Youth Hockey Podcast
Sports & Recreation Podcasts
Trying to navigate the youth hockey landscape? We have seen it all and done it all. Our experiences include the top prep school in the nation down to the dirtiest rink in Southern California. One thing has become clear. It's better to have a bit of a roadmap and a shoulder to cry on when everything heads south. We are optimistic, ebullient, and sharp as a rusty old skate that's seen too many ponds. We want to help you glide along the path to hockey stardom, and have a few chuckles along the way. Email: youthhockeypodcast@gmail.com Sponsor: https://gabegiffordhockey.thinkific.com
Location:
United States
Genres:
Sports & Recreation Podcasts
Description:
Trying to navigate the youth hockey landscape? We have seen it all and done it all. Our experiences include the top prep school in the nation down to the dirtiest rink in Southern California. One thing has become clear. It's better to have a bit of a roadmap and a shoulder to cry on when everything heads south. We are optimistic, ebullient, and sharp as a rusty old skate that's seen too many ponds. We want to help you glide along the path to hockey stardom, and have a few chuckles along the way. Email: youthhockeypodcast@gmail.com Sponsor: https://gabegiffordhockey.thinkific.com
Language:
English
Episodes
Special Announcement
1/24/2024
Special Announcement from the YHP gang.
Duration:00:01:10
S4 Episode 13 Randall talks about the meanest thing a parent on his own team said to him (brutal)- Lance and Coach share their own stories.
10/25/2023
What is the worst thing that someone on your own team has said to you? I can tell you that the nastiest comments come from your "friends" in the stands.
Rolly has some history with parents who have tried to get him banned from a rink. Rolly! The nicest guy around.
Lance is pretty well known all over the country for the skirmishes with parents on his own team
Duration:00:41:17
S4 Episode 12 Randall talks about parental friction - Lance talks about the outcast kid on a team - Rolly thinks that friendships have to be formed in natural conditions
10/17/2023
Lance has a great topic. How do you deal with the outcast on the team. Is there a way to draw them in? Is it better to leave it alone or rally to a cause.
Rolly talks about how friendships are not formed under duress. Sometimes kids need be left alone in dealing with roster issues.
Randall talks about parental friction. Hint. There is lots.
Duration:00:30:00
S4 Episode 11 Rolly takes profiling to a new level - Randall introduces a new character to the show: Doug - and Lance questions when skates should become a big ticket item for a young hockey player
10/10/2023
Rolly knows stuff. He shows it in this episode. He takes on the profiling of skates and how that effects a skater and what they can do on the ice. He mainly sticks to two of the systems for profiling skates, but he gives great advice for those in the market to do some aftermarket upgrading of the blade.
Randall talks about how he always trusts any skate shop that employs a guy named Doug. Doug knows how to sharpen skates.
Lance asks questions about when skate profiling should be on the agenda for a young skater. He also manages to make us all laugh twice.
Duration:00:41:04
S4 Episode 10 Randall talks about chirping, his son is an expert - Rolly talks about team chemistry in teams that are fresh starts and returning many kids - Lance has Duck appreciation night
10/6/2023
Randall has a story from his kids playing league hockey. One kid was getting a beat down and the other came to the rescue. It's not fun to get in a fight, but a brother can sometimes be good at having your back.
Rolly has insights on teams that have multiple returning players and those that are fresh starts for everyone. The chemistry is different. The culture is sometimes different.
Lance loves the ducks. He credits them for the formation of ice in So. Cal. A duck could crap in his path and he would shine his shoes with the droppings.
Duration:00:40:52
S4 Episode 9 Rolly talks about youth hockey broadcasting options - Talking Girl's Hockey with Randall - Lance is totally checked out this episode (honestly drink when you hear his voice)
9/27/2023
Rolly talks about some of the meager options to watch your kid play hockey at tournaments and local rinks. New Youtube options are especially interesting to the crew.
Randall talks about hockey for girls. His daughter is currently playing. The landscape is interesting and the rules are different (just like in the game). But in the end, the sport is a great one for the maidens of mayhem (a real team in Iowa).
Lance is so checked out that when I listened to this, I took a shot every time he talked. Stone cold sober at the end.
Duration:00:52:11
S4 Episode 8 Lance talks about how youth sports participation is going down - Rolly thinks it might be the overbearing coaching - Randall thinks it might be the rise of the phone
9/18/2023
Lance does not like the new numbers for youth sport participation. He remembers some things that pushed his kids away.
Rolly thinks that coaches need to modulate their approach to the younger groups.
Randall thinks that the phone somewhat is replacing the kids' enthusiasm for activity. It also is replacing other parts of the growth of some kids.
Kathy joins the podcast with invaluable insights on how a kid views hockey. And how a mom views hockey through their kids' eyes.
Duration:00:41:15
S4 Episode 7 Randall has some intel on teams that fold during the year - Rolly has seen teams disband because of "grabbing kids" off lower teams - Lance talks about how coaches sweet talk parents
9/7/2023
The podcast talks about how teams sometimes fold in the middle of the season. It's something that seems like it's an extraordinary circumstance, but it happens more than people think.
Lance talks about how both his kids were pushed up on the same team then treated less than generously when the season ends.
Rolly gives us a cautionary tale about sandbagging.
Duration:00:34:46
S4 Episode 6 Randall fields an email about tournaments - Rolly takes on Riverside - Lance thinks the scouts are always watching
8/30/2023
Randall takes a listener's email on tournaments and turns it into a frenzy of conversation.
Rolly talks about the Boston tournaments that only have two periods for the regular games and only one period for the semifinals and finals. He also has a take on the Brick tournament in Edmonton (in a mall).
Lance talks a little about Quebec peewee tournament.
Duration:00:35:24
S4 Episode 5 Randall suggests that parents rather than kids be cut - Rolly talks about the Californians on the national team - Lance talks about the camps that lead to national recognition
8/24/2023
Randall decides that the idea of cuts should be part of the stands. Cut the parents. Not the kids. Just kidding, but sometimes it seems like kids are best off on their own.
Rolly reports on the Californians on the national team. There is some good news. Kids from the coast are scoring and winning medals.
Lance talks about the camps that lead to the national program. His kids kept going to the camps and having great memories of hockey glory.
Duration:00:39:18
S4 Episode 4 Lance talks about not leaving home- Coach talks about essentials before having a kid billet - Randall talks about what to do when people come back to their home rink after leaving
8/15/2023
Lance did not want to leave his home. He talks about how the next generation is just catching up to the experience in his youth.
Coach has a lot of suggestions for what kids need when they leave the home. He has great ideas about how to prepare a modern kid for free range roaming.
Randall runs into a parent who left the rink two years ago swearing that they would never be back. At tryouts. It is a bit strange watching somebody who was too big for the neighborhood rink come back.
Duration:00:45:51
S4 Episode 2 Coach talks California prospects on national team - Lance digs into motivation and mites - IDTA (I was Definitely The Asshole) Youth Hockey edition
8/7/2023
Coach talks about how many players from California are making a splash nationally. Is there a trend? Is there a way to get your kid into that upper echelon? The kids from the west coast are getting opportunities.
Lance looks at how his kids started out and sees if he can refine the process for the next group of mighty mites.
Randall has a new segment to end the show. IDTA (I was definitely the asshole) Youth Hockey edition.
Duration:00:51:44
S4 Episode 1 Training days (summer) how to make the best of them - ice reports as temperature soar - fantasy tender game to end
7/31/2023
The podcast is back!
The podcast crew talks about how kids train during the summer. Each member of the team has their favorite activities. From spin class to beach runs. We all have our picks.
The ice is melting at the barns around the summer. Some rinks are holding up better than others.
Fantasy tender is the name of the game to end the show. Where would you like your kid to get a tender from?
Duration:00:53:37
S3 Episode 39 YHP is taking a month off - Bubble players and bubble parents - Lance talks about penalties killing opportunities for the lower lines
6/9/2023
Rolly gets us all ready for summer. It's time to hang up the microphone for a month and get back at it in the fall. He will recharge and be better than before.
Randall talks about bubble players and bubble parents. Are there ways to make sure you kid is not on the bubble? Are there parents who you wouldn't mind if they don't make the cut for the next year's team? It's partially in jest, but there is some truth in it.
Lance talks about how his kid misses shifts for penalties. It can really affect a kid lower on the roster.
We love all of the listeners. Thank you for tuning in. We will be back in the August.
Duration:00:45:51
S3 Episode 38 Coach talks about "Outliers" by Gladwell and how it has been updated recently on his podcast - the month a kid is born changes athletic outcomes - Lance notes the difference a year makes
5/24/2023
Coach talks about the update to the Gladwell examination of hockey players in Outliers. There is science to the idea that maturity has a statistical advantage.
Lance examines the break between kids who have hit their growth spurts. The scoreboard is merciless.
Randall tries to give balance to the idea that kids with late birth months are going to always be disadvantaged. They will have their day on the ice!
Duration:00:29:31
S3 Episode 37 Lance talks Bantams (what programs are the best) - Randall gets into girls rankings why is MN missing from Peewee - Rolly gets into the Jr. Flyer program
5/18/2023
Lance talks about the best bantam programs in the nation. He also digs into the SoCal programs. Is there a program that is consistently the best in the region? Are there programs on the rise?
Rolly talks about how programs grow and fade back east. He seems to know every program Lance brings up on the list. It's a bit frightening.
Randall gets questions about the girls. They have some great programs growing across the country. The future feels bright for the women's side.
Duration:00:37:52
S3 Episode 36 Lance defends the refs - Coach does a great job of taking both sides - Randall talks about parents getting thrown out of games
5/10/2023
Lance takes a strange stance. He backs the refs in youth hockey. He tries to make the case that they are just doing their job and deserve universal respect and patience for a hard job.
Coach modifies this to be a little more in line with the product on the ice. Are they doing the best job possible? Shouldn't we expect the effort to match the level of professionalism they seek to be treated with?
Randall moves on to talk about what it takes to get thrown out of a game in California. Refs have actually thrown out the wrong person in the stands too. It's hilarious.
Duration:00:27:06
S3 Episode 35 Club hoppers: the good, the bad and the angry, Lance talks lateral moves, Coach questions if a family can outgrow a program
5/3/2023
Randall looks at the So. Cal landscape and decides to zoom in on the club hoppers. Who are they? Why are they hopping? Will they ever be able to just walk to another club rather than jumping?
Lance decides that it is often about moving up. Lateral moves are not the way to club hop in his humble opinion.
Rolly gets into the stats of how many slots are really open on a given team. The numbers are often disheartening.
Duration:00:41:49
S3 Episode 34 Rolly interviews Jason Yee - Literally the best podcast we've done up to this point - best resource for skating Rolly has ever had - we just loved having him on the show
4/27/2023
Rolly brings skating guru Jason Yee onto the program to talk about video feedback, shin angle, Finland, Mckinnon and more. He credits this coach as the best resource in hockey for a young player in his developmental years.
Lance asks about the corkscrew. It turns out to be one of the secrets of the game for Yee.
Randall knows when he's out of his depth and stays quiet. You heard right. It's like I'm barely even there. That should improve our ratings. :)
Duration:00:47:54
S3 Episode 33 The season is over, now what? - Randall talks about outdoor hockey and what it means to kids- Rolly loves hockey that has no time limit (8hours on a lake is mentioned)
4/19/2023
Randall digs up a hockey league for kids that is totally outdoors. It's the kind of thing that CA kids can't even imagine, but it sounds like the kind of place most of our kids would love.
Lance talks about the way hockey without coaching can be the best idea for a kid who has only seen the game as a structured event.
Rolly talks about how enthusiasm goes hand in hand with pond hockey. There's no pressure. There are no parents. It's just the kids and the sport.
Duration:00:28:13