🏒 Should your young hockey player train all summer… or put the bag away and just be a kid?
On this episode of Our Kids Play Hockey, Lee Elias welcomes back Andrew “Albie” Alberts — nine-year NHL veteran, Boston College standout, and Hockey Development Director at NHL Sense Arena — for a timely, honest, and incredibly useful conversation about what youth hockey players should actually be doing in the offseason.
With tryouts behind many families and summer hockey decisions ahead, Lee and Albie unpack the pressure parents feel to keep up, keep skating, and keep training — while reminding everyone that development is not just about more ice, more tournaments, and more structure.
In this episode, we talk about:
🥅 Why kids need a real mental and physical break after the season
🏒 The value of unstructured play, backyard hockey, and pickup games
⚡ Why skating remains the foundation of hockey development
🏃 How multi-sport athletes build better hockey tools
🧠 Why hockey IQ and playing without the puck may be the next frontier in development
🎯 How parents can help kids set goals without taking ownership away from them
🚦 Albie’s green-light/red-light offseason training advice for ages 10–14
Albie also shares what his NHL offseasons looked like, how training has evolved from heavy lifting to speed, explosiveness, recovery, and cognitive development, and why the best players are often the ones who learn how to think the game — not just shoot 500 pucks a day.
Whether your child is 8, 12, 14, or dreaming big, this conversation will help you ask better questions, avoid burnout, and build an offseason that supports the player and the person.
📖 Want a written version you can reference anytime? Check out our companion blog: https://www.ourkidsplayhockey.com/blog/should-youth-hockey-players-train-all-summer-andrew-alberts-says-start-with-this/
🎧 Listen now and enjoy the offseason — because sometimes the best thing your hockey player can do is put the bag away, pick up another sport, and wait until they’re excited to get back on the ice.
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