Face it , maybe 1 or 2 if lucky enough. Your EHF, E9, MPDHL and what ever league out there it's a big alphabet. Maybe this year start thinking realistically. High School Team maybe College. Get thru those years first. If little johnny /Sally is still a stand out. He or she can play some where else. If you can still afford it. Face it he's or she are not going to NHL. Be happy with the alphabet you get. Drive your player to and from games and practices. Sprinkle in some words of encouragement. Sit in the stands at his or her games. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT your only embarrassing them !!!! Enjoy it will be over faster than we would like.

spoken like a true bender

And a liberal bender parent, too, given the repeated references about "she" isn't going to the NHL. Really? Are you sure?

So you mean to tell me none of the 07 islanders are going to the NHL?!?! This just can't be

never say never but I doubt it!!

****, you're a week too late. The Sabres just hired a local guys as Amateur Scout. Too bad they didn't know how good you are at predicting kids' potential by age 9!

Not predicting potential. Just pointing out fact. Sorry your kid will get cut

Opinion, not fact.

I've met guys like you over the years, ever since my kid was 7. "My kid isn't going to the NHL" is a euphemism for "I don't want to spend my weekends in ice rinks" and "I'd rather spend the money on myself."

I'm sure 10 years ago people just like you were telling Bob Hanifin, Mark White and Bob Eichel their kids were not going to make it. Luckily, they didn't listen.

Is my kid going to play in the NHL. Probably not. PROBABLY not. Should I tell him to stop trying so **** hard to develop?

Spoken like a true believer. Are you a program owner or do you just enjoy paying them to keep your dream alive. I hate to burst your bubble, but any half way decent high school coach can look at the skill level and athleticism of a 10 year old and make a pretty solid prediction whether a player has any shot of actually playing in high school. Size and strength may come, but skill and athletic ablility are easy to see. The same holds true for 14/15 year olds playing in high school. It's pretty easy for any coach to predict which kids will have a chance to play at the college level and possibly beyond. So please, put away the parking lot beers, stay out of the practice rinks, and keep your mouth shut during games.

"The same holds true for 14/15 year olds playing in high school. It's pretty easy for any coach to predict which kids will have a chance to play at the college level and possibly beyond."

You know most high school coaches have absolutely no clue when comes to talent assessment, right? If they did they would be working in hockey jobs that required it as most h.s. coaches do the best with what they have. It was never more true than on my son's D-1 h.s. team. A coach with many years of experience and a couple state titles had a player a couple years ago and hardly gave him any ice time before his senior season. Big kid, great skater and after the state championship the local junior teams were all clamoring for the kid. Kid skates out in the midwest and had multiple offers to join USHL teams. High school coach never had any clue the kid was that good. My son said, 'yeah it was kind of a joke how they used him.' The kids know who can play...the kids know.

Exactly. The only people that think a coach can predict who the "elite" kids will be at 10 is the parent of an "elite" 10 year old. Same for 14/15.

Take a look at the NHL draft. Look at how many stud NHL players were taken on the 6th, 7th round, or are completely undrafted. Look at how many 1st and 2nd rounders don't make it. Know what that means? That even for the very best talent evaluators that are paid for their skill, the hit rate is ridiculously low - at age 18. A local public HS coach? No shot at predicting who'll get there and who won't.

I'm not saying be unrealistic. I'm definitely not saying parents should act like buffoons at the rink. But if your kid is passionate about the sport, be happy. Support him in his efforts to improve, however you're able. That doesn't mean he will play professionally. Maybe he goes nowhere with it. But, let him decide when to change direction.

Seems so simple and basic, yet these people don't seem to get it. Cheer on your kid and other kids for that matter who dream but and work hard.

The funny thing about most of these d board threads are that most of you people on them have no clue what you are talking about. If you have enough **** time to waste writing about your 07 skill and potential and going to NHL YOU have a serious issue. I find it so fun reading these threads from losers like all you and laughing at the pure idiocy people have. Your kid may be good now but guess what there is sketching called a burn out or a kid who was above all until everyone caught up. No one knows what will happen so grow up you are adults and stop wasting your time on the youth hockey d board lol. It's actually hilarious go to work and spend time with your developing hockey player instead hahah just cause u weren't in NHL and that was your dream doesn't mean you have to live it out in your kids let that be yours kids choice it will come if it's meant to be but chill and stop forcing stuff on youngsters.

Says the guy posting at 130am ! I love this place

someone could not sleep last night worrying about their kids hockey.

Sounds like a BHL/E9 parent.

And you sound like an idiot.

To all you anxious hockey parents out there hoping and praying that your boy will hold up as the super stud beyond squirts, I offer you these words of advice: set your expectations realistically, it will make the youth hockey experience much more enjoyable for both you and your son. Take an honest look back at your own athletic career and that of your wife (or kid's biological mom). Don't expect your boy to outperform his parents by all that much. If you had a hard time standing out in HS, any sport (or couldn't make the team), don't expect to have a college hockey player on your hands.

Many have been fooled because their kid learned to skate earlier than the other kids and had an advantage in the early going. If you are that parent, encourage your son to keep working and improving their game, but be honest to yourself about the genetics that you handed him and adjust your expectations accordingly. At the end of the journey, all of the kids that reach the tip of the pyramid will have one thing in common...they are all great athletes. If you're being honest with yourself, you should know already whether your boy has the ability to reach that rarefied level.

Dumbest post on the board!

D board admin should block that jacka$$ from posting 3 paragraph rants in multiple thread topics. STFU.

So is your kid an athlete or not? What is your athletic pedigree? Or do you think you can avenge all of those embarrassing moments when you were last pick for pickup basketball by skating your little bender to death? Be honest.

A. This is strictly your opinion and not based on fact.

B. You left out the part that nepotism plays when it comes to former athletes and the leg up their offspring often get in the world of youth hockey. It's fine to sprout off about genetics but more than a couple of kids have been placed on teams they had no business being on strictly because of who their father or uncle is in the hockey world.

A. Of course it's opinion. That's all we have is our opinion on this board. If you come here looking for facts, you're probably better off just looking at the specific website for whatever program you're interested in or (gasp) actually talking to someone involved in that program. But I maintain the opinion that college hockey players have to be great athletes is pretty strong ground to stand on. What is your primary criterion?

B. If you had to make a judgement on two players of similar caliber at age 14 or 16 or 18, and take a chance on only one of them, why wouldn't you go with the kid with the professional athlete bloodline? You do agree that athletic ability is passed on through genetics, right? I know there are other things at play, such as relationships and connections to decision makers in the game, but even without that the safe bet is always the kid with the athlete in his genes.

So again, if you had a hard time hitting a baseball in Little League, or you never played anything past 7th grade, don't think that you can craft a college hockey player out of private skill lessons. Just be realistic about your kid's ceiling and encourage them to go as far as they can reach.

so he did get time (as a senior), maybe he was not 'ready' the years before, may he 'screwed around' in practice (where the ice time is earned) or some are just late bloomers (he was not that good as a freshman and you only remember now) or...

all which happened AFTER his senior year. where were those teams before...

good at that time or would become? he can only deal with today.

yep, the players know just like the parents?

a coach with a couple of state titles has some knowledge. if not for talent (granted he gets what walks in) and maybe not even to 'grow it' but certainly to focus teenage players (especially boys) to work well enough together to win (even potential future star JW couldn't carry a team).

who the **** cares. work hard, play hard, have fun and dream.

Honestly I saw JW play as a sophomore and really I didn't see a whole lot. I'm sure surrounded by kids more at his level he would shine but I have to say I didn't get it.

Nobody said they didn't spend time at the rinks. The poster is just looking for a little more quiet time at the rinks, without so much screaming and yelling. At least we don't have to hear you yelling "ice the puck" anymore during penalty kill. That's a step in the right direction. Let the kids play is all. Give them every opportunity to succeed, but let them succeed on their own.

Oh man I yell that all the time...thought I was being helpful. Thanks for the heads up Dboard.