I’d like to see a survey of which coaches develop players vs coaches who mostly recruit?
Even at the A/B level I see coaches who bring kids in from other Counties/States or suck kids away from other teams promising the way to hockey glory, a D1 scholarship and the NHL. These coaches spend most of their time recruiting kids away from coaches who develop kids and it’s a shame because it mostly ends up being a 1 or 2 year experiment and then they’re on the way to the next best thing (club hoppers). Especially love the 5’5†parents with the super star Squirt/Peewee who think their kid will be the next Theo Fleury or Mats Zuccarello.
It’s a funny thing when you have coaches who will cut or throw a kid and good family away for a cancerous family with/for a slightly better player. Why not develop the kid who is loyal and working hard to get better? In most cases, the cancer parent(s) ruin the team chemistry and all goes to hell anyway but regardless, I love watching these super star parents jump from club to club to get on a winner. I especially love watching them pay tens of thousands a year to eventually see their kid quit hockey at 16 or 18. After all, it’s all about propping up your kid and letting them know that you’ll always bail them out and that life lessons only come from winning.
Good luck to all who are jumping clubs and teams in search for greener pastures!!! Ask any parent with aged out kids who don’t play hockey anymore what a waste it all was… Have fun and enjoy!