Enough of this "life lesson" crap at the rink - that's a cop out for bad coaches.

Life lessons should be taught AT HOME by the parents.

Hockey lessons should be taught AT THE RINK by coaches.

Its NOT the coaches job to teach your kid "life lessons", and its NOT the parents job to teach their kids hockey lessons.

So if a kid is really having trouble in a particular drill routinely in practice, let's say odd man defensive zone coverage, which emulates PK, are you just supposed to roll him out and give up a 2-1 lead in the 3rd for the single players development?

Or should he show some semblance of progress and display it in a practice setting first?

first off, if you are working on defensive zone coverage at squirts, pee wees and first year bantams then there is your problem. Your coach shouldn't be stopping practice to show little billy where he should be standing. Standing around at practice preaching to kids zone coverages is a waste of time. You see their eyes gloss over faster than telling them that they need to clean their room. They don't care. The coach should be working with them to develop skills in small areas. Keep the practices fast paced and in game type situations. They will learn what they are supposed to do without realizing they are learning because it is fun.

secondly, life lessons about being on the PP, PK etc. is BS. Hockey is set up the way it is supposed to be. If the kid is not at the elite level then he shouldn't be there. If he is cut then he needs to understand that there is commitment to be made. Some will do it others will find other interests. Who cares?

winning is not the end all. I guarantee after winning the big game the kids are doing the exact same thing as the kids that lost the big game. playing XBOX or on their phones. it is a bigger deal to the parents. Dad can't wait to tell everyone at work how Johnny is the player that stirs the drink. As the years pass the kids that are committed to it are on to bigger things such as prep schools college commits etc. The kids that are not have moved onto girls, music, baseball whatever. Nobody ever says," Gee if the coach played Billy instead of Johnny we would have won the squirt championship. nobody cares.

finally, if you looked at all the kids that "make it" you will probably find that they were on good TEAMS and were surrounded by players that complimented each other. They were not the kid with all the skill that turned every 3 on 2 Ito a 1 on 1. Coaches at the higher level are looking for good kids first. not jerks. secondly, they are looking for good hockey players who understand the game. they do not want Johnny puck hog who is used to always being on the PP and the PK.

Just relax. Enjoy it. if your kid is good enough then he will grow in the game and be foundIf he isn't then he will realize himself and find other interests. Honestly, none of this means anything in the big scheme of things

be careful for what you wish for.........

If you asked every parent on the team that there should be PP and Pk lines and shorter benches in the third period! I bet everyone would agree. But guess what, everybody thinks that their kid should be playing and that your kid should sit!!!!!!! It gets better because coach might agree with you. Daddy coach is a parent too and I guarantee you that his Gretzky is better than your Mario. That leaves only 4 other spots on the PP and only 3 other spots on the PK. Wait until you see the BS in the stands if he has to pull the goalie !!!!!!

Every parent thinks this way. but what they are really saying is....Run PP. and PK. just make sure my kid is on it. Sitting is for the other kids not my little super star. Be careful for what you wish for because everyone else may not see it the same way as you do.

Wanna bet the only ones saying to roll the lines are the parents of kids who would not play on the PP PK or last two mins of a close game ???

Try to find one set of parents that doesn't think their kid should be out there on the PP and PK. You would have better luck finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I've seen plenty of angry parents and shouting matches with coaches when junior is on the bench during "crunch time". Even if everybody knows that junior is the 13th player in the roster. Good luck on your search.

Coaches put out who is best at the right times to win the game, not to please parents. If you think your kids should be out and he is not it because your head is in the clouds and not reality. Our coach is up front with parents regarding playing time. There is no BS. If you ask why your kid isn't out or was skipped he tells you exactly why. He rarely shortens the bench but when he does there is a good reason. He tells the parents at the beginning of the season..he is in charge, he makes the decisions and if you don't like it leave. It really cuts down on a lot of problems. No one yells to the coach from the stands for any reason...good way to get your kid bench even if he is one the top kids.