Twenty, not Fifteen

This is the time of year in the hockey world when young players and parents get really worked up. With the major junior drafts approaching as well as the USHL Futures draft and even the NHL draft, everyone gets overheated about when and where they will be selected. It is a very exciting time but also a time when people put way too much stock in the selection process. Many players and families become very disappointed when they are not selected as high as they thought they would be and it really is a shame.
When we talk and advise young players and families, we try to stress that although the bulk of the selection process begins at age fifteen, their future success will depend on how they develop up to the age of twenty, not fifteen.   So much growth can take place in those years and it is the complete exception that a player is ready to play professionally at age eighteen.
To make my point, take a look at this list of over 100 players who have signed professional contracts coming out of college this season alone, many of whom were undrafted to junior or the NHL. These players simply developed and grew as players over time.
http://www.collegehockeyinc.com/view/ncaa/in-the-nhl/pro-signings 
It is the same in the NHL. There are so many good players that just weren't that high a prospect at age seventeen or eighteen.
When the Detroit Red Wings were scouting Tomas Holmstrom, they liked his fire and his aggressiveness around the net. No one else noticed him because he was so small that he got knocked around a lot. He was 165 pounds at the time. They drafted him anyway and when he returned in the winter he weighed in at 210 pounds. They talked to his coach and the coach said he'd planned to cut him, until he showed up at training camp so much bigger.

“A lot of things come down to genetics and you might be a late bloomer or grow a little bit later — it all comes down to the commitment of that player,” said Hockey Manitoba executive director Peter Woods. “Sometimes kids get labels, as an A1 or a AA player or whatever it may be. Players can interpret that in a number of ways. The kid that is maybe not playing at the elite level right now needs to enjoy what he’s getting out of the game and those opportunities might come along down the road. Jarome Iginla wasn’t taken in the bantam draft and it worked out pretty well for him.

“You have to use some of those examples as motivation.”

Check out this list of NHL players and how late they were drafted and remember, come draft time, keep everything in perspective and focus on age twenty, not fifteen.....

Player	Pick	Year	Drafted By
Jaroslav Halak	271st	2003	Montreal
Mark Streit	262nd	2004	Montreal
Pekka Rinne	258th	2004	Nashville
Dustin Byfuglien	245th	2003	Chicago
Dan McGillis	238th	1992	Detroit
Pavol Demitra	227th	1993	Ottawa
Vladimir Konstantinov	221st	1989	Detroit
Anson Carter	220th	1992	Quebec
Johan Hedberg	218th	1994	Philadelphia
Cristobal Huet	214th	2001	Los Angeles
Dave Taylor	210th	1975	Los Angeles
Dominik Hasek	207th	1983	Chicago
Henrik Lundqvist	205th	2000	New York Rangers
Joe Pavelski	205th	2003	San Jose
Sergei Kostitsyn	200th	2005	Montreal
Arturs Irbe	196th	1989	Minnesota
Brooks Laich	193rd	2001	Ottawa
Vladimir Malakhov	191st	1989	NY Islanders
Matt D'Agostini	190th	2005	Montreal
Ryane Clowe	175th	2001	San Jose
Trevor Letowski	174th	1996	Phoenix
Luc Robitaille	171st	1984	Los Angeles
Roman Cechmanek	171st	2000	Philadelphia
Theoren Fleury	166th	1987	Calgary
John-Michael Liles	159th	2000	Colorado
Peter Bondra	156th	1990	Washington
Doug Gilmour	134th	1982	St. Louis
Kris Versteeg	134th	2004	Boston
Kyle Wellwood	134th	2001	Toronto
Daniel Alfredsson	133rd	1994	Ottawa
Steve Larmer	120th	1980	Chicago
Brett Hull	117th	1984	Calgary
Johan Franzen	97th	2004	Detroit
Valtteri Filppula	95th	2002	Detroit
Jonathan Quick	72nd	2005	Los Angeles
Cal Clutterbuck	72nd	2006	Minnesota
Steve Mason	69th	2006	Columbus