Why 20 player rosters?
The Facts
USA Hockey allows 20 player rosters.
WIAA allows 20 player game rosters. Most have a JV team to draw more players from.
USA Junior teams allow 20 player game rosters and can carry 24-25 on their active roster.
NCAA allows 20 player game rosters. Most teams carry 28 players that compete at every practice for one of those 20 spots.
NHL allows 20 player rosters. Most teams carry 24 and have another 40 in their minor system.
The Plan
20 player rosters provide more opportunities for more players from the Central Wisconsin area to have this experience.
20 player rosters allow players to still have a life other than hockey. They can miss a practice or game for family events, baseball, etc. Things kids should be doing at this age.
20 player rosters provide for a competitive environment within the team.
20 player rosters allow the coaches to push kids to their physical and mental limits as they should be if they have the desire to be elite level players.
20 player rosters don't encourage players to loaf and pace themselves because they are playing every other shift.
20 player rosters allow coaches to expect short explosive shifts out of every player.
20 player rosters allow coaches to elevate a players comfort level.
20 player rosters allow coaches to teach and interact with players during a game, after they have had one shift to rest and one shift before they have to go back on the ice.
Yes, you can win with fewer players. However it's not the way to develop players. Ask anyone that watched or played on the 88/89 team in Brandon Manitoba in July of 2006. When we ended up with a short roster for this five game tournament due to injuries, illness, and family conflicts, it was a monumental task that we faced. Eleven skaters and two goalies. A quick lesson in the neutral zone trap and players buying into the fact that it was the way we needed to play to win paid off. We defeated teams that we maybe had no business being on the ice with. It was ugly to watch and not very much fun to play. We'd play hard for a couple shifts, then change gears to the trap for a while and wait for our opportunity to attack for a few shifts. Smart coaching and very coachable players with the determination to win. All of us would have much rather had 20 players there and played full speed intense hockey. We had only a few lemons to work with, but we made gallons of lemonade. The problem, only thirteen kids had this opportunity.
My Opinion, (That a lot of the "Experts" share)
Too often, youth hockey programs have rosters of 10-15 players. I believe this only teaches slowness, laziness, low intensity, slow pacing, selfishness, etc.. All negative things that I do not want to develop in players. I want to help break those habits. I want to develop players that will be in the habit of going full speed all the time, playing with a high level of intensity, practicing and playing above their comfort level, knowing how to compete, and can play with a high level of confidence.
A player on a small roster team learns to go slow because they have to pace themselves to be out every other shift. In most cases they are allowed to play lazy. The team or coach become focused only on the top one or two players that carry the load for the team.
Kids that want to become high level competitive players are mislead by smaller rosters. Too often the small roster is dictated by a parent coach that has the desire for his son to be the chosen star on the team. In most cases, these kids are no longer playing hockey long before they reach a true competitive level because they are either sick of the pressure to carry the team or sick of their Dad. (One of the reasons I don't have Dads coach AAA teams. AAA coaches need to be coaches first, then maybe they can become Dad coaches later. The Dad coaches also need the break from coaching their kid and just sit back and enjoy watching them play.)
Every year when kids return to AAA hockey in April, after 5-6 months of regular season Association hockey, myself and all the other coaches spend a great deal of time getting kids to pick the pace back up. They leave us in June going full speed and come back to us with the habit of going slow. They dominate their teams for a couple months, then fall back into old habits. In most cases this is a result of a deficiency in the philosophy of their local Association and the other governing bodies that have control over their program. I've fought the battle for years, in most cases by myself. My way to help solve the problem is to offer this program.
The proof is in the result. Look at how many kids have come out of this program and achieved a higher level of hockey. A rough estimate is that in the last eleven years, more kids have come out of the Central Wisconsin AAA program to play Junior, College, and Pro hockey than have come out of the entire state of Wisconsin in the previous 20 years.
For anyone that does not agree with this philosophy, I challenge you to find just one Division I College coach who also does not agree with it. I'd also like to challenge you to a debate at any time in front of any audience that needs an education on this topic.
Happy Hockey
Terry Brand
CWAAA General Manager