1) Chase a coach not a level. Good coach at lower level will always win in the long run vs putting your kid with a moron a level up.

2) Look for positive energy and focus in the practices. You will need to go watch a practice or two with or without your kid. If the coach can keep the environment focused and positive then you know the coach has created a learning environment.

3) Talk hockey with the coach for 5 minutes. Everyone is busy so this can’t be a 30 minutes call or meeting. Come up with three hockey specific questions and find a way to ask them. Parent needs to become a salesman here. If you are not a hockey person, ask someone how is for help coming up with the questions and going over the answers.

Point # 2 the op made is very important.



Look for a team where the coaches kid is at least in the upper half of the team, never in the bottom half. Otherwise, the practices/drills are geared towards developing his kid.

When you meet the coach, if he tells you his resume in the first meeting......find a different team.

I can think of a very good 2010 team who has a coaches kid as the bottom player. Practices are not geared towards his kid and the team has developed better than any team they’ve played over the years. Just saying-

Multiple 2011 teams with similar issue and plenty of high level development..

Where’s this?

You sound like a loser. Probably fat and disgruntled.

#3 is important. Ill add that going to watch a practice without your kid in attendance is more important though. Last week I went to watch a 2012 practice of a team who wants my kid. Even though some of the kids looked really good, there wasnt much coaching going on and about half the team looked like they were there to mess around in lines. Not a recipe for success! Hard pass.

Ask a coach if he doesn't have a kid on a team, is he doing privates/ additional skates on the side. it should give you a perspective who's going to be playing.

All complete nonsense! GO FOR EHF ELITE OR NOTHING!!! If your kid can’t make an EHF ELITE team, just pull the plug on his hockey career. This is the only strategy that will work. If your kid is not good enough try bribing the coach or program Director. If you have a hot wife, see if she can intervene on his behalf and maybe offer some special favors. Anything you can to get him on an EHF ELITE team. Don’t worry if he can’t keep up and is not having fun. If all else fails, try the breakers or bandits. The most important thing to NHL scouts is that he have the EHF ELITE status in his resume. If somebody tries to tell you that skills, skating, hockey sense, etc are more important, they have no idea what they’re talking about I promise you. They are only saying that because their kid does not play on an EHF ELITE team. I mean how can you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning if your kid is playing in any other league other than EHF ELITE.

Sad but true

I feel so proud of my EHF elite breakers kid

You should he’s better than the majority

Haha, Once again delusional EHF folks

You most certainly should be proud. If he’s on the higher end of the Breakers he may even be able to make his town travel team. This combined with his EHF ELITE status will most definitely up his NHL draft ranking. All you need to do now is figure out if you’re going to have him commit to BC or BU.

I played with Brown at BC, but also am tight with Pandolfo so haven’t decided yet