Oops, I did it Again... The Chowder Cup

So, just 11 months after participating in the Junior Chowder Cup and it having left a bad taste in my mouth...we're going back for more this year.

Different team this time but still in the "regular" bracket.

So, short recap, last year the end goal, riding the high of his performance at an NAHL Combine that resulted in a glowing scouting report a few months earlier, was for my son to play well against a higher end opponent and land a Neutral Zone profile -- a feather he still doesn't have in his cap.

Epic fail.

We were in the lower division, on a mediocre roster, and in a mediocre bracket.

Didn't qualify for Sunday -- didn't really matter.

Hockey-wise, development-wise, exposure-wise...it was a total waste.

The weekend wasn't a total loss -- the program we skated for that weekend had incredible value OUTSIDE the on-ice stuff. Sorry -- you'll have to read that article in full.

For real, the team wasn't great...but I'd highly recommend connecting with them at 14-15 years old.

But, yeah, been doing this long enough to know better than to do it again.

I know better.

I should know better.

Yet, here we are, signed up to play in the lower division and possibly in another mediocre bracket again. Mentally bracing myself for some overpriced hotel rooms further from the rinks we're not sure we're actually playing in yet...

So what are we doing?

I mean, I'm the guy over here with the megaphone suggesting you NOT do anything extra unless it serves a purpose in getting your player where they want to be.

That's why we skip off-season tournaments with total abandon these days. My poor squirt -- he's certainly not getting the same experience his older brothers did...

I mean, I hope he never feels like he missed out on some epic hockey weekend in Hooksett, New Hampshire.

When my oldest was his age -- we were in hotels almost every weekend.

For hockey.

Mite and squirt hockey.

Insanity.

Stupid.

And that's something you'll come to learn if you're in the thick of that hockey lifestyle now.

You're in the midst of the most fun and rewarding seasons you'll ever have -- but those tournaments mean nothing.

They don't make your player better. They don't open doors.

You're not on Team USA just because your jersey says "Team USA".

The word "Selects" is meaningless. You signed up...you weren't "select"-ed...regardless of what that email said that you received before signing up.

And, honestly, spring and summer tournaments stop being fun for the player and the parents.

Truthfully... and nothing against the city -- lots of rinks, lots of food options, hotels everywhere -- but I don't ever want to stay in Hooksett, New Hampshire again.

Warwick, Rhode Island -- you're out too.

Augusta, Maine? No thanks, pass.

Mount Laurel, New Jersey -- nope.

West Chester, Pennsylvania...I feel like I've stayed there a dozen times and it's never been a weekend I remember fondly. Evrytime we roll in, it's "Ugh...this place?"

Newark, Delaware -- pass.

Glens Falls, New York -- um...no.

York, Pennsylvania -- I'll pass through, nice scenic drive...but not for hockey.

Don't even get me started on the "destination" tournaments. Jay Peak, Cape Cod, Lake Placid, Buffalo...or, worse, the ones you need to board a plane for.

Nashville? Oh, hell no...

Look inward -- have you ever come away from an off-season tournament weekend satisfied with the experience when taking the cost into account?

I mean...I'm pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things...but a typical tournament that requires a hotel stay ends up being a $1200 weekend.

I'm not getting $1200 worth of satisfaction...even if they kids win the whole thing.

Getting off topic...rebooting.

Okay, so, unless you're absolutely positive it'll be a super fun and rewarding experience (it won't), I will always advise parents to sign up for and participate in events that will get their player closer to where they want to be. I'm a broken record on that front.

Means to an end. It's a real thing.

Especially as the runway starts getting shorter...

Step back and try to objectively evaluate every $1000+ weekend "opportunity".

Are 4 games in the RAWR Chewbacca-Fest worth $1000 to you? Or would ten $100 private lessons with a professional skills coach be of more benefit?

I know my answer.

So, while our Junior Chowder Cup experience last year was less than optimal...and we already know going in that we'll be in the lower bracket again this year, where is the upside?

Well...today, now, here's what I'm telling myself.

This time around he'll be playing under the flag of the program he skates with during the regular season.

That isn't to say it'll be his regular season roster -- I already know of a couple of teammates that are participating for a tournament team in the elite bracket so they won't be involved -- but it is my hope that a majority of the roster is made up of players that'll be on the team all season long.

And that's where the value lies.

If you're gonna do off-season events, you have to weigh the options.

Like, for us, the NAHL Combine, in a region OUTSIDE our immediate hockey circle, served us well.

But following that same lead, playing with players from outside our region, the Junior Chowder Cup was awful.

And then this off-season, the NCDC Main Camp, surrounded mostly by familiars, served us well again.

It's all very circumstantial.

Do your part to put your kid in a position to succeed.

Like, in some cases, it's all about the player and how their evaluated completely disconnected from the players around them.

That's how the Combine worked out for us. Terrible team, losing record, ugly hockey but his skillset -- mainly poise with the puck and solid defense -- shone through anyway.

In other cases -- most cases, actually -- the roster around your player makes them look better. It makes everyone look better. Environment is so, so, so important.

That was the experience we had at the NCDC Camp and that's what we're going for this year at the Junior Chowder Cup.

He couldn't carry a team by himself last year -- Connor McDavid can't even do that, sadly -- especially while buried on the third pairing.

It was a bad look, all around.

But is he a super effective cog in a machine when surrounded by players playing under the same system?

You bet he is.

The defensive awareness and poise with the puck will still be on display...but on top of that:

that winger WILL be there on the wall during the breakout;
Cole WILL be there for the stretch pass off of d-zone face-off wins;
pinned forwards actually passing to the point will, like, be a thing;
and I don't anticipate him only getting a couple short shifts per period with a bunch of kids just going through the motions.

I have mentioned that these tournaments -- even the high end ones -- are overflowing with pretenders before, haven't I?

Our team will likely even have a handful of them...but certainly not a majority.

The bracket may be the same...but the hockey will be better.

I don't anticipate the elusive Neutral Zone profile coming about from it, though.

The benefit? The selfish benefit?

More time on ice with his regular roster -- extra beneficial as there are just three returners that didn't age out last season. As far as he's concerned, it's a new roster.

It also provided an "extra" opportunity to cement his place in the locker room which, again, is huge when there are just three returners.

And more time skating in front of the program's brass we're betting on to move him up the ladder. You can never discount that.

Means to an end, am I right?

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Chris Rutsch

Hockey Dad

Year round, I spend a significant amount of time and money transporting my three boys to and from freezing cold ice rinks. Not because I expect them to make it to the NHL but because I know the rigorous youth hockey experience will serve them well in the future.