The most successful league in team sports history is the NFL. The reasons are many but I want to point out just one – the ability to select, develop and utilize players in a very specialized way. Whether its outside linebackers versus long snapper for punts, or situational specific such as third and long versus goal line stand, the NFL uses its talent and hence develops it for specific functions.
Hockey can do the same. We have moved past just looking at the game as comprised of forwards, defencemen, and goalies to the recognition of power play, penalty killing, checking line, energy line, etc. assignments. The game needs to take the next step and begin drafting and developing talent based on those assignments. For example, why try to take the leading scorer in the Ontario League and convert him into a checking center on the third line? Wouldn’t it make more sense to draft the best checking center in the OHL to fill your need for that function? And, once you draft that checking center, establish a development system that enables him to learn and practice the skills that a checking center must perform. His ticket to the show isn’t going to be on points but rather on how well he shuts down the opponents and that is probably a function of both his skills in things like back-checking as well as his attitude such as a commitment to defense.
Specialization also needs to be added for other dimensions of the game. For example, why don’t teams have a scoring coach? Last time I checked, you win by scoring more goals than the other guy yet I don’t know of a single team that has an assistant coach for scoring. The current system of having a coach for forwards, one for defensemen and at most a part-time coach for goalies ignores many realities of the game. Using the NFL as a model, hockey would also have coaches for scoring, checking, passing, penalty killing, power play, etc. For example, the scoring coach would emphasize skills like a shooting accuracy, quick release, etc. as well as providing players with the options they need and the ability to recognize which option will likely work in specific situations.
Specialization in life and sport is a reality. The only question is when will a team realize that investing in this non-capped expense might provide them with the edge they need to win!
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While I think that this is an interesting point, I do think that it is important to note that most football players do not begin specializing their position until they reach the college level, which is essentially the minor leagues for the NFL. Elite players in high school or prep school football are valued for their ability to play on both sides of the ball, while often those who have the most raw talent are simply thrown into offensive positions where they will handle the ball the most. Only in rare cases, usually with quarterbacks, does a player only play one position in high school football.
If we understand college football then to be the minor leagues for pro football, we could probably equate its level to perhaps somewhere between the ECHL and AHL in terms of the skill of the players and their age, which is 18-22. Is it as revolutionary of a system if we recognize that this is the age when players are specialized for positions which they will take for their professional career?
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