to buying a c4 corvette. My wife has given me the go ahead, now I just got to find the "perfect" one

One time I got lucky and I got this former professional German hockey player for some hockey lessons. I never could puck handle with looking down at the puck, let alone skate up with the puck with head up. I always had to look to look down. So the German player tells us to stand still and puck handle with our heads up. No one does it and everyone looks down at the puck and ice. The next thing he says, if he sees anyone looking down, immediately get down on the ice and do 10 push ups. First couple times we still look down and then he stops us and forces us to do the push ups. After the second or third time, no one one wants to do the push ups anymore and we try to puck handle with our heads up. We all lose control of the puck but no push ups. Funny thing is quite soon afterwards you develop some type of muscle memory and you can actually puck handle the puck without looking down. Maybe Ackbar the goalie can do the same thing. For a practice session, with maybe 2 players, they slowly skate towards him and he must stay up no matter what, if he drops to one leg or both legs, he must do 10 push ups.

Finally got around to getting my soccer gear out of my hockey shelf... Just need to move it into better lighting once the basement gets cleaned up.

Final chapter. I emailed the board. Made it strictly about my sons lack of expeirence and not having fun. I did speak the other coach prior, but made it only about my son. Apparently the other team needed players and he likes my son having coached him last year. Got an email today that even though this is not typical protocol they granted our request, considering other circumstance, and this may not happen in the future. My son is happy his new coach reached out immediately to welcome us and talked to him. We didnt have to go through a team manager. He starts practice tomorrow. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

Bigger thigh rises? Lundy strapping? They're freaks? I'll take the last line next. When I say "frozen in place" I mean that your weight is aligned and distributed in a way that it creates too much friction between the pad and ice and makes it impossible to recover or change direction without first adjusting your body to alleviate that friction and get your skate into a position to engage an edge. The result is a situation where your pad won't slide because of that friction and you can't move because your body isn't aligned/controlled correctly. The only option at that point is to lunge or dive with your stick and body to try and make a save because you don't have the time or ability to use your lower body. This is a terrible situation to be in for a goalie. If you are going to go to the ice, you must do so in a position where you can recover from the ice, even if that means back to standing to move laterally, and that means being able to lift a leg/knee off the ground in the direction you need to go.. You are dropping into positions where you can't lift your leg in order to engage an edge to move - feet behind you, butt down or all your weight on the leading pad, usually the right. I didn't say one before the other. I said you're only dropping to one, typically your right. Often you do this half butterfly type thing with the trailing leg off the ice. Your weight should be centered towards the push leg, not over the lead leg so you can lift your push one. It's more apparent when you have to move to your right at the same time. Let's look at the very first play of AA vs Black Knights, interestingly a game where you got beat and were disappointed in your (and your team's) performance. You're square to the first guy on a 3-1 with depth where you should be. Your D makes a bad read and essentially turns himself into a cone screening you. The puck goes to your right. And since you have to move that way, you drop all of your weight onto your right knee, with your body way over that leg. You're leading with your head and shoulders into the play rather than the pad. And your left pad trails behind you, off the ice. The result is that the pad sticks to the ice, you lever over the top of it, and you can't even attempt to do anything when the puck goes the other way. Not completely your fault by any means, and you probably couldn't have stopped it anyway. But all you could do was watch. If you would have dropped to both knees when you slid to your right, your weight would have been centered, and you may have been able to engage your right skate or even just throw out your left pad. But it was a flukey play, so let's look at the next one in that video. You are on your angle with your shoulders square. A shot comes high glove side, with very little angle to the short side. Instead of dropping to both knees in the center of your stance, which would probably have just put the puck into your glove naturally, you drop to your right pad, moving your entire body AWAY from the shot and have to reach all the way out with your glove to make the save. If anything, you should have dropped to your left to bring your body and head behind the puck. But I know dropping left knee only is an issue, so it definitely should have been two knees. If you didn't catch that puck clean because you had to reach out for it, you'd be stuck on your right knee, all the way to the right post with no way to move to your left to stop the rebound from going in. Two plays later, an attacker comes in wide from your left and tries to cut back from behind the net. You think he's going to cut across, so go to slide to your right and lean over that pad, leaving the entire short side exposed. He doesn't score, but it should have been an easy goal. If you drop to both pads, you still would have been square to him and moving across. At 1:35 (pause it right there for a visual representation of what I mean) same thing. You slide, weight on right leg, left leg and arm trailing behind you. Eventually you slide into the play and get your left leg down, but your weight is still over the right. When the play cuts back, you have to lunge to your left to try and cover it, which puts you off balance and teeters you forward. You can't control the rebound, miss the cover, and have to lunge to try to stop the empty net goal. If you would have been centered, you're covering that puck in front of you rather than reaching for it. Do you see what I'm talking about now? So that's all frustrating and disheartening, I know. But the thing is that you CAN do it right. That's how I know it's a technique thing. What I find most interesting is that you have mentioned playing better in games when you tend to fix the issues more often. Pretty much every save you show in the next video vs Ironside is good. You drop to both knees, square to the puck. And as a result, you can see how much more "quiet" you are. Not moving too much. Pucks are in the chest and gloves easily. Rebounds drop directly in front of you. At the 1:00 mark, you drop evenly and perform a great pivot to the new angle by turning your head->hands->hips and engaging the back edge to push (but get up instead). On the last scramble, you drop evenly so when you dive to cover the puck, everything is in front of you instead of off to the side like in the last game. Your lateral slides are all both knees down, body weight centered. I think you're sliding further and easier as a result. At 1:30 you make a great save moving from your right to left with good technique. At 1:43 you make a good save and are able to regain your edges because you're balanced. You end up diving for the puck but I think that was more because you lost sight of it and were on the wrong foot when you realized where it was. You probably would have been able to push with your right foot if you had seen it the whole way. 2:41 is another good lateral push to the new angle. Even the last goal was good technique. You were on both knees and were able to adjust to try and make the save. Just a bad bounce to an uncovered guy. But the attempt wasn't a desperation one where you just threw something out there with no chance. Hopefully that all helps.