Jack Skille

Jack Skille Show Episode 3: Angelo Ricci looks beyond the skills

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On episode three of the Jack Skille Show, we are joined by Angelo Ricci, skills coach for the Philadelphia Flyers and executive director of the Colorado Thunderbirds AAA hockey club. From his experience working with both developmental and professional players, he breaks down what environment can help young athletes reach their potential, what scout are looking for, and what are the difference makers among pro athletes.

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Show notes

  • 0:00 – Introducing Angelo. and his own experience playing youth hockey. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
  • 6:30 – Finding the right environment for development and transitioning from youth to college and professional hockey: “Sometimes you are in hurry to get nowhere. Have patient with the process. There is no fast track.”
  • 12:00 – The TPH Academy development model.
  • 15:30 – How to evaluate what youth programs are selling.
  • 21:00 – What scouts are looking for. “No matter what, if you are good enough you will be discovered . . . People are in such a hurry to get to juniors, but if you get there too young you’ll just sit on the bench rather than developing your game.”
  • 24:30 – Working with NHL veterans on skill development.
  • 30:00 – Valuing being a kid vs. chasing the dream: “If you send your kid away at age 13, they’re never going to get those years back.”
  • 35:30 – The various routes to success.
  • 39:30 – Perseverance and adapting your game: “It was painful to be one of the best players on every team I was on, being a highly touted draft pick, and then being told in the pros I needed to develop now.”
  • 42:45 – Over competition among youth athletes: “In the US athletes tend to over compete and under train.”
  • 45:00 – What are scouts looking for in young players? “Your skillset, your compete, and having a brain. You have to have energy and passion to want to win battles. If you get the puck taken from you, you fight to take it back. But you have to have smarts too. If you overwork you are not working efficiently, that makes you more tired and more susceptible to make a mistake.”
  • 50:30 – Scouting for character.
  • 54:30 – Body language: “One scout told me he would watch what a player does when he sits down on the bench after making a mistake. That’ll tell you what type of teammate he is.”
  • 58:30 – Advice to young youth players in a negative development environment.