Seasonal Structure & Long Term Player Development

Seasonal Structure 

PHASE 1: Preparation Phase 

The Preparation phase is considered non-team development opportunities that take place once the play-offs are complete and before the Player Evaluations commence.· 

PHASE 2: Evaluation Phase

The Player Evaluation phase provides flexibility in the format that Associations’ tier their Registered Participants and still allows and encourage Associations to tier players with similar skill. Within tryouts, a player either makes the team or does not.

PHASE 3: Development Phase

The Development Phase is a 27-day period that takes place after Labour Day where teams may only play a minimum of four (4) exhibition games and/or [CB1] one Tournament. On-ice practices are permitted during this period. 

PHASE 4: Regular Season Phase 

The Regular Season phase was permitted to start as of October 2, 2023 and is recommended to have a maximum of 46 games, including exhibition, league, playoff/tournament games. Within this phase, it is recommended to have two seasonal breaks (not including Christmas/long weekends) that include a minimum of five days without a scheduled game or mandatory practice.

PHASE 5: Playoff/Tournament Phase

The Playoff Phase is either tournament-style or elimination rounds with a continued effort to reinforce skill-development elements in practices.

 

Long Term Player Development

The Long Term Player Development model sets out a vision for hockey in Canada that takes advantage of the history and culture of the game to increase participation and to lay the foundations of international success long into the future.

The LTPD model for hockey has been developed based on the following principles:

  • doing the right thing for the player at the right stage in their development
  • adopting a player-centered approach and not treating the development of all players the same way
  • viewing player development as a long term process
  • aligning player development resources (skills manuals, DVDs) with coach development and education resources so that coaches are doing the right things at the right time
  • a need to better educate parents on the hockey development of their child – it is okay for parents to want their kids to get to the highest levels but they need to know the best way to go about it.