Kyle Graham

Digital Content Producer - @BounceRadio1041 @PureCountry106 @PureCountry917 Long term goal, write a book. Short term goal, write a better bio

[Andrew Brewer @Abrew2014]

This is a major issue in hockey right now

As the father of a 12 year old son who just left the sport because of these exact reasons this really hits home

Hockey is supposed to be fun

[Hockey Dad in the Corner @dadinthecorner]

The quiet part out loud:

Youth hockey has a retention problem and the industry knows it.

Half the kids who play at 10 are gone by 14. The sport blames everything except the obvious: the cost, the pressure, the adults who make it miserable.

The ones who stay don't stay because of the programs. They stay because they still love it.

Protect that. It's the whole thing.

[Jim Dabbelt @JDabbs86]

High school sports, prom, events should ALWAYS supersede club and travel events.

[Steven Montoya @steven_montoya]

I am getting really tired of out-of-season coaches and clubs pressuring student athletes to participate in weekday practices or weekend tournaments while they are competing in in-season sports.

Let kids compete and be all-in during their season.

[Jeff Marek @JeffMarek]

We've talked about it before - how much would a line 3 inches (the diameter of the puck) behind the goal line make reviews easier? Puck hits the second line and the goal counts.

[Jim Haverstrom @JimHaverstrom]

Same in hockey. Programs need to allocate the same recourses to recreational programs. All children deserve a positive youth sports experience. In doing so their travel programs would also improve.

[Stephen Chaconas @StephenChaconas]

We should be investing extensive coaching education into the recreational sphere.

We should be incentivizing extensive investment into coaching development and promotion into the competitive sphere.

[Stephen Chaconas @StephenChaconas]

The competitive sphere should naturally, by selection, be MUCH smaller.

The recreational sphere should be naturally, by volume, be MUCH larger.

[Stephen Chaconas @StephenChaconas]

What is the biggest problem in American 🇺🇸 youth soccer?

We have poisoned the word “recreational” and not done a good enough job separating the competitive sphere.

Far too many kids playing soccer in the USA that would be FAR BETTER served in local recreational programs.

[John Murphy @fhsperformance]

"Do fast players stay fast & slow players stay slow."

It's one of the most common assumptions in youth sport.

A recent study tracked 475 players from U12 to U19 over 8 years to test it.

The answer is more complicated than you might think. 🧵

[Jeremy Frisch @JeremyFrisch]

The best environments don’t force kids to be tough,
they make kids want to try hard.
In short: make it fun!

[Sean Skahan @SeanSkahan]

Feeling really frustrated with how much hockey players are skating during the “offseason.” After such long seasons, they need/deserve time to recover, especially when they’re not even playing a spring sport. What’s going on here?

[Topher Scott @HockeyThinkTank]

Thoughts on Team Canada at World Juniors:

There's been a lot of discourse today about Canada's performance after bowing out to Czechia again. I've read a lot about roster construction, team toughness, how players were used during the tournament, and other things related to the team's inability to get the job done.

These things may have been an issue, but reality is the problem runs way deeper.

Here is the biggest thing that people aren't talking about:

Canada has WAY fewer youth boys playing hockey than it did a decade ago.

Looking at Hockey Canada registration and membership data, it's mind-boggling to see the numbers.

And the numbers in the biggest provinces (Ontario and Quebec) are especially egregious.

So why is this happening? Hockey is Canada's sport. It shouldn't be like this.

It's what we hear every day from families all over North America:

Costs are too high. It's professionalized at too young of an age. The stress of the youth hockey experience is too much for kids and families.

Community programs have been replaced by for-profit entities leading to higher costs and more pressure. Development has been replaced by super teams and rogue/outlaw leagues outside of Hockey Canada even before kids are 8 years old. At the older ages, hockey academies have become what families believe is the only way their kids will make it - shelling out INSANE amounts of money to send their kids to do so.

Ontario just got rid of residency rules which will only lead to less accountability and more club-hopping than there already was in the nation's craziest and biggest youth hockey market.

The reason why Canada was the hockey superpower for so long is because it was part of the fabric of the country. There was such a pride and passion for the game and what the game meant to the flag. There was such a sense of playing the game for something bigger than yourself.

Now rather than playing for the love of the game, hockey in Canada is like a job for many of these kids in the environment they're being put in. It's less about pride and passion and more about the path to making it. When in all honesty, it's the pride and passion for the game that is the biggest consistency in the kids that do end up making it.

If Canada wants to restore its hockey dominance, it better take a long look in the mirror at the grassroots and what is going on in youth hockey. If you have tens of thousands of fewer boys playing the game, you should probably look at that first. The bigger your pool of athletes, the more elite athletes you can develop.

"As many as possible, for as long as possible, in the best environment possible". That has to be the guiding principle.

There's a lot of great people in Canada doing incredible things for the game, but the system itself is fundamentally broken. If Hockey Canada is serious about getting back to the top, it has to start at the bottom.

[Kyle Graham @KyleGTweets]

@JayOnSC

[Andrew Caley @AndrewCaley23]

HANG IT IN THE LOUVRE!!!

[Kyle Graham @KyleGTweets]

@YahooFantasy

[Kyle Graham @KyleGTweets]

@BornRuffians @davidalter Yanic Perreault?

[Kyle Graham @KyleGTweets]

@RobWong34 Hoffman, more like Walkman

[Anaheim Ducks @AnaheimDucks]

It's Giveaway Friday!

🏒 Score an official 2025 NHL Draft puck signed by Marguerite Moreau or Joshua Jackson 🏒

RT, must be following and we will pick two winners.

[OrilliaMatters.com @orilliamatters]

Royals storm back to stun Whitecaps in tournament championship https://t.co/TSOktjiL6j