Blog

  • Oct 10, 2014

    Checking (2014)

    Hockey parents love to debate the right age to check. And I have heard great arguments on both sides. “We should check from the beginning so we don’t have to wait until they are 12 to find out if the like being hit or not.” “The young body is not ready, we need to wait until they grow before their body takes this type of abuse. Of course the real concern is injury. But most injuries can be avoided if checking is done properly. My observation is that most injures occur, when hands and sticks come up. Players who fail to bend their knees enough to deliver a forceful check compensate by coming up with their hands forcing the player to fall backward, to frequently resulting in concussions and other injuries. Additional injuries occur as the result of the use of a stick.

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  • Apr 21, 2014

    Tryouts Coming? Getting Cut is OK

    My 6 year old didn’t make the Mite C team. He never wanted to play hockey again. I told him if he was quitting hockey because he would rather to play guitar or he wanted to play baseball, that that was great and that I would be his biggest fan, but if he was quitting because he didn’t make the team, that this was not ok. Only losers do that, and that I didn’t think he was a loser. I told him this was the coaches way of saying that he needed to work harder, that he was very lucky that if hockey was what he wanted, that I would do whatever it takes to help him get better. He said he wanted to play hockey, he said he was going to work really hard and show the coaches they made a mistake. And he did. We went to clinics, we got up before school and went for lessons. , Along the way he didn’t always make the team he wanted, but there were many great moments to balance out the disappointments. Last night, my son was awarded the MVP for his High School team. This to go along with being named first team all conference, and being team Captain. I laid awake thinking of that moment 12 years ago, and the decision he made, and how this changed his life. How adversity made him stronger, and how we both didn’t take the easy way out. What a great life lesson.

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  • Sep 15, 2011

    Find matching games and fill your ice slots with youthhockey.com for games in NY, NJ, and Pennsylvania

    There are over 300 teams on the youthhockey.com system between LIAHL, NJYHL, AYHL, NE Independent and HVHL.

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  • Apr 26, 2011

    Note to Users for 2012 Season

    Hello All,  On May 1, we will be re-setting the database to prepare for the 2011/12 season.Please note, until May 1, you can login and export the entire 2010/11 schedule, for your team, organization or league.   If you need assistance in this matter we would be happy to help you.

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  • Apr 26, 2011

    2011/12 New Features

    Website integration:  Populate your website with dynamically updating displays for: a) Team Schedule's b) Team manger list c) Player Rosters, and more...

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  • Feb 23, 2011

    Place Your Teams at the Right Level

    Parity is every leagues dream.  The years of the Montreal Canadians only losing one game all season (1976-77) are over, and no team should go all season without being challenged or not winning a game.  It has been said that if you win between 30 and 70 percent of your games you were placed at the right level, anything more or less and you were in the wrong place.  Recent years New jersey Youth Hockey League has introduced Mite and Squirt Jamnborees.  The Jamboree is a mini tournament that takes place over 2 weekends, each team particpating in 2 days of a series of 30 minute games.  Teams are placed in catagories based on information provided by their organziation, but the final division’s will be determined by the league based on observations made at the Jamboree.  Better yet division are given names like Campbell or Adams as opposed to letters like A or B.  By all accounts the jamboree has been a huge success as greater parity has created a better experience for all involved.

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  • Feb 23, 2011

    Full Ice or Shared Ice Practice?

    Of course full ice practices can make lots of sense and would be great.  But, we all know cost and lack of availability of ice limits the number of full ice practices a team may have.  Here is an interesting idea.  Ever watch a full ice practice?  Give a coach a full hour and watch what he does.  Warm up, stretch, conditioning typically take up half the hour, as it is not often you have a practice without these.  The other half, break outs, regrouping drills, transition drills, and odd man rushes, are some of the things coaches will use full ice for.  but why give a coach an hour for what he only uses a half hour for (full ice drills).

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  • Feb 22, 2011

    Checking

    The issue:  USA Hockey is considering moving the age to allow checking from PeeWee to Bantam

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