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Let’s imagine for a moment that you have yourself a five year old who wants to play hockey, or, you as his parent would like him/her to try this great game of ours. You understand that it is important to begin at a young age to learn the skills of the game early. So off you go to the local arena, enroll the child in a hockey program and there begins the journey; perhaps one day it culminates in an NHL opportunity. It is fun to dream isn’t it!

Only a very small percentage of children who begin playing the game at an early age ever make it as far as a top-flight junior program, let alone make it all the way to the NHL. The hockey pyramid, like all pyramids, is large at its base and narrows at the top, at its apex the greatest league in the world, the NHL. For those fortunate few who find themselves at the pinnacle, the question is how did they arrive?

The way I have come to understand this dynamic and the way that I use to explain it is rather simple. First, every human being is born with a certain amount of athletic talent. This refers to the genetic make up of an individual related to coordination, balance, agility, power, and hand-eye abilities. To play successfully at each level of the game on the way to and including the NHL, an individual must possess the minimum level of raw athleticism for each particular level. A person lacking in raw athletic talent, regardless of how hard they work, how well they are coached, how mentally tough they are, simply cannot overcome an innate lack of physical ability. If you were to enter an NHL locker room and look at the players clad in only gym shorts, you would begin to understand. In general, they are larger and more powerful than hockey players at lesser levels; this fact is immediately evident to the naked eye. Some of this comes from training but most of it is attributable to the genetic gift.

Another part of the genetic gift is related to dominant muscle type. Hockey is primarily an anaerobic game, requiring enormous bursts of speed and power over a relatively short duration, seconds in fact. Most everything a hockey player does must be executed at high speed, with great quickness and agility, and combine a precise orchestration of mind, hands and arms, legs and feet, etc. Certain people, though very fit and otherwise possessing coordination and balance, perhaps a high level of hockey specific skill can’t move beyond a certain level because they don’t have enough fast-twitch muscle fibers associated with hockey players who reach the highest levels.

Another element that distinguishes the best from the rest is attitude. Some say attitude is a choice and I do agree with this to a point. However, there are some people who already have or have developed what I call an NHL attitude, a raw competitiveness, and a burning desire to compete and to succeed. I believe that this can be developed but I also believe that for certain individuals, this comes more naturally. In recent years, I have reached another conclusion regarding the best players in the game and how they make it to the highest levels. Love of the game, a pure unbridled love, the pure enjoyment derived from playing hockey is a strong determining factor in the development of a young player. A player who does not love the game greatly will have difficulty spending the time required to develop the requisite hockey skill and spend the time training to develop the body towards its optimum capability.

Wayne Gretzky’s story is well documented whereby he spent hours alone on his backyard rink. When time was available, he chose not to watch TV or hang around on street corners, instead he chose to play hockey. I once coached a young player in St. Albans, Vermont who was similar in many ways. John LeClair would go to school, practice with our high school team in the afternoon, go home for dinner, and then play all evening at a neighborhood outdoor rink. On Sundays, an off day, he spent his entire day playing at the Benoit outdoor rink, breaking only for lunch and dinner. It is my belief that people like Wayne Gretzky and John LeClair love hockey. They love it so much that this is why they spent so much time at it and, when free, chose hockey over other ways that they could occupy their time. In the case of these two, their love of the game is probably well above the minimum requirement and it was very likely a significant factor in determining the level of success they attained and the hockey longevity they each enjoyed.

Assuming all of the above are possessed at the minimally required levels, the hockey specific skill and game understanding must be developed. This of course is done through practice and playing games, assisted by good coaching, and proper guidance in off-ice training. Hockey specific skills, skating, puck control, passing, shooting, and checking have to be developed to the meet the minimums for each level of play. I don’t suspect that Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan could outperform Gretzky and Messier on a hockey rink despite the innate athletic ability and competitiveness Woods and Jordan have.

It is my contention that every aspiring hockey player has to be able to make the minimums in all of the above-mentioned areas in order to have a chance to play at the highest levels. That player must be athletic, powerful, strong-minded and competitive, specifically skilled, and possess a love of the game. Some players are well above the minimums in one area or another and dangerously close to being below the minimums in other areas. Sounds like a whole lot of things have to exist, be developed, or simply come together over a period of two decades for a youngster to one day become an NHL millionaire.

The answer to the question asked in the title of this section is therefore very simple. Great players are born and they are also developed. The healthy combination of athletic talent, mental talent, love of the game, quality coaching, and specific training / competition conspire together to make it happen.

How a parent views the hockey experience of their child is extremely important. From experience, I have seen too many parents who develop the attitude that the money spent playing in the top youth programs, spending money on private coaching lessons, purchasing the finest equipment, are guarantees that the youngster will reach a high level of hockey. It is easy to think that this money will be recovered in the form of a college hockey scholarship opportunity or a professional hockey opportunity. This manner of thought, for lack of a better way to describe it, is absolutely wrong! No measure of money spent, coaching received, or tournaments played in will be able to overcome deficiencies a player has in all the areas discussed above.

Youth hockey should be played for its intrinsic values: enjoyment, exercise, socialization, camaraderie, personal discipline, work habits, and teamwork. If it is played at this level for these reasons, the young hockey player will attain tremendous benefit regardless of the final level of play. Enjoyment of the game is generally enhanced when a player is able to perform well so seeking good coaching, employing experts at hockey schools or for private lessons, playing in the top programs, attending quality tournaments are thus, by themselves, very good things. Just keep in mind why you are spending your money. Remember to “keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs.” There are very few sure things, if any, including the stock market, or real estate investments, why would betting on a youngster as a hockey player be any different?

To begin with, you are now armed with my opinions regarding what it takes to continue to advance among levels. If you see some of these things in large measure in your child and your child is dominating during games, then perhaps he/she has a chance to continue to move up the pyramid. If the child has enough of these attributes, they should recognize it themselves and take control of the process increasingly on their own. If the child possesses a genuine love of the game in great quantity, it will not be difficult for them to practice, to train, to take control of their own development. I coach for a living and I believe what I do has value. However, it has for many years been my philosophy that every athlete must become his or her own best coach. Internal motivation is the only true motivation! As a parent myself, I have always believed that my job is to expose my children to various opportunities and then let them determine for themselves if they have the skill and the will to make their dreams come true. After all, their dreams are their dreams, not mine.