Canada vs. USA Olympic hockey and how the Americans are catching up to the Canadians.

Welcome to our new blog. If you have any questions please fill out the form next to this post. Our first topic is Canada vs. USA Olympic hockey and how the Americans are catching up to the Canadians. Most of people we have talked from Canada where shocked by the American performance at the Olympics, however we weren’t. Several years ago, Hockey great Grant Stanbrook retired recruiter for the University of Maine (recruited Dustin Penner and Paul Kayria) talked at one of our seminars about how not to fear Europeans taking hockey opportunities away from Canadians but to fear the Americans. Today, Mr. Stanbrooks remarks are truer than ever. Why are the Americans catching Canadians in Hockey? Well here is what we have come with:

Americans are spending more money on hockey development and really building great programs

Americans are paying for good coaching in minor hockey, where as in Canada most coaches are not paid and most likely are a parent of a player on the team. Most coaches in the U.S. come with some type of professional/Jr. hockey background and have more experience and focus on development rather than just winning. Most ex-pro hockey players know what it takes to get to the next level having done it. They have through their careers built a good hockey network of people in the business which can be influential when needing information and opportunities. This in no way is a knock on the hard working volunteer /dad who has to sacrifice time and money to help kids, however not everything can be learned out of a book or taking coaching levels. Granted, not all ex-pro players make good coaches but it would be safe to say more ex-pro/Jr hockey players make better coaches than the others. The most common complaint from parents is the quality of coaches and lack of being to able to promote the player to the next level.

Americans are listening to knowledgeable people in hockey, where as in Canada hockey parents are making decisions without researching other options. One thing we have notice is that Americans are doing research before making hockey decisions and this is one of reason for creating this Blog.