from Allain Roy of the RoySportsGroup,
“What should I improve in my game to get to the NHL?” A question I answer almost every day in my job as an NHL agent… The answer may have varied a bit over my last 18 years of doing this job, but the constant theme that is resoundingly stressed and never going away is: “Find a way to do everything at a high pace, and when you get there, do it even faster”.
Welcome to the new NHL, a game of fast paced action, filled with ever younger talent, and professionals that work on every meticulous detail 12 months a year. The “clutch and grab” style that dominated the game until the late 90’s is gone, the “training camp is for getting in shape” mentality of the 80’s is far gone, this game is super-fast, and will only get faster.
With the new high paced game also comes a faster pace of churning through bodies. Where the NHL neophytes used to have a 3 to 5-year window to prove they belonged, now the clock has accelerated to about 18 months to get your passport stamped to the minors or Europe. Teams and management have less patience, younger players are better prepared, and the salary cap driven economics of the game have left only a sliver of the proverbial window open, slicing down like a guillotine every few seconds on a NHL hopefuls’ neck, before they even get a taste of the game in the “Show”.
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