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In Episode 353 of the Glass and Out Podcast, we welcome John Lind, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association’s Director of Education and Research.

Sweden has approximately 62,000 registered hockey players, and last season, there were 109 Swedish-born players in the National Hockey League. So, on a per-capita basis, Sweden produces one NHL player for every 568 registered players. By contrast, the United States produces one NHL player for every 1,682 registered players, while Canada produces one NHL player for every 1,073 registered players.

This data certainly suggests that Sweden has a secret sauce when it comes to developing elite hockey talent.

Lind has been a central figure in shaping Sweden’s player development methodology, and as you’re about to hear, many of the country’s practices are outside the box but have resulted in arguably the most productive development model in our sport.

Listen as he shares the importance of coaching effort over outcome, how to evaluate and improve a player’s ability to scan, and Sweden’s model for youth development through small ice.

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 TCS Courses
• 0:45 Resources and research
• 6:20 Impact of coaches
• 10:45 Involving players in the process
• 15:25 Player autonomy
• 18:45 Building the player-coach relationship
• 23:25 Reinforcing good habits
• 31:10 The science behind performance
• 36:25 Training emotions and mindset
• 40:25 Biobanding development
• 50:15 Explaining late developers
• 55:30 Keeping kids playing the game
• 57:45 Age for separating players
• 1:00:40 Defining and developing scanning
• 1:07:25 Utilizing small-area games
• 1:11:25 Swedish small-ice hockey
• 1:17:05 Growing the game by sharing
• 1:22:40 Resources