On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to talk about what the royal road is and how making a play across it significantly increases your chances of scoring.

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This week Topher and Jeff fly solo to break down the various development paths to the top league in the world. There were 288 American players that played at least one game in the NHL during the 2023-2024 season. Topher spent months researching the trends that got those players to the highest level of professional hockey. We hear so much from parents and coaches about the pressure to follow a specific journey in order to play in the NHL; so we set out to show you that everyone has a different path.

In this episode we talk about:

— The relative age effect: Does being born at the beginning of the year give you a better chance?

— How much time did players spend “marinating” at lower levels?

— Is getting drafted beneficial?

— Is playing a certain position beneficial?

— Does a certain region of the country produce more NHL players?

AND SO MUCH MORE!

Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, Helios Hockey, and Crossbar!

And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating, and share on your social sites!

If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out!

THE US BORN PLAYERS' PATH TO THE NHL BLOG POST

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On today’s FRIDAY FACEOFF episode, Toph wants to talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs and their unfortunate recent playoff runs.

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On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to talk about how to defend the front of the net. Last week we talked about scoring garbage goals, so now let’s discuss how to defend against them.

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This week Topher and Jeff fly solo to talk about the 7 environmental factors crucial for players to develop. We encourage parents to join an organization/team that provides this atmosphere to help your child succeed and encourage coaches to help provide that environment. Listen as we break down how to set up an environment where players can develop to the best of their abilities:

— Establish a relationship

— Vulnerability as a coach

— Be prepared, but be flexible

— Competition

— Be authentic

— Resilience

— Set the standard high with players

AND SO MUCH MORE!

Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, Helios Hockey, and Crossbar!

And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating, and share on your social sites!

If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out!

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On today’s FRIDAY FACEOFF episode, Toph wants to talk about postgame speeches and what you’ve gotta include. Be authentic and always go back to your process and your identity.

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On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to talk about a topic one of our listeners suggested: garbage goals. We define what they are, how to score more of them, and how to have that scoring mentality.

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This week Topher and Jeff talk with Pat Ferschweiler, Western Michigan Broncos men’s ice hockey head coach and 2025 Frozen Four Men’s Ice Hockey Championship winner. Fersch joins us on the pod to talk about what it takes to win it all.

In this episode we talk about:

— How the men’s ice hockey team won the title without any NIL money

— That no matter how good you were, you have to be better than your previous year

— How coaches shouldn’t have to coach effort

— How to keep players emotionally engaged

— Knowing how hard to push your players

AND SO MUCH MORE!

Thank you to our title sponsor IceHockeySystems.com, as well as Train-Heroic, Helios Hockey, and Crossbar!

And thank you to our AMAZING LISTENERS; We appreciate every listen, download, comment, rating, and share on your social sites!

If you’d like to join our Hockey Think Tank Community, head over to Community.TheHockeyThinkTank.com and check it out!

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On today’s FRIDAY FACEOFF episode, Toph wants to talk about head shots from hits. We’ve seen a few in the past couple of weeks in the NHL playoffs, so let’s talk about them.

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On today’s SHORT SHIFTS episode, Toph wants to talk about a question submitted by one of our listeners; “How do you help skilled players with low confidence in their own skills?” We discuss what to do when they look good in practice, but can’t seem to replicate their skills in a game.

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