After going to watch a U16 playoff game I left the arena shaking my head. I could not believe that after every whistle there was always some type of pushing or slashing which led to a scrum. Today’s referees don’t have the same patience in minor hockey that they had 20 years ago. No one is allowed to question a call or get in a word edge wise without having a penalty called against them.
Is it over reacting after every play that the flow seems to stop? To me, all players or in a lot of cases coaches can’t bite their tongue, and put their team in the penalty box. At any age group being in the penalty box just creates chaos in more ways than one. Firstly, you put your team down shorthanded, which in terms also creates a ripple effect down the line up as some players do not play the PK and secondly some players don’t get on the PP so the lose they potential ice time . This allows parents and kids to get frustrated and in some cases words fly.
The coaches have a responsibility to the team to get them to play hard to the whistle, but stay away from the scrums. Nothing good happens from those things, and just imagine your son/daughter taking a scrum penalty which leads to the other team scoring. Not a good picture as you then can imagine where players ,parents and coaches all muttering words about the stupidity of taking the penalty.
Fighting is not allowed so who are they trying to impress? The scouts especially in U16 want to see players work hard at both ends of the ice. They don’t want to see players lose their cool and take a stupid penalty. Understanding the play itself and not getting involved certainly takes a lot of patience, but at the end of the game they will feel way better about themselves if they make a pass to a player who scores a goal, stops the other team from scoring.
Stay cool, play hard and enjoy the game itself, and please tell your kids to have good body language, cuz you never know who is watching!!
Good Luck!!
Mike Tanev
mtanev24@gmail.com
MIKE'S ICE ADVICE 
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