The kids are all right in Toronto, in Edmonton, in ...
Managers looking for speed, skill and leadership roles are now relying more on youth
Even the players recognize the National Hockey League as a copy-cat league. The team to copy, thankfully, is the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“Now teams are trying to go with speed, and play quickly, the way Pittsburgh plays,” says Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, sounding wistful at how the game has changed. “Hockey wasn’t this tiring even five or six years ago, and you weren’t that sore after games five or six years ago. Speed kills.” And NHL GMs have discovered that the easiest way to get faster is to get younger. Nowhere is that more true than with the Toronto Maple Leafs, with teenagers leading them in scoring, and up to eight rookies playing in any given game.
“It’s certainly an indication of where the game has gone and where it’s going as far as speed and skill,” Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello says. “It’s exciting for the game. It’s extremely positive. The fans really appreciate this type of hockey.”
It’s not as if the average age of the league is getting younger. It is about 27 years and eight months, according to quanthockey.com, about half a year older than last year and about where the league was in the late 1960s. What’s different is the reliance on young players in leadership roles, beyond what Toronto fans are seeing with Auston Matthews, 19, Mitch Marner, 19 and William Nylander, 20. Connor McDavid, at 19, is captaining the Edmonton Oilers. Patrik Laine, just 18, leads the Winnipeg Jets in scoring.
“They’re quite skilled players,” says Panthers defenceman Aaron Ekblad, 20. “It’s something to see what they’re doing this year. They are challenges like (Alex) Ovechkin, like (Sidney) Crosby, just like all those guys. You want to rise up to that challenge against a player like that.”
Hockey fans got a taste of what un- bridled youth can do with the North America team of players 23 and under at the World Cup.
“The league is getting really fast, no doubt about that,” Ekblad says. “You’ve got to keep up. Players are coming in and pushing the pace. It’s good for the game, it’s exciting to watch and exciting to play against.”
Of course there’s a downside, at least from a coach’s standpoint. Coaches are sure to lament the highrisk, high-reward hockey when it goes other way. That’s where veteran teams with speed have the advantage over younger teams like the Maple Leafs. It’s no surprise the Penguins are the second-oldest team (29 years, three months). San Jose, the Cup finalist in June, is the oldest (29 years four months).
“(Going with youth) is a doubleedged sword,” Pacioretty says. “The young guys have the skills and the speed, but you want to make sure they don’t try and do too much and try plays in high-risk areas.” Lamoriello understands the risk. “They’re going to have to go through peaks and valleys,” he says. “Experience is something you don’t know you need until you have it.”