Minnesota Hockey Journal

December 2014

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DECEMBER.2014 // MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM 013 13 NATALIE DARWITZ HEAD COACH LAKEVILLE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL U.S. OLYMPIAN (2002, 2006, 2010) DARBY HENDRICKSON ASSISTANT COACH MINNESOTA WILD " "There is no doubt that I would not have been the player I was if I did not have the coaching, support and love from my dad behind the bench. He knew when to push me out of my comfort zone and knew when to give me a tap on the helmet and tell me 'good job.' Hockey is our passion and it's pretty special when you can share that and spend so much time with your dad at the rink." "Without doubt my coaches from youth hockey got me to where I am today and I owe a lot to my youth coaches. They taught me more than just hockey skills. They taught me work ethic, which is vital for a player and person. "You can find a lot of coaches to teach skill, but the way they taught other things is what made you want to come back to the rink. For me, the coaches in Minnesota I had throughout my whole career did just that. It was fun to come and get better and I owe that to my coaches." "Minnesota can be proud of the quality of its youth coaches all across the state. Coaches are the lifeblood of our sport and because of the outstanding youth coaches that exist in Minnesota, the state continues to be a leader in producing players that go on to compete in higher levels of the game, including college hockey and ultimately the NHL." "Minnesota has always been a leader in the country when it comes to player development and I have always felt that is because of the level of our coaches at the youth and high school levels. They truly take the game and development of players seriously. "Players are influenced by their coach in so many ways. Having coaches that are educated about the game and skill development and knowing how to bring out the best in the players is something the Minnesota player is fortunate to have in guiding them in their development path from a very early age." KEN RAUSCH YOUTH HOCKEY MANAGER USA HOCKEY FORMER BOSTON UNIVERSITY ASSISTANT COACH "The coaching there is really good. Again, I go back to the sense of community. The high school coaches in a certain town – they know the Bantam, the Peewee and the Squirt coaches. There's that mentorship, where they give back to their communities probably more than any other place." MIKE SNEE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR COLLEGE HOCKEY, INC. JIM JOHANNSON ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR HOCKEY OPERATIONS USA HOCKEY BOB MOTZKO HEAD COACH ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY "There is so much outstanding coaching going on in the business today. I think that coaches are doing a terrific job at the youth level of getting the fundamentals down and the attitude that we (as college coaches) want. We are getting more and more kids with the proper work ethics, attitude and skills because of youth coaches today."

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