Thank you for another great season
The winter season is now over and how quickly it seems to go by. Team banquets have been held; state youth, high school, and some college programs have finished for this season. Spring is in the air with the Frozen Four in St. Paul and NHL playoffs looming. For many, their off-season teams are winding up, the Reebok High Performance programs are slated for April and our expanded Reebok High Performance 15 format begins.
“When I’m On the Ice, I Don’t See Myself as Disabled. I See Myself as a Hockey Player.”
These are the words of hockey player Eric Rud. Eric isn’t your typical hockey player. He doesn’t own a pair of the latest Easton s17 skates. He doesn’t have the new cutting-edge Bauer x:60 hockey stick. He plays hockey, but not in the same way that you and I think about it. Eric plays sled hockey. The equipment of the game might be different, but Eric is a hockey player nonetheless.
Minnesota Special Hockey: Let’s Play Hockey!
If you grew up in Minnesota, you can remember the feeling of putting on your skates, bundling up and getting out on the ice for a pick-up game with your friends in the neighborhood. The ice was not always that even on the outdoor rinks, but that didn’t matter. You laughed as you watched your breath float up into the air, losing the feeling in your toes as you stayed outside just a little too long and heading home for hot chocolate only after you heard your mom yell for you to come in—for the hundredth time. That was what it was all about. And the first day of practice at the arena where you got your new jersey with the number of your favorite player, whether it was Neil Broten or Wayne Gretsky, made you feel like you were part of something that would define you even after you left the rink for good. You would forever and always be known as a hockey player.
6 Steps for Teaching Skating Techniques
Skating is an extremely complicated activity and hockey is an extremely complicated sport. Skating moves are not natural to the human body—in fact they’re the opposite of natural. Skating moves are numerous, intricate and interdependent. Each hockey maneuver consists of many parts. Each part must be learned separately and then integrated into the whole move. Proper technique training is essential for players to become fast, powerful, quick and efficient skaters.
USA Hockey Body Checking Rule Proposal Background
The proposed rule change will move the age of legal body checking in games from 12U to 14U. The body checking discussion is one that has been going on for a long time within USA Hockey. This is a complex and emotional issue and is being looked at from many angles. Although safety is obviously a huge concern, we didn’t approach this initially from the safety side of the equation. We began by looking at how players develop their hockey playing abilities. Over the past two years we began to evaluate how Squirt and PeeWee skaters play and react in similar on-ice situations. We observed that Squirts tend to be more aggressive, and emphasize skills (skating, stickhandling, passing and body positioning) in an attempt to make plays. The conclusion was simply that players at the Squirt level attempt to play the game in the correct manner. However, in the same situations many PeeWee players react differently. What was observed was that players at the PeeWee level tend to either let the opponent get the puck first so that they can initiate body contact or they lay off so that they don’t get hit. Although this may not be true for every player, we have found that it is common and prevalent at all levels of PeeWee hockey throughout the United States. With this being said, we do know that physiologically (and most importantly), players at this age are in their prime “window of opportunity” to acquire sports skills. The current rules we have in place hinder our children from acquiring these skills at the highest possible level.
Minnesota Hockey Answers Coming Soon!
Our new Minnesota Hockey Letter to the Editor feature will be launching this fall! This is the place where you can read answers to questions submitted by Minnesota Hockey families! To submit your question, please click here.
Minnesota Hockey partners with MCAD to create inspirational hockey posters
The assignment was to design cool posters for youth hockey players around the theme, “If it is Going to be, It is up to Me.” Tom Garrett’s design class at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design eagerly took on the challenge to see who could design the best poster, which will be printed and handed out at the Let’s Play Hockey Expo during the Minnesota State Boys Hockey Tournament in March. According to Scott Gray, VP of Publicity and Promotion for Minnesota Hockey, “We really enjoyed the ideas and art of the 23 students in the class. Unfortunately we were only able to select four winners but we hope that youth hockey players will enjoy these posters and hang them on the wall of their rooms at home.”
Minnesota Sports Broadcast Network to broadcast four Minnesota Hockey State Tournaments
Once again this year, the Minnesota Sports Broadcast Network has teamed up with Minnesota Hockey to broadcast four state hockey tournaments March 18-20 from various sites across the state of Minnesota. Fans will be able to follow the games live on MSBN’s website, found online at www.MnSportsNetwork.com.
Minnesota Hockey State Tournaments begin March 18
Congratulations to all of the teams that advanced out of the Regional Tournaments this past weekend. There will be 12 total State Tournaments occurring at 11 different locations throughout Minnesota. Please visit www.minnesotahockey.org for more details.
Shock Doctor® to Feature Mouthguard Fitting Lab, New Products and More at Let’s Play Hockey Expo Booth
The Let’s Play Hockey Expo is Friday, March 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, March 12, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota.
