By John Russo
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Each year (for 25 years), I have had a guest writer for the “Coaches Corner” – to provide a new and fresh view from an outstanding young coach.

A Wayzata native, Judd Stevens starred at Wayzata High School where he earned All-Conference, All-Metro and All-State honors and was a 2001 Mr. Hockey finalist in his senior year. He went on to be a part of two national championships for the University of Minnesota, and was captain in 2004-05. He was Academic All-Big Ten and Academic All-WCHA in 2003-05, then went on to play pro hockey in Sweden.

Upon returning to Minnesota, Judd started his coaching career with the Wayzata Bantam A’s, including a state championship in 2009. He now is a coach in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League and earns his keep with Triple Tree Investment Bank.

Offseason hockey training: Untangling the web

By Judd Stevens

Navigating offseason training options is like unwinding the most complicated of webs. Between the AAA teams, skill development camps, strength training programs, 3-on-3 leagues, spring teams, fall teams, etc., where do you even begin? Parents and players are often left scratching their heads in determining their best option. Before shedding some perspective on where time and money might be best spent, it’s important to get a perspective on the evolution of offseason training programs in Minnesota.

Twenty years ago, AAA hockey was a rarity. There were less than five AAA teams, tryouts were invitation only and earning a roster spot was difficult. If you were fortunate enough to make a team, it meant one or two trips to Canada as in-state tournament options were limited. The players not participating in AAA hockey played other sports, participated in their association’s skill development camps and/or found other off-ice training options.

Enter the “checkbook era” of AAA hockey. From 1995 through 2000, the state of Minnesota became flooded with AAA teams and tournaments. Almost any player could join a AAA team that would compete in five or six tournaments throughout the summer. AAA teams developed the nasty nickname of “checkbook” teams – meaning if you had money to pay, you could play. The combination of AAA, spring and fall games had kids playing 40+ games in the offseason – more than a regular winter season schedule. This overabundance of AAA teams and mass quantities of games led to some unintended consequences.

The year-round schedule and mass quantity of games took a toll on players as they lost the opportunity to recharge their “hockey battery.” By the time association tryouts began in October, kids were completely burned out – hockey turned from an exciting, fun game into a chore.

An important reminder for parents – it’s better for a kid to play 100 hours of hockey per year when they’re fresh and enthusiastic than 150 hours when they would rather be somewhere else. Additionally, excess games formed bad habits. As a coach, it’s challenging enough to motivate a player to focus in the middle of January – try the middle of July when it’s 80 degrees outside and they’d rather be on the lake than at the rink!

Enter the era of specialized skills training. Entering 2012, offseason skill training seems to be getting more buzz than playing offseason games. Paging through Let’s Play Hockey, it’s easy to find skill-specific camps and training programs covering stickhandling, power skating, shooting instruction, weight training and 3-on-3 leagues – strong competition for traditional AAA teams. It’s clear the hockey community has gone back to focusing on teaching skills, not force-feeding games. Additionally, a lot of skill training is being done off the ice which can be just as, if not more, effective than on-ice training.

When I was coaching at the Bantam level, we had one requirement for players in the offseason – hang up the skates for 30 days. Our players were told to use this time to be a kid, hang out with family and friends, AND play other sports. Specific to hockey, we encouraged them to use the 30-day break from skating to focus on off-ice activities like shooting pucks, stickhandling and weight training.

One story I always told players and parents when they questioned this tactic was of Minnesota-native, former Gopher teammate and current Pittsburgh Penguin defenseman Paul Martin. The summer of 2002 after our Gopher team won the national championship, Paul skated less than five times. What did he do for the offseason?  Weight training, off-ice shooting, stickhandling and other forms of off-ice training. How did he perform the following season? He was an All-American and led our Gopher team to a second national championship. Paul is an unusually gifted athlete, but his commitment to offseason (and off-ice) training proves what can be accomplished without ice time.

It’s important to clarify that playing in competitive game situations during the summer isn’t all bad. In fact, certain kids may need more game time to enhance their development. My perspective is simply that the bubble of AAA hockey has deflated and the commitment to developing skills (both on-ice and off-ice) is a very positive change.

So, how do players and parents draft their own offseason plan? Some thoughts:

• Realize there is no “one size fits all” approach as every player has their own unique needs.

• Listen to the options other players are considering, but don’t follow the pack.

• Players need to do a self-assessment and determine the hockey skills they need to improve during the offseason (with parents or coaches assistance if needed).

• Players need to establish goals and develop action plans to accomplish them (offseason training creates life skills such as goal setting that go way beyond hockey).

• Players and parents need to determine a time budget (do you want to spend summer weekends at hockey tournaments?).

• Parents need to establish a financial budget.

• Players and parents need to recognize training can be done at home and at no cost – YouTube is full of great stickhandling drills, quickness/agility circuits and other off-ice training programs.

Bottom line is offseason training starts and stops with a player’s commitment, work ethic, and discipline. If you are committed to a goal, have a sound action plan, and put forth the required effort to improve, the results will come – I guarantee it.