What are the most important things to learn young

[Blueland89]

Stopping. I'd be in the NHL right now if I learned to stop before I was like 15. Crashing into the boards isn't the most effective method.

not funny but it kinda is

 

[biturbo19]

skating is the obvious answer here, as has been adressed initially and reinforced multiple times thereafter.

but my alternative answer is:

teach him to grow up to be over 6ft tall and solid.


good luck with that btw.

 

[madmutter]

Easy for you to say! I don't know if I'll ever be afford to take a kid to more than maybe one or two hockey games a year here in Toronto.

No need for the hockey to be NHL. CIS (university) is great for kids as there is no fighting and a lot of sportsmanship. The level of hockey is very good as the teams are made up of the best major junior players who do not turn pro. And it's cheap.

 

[madmutter]

Skating, skating, skating and shooting. Think about muscle memory, if it is a complex action then the earlier he can do without thinking about it the better.

A basic idea of positions is OK, something to talk about if you are watching a game but mostly something a kid will pick up much easier as they get older. I coached a team of 6 year olds this summer and we introduced positions, the ones who were going to pick it up this year did so quickly and the ones who weren't didn't really at all. It really was a situation where we would have been wasting several hours of ice time on position based drills instead of skiLls in order to get them all to understand, not a good trade off. The kids are also quick to realize which of their teammates are able to catch a pass and who can't and will decide who to pass to based on ability more than position or strategy.

All that said keeping it fun and his choice is by far
the most important thing.

 

[Wease]

Skating, skating, and more skating. I firmly believe that you have to be a really good skater to excel at this game. I became a skater first, hockey player later. A good set of wheels and endurance works wonders as a hockey player...

 

[RangersAM99]

definitely have him walk the red and blue lines, after that circles and more circles

 

[UvBnDatsyuked]

Skating #1 but when away from the rink, puckhandling. Too many players feel they need to be on ice to master the puck skills. The sooner a kid realizes that a basement or garage hockey practice is "gold" the sooner they will master the puck skills.
Kids who master puckhandling first, are the one's that can move onto the advanced play making skills soonest. There is no way to see the game develop like a Mario, Wayne, Crosby, if you are just trying to hold your head above water in the puckhandling dept.