The USA Hockey Skill Development Program, which is for children, is based on a model of practicing and playing hockey across the 85 feet width of the ice surface as compared to practicing and playing lengthways along the full 200 foot length of the ice surface. This cross-ice practicing and playing model has been used in many of the leading hockey nations in the world for a number of years and has stood the test of time. It has been shown that children who begin their hockey training in this environment have an outstanding hockey experience.
Parents may ask the question why should my child play cross-ice, what will this bring? I want my child playing like the professionals do, full-ice, because I want my child to experience “real hockey”.
To help address these questions, let’s think about a child trying to skate with a puck while performing a drill the entire 200 feet from one end of the rink to the other, how long will this take? How much energy will this require? Will the player’s decision-making skills be enhanced more in the close action of the smaller cross-ice surface or in the wide-open area of the full-ice surface? In which situation will the child be more involved in the action?
A study of hockey games played on the full-ice surface by George Kingston in 1976 found the following:
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In a sixty minute running time hockey game between 6-8 year old children, the average player had possession of the puck for 20.7 seconds.
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Top National Hockey League and international professional players were also timed and no player exceeded 85 seconds of puck possession time.
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In a sixty-minute children’s game the actual playing time of the game was 20 minutes and 38 seconds. Taking this into consideration, the individual player is only on the ice every third or fourth shift depending on how many players are on the team, resulting in even less ice time.
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An average of less than 0.5 shots per game for youth players and only 1.5 shots per game for junior and professional players.
The study concluded that:
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For young players in the “full-ice game model” of development, the youngest players would require 180 games and the older youth players would require 80 games to enjoy 60 minutes of actual puck possession time to execute their stickhandling, passing, pass receiving and shooting skills.
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Professional and international players would require 60 games to ensure 60 minutes of puck control skill development.
Many players never touched the puck in the game, especially in youth hockey.
USA Hockey firmly believes that by giving children the opportunity to participate in the Skill Development Program, which supports cross-ice practicing and playing, that their enjoyment of hockey as well as their hockey skills will be greatly enhanced.
