The Minor Hockey Thread - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

edn88 · 12-07-2017, 09:07 PM

So I coach both of my boys in Springbank Minor Hockey.

Was curious if there was any interest in a thread on local minor hockey? I am sure that there are some passionate views on the topic.

My oldest is in Peewee and my youngest is in Sr Timbits.

What I was interested in (especially posters in BC where Novice has alread done this) is people's thoughts on the move to 1/2 ice games for Novice aged players in the next few years.

I get why this is better (anything below Novice 1 is a breakaway fest), but am curious on the logistics.

As a side note, I get that there are lots of issues with Minor Hockey and that there are some terrible parents and coaches that can cause Minor Hockey to be less fun than it should be, but my experience has been 95% positive. Always room for improvement, but not nearly as awful as most people make it out to be.

looooob · 12-08-2017, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edn88

So I coach both of my boys in Springbank Minor Hockey.

Was curious if there was any interest in a thread on local minor hockey? I am sure that there are some passionate views on the topic.

My oldest is in Peewee and my youngest is in Sr Timbits.

What I was interested in (especially posters in BC where Novice has alread done this) is people's thoughts on the move to 1/2 ice games for Novice aged players in the next few years.

I get why this is better (anything below Novice 1 is a breakaway fest), but am curious on the logistics.

As a side note, I get that there are lots of issues with Minor Hockey and that there are some terrible parents and coaches that can cause Minor Hockey to be less fun than it should be, but my experience has been 95% positive. Always room for improvement, but not nearly as awful as most people make it out to be.

I agree with your side note. I have both first hand and close second hand knowledge of at least 3 other youth sports that are as- or in some cases much - more intense/insane etc on the parental/culture side as hockey , yet when I talk to most parents it is hockey that gets the bum rap

good on you for coaching! I also coached at Springbank x 5 years

undercoverbrother · 12-08-2017, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edn88

What I was interested in (especially posters in BC where Novice has alread done this) is people's thoughts on the move to 1/2 ice games for Novice aged players in the next few years.

I like it. It allows more puck touches, more turning and transitioning on edges.

It also allows for 4 teams to be playing on one rink, which is good as I hear ice time is in short supply in Calgary.

Dynamite & Novice kids, don't need to skate 200 ft after a puck. Hell dependent upon skill level it might be useful to have atom kids play 1/2 ice or maybe 3/4 ice.

edn88 · 12-09-2017, 01:07 PM

So in Calgary we do half ice for TIMBITs (Initiation level ages 5&6) and we do 2 games per sheet of ice and the dressing rooms are jammed. I assume this does not get better with older kids.

dre · 12-09-2017, 02:05 PM

AMP PX3 does that in Calgary. All games are 3 on 3 cross ice. Nets are smaller until they hit pee wee. Their goalie coach is David Marcoux.

Northendzone · 01-05-2018, 01:08 PM

my son is now 15 and playing quad hockey, so my coaching is limited to the drive home (he sleeps and listens to music on the way too games). I miss coaching though. for the most part my son played on teams where there was no real drama (that I was aware of) - so his experience (other than being cut from quad in bantam) for the most part has been good.

yeah the dressing rooms will be a mess with a load of parents players and coaches in there. I was wondering how they will handle the benches - or do the kids just stand on the ice waiting their shift?. What about penalties?

seems to me that it is a good idea, as for some kids skating up and down all 200 feet of ice is like 200 miles.

does half ice games mean that these kids will get more games in per season? as I am assuming that almost all of their practices are half ice.

Lubicon · 01-05-2018, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northendzone

my son is now 15 and playing quad hockey, so my coaching is limited to the drive home (he sleeps and listens to music on the way too games). I miss coaching though. for the most part my son played on teams where there was no real drama (that I was aware of) - so his experience (other than being cut from quad in bantam) for the most part has been good.

yeah the dressing rooms will be a mess with a load of parents players and coaches in there. I was wondering how they will handle the benches - or do the kids just stand on the ice waiting their shift?. What about penalties?

seems to me that it is a good idea, as for some kids skating up and down all 200 feet of ice is like 200 miles.

does half ice games mean that these kids will get more games in per season? as I am assuming that almost all of their practices are half ice.

Don't believe that would be the case. Hockey Calgary has already capped the number of games at the Novice level at 25 per season. Refer to page 4 below. Novice is supposed to be about developing skills and the rationale is skill development occurs at practice, not during games.

https://www.hockeycalgary.ca/assets/...Guide_2016.pdf

Northendzone · 01-05-2018, 06:37 PM

Since it has been a lifetime since my boy played novice I forgot about the game cap. I took a look at th hockey Calgary website and the random team I selected was scheduled to play 17 games, so I guess it appears ther is little room to add more games.

That hockey Calgary document mentions 25 and 45 games - so I am not sure which number means what.

So I wonder if this will free up some ice time for other age groups, given it seems that novice teams are at their max games today.

billybob123 · 01-05-2018, 06:53 PM

My son's team played 44 games (!) in Novice last year.

edn88 · 01-10-2018, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Don't believe that would be the case. Hockey Calgary has already capped the number of games at the Novice level at 25 per season. Refer to page 4 below. Novice is supposed to be about developing skills and the rationale is skill development occurs at practice, not during games.

https://www.hockeycalgary.ca/assets/...Guide_2016.pdf

25 game cap is for preseason, exhibition and tournament games. Novice is actually capped at 45 games.

edn88 · 01-10-2018, 11:19 AM

Esso Minor Hockey Week - the largest minor hockey tournament in the world, starts this Friday. 648 teams and over 11,000 players, and has been running for 46 years.

Anyone have a player in it (I have a peewee player)?

habernac · 01-10-2018, 01:11 PM

Yep, I've got a peewee player as well.

This is my 5th season as an assistant coach, still having a pretty good time. Frustrated with a lackluster effort lately, but what do you do? I try to remain positive.

Lubicon · 01-10-2018, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edn88

Esso Minor Hockey Week - the largest minor hockey tournament in the world, starts this Friday. 648 teams and over 11,000 players, and has been running for 46 years.

Anyone have a player in it (I have a peewee player)?

Midget aged player (daughter) so this one will be our last and I have to say we won't miss it. With only three midget teams in Calgary it's not quite the same as it is for boys hockey, it basically boils down to a round robin (almost) and obviously 2/3 of the teams are going to medal. And the fact that Hockey Calgary makes us use one of our two tournament windows really sucks as this essentially limits girls teams to one tournament per year unless you can luck out and find one early in the season (before the league games start).

looooob · 01-10-2018, 05:58 PM

yeah son is a midget player .. depending how things go next year at evals will either be my last or second last EMHW, which is hard to get my head around, as I played in the damn thing.. I mean I guess there are always grandkids

Northendzone · 01-11-2018, 08:12 AM

I thought the league my son plays in did not participate in this tourney; however, the league is listed on the Hockey Clagary website, so I am not sure how it will work for his team.

traditionally, his teams never got further than game three. good luck to those of you that are in this. I always thought it would be exciting to win this tourney.

I can't believe the amount of work that must go into scheduling this.

undercoverbrother · 01-11-2018, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by habernac

Yep, I've got a peewee player as well.

This is my 5th season as an assistant coach, still having a pretty good time. Frustrated with a lackluster effort lately, but what do you do? I try to remain positive.

Bag skate the little effers

habernac · 01-11-2018, 08:53 AM

We had a really good seeding round, finished first in our group, but we've fallen totally flat since then. I hope they have a good tournament, my boy has finished runner up twice. It would be nice to get the win.

hixxes · 01-11-2018, 09:26 AM

My son is first year Novice 4 and very much looking forward to this week!

I'll echo the above comments that all of a sudden the teams effort and give a crap seem to be suffering. I'm assuming it's due back to school and dead of winter blahs creeping in. The last practice was a mess and only having three of us on the ice didn't help. Any advice from more experienced coaches?

Hopefully they shake it and go on a bit of a run.

Northendzone · 01-11-2018, 10:12 AM

^ novice is a real crapshoot, I used to find that practices or games on Fridays were the worst in terms of focus.

my only real advice would be to simplify the drills when the kids are a mess.

savardandjokinen · 01-11-2018, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I thought the league my son plays in did not participate in this tourney; however, the league is listed on the Hockey Clagary website, so I am not sure how it will work for his team.

traditionally, his teams never got further than game three. good luck to those of you that are in this. I always thought it would be exciting to win this tourney.

I can't believe the amount of work that must go into scheduling this.

I don’t believe in minor midget that you play esso unless that changed this year.