Skaters Wanted!

Play for the CT Chiefs next season!

The Connecticut Chiefs youth hockey teams are looking to add a few more players to fill out their rosters for the upcoming season!

If you're new to the area and looking for a hockey team, didn't make the team you wanted to, or maybe you missed tryouts in the Spring, or perhaps the team you were planning to play for doesn't even hold tryouts until the Fall, well, when it comes to youth hockey in Connecticut, there are only a few well established programs, well, three, maybe four, that are head and shoulders above the rest.

Covering the Central Connecticut region, it's the CT Chiefs.

According to the Chiefs website, there are current player openings on some of the teams.

If interested in potentially joining up, or just for more details, get in touch with Brandon Johnson with the Chiefs at bej@ctchiefs.com.

If you're skeptical or on the fence or whatever and want some slightly biased (since one of my kids is on a team looking for players) but not straight from the horse's mouth kind of info, read on!

From our experience, our kids just aren't your typical kids anymore and the Chiefs have put them on a totally different path.

That isn't to say they don't love playing Fortnite or watching 'Teen Titans GO!' marathons from time to time like everyone else their age.

And they'll still pull the pickles off of their burgers from McDonald's in disgust -- but what they really love is being part of a team that works really, really hard (and actually passes)...and that mindset has broadened itself beyond hockey so much so that they work really hard at everything they do because they've learned that hard work always leads to great results.

Going through rigorous and difficult processes like learning how to use their edges effectively going backwards has somehow transformed my boys into better problem solvers, better readers, better mathletes (nerd level, even), and better at social interactions with adults too ... while also giving them six packs, as an added bonus.

There's a difference.

Really good hockey...with really good life skills added in.

The difference, not only in their on-ice hockey prowess but even how they approach everything off of the ice and totally unrelated to hockey, has been nothing short of remarkable.

And they have six packs too.

Don't overlook the tight abs.

Why have I never heard of the Chiefs?
Even though you've likely played and/or skated in their home arena in Newington, the main reason you've likely never heard of the Chiefs is because your team has never played against the Chiefs. That's because most CHC teams (99% of all Connecticut based youth hockey teams are part of the Connecticut Hockey Conference) play at a Tier 4 level. The Chiefs are a Tier 1 team...so it's kind of like the New Britian Bees taking on the Boston Red Sox. Same sport ... totally different level.

Does that mean my kid isn't good enough to play for the Chiefs?
Absolutely not. While the Chiefs players on the youth level teams are all very skilled, a majority of them got that way as a direct result of playing for the Chiefs. High end coaching and tons of practice pay huge dividends. Your player might come in a little below the curve...but they'll be right in the thick of it before long.

Can girls play for the Chiefs too?
For sure! Like so many other youth hockey teams, there aren't a lot of girls playing for the Chiefs but the ones that do, they're certainly included and coached just like every other player and, for real, to a T, they excel moreso than the boys. Something about being better listeners...

So the Chiefs are an elite club team...they must be way too expensive.
Total myth. While I'm not privvy to the financial requirements for all of the teams on the Chiefs, I do have kids playing for them at the mite, squirt, and peewee level and I'll give it to you straight.
For a couple hundred dollars more than area town-level teams, you get nearly double the number of games, three times as much ice time for practice, a week long day camp in the summer (full day, none of that 3 hours in the morning crap where you need to take days off from work for drop-off or pick-up), and an optional twice-per-week off-ice fitness program that runs all summer long.
So, yes, it costs a little more but you get a TON more for your dollar.

And, of course, if you actually scrolled this far down, you can always contact me or comment below and I can try to answer questions from my perspective ... not as a recuiter for the team (cause I'm not) but as a parent of two kids that previously played for town-level teams and are now entering their fifth year of skating with the Chiefs. Everybody is new at the start, right?

Agree? Disagree? Let me know -- I love the feedback from all angles!

Chris Rutsch

Hockey Dad

Year round, I spend a significant amount of time and money transporting my three boys to and from freezing cold ice rinks. Not because I expect them to make it to the NHL but because I know the rigorous youth hockey experience will serve them well in the future.