Your Kid is Invisible.

I was once told this by a coach.

Your kid is invisible.

The facial expression he displayed when he realized how awful it sounded the moment it spilled from his mouth was, well, awkwardly uncomfortable as I'm sure he was unsure of how I'd react ...but I knew it was pretty high praise.

Let me explain.

So, like, when I played hockey and even in low end men's league -- really, really, really low end -- the first thing I'd usually do during warm-ups was size up the talent of the opposing team's defense.

I think most forwards do that sort of thing. You basically pinpoint which guy you want to be on the ice against where you'll have the advantage.

Mismatches lead to goals.

A lot of the time you can just tell by the skating -- that kid that doesn't bend his knees...yeah, they're hiding him on defense.

Without fail, in mens league anyway, there's always that one big dude, kinda shaped like Grimace, that always plays defense.

Those real big guys have three things in common...

First, they always have a heavy shot. Don't allow them any time in the o-zone on their forehand.

Second, they'll have zero problem clearing a guy like me out of the crease.

An third...they're slow. You can easily beat them to the outside, avoid getting crushed into the boards, and still have the real estate to cut back inside towards the goal.

Those guys aren't invisible -- they're easy to spot.

So, my kid plays defense but it's really unlikely that he's the kid the opposing forwards are isolating as an obvious weakness.

He also has had the opportunity to "play up" two birth years with uncommon frequency which, perhaps, should make him even easier to isolate as a potential hole, you know, being the little guy.

But that's where the "praise" of being invisible started because, in a game against kids 2+ years older with full blown Tom Selleck moustaches, he absolutely should have been a noticable weakness on defense like the guys that don't bend their knees and/or have a 44-inch waist.

Except...they don't notice him.

I get it -- it's hard to explain how being invisible can be a compliment.

Like, most youth teams have a top line and then a "hold your breath" line where you're just hoping the shift ends without a goal against.

Sheesh -- most NHL teams have that too when a game goes into overtime in the playoffs. I mean, you have to give the top 6 a break eventually...but, man, those shifts can't end quick enough...

This post is more about those kids between those two extremes.

And then when you apply it to defense, it's even more granular.

If anything, you want the defense to be seemingly invisible.

So, this isn't a posting to pump the tires of the little guys, not for a second.

It's more to bring awareness to the guys who might not show up on the scoreboard but also aren't an obvious reason for goals against either.

Grimace isn't invisible.

Grimace is a liability.

My kid is a good skater. That's a huge asset and one that is frequently pointed out...but his most valuable asset is his hockey IQ.

He doesn't take himself out of position very often.

He doesn't take risks that have a low chance of success.

He doesn't blindly throw the puck away under pressure.

And bad decisions are few and far between. Situational awareness is next level.

Those are the assets that make him invisible.

It's not, "Hey, babyface chicken legs over there can't hang. Go to his side every time."

It's more, "Wait, they have a kid on defense that's in middle school? Really? Which one is he?"

So, invisible, in this case is praise.

And an asset.

Kinda like Wonder Woman's plane.

Okay, no. That's weird.

That always felt weird.

Now, I know some hockey dads are reading this and are like..."This dude is a moron."

I'm used to that.

For a long time, I was probably of the same mindset -- offense is all that matters.

Pfft! If a kid a can't score, he's useless to the team. Invisible is right!

But once you've been around for more than a decade you start to notice that the super offensive guys -- and youth hockey is littered with them -- are little more than a flash in the pan.

I'm not talking about the guys like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Auston Matthews, or Connor McDavid.

I'm thinking guys like...Ryan Malone, Tyler Arnason, Peter Mueller, Wojtech Wolski, and Petr Prucha.

You're thinking..."Who?"

Jeremy Lin is a great example from the basketball world. Dude was MVP material for a couple months. Lin-sanity!

Being featured on the cover of Time Magazine seems unbelieveable...but it happened!

Those guys all had the hype machine behind them while they were briefly scoring machines at the highest level.

Flashes in the pan is what they were...and then they became truly invisible as they were out of the league almost as quickly as they appeared.

While all of that was going on, guys like Roman Hamrlik (a bust of a number one pick in many fan's eyes), Glen Wesley, Luke Richardson, Danius Zubrus, Radek Dvorak, and Darryl Sydor were racking up NHL games, year over year, like it was going out of style.

Quietly.

Every one of those guys played in over 1000 NHL games...as an afterthought for a majority of them.

Crazy, right?

If your of a certain age and casually follow hockey, you probably recognize a few of those names but never really thought much of them.

They were, dare I say...invisible.

But were still NHL calibre players, bouncing around from team to team, for over 1000 games.

That's where being invisible is high praise.

That's the sweet spot where you want your player to land.

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.