skip navigation

Hockey 101

USA Hockey

For information on USA Hockey, its history and what they do today visit the following link to their about page:

www.usahockey.com/page/show/836187-about


The American Development Model (ADM)

USA Hockey has introduced the American Developmental Model (ADM). The Program was implemented after an extensive international study by USAH of educators, child development experts, coaches (from many different sports), physiologists and National Sports Federations. The ADM goal is to provide a very defined systematic (building block) approach to developing athletes starting from the earliest stages of participation, thus increasing the athlete’s skill, enjoyment and proficiency.

The USA Hockey ADM is an all inclusive program starting from the U8, Learn to Play (LTP) levels all the way to elite athletes competing at the Professional level. The ADM also addresses improved coaching techniques and Referee development. This program includes on-ice, off-ice, in-season and off-season curriculum for producing a well balanced complete athlete. It defines what is to be emphasized at what age to ensure proper skill development for each age level. The ADM also defines how much and what kind of competition is needed at each level.

For more information on the ADM Model and program visit their website and www.admkids.com.  


What the Heck are Tiers and AAA Hockey?

The following article "USA HOCKEY: WHAT ARE TIER I, TIER II, AAA, AA, A, B (AND BB?)?" was written in 2012 and Published on the McSorleys Stick website: http://www.mcsorleys-stick.com/2012/10/usa-hockey-youth-hockey-aaa-aa-a-b-bb-tier/.  It is a basic walk though of the various ins and outs of hockey from one parents perspective.


The Science of NHL Hockey

NBC Learn and NBC Sports, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, explore the science and math behind professional hockey. For lesson plans provided by the National Science Teachers Association, open the video and click on "Lessons." If you are having trouble viewing the videos, click here.


What is the NYSAHA

Within New York, the New York State Amateur Hockey Association (NYSAHA) is the governing body for hockey across the state.  If you are looking for information on their organization and how they function visit their website at: http://www.nysaha.com/.


Basics of the Game

Caps Academy: Hockey 101

If you are new to the game of hockey and want some basic information on the playing positions, equipment, playing surface and rules visit the Washington Capitals website where they have a great collection of information and videos that explain some of the basic rules of the game.  Select the image on the right for a link to the site.

 


From Child's View, Parents Find Full-Ice Hockey No Fun!

USA Hockey created video for the education of parents on half-ice hockey. 

ADM Introduction Video

Hockey 101 Video from FlexCoach: Rules!

Sledge Hockey: as Experienced by the Pro's

Hockey 101 on the Ice

THE HISTORY Ice hockey is an adaptation of the Native American game of lacrosse. In fact, many of the first rules were borrowed directly from the game, and changes for action on ice.

The first formal game was recorded in Kingston, Ontario in 1855. Twenty years later, students of Montreal's McGill University (credited for much of the game's early development), imposed a code of conduct familiarly known as the McGill Rules. Many of those same principles govern the game today.

In 1885, Canada's first national hockey association was formed, with teams quickly influencing their neighbors to the south. By 1896, teams were competing in the New York area, with the first game between the U.S. and Canada played by 1899.

The first professional league, called the National Hockey Association, formed in 1909. The four original teams from that league (Toronto, Ottawa and two from Montreal) were among the first to play under the auspices of the new NHL in 1917.

THE PLAYERS:

Offense

Center: Most like football quarterbacks in regard to playmaking ability. Operating up and down the middle of the ice, Centers lead their team's attack by passing the puck between his two wings to set up a goal. Defensively, he tries to keep the play from leaving the attack zone. As the play approaches his own goal, it's the center's job to hustle and break up the opposing team's plays.

Wings: You can't fly with just one. These guys follow the action up and down the rink on either side of the center. Left and right side wings pass back and forth, trying to position themselves for a shot on goal. Defensively, they guard the opponent's wings and attempt to disrupt them.

Defense

Defensemen: The two defensemen try to stop incoming play before any chance of scoring is possible. They block shots, clear the puck from their own net area and entertain the opposing team's forwards with body shots and ridicule. Offensively, they move the puck up the ice and pass to the forwards, then follow play into the attack zone.

Goaltender: As the last line of defense, everyone takes a shot at the goalie. This player's challenge is to keep the puck from entering his team's goal. Goalies can use any piece of equipment or any part of his body (even the head) to protect his net.

 The Rink
Ice hockey is played on an ice surface known as the rink. A regulation ice rink is 200 ft long x 85 ft wide.

The Goals
A goal net, or cage, is 6 ft wide x 4 ft high. It is designed so that the pucks entering the net will stay in, though shots will occasionally rebound off a back post and carom out. The goal line itself is 2 inches wide.

The Puck
Made of vulcanized rubber. It is 3 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. It weighs about 6 ounces, and is often frozen before games to make it slide and not bounce.

Scoring
Scoring a goal is the object of the game. It is not necessary to shoot the puck into the netting behind the goalie to score. It the entire puck crosses the goal line inside the posts, it is a goal unless:

  1. An attacking player kicks the puck, throws the puck or otherwise deliberately directs the puck into the goal by means other than the stick.
  2. An attacking player is in the goal crease, and is in no way held by a defender, while a teammate "scores".

While a goal does not count if an attacker kicks it in, if that same attacker kicks it in off a defender other than the goalie, it does count. In this case, the kicker is credited with the goal. On the other hand, if a shot is deflected in off a teammate, the teammate gets credit for the goal, and the shooter gets an assist.

Checking
Body checking in the USA Hockey system does not start in Youth Hockey until the Bantam (14U)  level and is not legal in all-girl hockey teams.  (NOTE: Girls playing at the 14U level and above on co-ed teams will not be restricted to body checking as they are in all girl teams). Body contact in comparison is taught as a legal part of the game from the 8U level up and serves as training aid to prepare for body checking levels.

Below the 14U level all body checks will receive a minor penalty when called by a referee however body contact remains a legal part of the game and will not be penalized.

NOTE: Body checking in Canada differs between most providences depending on age and level of play.

The Teams
Six players each, made up of a center, a right and left winger, two defensemen and a goaltender.

The Time
Youth Games vary in length, depending upon the age of the players. Midget, Bantam and Peewee teams play games that consist of three 15 minute periods with very brief intermissions in between. Squirts and Mites play 12 minute periods. Often in tournament play, due to the large number of games to be played, all teams will play 12 minute periods to help speed along the play.

Referee
The referee controls the game. He calls all of the penalties and must decide the legality of goals. Sometimes he will call time-out and ask the linesmen for an opinion before he makes a final decision.

Linesmen
The duty of the linesman is to determine offsides and icings. They drop the puck for face-offs and chase the puck after stoppage of play. It is also the linesmen's unenviable job to break up fights while the referee assesses the penalties.

Officiating System
In youth hockey all house games and most regular season travel games are played with a two-referee system.  In this system each referee serves the role of linesman and referee in a cooperative fashion for games. 

Locally, you will normally see a three-man system for sectional playoffs and other end of season events in youth hockey.  In the three-man system there will be one referee and two linesmen.

Starting Play
The game begins with a face-off, in which the referee drops the puck in the center circle, and two players facing each other in an attempt to gain control of the puck. Face-offs at different locations on the ice are used to restart the play throughout the game



My 13 Simple Rules for Hockey Parents Everywhere

By John Buccigross
reprinted from ESPN.com

 

Women and men used to gaze up at the stars, awed at the sight and size of the universe, much like Detroit Red Wings fitness trainers used to be in awe at the sight and size of Brett Hull's butt during his final Motor City days.

My understanding of the sky's map is limited to the Big Dipper (good nickname for Buffalo's Tyler Myers, by the way) and the constellation Orion. Orion is located on the celestial equator and can been seen across the world, much like Pat Quinn's head. Its name, Orion, refers to a hunter in Greek mythology. Since my late teenage years, whether I am in Mingo Junction, Ohio, or Vancouver, British Columbia, I always look up and locate Orion. It's my satellite to home and youth.

I first became aware of Orion from the now bankrupt movie production company Orion Pictures Corporation, which made movies from 1978-1998. I remember the company's animated intro prior to the start of a movie: stars from the constellation would twirl into the letter "O" before the entire word "Orion" was spelled out.

It seemed as if 46 percent of movies produced in the late '70s and early '80s, my HBO sweet spot years, were produced by Orion. I am sure this number is probably much lower. "Back to School," "10," "Hoosiers," "Platoon," "No Way Out" and others all began with the animated Orion logo. I would like to publicly thank the now defunct movie company and HBO for my astronomy acumen and the indelible image of Bo Derek jogging on the beach with wet, braided hair. ("Before the Internet, there was HBO." Now there is a slogan to believe in.)

Today, kids, teenagers, adults and Sean Avery don't so much stare up to the trees, clouds, airplanes, stars and 6-foot-9 NHL linesman Mike Cvik as much as they used to; now, most stare down at their cell phones and personal digital assistants (Jim Balsillie's PDA BlackBerry, yo). As a result of all this "looking down," we miss so much up in the heavens. We even look down at these things during dinner, hockey games and Heisman Trophy presentations. People even look down at their PDAs while they drive. Who needs a moon roof on a clear summer night when I can play Tetris on I-95 while I soar through the E-ZPASS lane?

This is my gigantic preamble to why you should one day sign up your young son or daughter to play youth hockey at a local rink near you. If nothing else, it gets them away from electronics and teaches them a small slice of humanity that they can take forward through life, a life with more heart and less battery power. The rink's cold robs electronics of their battery power and signal reception, anyway.

So, if you are a first-time hockey parent, or dream of one day spending more than $10,000 and sacrificing weekends for a decade of glamorous youth or "minor" hockey, here are 13 important things you need to know about the youth hockey universe -- and hockey in general -- to help speed up the assimilation process in joining the "Congregation of Independent Insane in the Membrane Hockey Community Union" or COIIITMHCU. If you move those letters around you eventually get Chicoutimi. A miracle from the star-filled heavens above. (I'm sure my fellow COIIITMHCU members will offer even more, and we can post next week.)

1. Under no circumstances will hockey practice ever be cancelled. Ever. Even on days when school is cancelled, practice is still on. A game may be cancelled due to inclement weather because of travel concerns for the visiting team, but it would have to rain razor blades and bocce balls to cancel hockey practice at your local rink. It's good karma to respect the game.

2. Hockey is an emotional game and your child has the attention span of a chipmunk on NyQuil. The hockey coach will yell a bit during practice; he might even yell at your precious little Sparky. As long as there is teaching involved and not humiliation, it will be good for your child to be taught the right way, with emphasis.

3. Hockey is a very, very, very, very difficult game to play. You are probably terrible at it. It takes high skill and lots of courage, so lay off your kid. Don't berate them. Be patient and encourage them to play. Some kids need more time to learn how to ride the bike, but, in the end, everyone rides a bike about the same way.

Your kids are probably anywhere from age 4-8 when they first take up hockey. They will not get a call from Boston University coach Jack Parker or receive Christmas cards from the Colorado Avalanche's director of scouting. Don't berate them. Demand punctuality and unselfishness for practice and games. That's it. Passion is in someone, or it isn't. One can't implant passion in their child. My primary motive in letting my kids play hockey is exercise, physical fitness and the development of lower-body and core strength that will one day land them on a VH1 reality show that will pay off their student loans or my second mortgage.

4. Actually, I do demand two things from my 10-year-old Squirt, Jackson. Prior to every practice or game, as he turns down AC/DC's "Big Jack," gets out of the car and makes his way to the trunk to haul his hockey bag inside a cold, Connecticut rink, I say, "Jack, be the hardest, most creative and grittiest worker ... and be the one having the most fun." That might be four things, but you know what I mean.

5. Your kids should be dressing themselves and tying their own skates by their second year of Squirt. Jack is 67 pounds with 0 percent body fat and arms of linguini, and he can put on, take off and tie his own skates. If he can, anyone can. I don't go in the locker room anymore. Thank goodness; it stinks in there.

6. Do not fret over penalties not called during games and don't waste long-term heart power screaming at the referees. My observational research reveals the power-play percentage for every Mite hockey game ever played is .0000089 percent; for Squirts, .071 percent. I prefer referees to call zero penalties.

7. Yell like crazy during the game. Say whatever you want. Scream every kind of inane instruction you want to your kids. They can't hear you. In the car ride home, ask them if they had fun and gently promote creativity and competiveness, but only after you take them to Denny's for a Junior Grand Slam breakfast or 7-Eleven for a Slurpee. Having a warm breakfast after an early morning weekend game will become one of your most syrupy sweet memories.

8. Whenever possible, trade in your kids' ice skates and buy used skates, especially during those growing years and even if you can afford to buy new skates every six months. Your kids don't need $180 skates and a $100 stick no matter what your tax bracket is. They will not make them better players.

9. Missing practice (like we stated above) or games is akin to an Irish Catholic missing Mass in 1942. We take attendance at hockey games very seriously. Last week, the Islanders' Brendan Witt was hit by an SUV in Philadelphia. Witt got up off the pavement and walked to Starbucks for a coffee, and then later played against the Flyers that night. Let me repeat that: BRENDAN WITT WAS HIT BY AN SUV ... AND PLAYED THAT NIGHT! Re-read that sentence 56 times a night to your child when they have a case of the sniffles and want to stay home to watch an "iCarly" marathon. By, the way Philadelphia police cited Witt for two minutes in jail for obstruction. Witt will appeal.

10. Teach your kids not to celebrate too much after a goal if your team is winning or losing by a lot. And by all means, tell them celebrate with the team. After they score, tell them not to skate away from their teammates like soccer players. Find the person who passed you the puck and tell him or her, "Great pass." We have immediate group hugs in hockey following a short, instinctive reaction from the goal scorer. I am proud of my boy for a lot of things, but I am most proud at how excited he gets when a teammate scores a goal. He is Alex Ovechkin in this regard.

11. There is no such thing as running up the score in hockey. This is understood at every level. It's very difficult to score goals and unexplainably exhilarating when one does. Now, if we get to 14-1, we may want to take our foot off the gas a tad.

12. Unless their femur is broken in 16 places, Mites or Squirts should not lie on the ice after a fall on the ice or against the boards. Attempt to get up as quickly as one can and slowly skate to the bench.

13. Do not offer cash for goals. This has no upside. Passion and love and drive cannot be taught or bought. I do believe a certain measure of toughness and grit can be slowly encouraged and eventually taught. Encourage your kid to block shots and to battle hard in the corners. It will serve them well in life.

Enjoy the rink. Keep it fun, keep it in perspective and enjoy the madness. In this digital world of electronics, you may find hockey to be the most human endeavor you partake in. Cell phones run on batteries. Hockey players run on blood. Blood is warmer. Welcome.