Mike Serba Memorial Golf Tournament

Does Size Matter?

They Used To Say: “A Good Big Hockey Player Will Always Be Better Than A Good Little Hockey Player.”

But This Statement Is Not Fully Correct

To be fully correct, I believe the statement should read: “A Good Big Hockey Player Will Always Be Better Than A Good Little Hockey Player ….. Everything Else Being Equal”.

Think about it.

The Perfect Hockey Player

Thank about it. What qualities, skills or attributes would the perfect hockey player possess?

I did a Google search of articles written about the abilities and qualities required to be a good hockey player.

One article listed the following: “Skating – Shooting – Stick-handling/Puck Control – Hands – Passing/Play-making – On-Ice Vision“.

Another listed these: “Be Coachable – Have Intense Desire To Win- Be Willing To Practice – Be Willing To Make Sacrifices – …….”.

(I have to throw an editorial comment in here in about a lot of the articles that I read …. and that is I can’t believe the amount of superficial crap that’s is written out there.)

I’ve given considerable thought to this subject over the years and have come to the conclusion that if someone were to write a complete treatise about all of the skills, abilities and attributes that the perfect hockey player would have; it would take a lifetime of work ….. it would be an encyclopedia containing probably at least 20 volumes …. and the 21st volume would be a massive index to the other 20.

“….. Everything Else Being Equal”.

The fact is that the perfect hockey player does not exist ….. never has and never will. Everything will never be equal.  Size is only one factor. Is is important? …. of course it is. But size alone without sufficient other skills and attributes in the right mix will not achieve success. There are simply too many other factors that come into play. Too many factors that when sufficient in their number and their dimension; will make up for lack of size.

It’s a shame when scouting focuses mainly on size. This happens way too often and discourages many players of smaller stature from playing the game.

Look at some of the greatest players of all time: Theo Fleury – Yvan Cornoyer – Marcel Dionne – Henri Richard – Martin St Louis.

Current players of shorter stature include; Ryan Ellis of the Nashville Predators, Mats Zuccarello of the Dallas Stars, Tory Krug of the Boston Bruins, Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks  ……. and my all time favorite Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins. Marchand drives me nuts. Every time Boston plays my home team Toronto; Marchand has a big part to play in us losing …. can’t stand him but you can bet that I’d love him if he played for Toronto.

(Looking at the official stats listed of the heights for the players listed above; I believe many of the measurements were taken with their skates on.)

The Bottom Line As I See It

Size alone without sufficient other skills and attributes in the right mix will not achieve success. There are simply too many other factors that come into play. Too many factors that when sufficient in their number and their dimension; will make up for lack of size.

“A Good Big Hockey Player Will Always Be Better Than A Good Little Hockey Player …. Everything Else Being Equal  ….. But Everything Else Will Never Be Equal.”

In the next couple of Blogs it occurs to me that it would be timely and useful to talk about what in my experience are important factors that contribute to or inhibit success in hockey. Stayed tuned.

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