Problems with Hockey Parents

[DCHockey]

There is currently a viral thread opining about the problems with a certain program's coaching staff. As there are always 2 perspectives to a situation I thought it would be interesting to hear about stories, ancedotes, tales of outrageous behaviors by parents at all levels of amatuer hockey. This would be somewhat humerous, but I also think it would be helpful for other readers to "see themselves" in some of the stories and hopefully avoid those behaviors in the future or change thier current behaviors!!!

Of course if you decide to contribute, please make it generic. No names or inuendos.

Let the games begin.

 

[law]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I'm talking house league squirt hockey many years ago. I was a volunteer dad jr. asst to the asst volunteer coach. A parent of a kid would regularly lean over the glass and wave a $5 bill at his son when he'd get the puck down in the defensive zone and yell at him it was his if he scored. Of course our volunteer coach loved that -- it was so consistent with his teaching the kids about how hockey's a passing game....

 

[Ralph Kramden]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

OMG!!!! I could start writing one story a day and continue for a year at least. Here is one of my favorites. My son was playing on a very, very good peewee team where one of the parents and one of the assistant coaches (previously a head coach but banned as such in virtually every rink the team played in) were particularly less than respectful towards each other. It was an important game towards seeding in the sectionals and the assistant's son had just taken about the 4th ultra dumb penalty of the game, which was really about the norm for him, and the parent became very, hmmmmm, agitated. He started yelling towards the assistant to sit his kid down. This led to an escalation of verbal jousting, gestures and exhortations to step outside by the assistant. At this point I'm standing at one end of the rink near one of the access doors when the parent comes down and opens the door, as play is still going on, and starts yelling to his son, the goalie, to "get off the ice. We're leaving now." The kid is crying and the parent does not let up until he is spoken to by the refs and a state supreme court judge, another parent, whom he was close to. At that point, he leaves the rink and the game concludes. To say the least, it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Not just my hockey parent life, but life in general. Tomorrow, the Mom from hell. (same team)

 

[Padstack]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

My favorite was the coach who dared to cut the best kid on the last of four days of try-outs. The dad, with eyes bulging and veins popping, confronts the coach, inches from his face, with a "what the f!#%?" The coach replies, "Your kid comes with too much baggage." The father comes back with, "She's the nicest kid on the team!" To which the coach replies, "No, No, No, she's fine. You're the baggage."

 

[law]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

"Your kid comes with too much baggage." The father comes back with, "She's the nicest kid on the team!" To which the coach replies, "No, No, No, she's fine. You're the baggage."

Great article about sports scholarship & recruitment from the 3/10/08 NY Times:
"Expectations Lose to Reality of Sports Scholarships"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/sports/10scholarships.html?_r=1

From the article:
"Coaches surveyed at two representative N.C.A.A. Division I institutions — Villanova University outside Philadelphia and the University of Delaware — told tales of rejecting top prospects because their parents were obstinate in scholarship negotiations.

'I dropped a good player because her dad was a jerk — all he ever talked to me about was scholarship money,' said Joanie Milhous, the field hockey coach at Villanova. 'I don’t need that in my program. I recruit good, ethical parents as much as good, talented kids because, in the end, there’s a connection between the two.'"

 

[MAOFDJJD]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I know of a player who's dad installed a speaker in her helmet so he could dictate plays from the stands. The bummer was, his left was her right and visa versa...boy did she look confused!!

 

[rinkrat890890]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I know of a player who's dad installed a speaker in her helmet so he could dictate plays from the stands. The bummer was, his left was her right and visa versa...boy did she look confused!!

That is pretty funny, and sick too!

 

[123hockey]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I'm talking house league squirt hockey many years ago. I was a volunteer dad jr. asst to the asst volunteer coach. A parent of a kid would regularly lean over the glass and wave a $5 bill at his son when he'd get the puck down in the defensive zone and yell at him it was his if he scored. Of course our volunteer coach loved that -- it was so consistent with his teaching the kids about how hockey's a passing game....

I witnessed a similar situation. Dad was very proud that he was paying his daughter $5 for every goal. Over several games it began to noticably change the way the girl would play the game. On several occasions she would bust down the wing, head down, determined to get to the net. The defense would naturally move to defend her and the off wing would be wide open. But because daddy was paying $5 per goal to a 12 year old, she naturally kept the puck and either gave it up or got off a weak, ill advised shot. After watching this occur over and over, I finally approached the girl and asked her if her dad was paying her for goals. She sheepishly smiled and said "Yea, $5" I simply said I would pay her $10 for an assist and walked away.

 

[Hux]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I witnessed a similar situation. Dad was very proud that he was paying his daughter $5 for every goal. Over several games it began to noticably change the way the girl would play the game. On several occasions she would bust down the wing, head down, determined to get to the net. The defense would naturally move to defend her and the off wing would be wide open. But because daddy was paying $5 per goal to a 12 year old, she naturally kept the puck and either gave it up or got off a weak, ill advised shot. After watching this occur over and over, I finally approached the girl and asked her if her dad was paying her for goals. She sheepishly smiled and said "Yea, $5" I simply said I would pay her $10 for an assist and walked away.

Too funny.

I had a mom and dad in mites who did the same. Their kid was a pretty big, pretty fast seven year old with some decent skill for his age. Unfortunately, it got so bad that we would have a breakaway and he would skate up behind our breaking player and take the puck away. As if that weren't bad enough, all too often this kid would then breeze in, deke the goalie right out of his skates, and proceed to loft the puck into the net...above the glass.

I finally threatened the parents with a fine each time junior did that. They spoke to the kid, and offered to pay him for assists. He soon became a pretty good passer, and the other kids had ample opportunity to experience the thrill of a breakaway and a shot gone awry!

 

[sheba]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I know of a player who's dad installed a speaker in her helmet so he could dictate plays from the stands. The bummer was, his left was her right and visa versa...boy did she look confused!!

I think this is hilarious and ingenious and often have wondered why the pros don't already do that - they could even add an electric shock inside the helmet for every time a player goes off side or a player misses the net or doesn't pass to the open player or just about anything!!! very funny..

 

[D2D]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I know of a player who's dad installed a speaker in her helmet so he could dictate plays from the stands. The bummer was, his left was her right and visa versa...boy did she look confused!!

I'm envisioning a game where all of the players had speakers in their helmets with parents giving them instructions. Poorly timed moves, no passing, lots of blank stares up to the stands, collisions all over the place...utter chaos.

 

[notfromaroundhere]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I'm envisioning a game where all of the players had speakers in their helmets with parents giving them instructions. Poorly timed moves, no passing, lots of blank stares up to the stands, collisions all over the place...utter chaos.

So that is the secret to mite hockey?

 

[Ralph Kramden]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

Same team as yesterday.......the Mom from Hell. If her kid is still playing anywhere it means that somewhere a prison has a hockey team. The kids get an invite for a game in Kingston, Ontario, expecting to be playing a very good travel team. It turns out that it was a House League Select team and the coaches told all the kids to just tone it down, have some fun and not hit anyone. They were guests and the people from Kingston were super to our kids. The first shift that the Mom from Hell's kid is on the ice, he lays out a kid about half his size. The coaches literally pull him over the boards and get in his face about not following their instructions. At the same time, the Mom is screaming at the coaches that "if those kids don't know how to play hockey they shouldn't be out there." By season end, she was heard throughout the rink telling her son vocally to "never mind what the coaches are telling you, you know how to play." Nice. Personally, like many subsequent coaches did, he'd have been shown the door very early in the season but the coaches took her's, and her son's, crap all season. Not fun to watch or be associated with in any way.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I know of a player who's dad installed a speaker in her helmet so he could dictate plays from the stands. The bummer was, his left was her right and visa versa...boy did she look confused!!

Wow. This brings the terms
"Coaching from the stands" and
"Reliving the dream thru your child"
to another level.

Worst one I've seen live was a guy climbing over the glass taking on a Ref. It was either at Peewee (U12) or Bantam (U14) Silver stick. It was a person on another team in our division. We were in the lobby watching the game from a distance. Once the fellow got escorted to the lobby he still wanted to go back in there to confront the ref.

 

[notfromaroundhere]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

Other issues with hockey parents...

I remember the mother of one boy who played on a team with my daughter a few years back. She decided to support the son's superstitious idea of not washing the hockey gear (including undergarments) while a winning streak was going on.

After a month with a light schedule and easy opponents I can remeber seeing the kid at practice poke his head out into the lobby. I was a good 75 feet away but was overcome with the smell.

Fortunately, the next weekend the team lost.

The family moved after that season. I didn't hear about them again until my wife told me she saw them on Judge Judy. And the mother lost...

 

[5 4 Fighting]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

Although this doesn't involve a parent..it is still my favorite hockey story.

I was coaching a Pee Wee house league team and we had a diminutive d man who I'll call Kevin. Kevin had terrible eyesight, wore very thick glasses and wasn't the best player in the league.

From the start of the season I worked with Kevin to have him stagger the defence when the puck was entering our zone. After some time he seemed to grasp the concept.

At the end of the year we were in the finals of the playoffs against our rivals in a 2-2 tie with 3 minutes left. The oppositon puck carrier came through the nuetral zone untouched and to my amazment Kev wasn't staggered. The guy splits the defence and top shelfs the thing to win the game 3-2.

When Kevin comes to the bench I took the time to remind him about the importance of the staggered defence theory and spoke at length to him about how we had worked on it all year.

After a few minutes of lecturing, Kev looked up at me with his coke bottle glasses and said...."Is that Juicy Fruit your chewing"?

That moment in time will always be my fondest memory in hockey.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

Although this doesn't involve a parent..it is still my favorite hockey story.

I was coaching a Pee Wee house league team and we had a diminutive d man who I'll call Kevin. Kevin had terrible eyesight, wore very thick glasses and wasn't the best player in the league.

From the start of the season I worked with Kevin to have him stagger the defence when the puck was entering our zone. After some time he seemed to grasp the concept.

At the end of the year we were in the finals of the playoffs against our rivals in a 2-2 tie with 3 minutes left. The oppositon puck carrier came through the nuetral zone untouched and to my amazment Kev wasn't staggered. The guy splits the defence and top shelfs the thing to win the game 3-2.

When Kevin comes to the bench I took the time to remind him about the importance of the staggered defence theory and spoke at length to him about how we had worked on it all year.

After a few minutes of lecturing, Kev looked up at me with his coke bottle glasses and said...."Is that Juicy Fruit your chewing"?

That moment in time will always be my fondest memory in hockey.

That is very nice.

On a similar vein have a story like it in Novice (Boys 7 - 8). We always told our D that if you have a free lane of open ice to skate it up the ice. One of our D, got a hold of the puck at the offensive blueline, turned toward our own net, and skated the puck through the neutral zone into our D zone and took a shot on his own goaler. You can well imagine the yelling and screaming of our own parents from the stands. When the lad came to the bench I asked him why he went the other way. His response. Coach you told me to look for the open ice and skate to it with the puck. I had to bite my lips to not double over in laughter.

 

[mtnscm]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

Six words. Match penalty in a mite game.

I assume the coach that got it was a parent.

 

[BTW67]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

A parent upset about her child’s ice time called the head coach a SOB. He responded that his mother did not deserve to be described that way. The parent apologized for insulting his mother and then proceeded to call him a b*stard. Hmmm…

 

[SeymoreHockey]

Re: Problems with Hockey Parents

I was in the dressing room as an assistant listening to the coach give his pregame pep talk our peewee girls.

He was recapping the game before and bringing up all the positves that helped us win that game.

He asked "Can you tell me what you think we did so well that helped us win the last game?"

A girl in the corner frantically waving her hand blurts out "because our aggressive foreplay?"

I left the room immediately before bursting out.