Recruiting. At every level you hear some coaches talking about “winning”. You hear the phrase “we want to contend for a championship”. These are phrases coaches love to use and show their competitive nature.
Coaches for the most part are still players at heart. They still love to compete. Most of them now though understand that their competition will be a mental battle, and a tactical one.
Coaches also love to talk about their successful players. Their “development”.
Unfortunately, scouts at every level will tell you that “winning” and “championships” have absolutely no bearing on scouting at all.
Many games have been won by role players, and many championships have been won based on great game planning and skill.
Not once though has a player been given an NCAA scholarship because he was part of a “winning” or “championship” level team. Never. Not in the entire history of the game has this happened.
NCAA scholarships, and NHL opportunity is earned. It is earned on the ice and in the gym. Plenty of players take opportunity and make their careers after coming from non winning and non championship level teams.
Scouts will also tell you that it is not the volume of ice time that you get, but what you do with what you are given that matters. Coaches do not always make the right line combinations. They do not always play or feature the right players. It is on the player to always give his best effort in front of scouts, whether its for 8 minutes a night or 18.
Opportunity is what the player makes of it. Whether he is on a winning or losing team it doesn’t matter. Taking advantage of that opportunity is the difference.
We all like winning. Everyone who is a real competitor hates losing games. But winning is not the key that unlocks some magic door to opportunity.
If you are a third line center on a team because the two centers ahead of you are older and more experienced, you are getting limited ice time in limited scenarios. That same third line center may be a second line center on a team that needs more skill, and therefore he would get more ice time, and more opportunity. While playing as a third line center he may win more games, but as a second line player he has a better opportunity to be an impact player and therefore become noticed.
These are common sense scenarios. These are very easy decisions. At this stage of your career you are not looking at taking a position on a Stanley Cup contender. You are looking to make a name for yourself to increase your NCAA or NHL opportunity.
So the next time you hear the sales pitch of “winning” or “championship” keep this in mind. No one will remember who won some obscure junior championship or some game, but everyone will remember who got the NCAA scholarship or the NHL opportunity. Opportunity and winning rarely come in the same place.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
