10 Things Good Hockey Parents Know About Hockey

By Melissa Walsh

To understand hockey, you have to be aware of the core reason driving any hockey player at any level to choose to play hockey: it’s the love of the game. Whether a player is a mite, a pro player, or a beer leaguer, he won’t play, I mean really play with the will to win, unless he has within him a dynamic passion for playing his best, a joy of being a hockey player. Good hockey parents are aware of this overarching hockey truth, which motivates their approach to hockey parenting. Good hockey parents know that only one thing fuels a kid to play hockey to his or her best ability -- a self-driven and self-nourished love for the game.

Below are ten more things good hockey parents know about hockey:

1. 1. Playing hockey is difficult.The most efficient means of becoming a good hockey parent is simple: play hockey. Not only is playing hockey the best way to appreciate the difficulty of moving a puck with a stick on ice as fast as you can through traffic; it is the only way to feel the joy of being a hockey player.
   
2. 2. The kids can’t hear you from behind the glass, and shouldn’t anyway.Cheering is friendly white noise in a rink, but screaming is not. It’s just annoying for the people nearby. Most glass-lickers give themselves away as not knowing much about hockey. And even if they do know something, they don’t know what the coach is specifically instructing to develop his team and compete. 
3. 3. You gotta lose to know how to win.
   As Steven Tyler sings in “Dream On,” it’s true that losing teaches skills for winning. Losing grows humility and strength in character and allows adults to model and encourage the benefits of perseverance and hard work to kids. Losing also creates a baseline for a coach to use as a measurement for development. For example, if at the beginning of a season, a team loses to a more highly skilled team by six goals, but ties the same team later in the season, the coach has a metric to gauge how his team is developing.
4. 4. Good refs “manage” the game, not necessarily call everything.
   The on-ice officials don’t call every penalty and infraction. It’s impossible to call everything, and it’s not even ideal for an official to blow the whistle for everything that may sort of resemble an offense. The game is just too fast. Good refs manage the game by protecting the flow of the game while ensuring the game is not being played recklessly. This officiating finesse becomes increasingly more important up the youth hockey levels. Bantam and Midget games are played so fast, so tenaciously, and fueled primarily by testosterone surges. Good refs at these levels apply wisdom in making calls to avoid fighting and overly aggressive tactics, for example, by sending opposing players to the box with offset roughing calls, giving them time to cool down.
5. 5. There are no shortcuts to becoming an elite hockey player.
   Nepotism might get your kid a spot on an elite team for a season or two, but it won’t make him an elite athlete. Only self-driven hard work and determination will sustain a kid with some God-given strength and talent at an elite level of hockey. Forcing a kid to take 500 shots in the garage every night won’t do it either. A player’s regimen of working on his strength and skills outside team practice must be his idea. He has to want to become an elite hockey player on his own. Parents can only encourage and applaud his effort, not drive it.
6. 6. Team momentum requires a team dynamic.
   Any coach will tell you that without the ingredient of fraternity, or sorority for girls, teams do not experience team success. There must be a bond among the players. They must play for each other, supporting each other. Good hockey parents don’t encourage or contribute to gossip or criticism of their son’s or daughter’s teammates. And they do what they can to support a climate of friendship among the players in the room and the parents in the lobby.
7. 7. The kids will remember a good coach, not a team’s season rankings.
   Good hockey parents are more concerned with finding their youth player a good coach than landing him on a highly ranked team. Good coaches are not necessarily the winningest coaches, especially among the little-kid ranks of Mites and Squirts. Good hockey development requires good habits. And game-winning tactics, like a consistent dump-and-chase approach, are not the same as good hockey habits, like growing a confidence to try to dangle the puck through traffic or feed a pass to a teammate under pressure.
8. 8. There is a language known as hockey speak.
   “Headman” is verb. “Sauce” does not come in a can or jar. Good hockey parents are proficient in hockey speak.
9. 9. Hockey has a code, and it’s good.
   School has a code. Hockey has a code. Good hockey parents teach their kids that these codes are both good, yet different. They instruct their kids not to mix the two codes up, and they stress that the hockey code carries over into adulthood.
10. 10. Each youth hockey player must own his or her hockey experience.
    The youth hockey experience is a gift to kids given to them by their parents. There is no ROI for a hockey parent other than knowing that their kid is enjoying hockey and growing a love for the game that will likely last a lifetime.http://rookiehockeymom.com/Hockey_Mom_Sense_-_Melissas_Blog/Entries/2013/1/17_10_Things_Good_Hockey_Parents_Know_About_Hockey.html

Coaching Mites: A Great Balancing Act

By Melissa Walsh

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life’s

a Great Balancing Act.

― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

In this early part of my rookie season as a U8 hockey coach, I’m highly alert to two sets of wisdom: 1- insight into how little kids think; and 2- statements about how respected coaches think. I want to blend that wisdom and package it into how I interact with our Mite hockey players on the ice, on the bench, and in the room. I understand my role as nurturing their love for the game, which is achieved by teaching and motivating. It is the great balancing act of the youth hockey coach.

An often repeated Scotty Bowman quote is: “The better the coaching has become, the worse the game has become.” I couldn’t find the original context for this quote on the Internet. But as a mom of four hockey players, I’ll take a stab at this quote’s implication for youth hockey: Nailing the Xs and Os is far less important than evolving a coaching finesse for motivating players, bringing alive their passion for playing the game, and channeling every player’s innate will to win.

In his hockey memoir, The Game, Ken Dryden shared in detail his perspective of Scotty Bowman and his style of coaching. He said that Bowman understood his players very well, yet didn’t seek to befriend them. He had a talent for motivating players, getting all of his players to dig deeper. He earned respect and trust from the players. And, according to Dryden, Bowman did not employ systems. Rather he brought to each game “a plan” for “getting the right players on the ice.” 

What does this imply for those of us coaching the game’s youngest players? If we are to coach Bowman-style, we will know our players. We will treat our child players like children. We will praise them concretely for skating hard and tackling a new skill. We won’t force systems; our practice and game plans will give them room to hone creativity and hockey sense. We will grow their love for the game. 

We will find a way to develop each kid on the roster, despite the team’s vast range in skill level. How? By enhancing the will to win in every player. During every practice drill, each player should sense his or her potential as an athlete. Practices should be fun, and heads should be sweaty when the helmets come off after practice. And during every shift of every game, each player’s confidence must grow. Effective youth coaches use “mistakes” as teaching moments, not open opportunities to belittle players.

I’ve been hearing so much complaining around the rink about USA Hockey’s revised Coaching Education Program and its new rules, which are rooted in LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) and the ADM (American Development Model). Indeed, USA Hockey’s new approach is forcing significant change and cutting into the agenda of many coaches, most who are far more seasoned in this sport than me. As a hockey mom who has seen up close the good, bad and the ugly of youth hockey, I support and applaud USA Hockey’s LTAD approach. I believe that with its effort to foster each kid’s love for hockey and chance to evolve creativity in playing hockey, USA Hockey is redeeming some of the best aspects of pond hockey and giving the game back to whom it should belong ― to the kids.

As Don Cherry said, “People think common sense is common, but it’s not.” USA Hockey is forcing common sense on youth hockey coaches. Next, I hope they’ll develop an education program of common sense for our hockey parents.

© 2011, Powerplay Communications

USA Hockey's New Rules of Engagement

By Melissa Walsh

 

In June, USA Hockey’s governing body ruled to remove body checking from Peewee level (ages 11-12). If you’ve followed any of the youth hockey blogs out there, you know this approved rule change proposal, called the “Checking Rule Development Program,” impacted the approach to youth hockey development at all levels and caused quite a stir in the tight-knit hockey community across the United States. Though the program prompted significant adjustments to the rules of engagement across all levels, last season’s rink-side debates leading up to the vote in June were dominated by the Peewee checking rule-change controversy.

USA Hockey President Ron DeGregorio stressed to parents and coaches that USA Hockey’s new approach to introducing body checking “will better prepare their children for the physical part of the game.” NHL veterans, neuroscientists, pediatric physicians, and other subject-matter experts contributed to the dialogue and provided the insight and research that led to the rule changes inherent in the checking rule development program and the new coaching practices and officiating guidelines that come with it.

The other significant rule change was passed with little discussion “outside the room” of the USA Hockey governing body. Starting at the Bantam level (ages 13 and 14), delayed offsides, or “tag-up,” will be the standard. I’m glad for this rule change and looking forward to watching my three Bantam-level players engage in a more free-flowing and faster game.

So what do I think about the controversial checking rule changes? Though I realize that the new model prescribes progressive body contact as players move up through the development levels, I’m still concerned about the reality of how players will be coached and officiated. The checking rule development program just sounds so utopian. Though well-thought out and well-intentioned by folks who have watched, coached and played far more hockey than me, I struggle to perceive how the new rules can possibly be consistently well-coached and well-enforced. The game is too fast, and USA Hockey’s good, dedicated coaches and refs are too inconsistent (because they’re only human).

The rule of thumb for legal body contact will be that the player has to appear to be going for the puck, not the opposing player’s body, with his or her stick on the ice. Okay, I get that. That’s the standard for contact in my women’s beer league. But we play a much slower game than the quick, impulsive hot-shot kids.

I’m concerned that players, especially our second-year Peewees, will be frustrated and confused as they attempt to play aggressively, yet have to pause split-second to discern between appropriately aggressive body contact versus overly aggressive body checking. The parents will be confused, likely raising their arms every time the opposition instigates body contact, but that goes without saying. There will be a learning curve that’ll be steepest for this season’s second-year Peewees. USA Hockey would probably argue that, over time, appropriate contact will become instinctive. Okay, I get that.

But I’m also concerned about the vast variance in size among 13- and 14-year old boys. I cringe at the thought of turning on the green light for legal hitting at this age. The art of throwing and receiving the body check ought to be well-honed before Bantams. My oldest son sustained two serious injuries last year from “clean” hits. If he hadn’t had so many years of practice taking hits, might his injuries have been much worse? I don't know. I'm certain that the developers of the new checking skill program have considered that dynamic theoretically. I’m just concerned that the real-life consequences of introducing body checking at the Bantam level may present very differently than the forethought that flowed into the top-down prescription for introducing body checking, which is being integrated into USA Hockey’s very complex development model. I know that in Quebec the kids start body checking as Bantams; yet in Ontario, they begin body checking as Atoms (Squirts). It’s difficult to know for certain which approach is better for development and safety in the long run.

So though I applaud the effort to develop a “safe” checking model, I’m concerned about how model "modules" and principles will be taught and enforced. I look forward to learning more as I participate in a coaching clinic this fall.

So fellow hockey parents, coaches and players, how to you feel about USA Hockey’s rule changes? I’d like to add a few guest-blog entries on this topic. Send your two-cents to melissa@powerplaycommunications.com. Or send me a note via Twitter @powerplaywriter or my Facebook page.

In the meantime, especially if your kid is younger than a Bantam, by all means, refrain from calling out the “hit somebody” suggestion from your safe zone behind the glass.

© Powerplay Communications

Got a Cool Book Idea? Get It out of Park & into Drive.

By Melissa Walsh

As an independent writer and publisher, people often tell me that they have a cool book idea. I say, “Great. You should get started on it.” They ask, “How?” I offer them some tips and suggest they contact me for support if they want help developing the proposal, writing or editing the manuscript, or self-publishing the book. 

Book ideas come easily, but crafting an idea into a reader-friendly narrative does not. My experience chatting with folks about books tells me that just about everyone has at least one amazing book concept simmering in their brain. The problem is getting the concept out of their head and onto the page. Because authoring a book is tedious, requiring discipline and focus, and because the publishing process demands attention to detail and new technologies, too many cool book ideas never enter the market.

For those serious about developing their cool book idea into a real book, here are the steps to making it happen:

1- Get the concept on paper.
Go crazy brainstorming your cool book idea on paper in the form of an outline and clusters of rough prose. For now, don’t sweat the mechanics of writing. The concept or story is what sells. Get it out of your head and slap it into text that you, or a commissioned editor, can later reshape, enhance, and fine-tune. 

Don’t worry about someone stealing your cool book idea. Once you have written a draft of your concept, you automatically hold exclusive rights to the work. But to be safe, you can register your manuscript with the U.S. Copyright Office for a $65 fee.

2- Identify your target audience and get to know them as readers.
Become more familiar with the books your target market consumes. See what these folks are recommending on blogs and chats. Analyze book sales rankings in your genre for your market, entering data into a spreadsheet. Draw conclusions about what hooks and entertains your target audience. Figure out what they want to read more about. What are they curious about? Look for voids in current book listings. Can your book idea fill the gaps?

3- Roll up your sleeves and build the manuscript.
Go as far as you can in developing your book’s content. Stick to your outline and focus on your reader prospect as your write. Carve out time in your schedule at least several times each week to fill those journal pages or type on that laptop. Don’t let anything aside from life’s emergencies get in the way of the authoring time you’ve carved out of your have-to schedule. 

You can’t steer a parked car, and you can’t sell an unwritten manuscript. Like a mechanic building an engine, get going building the manuscript ― the book’s engine ― so you can drive your book to an audience. If you get stuck, and you can’t get that engine to turn, commission a professional writer, or ghostwriter, to build the manuscript (your book’s engine) for you.

4- Investigate your publishing options.
Should you self-publish? Should you work on getting an agent? Should you find a publisher who accepts unagented manuscript? 

Use the Writer’s Market to investigate which agents or publishers you’d like to contact with your book proposal. Create a list of agents/publishers, noting their specialties, proposal requirements, royalty rates, whether or not they accept simultaneous submissions, etc. Identify which agent or publisher you’d like to contact first about your cool book idea.

5- Develop and submit the book proposal.
As you’re actively building your manuscript, you should also develop the business proposal for your book. The proposal is your sales pitch to a publisher, convincing an acquisitions editor that your cool book idea will earn the publisher a financial return. You’re negotiating a business deal; visualize your concept in terms of business value, in addition to stepping into the shoes of your intended readership. 

Developing a solid proposal will do more than convince potential stakeholders that your book idea is truly a cool book idea. It will serve as an important reference in guiding your activities as the project manager of your book’s development. Even if you’re planning to self-publish the book, you ought to draft a well-thought-out proposal for successfully publishing and promoting your book on schedule and with attention to content quality and market appeal. Writing the proposal forces you to research your target readership, any competing works currently listed, and promotional techniques to win market share for your book. You’ll also prescribe for yourself a chapter outline and summary with a schedule for manuscript completion. 

Reference the publisher’s proposal-submission guidelines. Most nonfiction publishers require the following rubrics:

Background ― Tell the publisher why you want to write this book. Why must this information/story be delivered to the target market?

Market ― Tell the publisher about your audience. To whom are your writing this book? What is this market reading these days? What’s special about this market?

Rationale ― Convince the publisher that the intended market needs this book? Why will the target market embrace your proposed book?

Market Analysis ― Show the publisher the numbers. Present a table with sales figures on titles overlapping your proposed book’s topic and target readership. Provide your analysis of how and why currently listed titles seem to be attracting or repelling the readership. Based on book rankings, explain how your proposed book will fill a hole in current listings or meet a need or desire of the market.

About the Author ― In one to two short paragraphs, tell the publisher a little bit about yourself and your credentials for writing this book.

Table of Contents ― Decide on chapter titles and list them for the publisher with a one- to two-sentence description of the scope for each chapter.

Sample Chapter(s) ― Submit clean (copyedited and proofed) copy of one or two sample chapters with the proposal

Submit the proposal to to your number-one publisher prospect or agent and hope for a positive response within one to three months.

6- Be patient. Stay positive.
Every author experiences rejection. Just about every book proposal is rejected at least once. The manuscripts of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling were rejected. Rejection is a normal part of the process in the book-publishing biz. If (when) you receive a rejection letter, simply file the rejection notice, cross that prospect of your list of publishers/agents, and press on with your cool book idea by preparing your proposal for the next prospect.

7- Rely on your “book mechanic.”
Once you have a plan in place for publishing the book, you’ll charge forward in completing and perfecting the manuscript. To achieve optimal market mileage for your book, rely on an editor, or “book mechanic.” You wouldn’t diagnose and repair an engine without the help of a trained and experienced mechanic, right? So don’t try to fix your book manuscript without professional help either. Whether your publisher assigns you an editor or you have to commission an editor yourself, it’s a good idea to incorporate the recommendations of experienced book mechanics, who’ve honed skills in wordsmithing and cultivated a savvy for the book biz. 

Your book mechanic may suggest minor tweaks or recommend a major overhaul of your manuscript. Don’t take it personal. All authors require a degree of help in crafting manuscript into smooth-running prose. The objective, trained eye of an experienced copyeditor assesses the manuscript for readability and adherence to the prescribed editorial standard. Just as a skilled mechanic can make an engine purr, so can a skilled editor develop a manuscript for the proper rhythm and tone of the market.  

8- Promote your book.
You’ll get to know your target readership better by developing the marketing sections of your proposal. You’ll also learn more about your market during the course of researching the subject of your book. A few months before your target publication date, you’ll want to begin promoting your book. Generate buzz for the upcoming release of your book. Get creative with memorable YouTube videos and clever tweeting. Launch buzz that is amazing or funny enough to go viral. Send out a press release to get reporters and reviewers interested in the book’s release. Start a blog on your book’s topic to build readership interest. Develop a book website with a POS link. Introduce yourself to area libraries and book stores, requesting a meet-the-author/book-signing event. Prepare posters and handouts for these events. Your publisher my offer you complete support in these promotional activities, or you may have to execute them on your own. Either way, make sure you have a promotional plan in place well in advance of your book’s pub date.

Need Help Getting Out of Park, Into Drive?

If you’re serious about getting your cool book idea to an audience, contact Powerplay Communications for a free consultation. We offer professional support for all stages of book development. Request an appointment by calling 248-650-2995 or sending a message to info@powerplaycommunications.com. 

© 2011, Powerplay Communications

Hockey Mom Day

By Melissa Walsh

What do hockey moms do on Mother’s Day? They go to the rink of course. 

With most youth hockey players participating in Spring hockey, hockey-mom duties continue well beyond the arrival of May flowers. At least one of my boys has had a game or tourney each Mother’s Day for the past several years. The first season or two I was somewhat bent out of shape over the situation. “C’mon,” I would protest seeing the Spring schedule. “Can’t we even get Mother’s Day off.”

I came to realize that, no, hockey moms do not get Mother’s Day off, but we get used to it. I dare say, we even learn to enjoy being at a rink on our special day.

My best hockey-mom Mother’s Day memory happened years ago in Toronto, where my oldest son’s team was participating in a weekend tournament. In the hotel, getting ready for the rink early that Sunday morning, my son announced, “Mom, the coach said there’s a team meeting downstairs.”

So I followed my Squirt down to the lobby. One of the coaches directed me and the other moms to a conference room. “Everyone’s in there,” he said.

Lo and behold, our little Squirt hockey players had planned a wonderful surprise for the moms. They served us breakfast and gave us flowers. It was certainly more pampering than I would have received at home.

Ever since, I don’t complain about having to be at the rink on Mother’s Day. It’s become part of our family’s Mother’s Day tradition. I can’t imagine the holiday without hockey ― watching my boys play, catching the NHL playoffs, and then playing in my Sunday night league with my hockey-mom buddies. Mother’s Day doesn’t get any better than that.

I’d love to hear about your hockey-mom Mother’s Day memories. Send them to me via Twitter @powerplaywriter or my Facebook page.

© 2011, Powerplay Communications

What Can Buzz Do for Your Biz?

By Melissa Walsh

Looking for a promotional boost? Get buzz.  

What is buzz? Promotional currency. It grabs attention, creates demand, and generates sales.

Give Them Something to Talk About

Marketing gurus who unleash buzz well outthink their competitors without outspending them. How? By planting a water-cooler conversation topic into the heads of customer prospects. Embedded in that conversation is the product or service projected for promotion.

In his book Buzzmarketing, Mark Hughes dedicated an entire chapter to television’s most brilliant buzz success story: American Idol. Hughes summarized American Idol’s marketing coup this way: “What makes American Idol a buzz blockbuster? It fails on no front. It caught our attention. It pushed our buttons and got us talking. It showed its warts, not just its polish. It delivered a great product and created a means for empowered interactivity to take root, making us, its viewers, the costars every Wednesday night.” What’s more, Hughes explained, text-messaging grew expeditiously as the technology rode the show’s powerful buzz momentum. American Idol demonstrated how third-party businesses (in this case, cell-phone service providers) can benefit from buzz generated out of an unrelated industry. Therefore, today’s marketing savvy know-how includes paying attention to the buzz du jour, wherever it may be, and creatively leveraging its hype for the targeted product or service.

Buzz impacts the market emotionally. Because buzz is word-of-mouth marketing, it must be memorable and credible. From the viewpoint of the consumer, buzz is reciprocal. It’s engaging. The consumer feels empowered to further spread the buzz, negative or positive. It’s not a one-way vehicle that the consumer swerves to avoid with the click of the remote. 

Push the Market's Buttons

Marketers attract consumer attention by unleashing product- or service-centric buzz that is funny, absurd, amazing, mysterious, raunchy, etc. Buzz should raise eyebrows. It must have an aha quality.

In his book, Hughes described the ”six push-buttons of buzz” as “the taboo, the unusual, the outrageous, the hilarious, the remarkable, and the secrets.” Buzz either shocks, awes, angers, or amuses the market or it feeds the inside scoop on a hot topic. Pushing these buttons, buzz is designed to achieve both marketing (grabbing consumer attention) and PR (grabbing media attention) goals for a business. 

Once buzz is launched, the marketing folks watch for the market’s reaction, crossing their fingers that it’ll spread like wildfire as customer prospects tweet, like, and forward information in social media. They track how the market responds, protests, applauds, laughs, or gasps and begin calculating an ROI for their next marketing move.

Writers Know How to Buzz

Buzz is creative content. If you’re looking to buy some buzz for your business, commission a writer. Follow these steps:

1- Find a writer who knows your market.
Because buzz must be memorable, find a writer who is a good storyteller. Because buzz must be credible, ensure that the writer checks his or her big imagination with a healthy dose of integrity.
2- Brainstorm with the writer. 

Work with the writer to zero in on what’s silly, strange, or special about what you’re selling, what will get your market talking, guessing, opining, speculating, analyzing, or laughing.

• Set marketing goals.
• Develop a marketing mission statement. 
• Come up with a catchphrase or tagline that’ll flow with the buzz.
• Have the writer pitch buzz story options with a rationale behind the expected market returns.

3- Make your decision.

Assume the risk. Pardon the cliche, but buzz requires a running-with-scissors approach.

4- Launch the buzz. 

Cross your fingers. Market reactions to buzz can be unpredictable.

5- Track the results. 

Use the data to calculate your ROI. Record lessons learned.

6- Reap the benefits of buzz.

To learn more about the impact of buzz on a market and how to unleash it, check out the book Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes.

Looking for a buzz writer? Contact Melissa at Powerplay Communications.

© 2011, Powerplay Communications

Hockey Mom Speak: How It Evolves

By Melissa Walsh

Look around the rink and conduct a little study. Exhibit A: the rookie hockey mom. Exhibit B: the veteran hockey mom. How are they different?

I expect you won’t detect differences in how rookie and veteran hockey moms dress, walk, sit, check their smartphones, or hold their coffee mugs. Rather, you’ll spot the delta between rookie and veteran by what comes out of the mouths of hockey moms.  

From the time a mom enters her rookie season of youth hockey parenting through the finale of watching teens playing midget or junior hockey, the voice of the hockey mom evolves. I’ve discovered that as a mom’s hockey knowledge grows, so do her screams become cheers, her expressions of worry become expressions of hope, her rants become prayers, and her angst becomes faith in the power behind this great game. 

So what are the differences between the voice of the rookie hockey mom and the voice of the veteran hockey mom? Below are some differences I’ve noticed.

First of all, the rookie hockey mom is confused by the ref signals (unless she plays hockey). She can’t distinguish the tripping call from the slashing call, nor the crosscheck call from the interference call. And she thinks that every time a kid crashes or falls, a ref’s arm should go up. 

Conversely, veteran hockey moms become pretty good officiating analysts of this fast game. They can also see the systems forming, the guy who’s open, how the lines are gelling, and the goal that is about to happen. For instance, if you want to know exactly what went wrong on the backcheck, ask the veteran goalie mom. She’ll break it down for you. Rookie hockey moms don’t have this vision (unless they play hockey).

Here are some comparisons of what a rookie hockey mom might say with what a veteran hockey mom might say in similar situations.

As her kid begins moving the puck out of his team’s zone, the rookie mom screams, “SKAAAAAAATE!!!!!!” The veteran hockey mom, quietly mutters, “Okay now, set it up.”

When her kid’s team is hit with more penalties than the opposing team, the rookie hockey mom comments, “These refs suck.” The veteran hockey mom says, “That’s okay, the hockey gods are fair. It’ll even out in the long run.”

When there’s bodychecking, the rookie hockey mom cringes and says, “Ooh, I hate this checking.” Yet the veteran hockey mom acknowledges clean hits with, “Nice hit.” She might even raise her voice from the bleachers to advise, “Hit somebody!”

Watching NHL hockey, the rookie hockey mom says, “I don’t get the fighting.” The veteran hockey mom says, “There’s a code.”

After a tough loss, the rookie hockey mom says, “I feel sorry for the goalie.” The veteran hockey mom thinks, “I respect the goalie.”

Watching HNIC, the rookie hockey mom says, “Don Cherry is nuts.” The veteran hockey mom says, “Don Cherry is prophetic. Nice suit”

Toward the end of the season, the rookie hockey mom says, “I’m so sick of being at the rink.” The veteran hockey mom says, “Let’s tailgate.”

Planning the family spring break trip, the rookie hockey mom thinks, “Finally, we’re going to have a week with no hockey.” The veteran hockey mom suggests to the family, “Hey, on our way to Orlando, why don’t we stop off in Nashville to catch a Preds game?”

Certainly, what a hockey mom knows and says radically evolves during that wild and bumpy journey that is youth hockey. 

So, you hockey parents out there, please share what you’ve noticed. What has evolved for you in the way you think and speak about youth hockey?

© 2011, Powerplay Communications