Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Bozek
I think there are data showing that birth date within a year makes a difference in teenagers' performance in Junior hockey, and high school sports, but I can't recall the reference. It probably doesn't make very much difference when you're talking about star players like this, but I suspect it may apply more to the next tier of players, that become "late bloomers". Still, as pointed out, a year made a big difference for Poirier.
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Malcolm Gladwell made that point in a recent book. Basically a kid born earlier in the year makes a big difference developmentally, early. So when a kid is basically a year older as a 6 year old playing against 5 year olds, he looks amazing. That may then provide him with more opportunities, better coaching, etc. which will further improve his skills. It is just a theory, but an interesting one. His "proof" IIRC, was the Canadian world junior hockey team, which had a disproportionate number of January-March kids on the team.