In youth hockey, too often the focus is on winning games, trophies, and early specialization. Yet decades of research in youth sport development and motivation show that the most important foundation for a young athlete’s success — and well‑being — isn’t wins or stats… it’s love for the game itself.

The most critical period to foster this love is during the early developmental years, roughly ages 6–12, when children are in the Discover, Learn & Play and Learn to Train stages, according to USA Hockey’s American Development Model (ADM). During this stage, kids are most receptive to fun, engaging experiences that build intrinsic motivation, fundamental skills, and confidence, laying the foundation for long-term involvement and success both on and off the ice. (The American Development Model)

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1. What Is “Love for the Game” Really?

In the psychology of sport, “love for the game” reflects intrinsic motivation — a deep enjoyment and personal satisfaction in playing that comes from within, not from external rewards like medals or praise. When kids play because they genuinely want to, they:

✔ Practice more willingly
✔ Learn more deeply
✔ Persist through challenges
✔ Stay involved longer

Research shows that environments which support intrinsic motivation — where kids feel accomplished, autonomous, and connected — lead to greater enjoyment and ongoing participation in sport than environments focused only on external rewards. Lifelong Sport+1

2. Enjoyment Prevents Dropout

Young athletes with stronger intrinsic enjoyment are less likely to quit. In youth soccer research, lower intrinsic motivation was one of the biggest predictors of players dropping out. When athletes don’t enjoy the activity itself, they’re less willing to face the hard work that development requires. MDPI

This is especially relevant in hockey: a sport with high repetition and long seasons. If kids love the game itself — not just winning — they are more likely to stick with it, develop deeper skills, and make progress over years instead of burning out after a season or two.

3. Love for the Game Drives Better Performance and Resilience

Motivation research finds that young athletes with a harmonious passion — where their engagement stems from personal enjoyment, not pressure — show:

🏒 Higher resilience
🏒 Fewer psychological problems (like anxiety and burnout)
🏒 Better responses to challenge
🏒 Sustainable engagement across seasons

That’s because intrinsic motivation supports mastery of skills and persistence — both essential for advancement in hockey and life. MDPI

4. It Boosts Enjoyment, Which Becomes Motivation

A task‑involving environment — one where the focus is on learning, personal effort, and improvement rather than competition or pressure — helps develop enjoyment and intrinsic motivation. When kids feel competent and supported, their personal desire to play increases. PubMed

What this means for coaches:

➡ Celebrate effort, creativity, and improvement
➡ Create drills and scrimmages that are fun and engaging
➡ Avoid over‑emphasis on winning at early ages

These practices help players love hockey for what it is, not just for what it brings them.

5. The Benefits Go Beyond Hockey

Developing love for the game early doesn’t just make better hockey players — it builds healthier, happier, more resilient kids.

Studies show that children who participate in regular physical activity through sports have lower rates of anxiety and depression, stronger mental health, and better social connection compared to non‑participants. Team sports in particular help kids feel connected, supported, and confident. Verywell Mind

The joy of playing fosters:

✔ Greater self‑esteem
✔ Social skills and teamwork
✔ Better stress management
✔ Lifelong patterns of healthy activity

These are life skills that transfer into school, relationships, and work.

6. What Coaches and Parents Can Do

To nurture a love for the game:

Focus on Fun & Mastery

Kids who experience success for themselves — not just from winning — are more likely to want to keep playing.

Promote Autonomy

Let them make small choices in practice; this builds ownership and internal motivation.

Celebrate Progress, Not Just Results

Highlight improvements in effort, skills, creativity, and decision‑making.

Keep Competition Healthy

Healthy competition can be fun — but it should never replace joy in the process of learning and playing.

Conclusion

Love for the game is not a “nice to have” — it’s a core driver of development. When children play because they truly enjoy hockey, they practice more willingly, learn more deeply, stick with it longer, and gain lifelong benefits — physically, mentally, and socially.

Develop this love early, and you aren’t just making better athletes — you’re helping raise healthier, more motivated, and resilient young people who carry their passion well beyond the rink.

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In episode 322 of the Glass and Out Podcast, we welcome Senior Lecturer Charles Sturt University Job Fransen.

Fransen is also the founder and managing director of SkillACQ, a company that provides skill acquisition support services to high performance sporting organizations, from education and one-on-one mentoring of coaches, specifically in how they can create environments that best support skill acquisition.

He studies how team sports athletes develop, acquire and perform complex motor skills. He’s worked with teams across all sports, leagues and countries.

Earlier this year, he presented at the IIHF Coaching Symposium in Stockholm on Foundational Principles of Effective Practice Design. You can watch the full video now on The Coaches Site.

Listen as he shares the science behind skill acquisition, the difference between competence and confidence training and why all coaches need to trust their intuition.

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 Aussie Rules football vs hockey
• 2:35 New ways of doing things
• 4:55 Practice observations
• 7:05 Early stages of skill acquisition science
• 12:10 Competency vs confidence training
• 16:35 Short term success and dopamine
• 19:35 Coaching intuition and confidence
• 22:45 Seasonal training plan
• 25:45 Process for learning a complex skill
• 27:45 Learning vs performing
• 29:45 Learning by failing
• 31:25 Investing in learning
• 35:35 Managing the desire to win
• 42:40 Tracking skill improvement
• 45:20 Encouraging competition against high skill level
• 52:55 Coaches are sound engineers
• 55:20 The Aussie Rules experiment
• 1:01:25 Physicality and safety
• 1:02:55 Role as a researcher
• 1:05:40 Unique practice observations
• 1:08:20 Evaluating talent

As I reflect back on the past year it brings to mind the idea of building not only better hockey players, but better people.

Serial entrepreneur Alex Hormozi posed the question, "If you had to create a human... what would you put them through to make them tough? Least likely answer: “a chill life”

So I thought about this as it relates to hockey players. 

If you could create the best hockey player, what would you put them through?

So here are my thoughts ...

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I wouldn’t start with how hard they shoot or how fast they skate — I’d start with what they’re willing to go through. At the levels every kid dreams of, the ice is full of players who can fly, rip pucks, and make plays. What separates the good from the great isn’t just talent; it’s how they handle the grind, the doubt, the politics, the pressure, and the long stretches where nothing feels fair.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I would first build a “why” so strong that it survives cuts, setbacks, and being overlooked. This player wouldn’t be driven just by rankings, attention, or what people say about them; instead, they’d be fueled by a deep love for the game, a stubborn belief in their potential, and a burning curiosity to find out how good they can become.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d wire them to fall in love with the boring, brutal foundations that most players avoid. This is where the endless repetition, the off-ice discipline, and the unglamorous lifestyle choices quietly separate them.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d make sure they fail early and often enough that they learn to treat failure as feedback instead of a verdict. I’d drop them into situations where they’re outmatched, where mistakes are guaranteed, and where their flaws are exposed in front of people.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d teach them to see pressure not as a problem to avoid, but as proof they’re exactly where they’re supposed to be. Big moments, big games, big eyes watching — that’s the environment they’ve always said they wanted.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d give them the ability to rise above the noise — the opinions, the politics, the chatter, and the constant comparison game that eats so many players alive. They would learn that the outside world is loud, but it doesn’t get to define them.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d make sure they can adapt when their role shifts, instead of collapsing when they’re no longer “the guy.” As they climb levels, they’d eventually lose the comfort of being the automatic top-line player or the go-to power-play option.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d push them into leadership before they ever feel 100% ready for it. Leadership, in their world, wouldn’t be about wearing a letter; it would be about setting a standard every day.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d ensure they hit walls and learn how to bend instead of break. No path is straight. There will be slumps, injuries, depth-chart surprises, and seasons that don’t go according to the plan they imagined when they were younger.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d anchor everything in passion for the game and unshakeable self-belief. Without those two things, the grind eventually empties them out.

If I could build the perfect hockey player, I’d be honest with them that this journey isn’t meant for everyone — and that’s okay. Not everyone wants to embrace boredom, push through discomfort, ignore noise, adapt roles, lead under pressure, and keep going after repeated setbacks.

But for the ones who do, something different happens. They stop just dreaming about being great and start living the habits, choices, and mindset of the players they look up to. They become the teammate others trust in tough moments, the player coaches lean on, and the person who keeps showing up when most would have walked away.

Not because their path was easy.
But because, every time it got harder, they chose to keep going.

And that, more than any one skill, is what makes a hockey player truly great.

Victory Starts in the Mind!

I've stuck to a season-long skills plan for most of the season so far, and I'm pretty proud of that fact. Not just that I've stuck to it, but that it's worked. As coaches we try to remove thinking from the equation for players, right? Less thinking, more doing, more natural instincts. That's the concept I hoped would show up at this time of the year when I built the skills plan in August.

It's January and it will be a sprint to the finish. My skills plan calls for skating this week, but I wanted to add lots of puck touches to keep the hands active. There's a time and a place to narrow your focus and drill down on skating or passing or shooting exclusively. 

Daniel Broberg's course has been invaluable for me for this fact. Skating is the focus, but the players in Daniel's drills always have the puck on their stick. He focuses on the posture, the balance, and the flow, and the players bring the puck along for the ride. 

I'm going to start with the first chapter of Daniel's course: Hip Control. I'm not allowed to share the whole thing but here's a sneak peak:

 

 

For the rest of this practice I'm using drills from Smooth Power so the feet are moving, the edges are carving, and the goalies stay involved as well. 

 

Click to download the Practice Plan

Check out the full course here, 7 Steps From Basic Skills to Smooth Power.

 

Click to download the PDF

 

 

This is not a game chaging play by the D but what it does is buy time and relieve pressure. I call this the "BLUE LINE RULE"

The puck gets spotted out of the OZ and you must go back and get it.  You are under pressure and really don't have a play.  All you are looking to do is bank the puck off the wall and get it over your blue line.  This will trap the player chasing the puck in the zone and often creates an off side play (like in the clip).

One reason this works so well is becasue the Forward chasing the puck rarely stops to get back on side.  The will loop once the puck goes past them and give the D time to get up and establish a good gap again. 

Educate your D on little plays like this to make their game easier and more effective.  All they have to do is feel pressure and get the puck back over the blue line as opposed to bringing it back in their own zone. 

Add this to your next practice in your NZ play. 

Building Adductor Strength Required For a Powerful Stride

Strong adductors play a critical role in skating speed, stride stability, and injury prevention. Every time a hockey player pushes laterally into the ice, the adductors help control the leg, maintain blade contact, and stabilize the pelvis. When this muscle group is underdeveloped, stride efficiency drops, and the risk of groin or hip issues increases.

While the Copenhagen hold is a common exercise used to train the adductors, not every athlete is ready for that level of demand. For many players, jumping straight to a full Copenhagen is too aggressive and often leads to compensation rather than meaningful strength gains.

This side plank with bottom leg lift and hold is an effective starting point. It builds foundational adductor strength, trunk stability, and positional awareness, all of which are required before progressing to more advanced variations.

Why Adductor Strength Matters in Skating

During the skating stride, the adductors work in a few ways:

• Controls lateral force as the leg pushes into the ice

• Stabilizes the pelvis during single-leg support

• Assists with bringing the leg back underneath the body

• Protects the groin during repeated high-speed stride cycles

Weak or undertrained adductors often show up as unstable stride mechanics, reduced push power, or recurring groin tightness. Developing strength here supports both performance and durability.

Why This Is a Better Starting Point Than the Copenhagen

The Copenhagen hold places a high demand on the adductors, core, and shoulder girdle simultaneously. For younger athletes or players without sufficient baseline strength, this can overwhelm the system.

This regression keeps the foot of the working leg on the ground, reducing load while still targeting the same muscles. It allows the athlete to learn how to create tension through the adductors and trunk without losing position.

This makes it ideal for:

• Youth and developing athletes

• Players returning from groin or hip irritation

• Early off-season or reconditioning phases

How to Coach the Side Plank Adduction Hold

Setup

• Bottom leg is bent with the knee directly under the hip

• Shin creates a 90-degree angle

• Top leg is extended straight back

• Hand on hip for feedback and control

Execution

• Athlete lifts into a side plank position

• Bottom foot remains in contact with the ground

• Athlete holds the position without letting the hips drop or rotate

In this position, both adductors are working, along with the obliques and lateral core. The goal is to maintain clean alignment, not to chase fatigue.

Programming Guidelines

Athletes should start with short, high-quality holds.

• Begin with 10-second holds

• Progress gradually toward 30-second holds

• Perform multiple sets rather than one long hold

Once the athlete can maintain strong alignment and tension for full 30-second holds on both sides, they are typically ready to progress to a full Copenhagen variation.

Common Errors to Watch For

• Hips sagging or rotating backward

• Losing tension through the bottom leg

• Relying on momentum to lift into position

• Holding the breath instead of maintaining steady breathing

Correcting these issues ensures the exercise builds usable strength that transfers to skating.

Final Thoughts

Adductor strength is a non-negotiable quality for hockey players, and it must be developed progressively. This side plank adduction hold provides a safe and effective way to build the strength and control required for a powerful, stable stride.

By earning the right to progress to the Copenhagen, athletes develop more resilient hips, cleaner skating mechanics, and greater long-term durability.

About the Author

Travis Martell is the founder and head coach of Martell Elite Fitness, specializing in off-ice development for hockey players. He has trained athletes from youth hockey through the NHL and regularly presents on skating mechanics, injury prevention, and long-term athlete development.
📲 Follow on Instagram: @martell.elite.fitness

The U18 AAA season can be one of the most intense in a player's minor hockey experience. It is an important year for development before aging out of minor hockey. Scouts are taking notice as the OHL U18 Draft provides an opportunity for players to continue their hockey journeys in Major Junior.

Home Ice, produced by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and presented by Hudl, goes behind the scenes with a team as they navigate the balance between their lives on and off the ice. This year's series follows the Ajax-Pickering Raiders U18 AAA team, a perennial contender for the OMHA's coveted #RedHats and championship.

The first episode of this season, featured above, focuses on the team's start to the season as they look to begin the year off on a positive note.

The series, now it its sixth season, has previously featured current NHLers Cole Perfetti and Owen Beck during their time in the OMHA.

Miss any episodes? Catch up on previous seasons here.

Three-stance tracking progression drill (HIgh - Mid - Low - High) 

Reverse Variation: Low - Mid - High - Low 

Objective 

• Train goalies to move through game stances (high / mid / low) while working on proper tracking and movement.

Equipment 

• 1 shooter or coach, 3 blaze pods (recommended) or 3 pylons or pucks set up in a diagonal line.
• If two shooters or coaches you can add a puck high and low on the other side, creating the X pattern and alternate sides. 

Setup  

• Place three - five markers in the goalies sightline in a diagonal position
• High marker: top of faceoff circle 
• Mid marker: between hash marks and top of the faceoff cirlce 
• Low Marker: in tight close to the crease

Drill 

• Goalie moves through pattern of high - mid - low - high for a shot 
• If not using blaze pods call out "High / Mid / Low" to cue movements
• Dril can be reversed with goalie starting low and moving to high, back to low for a shot

Coaching Points 

• Eyes lead. The positive of using the blazepods is that the lights timing out and timing on to the next pod makes the goalies use their eyes and track to the next movement. 
• High Stance: Head up, hands slightly higher, more relaxed stance
• Mid Stance: Goalie starts to bend knees and sink into a lower stance ready for the save 
• Low Stance: Eyes down to the puck, knees bent, chest more forward overtop of puck. Stick should be on the ice for this save.