AAA tryouts for split season are coming up

[mxihockey 0]

I'm trying out for a couple select AAA midget teams so I can get into shape before prep season, and I have a couple questions. I've been on the same AAA team for 8 years and really havn't had to worry about tryouts because the coach would just tell me "see you next season" However that team does not offer a split season...

Question 1: Is it a good idea to email the coach's of the teams before tryouts to sort of let them know I will be there? Or does that look desperate?

#2: Should I try to pass the puck if there is a scrimmage or go end to end? I know it sounds like a dick move but ive heard coaches wana see what YOU can do with the puck.

Thanks guys.

[chippa13 1844]

The same team for 8 years? Has smoking stunted your growth?

[mxihockey 0]

haha no like the same '92 team mites through bantams

[LkptTiger 1]

1) It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to shoot them an e-mail; if for no other reason than to let them know who you are, where you've played and your reasons for coming this season.

2) Just show-up and play your game. Get on the ice, skate hard and do the little things right. That being said, if you get the puck and have ice in front of you, by all means, take it.

Personally, being a "pass first" player, I always want to showcase my vision, my poise, my abilities to read the play and thread the needle - and the fact that I made usually make the guys I'm playing with a bit better. At the same time, though, I do have a set of hands and can finish in the event that I do shoot the puck...so I try to mix it up a bit; though I usually try to be more "playmaker" than "goal scorer," since most people seem to subconsciously believe that guys who put the puck in the net a lot can't be "shut-down" guys, as well (even if I show myself as being capable of being one)...which I like to think I can be, too.

Just get on the ice and play the way you know how; don't over think things or you're going to eat yourself up. Each time you get on the ice, have a specific goal in mind (whether you're going to be physical, or you're going to dangle, or pass the puck or whatever) and then just shut your brain off once you get into the play.

[Bungee Man 0]

^^^^ Well said!

[mxihockey 0]

Thanks for the advice

[All Torhs Team 0]

Rather than sending the coach an email, maybe try talking to him in person. Maybe while your on the bench and hes standing on the ice watching, or before/after scrimmage.

Just be a friendly face to him and possibly get a few laughs.

Its not sucking up but its putting a good image for yourself in his head when he is making final cuts.

[lampliter87 8]

Rather than sending the coach an email, maybe try talking to him in person. Maybe while your on the bench and hes standing on the ice watching, or before/after scrimmage.

Just be a friendly face to him and possibly get a few laughs.

Its not sucking up but its putting a good image for yourself in his head when he is making final cuts.

Absolutely. When a coach sees two players with similar ability and he needs to keep one and cut the other, little things like this will set you apart from the competition. No one wants to work with someone who is cocky or arrogant and can't communicate well with his coaches and teammates, but someone who can effectively communicate and work well with others is a valuable player. It shows character.

[xsvboy 0]

WOW!!!... Well said by everybody :D

1: All Torhs Team has it said perfectly :)

2: Don’t be afraid to mix it up a bit. Show the coach that you can do it all dangle, skate, pass AND be a defensive. It never hurts to show the coach that you can do it at both ends of the rink, BACKCHEK!! BACKCHEK!! BACKCHEK!! lol

[mxihockey 0]

So, today I received a phone call from a coach from another team in the same league as the other teams I'm trying out for... Long story short he wants me on the team blah blah. However its like $400 more then the other teams I was going to tryout for, and it's not exactly the strongest team in the league. I told him I had to talk it over with my parents. Do you guys think if I called him back he could maybe lower the price? Or would I sound like a dick who thinks I'm too good.

[Viking 1]

I say don't bother. Even if the cost is the same, you'd still rather play for one of the other teams (you must, or you'd be trying out for his team, not theirs). If this team is so desperate for players that they're calling people who didn't even try out for them, either A) You're an absolutely exceptional player, so there's no chance you won't make one of the other teams anyway; or B ) There's a really good reason that nobody wants to play for that team. Either way, it points to "don't bother."

[All Torhs Team 0]

Id call you exactly how you put it yourself - a dick who thinks theyre too good.

Didnt you create this thread because you wern't sure how to get extra attention from the coach cause you wern't to sure about making a team.

And once you make it you ask him to lower the entry price for you?

I dont understand your thinking.

[Viking 1]

Id call you exactly how you put it yourself - a dick who thinks theyre too good.

Didnt you create this thread because you wern't sure how to get extra attention from the coach cause you wern't to sure about making a team.

And once you make it you ask him to lower the entry price for you?

I dont understand your thinking.

This is a different team, though - read it again. He didn't try out for the team with the higher price - they called him and asked him to be on the team. And it's not like he thinks he just deserves a better price; he just wants the same price he'd pay if he'd gone to one of the other teams in the same league, and that's reasonable if this team called him and asked him to be on the team. Just because he asks them that doesn't mean the team has to say yes. They're giving him the same thing (a spot on a hockey team in that league), but are asking a dramatically higher price. If a store offers you a product at a dramatically higher price than other stores do for the same thing, you would probably ask them for a lower price, or just go to a different store. Maybe this isn't one of them, but there are a lot of hockey organizations out there that just prey on kids for profit and don't offer them their money's worth; so I see nothing wrong with him asking for that and protecting his own interests. If the other kids/parents from that team knew what it cost to join the other teams in the league, they'd probably ask for the same thing.

[HockeyIsLife 0]

Are you getting more practice ice for $400?

[mxihockey 0]

No, 2 practices a week same as all the other teams. I did not try out for the more expensive team, the coach just called me. I called him back and said it's just too much. I'm going to just try out for the teams I was planning on.