World Hockey Summit Day 4: PM session: Growing the Game

The final topic-area session of the World Hockey Summit in Toronto was filled with projections, plans and hope for the future as all the speakers examined the topic of Growing Participation in Hockey and acknowledged the crucial importance of growing the game in communities, especially at the youth level.  Tommy Boustedt, speaking for the second time as a panellist, drew on his experience as director of hockey development and national teams with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, to illustrate practices and protocols in Sweden that foster enjoyment of hockey at the grassroots level.  He described measures that have been put in place to assure a high degree of quality in coaching including qualification standards, training and formal accreditation.

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Dr. Paul Dennis, a veteran sports psychologist who worked for two decades with the Toronto Maple Leafs, talked about the concept of “athletic Darwinism” explaining that “we have an obligation as adults to help children adapt to change.  [It is] a collaborative effort amongst coaches, parents, referees and trainers.”  Dennis used anecdotes from golf to discuss how to help kids deal with pressure.  When PGA professional Rocco Mediate had to make a critical putt in the 2008 U.S. Open, the golfer told himself that he simply and absolutely could not miss this putt.  Dennis also pointed to the fierce competitiveness and concentration of Tiger Woods (before his personal indiscretions) as an example of an athlete able to stare down intense pressure.

Dennis noted that elite professionals have the ability to turn the psychology of fear into thoughts of success and the thrill of winning.  Likewise, he encouraged parents and coaches to teach these concepts to children at a young age.  “Try to take the word ‘pressure’ out of the vocabulary and replace it with ‘challenge’ and ‘thrill’,” he concluded.

The Canadian physician was followed to the microphone by two distinguished Americans, Pat Kelleher of USA Hockey and Chicago Blackhawks’ President John McDonough.  Kelleher stated that there are approximately 600,000 players, coaches and officials in USA Hockey but numbers have slightly declined recently.  To combat the decrease, Kelleher talked about a type of marketing to parents to promote the game.  “We want to brand youth hockey as being positive for kids,” he explained.  Many parents who only have a cursory knowledge of hockey fear the expenses associated with equipment, team fees and tournament fees and his goal going forward will be to highlight the positives of the game to families.

McDonough’s presentation began with a high-energy video set to a military march-like beat showing the transformation of the Chicago franchise from an NHL laughingstock to one of the most respected organizations in professional sport.  The video flashed snippets of on-ice and business achievements over the past few years including a 386% increase in merchandise and concession sales, 100+ consecutive home sell-outs, back-to-back 100+ point seasons for the first time in 38 seasons and 112 points this past season (the team’s best ever total).  McDonough stressed the “really, really deep and strong connections” younger fans have made with stars like captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, seemingly due to identifying with them as peers.  He also stressed the importance of coaching clinics and the involvement of the team in the community, proudly noting that the Illinois State championship is held at the United Center.

One of the final session speakers of the day was Arto Sieppi, who also presented in the morning during the women’s hockey discussion.  In Finland, he put forth that playing for the love of hockey and fun and safety should never be forgotten due to the overwhelmingly stacked odds against achieving a roster spot in the NHL.  Of 33,000 boys who are born every year in the country, 500 will join the “Lions’ Club” children’s hockey program.  Of the 500, 300 will go on to play in formal peewee or bantam leagues.  Of the 300, 150 will attend an under-16 camp, the first chance at trying out for a national team.  Of the 150, just 30 will attend an IIHF World Junior Championship or World Championship.  Finally, of the 30, only 3 will ever make the NHL.  Therefore, he reasons properly that “the key words for Lions’ hockey are ‘fun’ and ‘safety’.”