NCAA Hockey In Canada?

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While nearly every hockey fan in Canada is talking about the NHL lockout, something different may be brewing in the back rooms of several major Canadian Universities.

A few weeks ago, a little noticed announcement was made in Vancouver. It was announced that Burnaby's Simon Fraser University was approved as the first international school in the NCAA.
While SFU currently does not have a varsity hockey team - it has a sports club which competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League, a 6- year-old organization which boasts seven members including, one American team from Eastern Washington University - that hasn't stopped school officials from openly pondering the possibility of the school competing in NCAA Division I hockey sometime in the near future.

SFU's 17 NCAA varsity sports teams compete in NCAA Division II, meaning they would have to petition to be allowed to play in Division I hockey. There is no Division II hockey available and, as per NCAA regulations, they would not be permitted to play in the lower-tier Division III hockey.
NCAA hockeywould almost certainly explode in a market like Vancouver which is not only unwavering in its support of the NHL's Canucks, but also has embraced major junior hockey in the form of the WHL's Giants and Junior "A" hockey with a handful of BCHL teams.

After reading this release, we made several calls to other Canadian Universities, and the thought of joining the NCAA was something everyone was talking about. Many people within organizations voiced that they would like to be able to do this and keep Canadian born players playing in Canada rather than loosing them to the United States. Canadian pride, and having the ability to continue to develop their own players was at the heart of most of these conversations.

While many people cited the challenges they may face in attempting to join the NCAA, many also said they would be willing to take those challenges on. If SFU attempts to take its BCIHL to the NCAA level, they will first need to find a suitable facility. But once that hurdle is overcome, they could be the first of many programs in Canada to change over to the NCAA model.

TJHN will update this story as it develops.
By Joseph Kolodziej

“A Change is Gonna Come”

How to Begin a New Skill

Of all the key moments in talent development, the most important and mysterious is the first ten seconds. The first few swings, the first notes, the first stumbly tries. It’s a tenuous time, because it’s a psychological fork in the road. Either you get the Good Feeling (“Hey, this is kinda fun!”), or the Bad Feeling (“Awww, I’ll never be any good”). In short, it’s either an on-ramp or a stop sign.

The deeper question here has to do with design. Namely, how do you create an environment that creates more on-ramps and avoids stop signs?



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This is what success looks like!

Nine foods to avoid before a game or practice

Athletes work hard to prepare for games. Practice, condition, rest. But all that can be for naught if they are not putting the right foods into their bodies.
If an athlete is truly serious about his sport, then he needs to avoid foods that will hinder his performance.

Avoid these foods when competing:

1. Energy drinks. They contain caffeine and other stimulants that put stress on the heart, in addition to the stress an athlete puts on his heart during competition. In fact, it is a good idea to avoid caffeine altogether when in season.

2. Fried and fatty foods. The body takes a long time to digest the fats, which could leave an athlete feeling drowsy and feeling stomach-heavy. Avoid fatty meats and foods like creamy sauces, dressings and mayonnaise. They also take a long time to digest.
Nutritionist Kelly Aronica (kellyaronicanutritionist.com) adds that athletes should stay away from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
“These primarily man-made oils have been shown to raise risk of heart disease,” Aronica says. “They’re found in many commercially baked goods, fried foods and some margarines. Look for it in the ingredient list.”

To Read about the other 7 foods - Click Here!

CCM U+ Crazy Light Hockey Gloves Review

 More great hockey equipment reviews at Hockey Gear Review!

If you are looking for a new pair gloves, you, may want to consider the new CCM U+ Crazy Light Gloves.  The U+ CL fit in the anatomical fit for gloves, meaning that they dont have that traditional 4-roll look. The design is certainly different but not as radical a design as the Easton RS Stealth Gloves. It still has nice clean lines and a fairly simple look but different than traditional gloves.

 Once you slide your hands into the gloves, you will feel how nice they are. The palm is made of Clarino and that makes for a nice comfortable feel against your palm and will also allow you to feel the stick pretty good. There is a decent lock thumb. Not the best one I’ve seen but it will do the trick. As for the rest of the glove, it is kitted out with plastic inserts everywhere meaning that you will have that added protection on top of the double-decker U Foam construction. The tapered fingers flex well for easy and comfortable mobility and the cuff offers a wide open area for a lot of wrist movement.

Pros:
- Light weight
- Lots of plastic inserts for added layer of protection
- Mesh gussets for increased breathability
- Decent lock thumb
- Open cuff for greater mobility

Cons:
- Nylon outer construction reduces weight but also reduces the durability
- Open cuff leaves wrist quite exposed to a slash

Overall the CCM U+ Crazy Light glove is well thought out. It features light weight yet a very protective construction. There is quite a bit of flexibility and mobility in the glove without sacrificing fit and comfort. If you are in the market for high end gloves and not wanting to spend north of $200, then at $139.99, the CCM U+ Cl gloves might be the right one for you.

Hockey Gear Review recommends the CCM U+ Crazy Light Hockey Gloves to intermediate level players and above players.

What NOT to Yell During Hockey Games

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“Foul!”
“Number 10 you have to pass!”
“Cram it down their throats!”
“Ref, you’re an idiot!”


What do all these “cheers” have in common? They’re clueless.

My best friend yells “foul!” because she knows no hockey lingo, which is fairly harmless. But another parent gives super-specific advice that is kind of insulting. A player’s uncle doesn’t understand the sportsmanship we try to teach when he advises the team to rack up the score. Many spectators, parents included, forget to respect the officials.


Fortunately for hockey players, they’re wearing helmets and often behind glass. No matter what you yell, they probably can’t hear you. And it’s probably good that they can’t hear you because you might not being saying the same thing as the coaches.

The crowd around you, however, can hear you — and they may be offended by what you and your friends and family have to say. (I’m still holding a grudge against a guy who yelled, “You have to pass in that situation,” to my son, who plays the puck like a hot potato, when he actually worked up the nerve to skate the puck up the ice once. And that was four years ago.) You’re around these people a lot, during the season and over the years, so you’ll want to keep the peace.

Safe to Say

It’s safe to yell anything positive, without swearing or sarcasm.

• Go! (Your go-to cheer if you know nothing about hockey.)
• Stop him!
• Great try!
• Great pass!
• Good save, goalie!
• Nice shot!

Taboo

The fastest way to make enemies is to criticize or laugh at other kids. You can bemoan your own kid’s play to your heart’s content, but you’ll be sorry if you start harping on others. Parents I’ve talked to admit to being embarrassed about saying — or irritated by hearing — the following:

• Pass it to [insert number of your kid]!
• You have to pass!
• Terrible pass!
• Not in front of the net!
• Number [X] you need to…
• Why didn’t you…?
• What was that?
• Hit him!
• Terrible shot!
• Puck hog!
• You suck! (To a player or the other team.)
• Coach, put in [insert name of you kid]!
• Ref, you [anything]
• &$?@ or *+!# or any other four letter word

Go negative enough and you may earn more than a dirty look or snide comment. Officials can toss offensive spectators and hockey associations can take action. If it takes some practice to bite your tongue, hang out by the glass rather than in the stands. In a later article, we’ll talk about ways to encourage positive behavior in your relatives, your friends and other fans.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Kelly Kordes Anton for this article.

What Kind of Hockey Parent are You?

Over the past twenty years I have traveled through hockey arenas and met a number of different people and been a part of a number of different parent groups and coaching staffs. I have noticed that faces change, but the behaviours seem to remain the same. The actual stories are all unique, but the characteristics behind the actors are eerily similar. The Pride/Protection spectrum seems to be the source of a lot of these characteristics. Obviously, if your child is being mistreated then any normal and attentive parent will help protect their child and make sure that the mistreatment stops. However, as you slide along the spectrum to where true and noble protection stops, you will begin to enter the realm of parental pride. Many of us will even justify our actions as protection, but really it is our pride kicking in. The ego is a powerful motivator and it is one of the biggest driving forces behind the different archetypes that I have discovered. These are Angels, Snakes, Skunks, Agents and Grumblers. Many of us will remain constant in our archetypes, whereas others of us will change through different behaviours. As you read through these archetypes, you may recognize traits you or others share in common with one, two or all of the groups. It is possible that you or people you know are a purebred archetype or possibly a hybrid of two or more archetypes.

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Raising Successful Children

PHRASES like “tiger mom” and “helicopter parent” have made their way into everyday language. But does overparenting hurt, or help?

While parents who are clearly and embarrassingly inappropriate come in for ridicule, many of us find ourselves drawn to the idea that with just a bit more parental elbow grease, we might turn out children with great talents and assured futures. Is there really anything wrong with a kind of “overparenting lite”? 

Parental involvement has a long and rich history of being studied. Decades of studies, many of them by Diana Baumrind, a clinical and developmental psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that the optimal parent is one who is involved and responsive, who sets high expectations but respects her child’s autonomy. These “authoritative parents” appear to hit the sweet spot of parental involvement and generally raise children who do better academically, psychologically and socially than children whose parents are either permissive and less involved, or controlling and more involved. Why is this particular parenting style so successful, and what does it tell us about overparenting? 

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