I was invited by a close friend who has a 10-year-old, Agnar, who plays for the Miami Toros hockey team, to give them a talk.  Mariangela is a quintessential hockey mom, who, along with her husband Magnus, move heaven and earth to enable Agnar to get all the ice time he can to become as good a hockey player as he can be.  Parents are so dedicated! It is something to observe...

So I gave the kids (and their parents) four things to think about:

1. skate, skate, skate...  when kids are young and learning to play hockey there are so many things that come into play that they forget to learn to skate.  I had the kids form two lines and we practiced the principle of 100% of our weight transferring from leg to leg as we shifted from side to side...  A simple drill, but it brings home the real dynamic of skating, and I trust that all of them will improve their skating when the season starts again in the fall with this knowledge underpinning their skill.  My father encouraged me to come out onto the ice with a burst of energy and take a full round of long, hard strides every time I came out of the dressing room onto the ice.  His guidance enabled me to become a strong, fast skater and when I had just turned 19-years-old, I was drafted by the "flying Frenchmen", the Montreal Canadiens!

2. stickhandling and shooting can - and should - be practiced off the ice as much a possible... learning to keep the puck on your stick is an art and to become skilled at that art, one needs to spend as much time as possible stickhandling on pavement with a lacrosse ball (the weight is very similar to that of a hockey puck).  When you can control the ball on various surfaces, you can become an amazing stickhandler "on the pond", as well... 

Shooting comes - again - from off-ice practice... Standing in front of a piece of plywood with a goal marked out on it and shooting pucks over and over again develops the wrist muscles as you shoot the puck off of the slow hard surface of pavement at the plywood goal.  Once again, it comes down to how much time a player stands in front of the plywood shooting pucks... more practice, more wrist strength, more goals!

3. Do not fear your opponent... Yes, we all have butterflies in our stomachs before a game, because we are focused on what who we are playing and what we need to do... But that doesn't mean we should fear our opponents.  Just like the New Zealand All Blacks, one of the most ferocious rugby teams in the world, we should be focused more on our own team and those that wore our jersey number before us. That's the All Blacks view, and I share that perspective too!

4. Thank mom and dad...  I asked all of the kids to stand up and face their parents and thank them for taking them - all the time - to practices and games.  When we are young, we have no concept of the sacrifices our parents (and sometimes our entire families) make for us to go to practice or games to play hockey.  I wanted the Toros to know just how important gratitude is, because without our parents being so kind, we would not be able to enjoy the sport in the wonderful way we do...

We had a delightful few hours together.  I hope that the kids learned a few things, most importantly, to thank their parents for all they do so that my little friends at the Toros can enjoy all the blessings that the sport of hockey brings them! 

Go Toros!