"Elite" Minor Hockey

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Yoho

/\ I think you will as well.

It will hurt to see my son so disappointed and my heart will ache for him.

thanks matty - last night the coach switched gears a bit and picked the team - with the exception of his last remaining goalie. tonight my son and the other boy are playing with one spot up for grabs. the coach will get to see the other goalie in two half games, while my son will only get one half of a game.

my son has been very confident up to last night and he was really struggling last night to find belief in himself, his gifts and his hard work - I hope that he can live in the moment tonight and play to the best of his abilities.

I believe he is the better goalie and he has worked so hard this summer and he deserves spot on the team......

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

It will hurt to see my son so disappointed and my heart will ache for him.

thanks matty - last night the coach switched gears a bit and picked the team - with the exception of his last remaining goalie. tonight my son and the other boy are playing with one spot up for grabs. the coach will get to see the other goalie in two half games, while my son will only get one half of a game.

my son has been very confident up to last night and he was really struggling last night to find belief in himself, his gifts and his hard work - I hope that he can live in the moment tonight and play to the best of his abilities.

I believe he is the better goalie and he has worked so hard this summer and he deserves spot on the team......

How can one goalie get 2 halfs and the other only one?There should be another half.

Again I'd say it's a good thing. Dont want to get hopes up too much, but that's seems like something we would do to at least make it look like we're taking a solid look at the other kid. And maybe you do want to see more games out if him, because that third guy will be your call up in case of injury so it's good to see how he is at this level. The less you play in exhibition, the better, especially as goalie.

And remember, they have to have 2 goalies for practice and on the bench. Until you get the AAA they won't cut anyone.

[Northendzone]

^ we got our AAA cut yesterday, although he was not on the ice with the team as that would have meant 4 goalies at practice. Last night the cut one of the goalies - so they are now down to my son and another kid fighting for the last goalie spot.

I too find it interesting how the other goalie will have played in half of two games, while my son will potentially only get to play half of one game. obviously lots of way to look at this.

my son believe they will cut a goalie tonight, but who knows for sure, the coach would change his mind and hold off making a decision until next week.

I just hope my son can filter out the noise and play to the best of his abilities as that is all he can control.....

[Northendzone]

Well once gain there was no storybook ending for my son, as he was cut tonight.

As mentioned above he split a game tonight with the other goalie, and the other kid started, and saw about 6 shots in his half of the game and my sons team was dominating the other team.

My son goes in for the last 30 minutes and the game slowly changes. He made some nice stops then gives up a goal on a pinball shot and then early in the third, the other team scores a goal with the net off and then things went sideways for my son as he misplayed a shot Tay scored, he then struggles for about five minutes and then with 15 seconds left the other team gets a penlty shot and scores.

I thought the logical course of action would be for the coaches to play my son and the other goalie again on the weekend, but they cut him tonight. They suggested he was thier origianl choice but the third goal changed their mind. Unfortunate for my son that one goal changed their mind, but I guess this game can be cruel.

My son and I did not talk much on the way home, but when we got in the garage I held him and we cried for a few minutes (at that point I realized how big he has really gotten).

Not surprisingly he wants to quit hockey right now - fortunately our community association tryouts are on a real and don't get ging again until next week, so my son can reset for a bit.

The hardest part of this is that it finding opportunities for my son to play with better players are hard because of his resume.

Hopefully some of you other guys hockey stories have happy endings

[Coach]

Sorry to hear that Northendzone, apologies if I got your hopes up a bit. Any chance of one of the other teams picking him up?

Hopefully it doesn't steer him away from the game all together, a lot can be learned, and a lot of fun can be had, while playing with your friends and enjoying time for the other parts of your life. That said, goalie is a tough position mentally, both in game and in situations like these. Decisions have to be made within a short period of time, and theyre not always the right ones, and it can be difficult to judge goalies early, especially if you aren't one yourself.

The road of playing competitive absolutely does not need to end there for him. Still so young. It's pretty tough what they go through sometimes, I feel for you guys.

[Northendzone]

hey matty - no worries about getting my hopes up after watching young golaies for the past few years I know he is better than the boys they kept - but the team has no goaltending guy, so to most other coaches is is simply about who stops the puck.

there are two other AA teams in our quad and I suppose there is some small chance of one of the others asking him to practice, but I'd think that chance is small given these teams are looking to finalize their rosters by the 19th. additionally, we also played a team from one of our quadrants last night - so it would seem unlikely that coach would extend an invite - but who knows.

thankfully our community association evaluations do not get going again until Monday so it will give my son a chance to step back, and regroup.

[Tacoman]

Crazy how I feel emotional about other guy's kids but its because I know exactly what you and your son are going through. The only thing that I can say is that the only way that getting cut becomes a negative is if you treat it like a negative. My 17 year old went through several really tough cuts but now he's old enough to take hockey for what it is - a great hobby. That hobby and passion will be there his whole life and it won't have mattered what team he was on when he was 14. My other son has played AAA his whole life and has never had to stress about tryouts but they will both end up at the same place - playing hockey and drinking beer with their buddies while they build their careers and families. Hockey is an unbelievable game that you can play for many decades. Don't let the team he plays on take away from that love.

[Northendzone]

thanks for the kind words guys - it is tough to convince a 14 yr old that there maybe something positive to come out of this -especially when he was told he was cut due to one goal.

my heart aches for him as he put in a lot of work this summer to prepare.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

thanks for the kind words guys - it is tough to convince a 14 yr old that there maybe something positive to come out of this -especially when he was told he was cut due to one goal.

my heart aches for him as he put in a lot of work this summer to prepare.

Sometimes (often) coaches are stupid.

[Northendzone]

I guess the thing that disappoints me the most is that the coach did not have to make a decision the other night - given the fact that each goalie saw a completely different game how do you make a valid comparasion. to me it was like the coaching staff decided that one goalie had played 60 minutes and gave up a total of 4 goals, while my son played 30 minutes and gave up the same number of goals - therefore, the other kid was better as my son would have let in twice as many goals when the minutes played are adjusted.

I reached out to the coach of one of the other teams in our quad to see if he had any interest in looking at my son, and he does not - his email response back to me summarized the game perfectly and he said he was surprised my son was released.

it absolutely baffles me when many of the knowledgeable hockey dads in our community and quadrant tell me (on an unsolicited basis) that my son is solid and among the top goalies. and it is not like my son is getting lit up when he plays - my only knocks on him are he is prone to letting in a soft goal every couple of games and that he is somewhere around 60% save % on those times when you need a save (of course I have the benefit of having seen him play over several years) and that he has yet to have one of those 60 save games where his team steals a win

it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for him this season - as I understand it our community association is light on midget goalies, so I have heard they may consider offering one bantam goalie a chance to move up - not sure if I want my 14 yr old son in a room with 17 yr olds - but it could be an interesting opportunity.

will the quadrant team affiliate my son? and if so, will he get an opportunity to play? like pucks thru cloutier's pads these are the days of our hockey lives.....

[Hockeyguy15]

Just a thought, and it may or may not apply here but I saw it a bunch as a kid. Parents telling their kid they are better than the other kids who didn't get cut, and that the people making the decisions are wrong or stupid. A lot of kids got upset with hockey because of the politics behind it instead of just enjoying playing the game.

Yeah not every decision is going to be the right one, but such is life and it sucks sometimes. If the kid tried his best and left if all on the ice that's all they can do. It will sting for a bit getting cut (for players and parents), but as long as they have fun and try their best that's all anyone can ask for.

Anyway it's something to think about, and I'm not trying to criticise but it's just something I noticed with what you were typing here.

[moncton golden flames]

I'm a AA coach here in Cochrane, it's my first year. I was one the ice with the kids last night and we still had 3 goalies trying out. So, I asked the coach which goalies he was going to take, and he admitted that aside from making saves, he doesnt know how else to grade them. I think it's tough for goalies to get a fair shake when they are only evaluated on saves.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there that stuff like this happens, but it's how he recovers from it and moves forward that counts, don't look back. Learn and move on.

[8sPOT]

Tough to experience that with your kid I'm sure. My little guy starts Novice today, and its his first year in hockey. Never wanted to play before this year, then all of a sudden its the only sport he wants to play. I'm nervous for him and its just house league Novice!

As a side note. Your son is 14 and as a goalie anything can happen. When I was his age I was trying out for a AA team and was the last cut. I thought I should have made the team, and my Dad and other parents felt the same way. But whatever screw it, screw that coach right? Later that night the coach called and said he made a mistake and wanted me on the team. In my 14 year old stubborn and sensitive self I said no. Ended up quiting hockey after that year. Still regret that to this day.

[Lubicon]

Tough one Northendzone, I feel for your son. Give him some time to process what has happened, hopefully he will realize he plays because he loves the game and not because of what team he plays on. At the end of the day that is what matters most and what will keep you playing.

The whole elite tryout is so different than community evaluations, it is 100% up to the coach of each particular team as to what he/she wants their team to look like. Unfortunately they don't have to justify their decisions to anyone really, and there is no appeal process. How many first year vs. second year players they want to carry at the AA level may have played into it.

[taco.vidal]

This seems like a good opportunity for a life lesson and growth as a person. There will instances in life where things dont seem fair or where you dont get something you worked towards- not getting into a college or program of your choice, not getting a job you felt you were qualified for and interviewed well for, not getting a promotion you felt you were most qualified for, even getting turned down or dumped by a girl when you thought things were great.
Its a tough one but working through it and not quitting will make him a stronger person.

Goalie is a tough position though. I have a family member who was a pretty decent goalie but then quit the game entirely after tough cuts in their teens. I dont know the answer but the only advice Id give a kid is to not to make any rash decisions and instead take time to think about it.

[hah]

Thanks for sharing your experience and feelings with us.

My son tried out for Bantam AAA was drafted by a AA squad and was cut. Including the pre try out training camp, he had at least 17 ice times with the quadrant team. It was a great experience for our son. At his final cut he got a "report" card as to what he needed to work on and they intimated that he could be called up. He was disappointing as others from his school and former team mates have made it, however it is a life learning experience. He is on the smaller size which worked against him.

Also the cost for AAA was high, they wanted an additional $1,000 kid for each tournament on top of the other fees.

He starts his community tryouts on the weekend, however we had told him anything can happen and he could make team 1 2 3. We offered our son the option to play rec hockey, no hit hockey or community hockey. He wanted to do the quad try outs, so we made it happen.

Good luck to all the kids and parents during try outs.. Have fun and enjoy. It doesn't matter what team your kid makes, your child needs to have fun and not think its a job to make his parents happy, by what team number they are on.

Tell them you love to watch them play.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by moncton golden flames

I'm a AA coach here in Cochrane, it's my first year. I was one the ice with the kids last night and we still had 3 goalies trying out. So, I asked the coach which goalies he was going to take, and he admitted that aside from making saves, he doesnt know how else to grade them. I think it's tough for goalies to get a fair shake when they are only evaluated on saves.

first off congrats on making the commitment to coach at this level.

here are some things that I believe are important:

• shoot on your goalies yourself in practice, don't rip high hard ones, but something that is similar to what they may face in a game - make note of what shots they handle well and their weekenesses
• give them 10 similar shots, then move to another spot and repeat
• watch their effort level and their compete level amongst each other in practice
• listen to how talkative they are in a game situation, they have to help their d-men not get crushed
• watch for shoulder checks, are they looking to see what is going on in the defensive zone, are they anticipating the play
• how do they handle themselves after being scored on, is the a reaction, or clam and cool
• how do they skate and move - are they a flopper like Hasek or smooth like Price
• are the efficient in their moves, or so they slide 2 feet past the post and then have a massive correction on a cross seam play
• can they handle and keep the puck in their glove when needed or do they always drop it
• can they play the puck at all

[habernac]

I really appreciated having a goalie coach on our team last year. I've played for 4 decades, but I'm not a goalie. They really need someone who knows the position. It's insane that we had one on an Atom 7 team and they don't have one at the AAA level.

[hah]

Our community association has one of the goalie schools do the goaltender evaluations, which would seem like a fair process.

However the kids in the competitors goalie school seem to not make the higher teams.

[Northendzone]

in our association we have used a mixed of pro-goalie guys and goaltending parents who are knowledgeable.

I was never a goalie; however, after watching and listening to stuff at goalie camps - you really learn a lot. in addition there is a lot of great stuff on the net to provide you with knowledge.

from what I have seen at quadrant hockey, it seems like the expectation is that you will find your own coaching at one of the many places in town