To all Families...
Hello hockey families and welcome to the 2025-2026 hockey season.
Tryout time at the start of the season is an exciting time but can also be stressful for both kids and parents. Please remember we are lucky to live in a place where all kids will have a place to play no matter what happens during the tryout. I will strive to make the tryout process as smooth and stress free as possible but there will inevitably be disappointment and disagreement no matter what happens. I will ensure all the evaluators and on-ice coaches are qualified people without a direct connection to any player trying out. Evaluations are never perfect, and I ask that parents enter this with the understanding that although you may be able to focus solely on your own child, the evaluators have to share their attention amongst all the players on the ice, and this is a difficult task.
Please remember U15 at the rep level is the first year for body checking and therefore all players trying out must attend the checking clinic on September 26th in Kinburn. Please check the tryout dates and times on the website to ensure you have the most up to date times. The final roster will be made after the third session on October 2nd.
Tryout Evaluation
The skaters skills will be evaluated based on 3 main categories. Skating, Puck Skills and Defensive Skills. I’m really looking for players who can make plays with the puck instead of throwing it away. This means scanning and finding open players or open lanes to advance the puck. I want this team to play a puck possession game, so this skill will be critical to the team's success. The evaluators will also be looking for evidence of sportsmanship. coachability, positive attitude, work ethic, focus, and discipline. These skills will be essential in creating the culture and environment we want for this team. I will have specific evaluators watching the goalies. For the goalies I am most interested in competitiveness, work ethic and technical positioning as well as the other traits listed above in bold.
Other than a quick warm up each session, the evaluation drills will all be competitive in nature and offer the opportunity to demonstrate skills within game-like conditions.
Commitment
All players trying out should know that full commitment is the expectation. All practices are mandatory and absences for legitimate reasons must be communicated through email or text in advance. Practices will be demanding, and I have an extremely high standard for focus, effort and attention to detail. There will be other commitments for off-ice workouts and classroom sessions this year as well.
There are added costs associated with playing rep hockey. Most of this extra cost goes to extra practice ice. I am planning to add at least an additional 20 hours to our regular allotment. We also need to collect money to pay for our tournaments. We are attending tournaments in Perth, Pembroke, Renfrew and North Bay this year. Based on the cost of tournaments and ice costs going up I am estimating team fees will be somewhere around $400. Some of this can be countered by fundraising if the parent group decides to take this on. Team fees need to be paid right away in October so we can reimburse AMHA for the money they have loaned us for tournament registration.
Ice Time
I believe in kids getting fair ice time. Fair does not mean exactly equal. All kids will play power play, penalty kills and take regular shifts. I reserve the right to use specific players in the last 2 minutes of a game if it’s within 2 goals. This is an opportunity for kids to earn a little bit of extra time through their effort and play during the game. Ice time can also be used as a tool to address discipline issues or to correct any ongoing issue with a players attitude or effort. The coaches also reserve the ability to utilize players as they see fit when the team is missing a player. This means if there are 8 forwards or 5 defensemen, the coaches will decide how the rotations work in order to maintain continuity or minimize impacts on the team.
I will have a parents meeting once the team is formed but this email will serve as my tryout communication. If anyone has any specific questions about the tryouts or the plan for the season please reach out to my email listed below. I am happy to give tryout feedback to players after the final releases are made on October 2nd. I ask that you give it 24 hours before reaching out.
Thank You