🏒 What makes a youth hockey tryout feel fair—and what causes the entire process to break down?
Tryouts can be one of the most emotional parts of the hockey season. Players are nervous, parents are analyzing every drill, coaches are trying to build balanced teams, and organizations are under pressure to make decisions that families can trust.
In this episode of Our Kids Play Hockey, Lee Elias and Christie Casciano Burns are joined by Gabe Malinski of Team Genius, a platform that helps youth sports organizations improve tryouts, player evaluations, communication, and long-term development.
Gabe explains why many associations make evaluations more complicated than they need to be—and why collecting more scores does not always lead to better decisions. The group discusses how organizations can create clearer evaluation criteria, prepare evaluators more effectively, reduce bias, and provide feedback that helps players improve.
They also explore an important truth: a tryout should not be viewed as one isolated hour. A player’s habits, development, coachability, effort, attitude, and performance throughout the season all contribute to a much more complete picture.
🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why the purpose of a tryout should remain simple: build appropriate teams
- How evaluation criteria should change by age group and association size
- Why skating is often the most important skill for younger players
- How unclear scoring systems can create major evaluation mistakes
- Why evaluators need detailed rubrics—not just a one-to-five scale
- How organizations can reduce bias through outside evaluators and objective data
- Why hockey IQ, compete level, leadership, and coachability still require human judgment
- How honest feedback can turn disappointment into a development plan
- What players should do physically and mentally before tryouts
- How parents can support their child without increasing the pressure
- Why not making the desired team may create a better long-term opportunity
- How technology should support coaches rather than make decisions for them
Gabe also shares the remarkable journey of his brother Sam Malinski, who played B-level hockey as a young player, faced setbacks throughout his development, went undrafted, and continued working his way toward the NHL. His story is a powerful reminder that one roster decision does not determine a player’s future.
The biggest takeaway? Tryouts should be part of a larger development process—not the only evaluation a player receives all year.
When organizations communicate clearly, coaches provide meaningful feedback, players prepare consistently, and parents remain supportive, tryouts can become far more productive for everyone involved.
🎧 Listen now, share this episode with another hockey family, and remember: the team your child makes this season does not define the player—or person—they can become.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: Youth Hockey Tryouts Should Build Teams—and Help Players Grow
This episode is powered by NHL Sense Arena.
Learn more about Team Genius
#YouthHockey #HockeyTryouts #PlayerDevelopment #HockeyParents #HockeyCoaching #TeamGenius #YouthSports #HockeyEvaluations #GrowthMindset #OurKidsPlayHockey
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