The game of hockey has certainly evolved over time. From the days of bench-clearing brawls, the clutch-and-grab and when goalies never left their feet, hockey has taken many big steps, particularly in player development.

But how have the up-and-coming players of today changed with it? Minnesota Hockey caught up with former players who are now behind the bench leading the next generation of local talent to see just how different today’s game really is.

Changes in Skills…

“The first thing that’s evident is the speed of the game. Every year the game has gotten faster, from the NHL all the way down to Bantams. In addition, stickhandling skills are much better. In the past, we had maybe six guys who were your top six and the others were your checkers and your grinders. Now I think you have six guys who are really good at stickhandling, and then six guys who are elite. The levels of talent have definitely been raised.”  -Grant Potulny, former University of Minnesota Gopher (2000-04), currently University of Minnesota men’s hockey assistant coach

“I think a majority of the skills have improved dramatically. Kids are bigger, stronger and faster. I think they can shoot harder and I think their skating has come a long way. It’s amazing how much the game has changed in those areas and how far a player’s development really has come in that time since I played.”  -Natalie Darwitz, three-time U.S. Olympian, currently Hamline University women’s hockey head coach

“A lot of kids can do a lot of things really well because of how they are being taught. They are skating the right way, they know how to stickhandle properly and they know how to shoot correctly.”  -Derek Plante, eight years in the NHL, currently Chicago Blackhawks development coach

Changes in Multisport Athletes and Early Specialization…

“The biggest difference I see is kids are playing year-round hockey. When I grew up you played baseball when hockey was over, not on to another hockey team for the summer. These days, kids are playing just one sport at way too young of an age because they are worried about falling behind if they aren’t specializing. The truth is, they’re not. Guys I know and played with, like Paul Martin and Zach Parise, they will tell you that they played multiple sports up through high school. That’s what I’d like to see more kids doing.”   -Erik Westrum, former University of Minnesota Gopher (1997-2001), currently a coach in the Prior Lake-Savage Hockey Association

“There are so many more hockey opportunities for these kids through summer camps, AAA hockey and so on, that it seems like hockey has become a lot more year-round rather than seasonal. I think that’s a reason we aren’t seeing as many three-sport athletes as we used to. That’s something I wish we still had in kids today. From the ages of 5-14, kids should be doing everything. It gets a little harder these days to be a three-sport athlete with seasons overlapping, but being a two-sport athlete at the least is very doable. I don’t like to see kids when they are young to just be a one-sport athlete. It can hurt their development a lot.”   -Scott Sandelin, seven years in the NHL, currently University of Minnesota-Duluth men’s hockey head coach

“Hockey is a year-round thing these days. But as an athlete, your body needs different muscles to be used for different things. When you’re using the same muscles all the time, you’re not getting stronger and you’re more vulnerable to injury. Another part of playing just hockey is that it’s not as exciting for anyone to do just one thing all the time. It gets boring. I remember when I played, we always looked forward to the next season and the next sport. More kids need to have that mentality.”   -Derek Plante

“I do think kids end up playing hockey more in the summer than my generation did. You used to put your hockey bag away and grab your baseball glove, and when that was done, you grab your football cleats. Now you see players doing more things throughout the summer and offseason. I hope a lot of parents see their kids who are playing hockey during the non-peak time and don’t let it come at the expense of the in-season sports. If they have to choose between hockey and lacrosse practice in the spring, it should be lacrosse. We need more of that and less of the specialization.”   -Grant Potulny

Changes in Outdoor Hockey…

“One thing I’d like to see more out of kids these days is that hockey awareness and hockey sense. I think there’s too much organized hockey that kids don’t really seem to have that pond hockey mentality. Yeah, you can shoot hard and skate, but how do you get into position or pick off that pass? Knowing when to be in the right spot at the right times is something that I learned on the pond. We need to incorporate that with our kids more these days, not just the mechanical things.”    -Natalie Darwitz

“You don’t see as much of the creativity in puck skills like we used to. Minnesota has the advantage of having so many outdoor rinks, ponds and lakes – kids need to use that. You need to put 20 kids on the rink with no coaches and just let them play. Nowadays kids are looking for someone to tell them what to do. You want them to develop the ability to play different games and do different things, and the way we always learned that was on the pond with our buddies. We need to bring that back into today’s game.”  -Scott Sandelin

Changes Thanks to the ADM…

“The ADM is a game-changer. Anyone who isn’t using it, even through the college and pro ranks, is missing out on a great developmental tool. I’ve seen it first hand with the Mite program in Prior Lake. We just ordered two sets of hard dividers and are creating a practice plan with six stations so we can have up to 80 kids out there doing different drills that incorporate skating, passing, shooting, body confidence and stuff like that. The ADM also allows you to implement football, baseball, basketball and other games so you can introduce kids to other sports, which for me is a big thing to show kids. It’s just such a great model and one that Minnesota Hockey does so well.”   -Erik Westrum

“The time that we spend with our youth associations and developing proper technique, thanks to Minnesota Hockey and the ADM, is amazing. It’s a reason the kids are so skilled in the areas that I mentioned. We teach them to have confidence in those skills and it causes them to push themselves harder. Another thing I love about the ADM is that it stresses puck touches and stations. It lets kids have time to explore their own ability with the puck and that’s been great. We’ve always been spoiled here in Minnesota with being ahead of the curve, and using the ADM has been a wonderful complement to that.”   -Grant Potulny

“Minnesota has always had a great model, period. We’ve always been successful and a lot of people across the country have recognized that. Add in the ADM and we’ve just gotten even better. We’ve shown people that there is a purpose for proper development. It has the small-area games and the small groups that are so important to the overall development of a good hockey player. It’s a great teaching tool for coaches, too. I think that we are only going to continue to see more and more great hockey players coming out of Minnesota with the marriage of these two models.”  -Scott Sandelin