With a site name like HockeyStars pretty much everyone who signs up to play the game and share their stories is already a star. However, I've scoured the internet for this week's post about young up-and-coming talent, including promising young athletes that are making waves in their community. Luckily, I was able to hone in on an event that does this as well.

Each year the Elite Prospect Showcase gives young players and future stars the chance to shine. Many Canadian players have come up through the ranks of this annual program that pits our country's hopefuls against American talents.

"It's a good competition for the Canadian kids, who come from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and throughout Ontario, to play in this showcase. It has the very best talent from the ages of 10 to 15," says [Jon] Calvano." (source: Alberta Hockey)

Even the current captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, Jonathon Toews, was on the Western Canada Team just a few years ago.

The Showcase is by invitation only to make sure only the best of the best are present although it's a great forum for any of those players to rise to the top. They have six teams per division, which are split up by age (birth years are listed from 1990 all the way to 2000). The Elite Prospects Showcase for 2009 will take place April 16-19 in Detroit, Michigan.

For a more local tournament, there is also the 2010 Under-17 Championship in Timmins, Ontario from Dec. 28, 2009 to Jan. 4, 2010 - prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics happening in Vancouver, BC (so there's plenty of time for young stars to prepare for this event).

"These are our future NHL players," City of Timmins leisure services manager Marc Roy said. "You'll have stars come out and shine and be future NHL stars in two to three years time." (source: Timmins Daily Press)

The U-17 championship will include five teams from across the nation, split up by region: Pacific, West, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic. There will also be invitations given to five international teams.

If there is a true young HockeyStar in your community (or an entire team for that matter) please feel free to give them a shout out in the comments of this post and I hope to see them shine in future events like this.

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All sports fans and athletes know superstitions are common. Hockey is no different, with the playoff beard and using the same underwear being the most common. Some players eat the same meal before games, others have to wear their lucky tie to the rink.

But let’s take a look at some of the more bizarre hockey rituals.

Equipment and sticks

Players tend to be most superstitious with their equipment, but especially with sticks.

Wayne Gretzky always put his equipment on in the exact same sequence. Oh, and he never got his hair cut while on a road trip.

Ray Bourque would change his skate laces every game. Once the game was over, he would throw the pair away.

Joe Nieuwendyk would sprinkle baby powder on the blade of his sticks before each game.

Off the ice Vinny Lecavalier won’t let his stick touch the ground, while Daniel Briere talks to his.

Sidney Crosby is not quite that particular, but once he’s done taping his sticks for the game he will not let anyone else touch them.

Meanwhile teammate Evgeni Malkin insists upon bouncing a puck off of trainer Chris Stewart’s foot at the end of the pre-game warm up.

Darryl Sydor always likes to lean his stick up against the same black scuff mark on the wall. Once the arena crews painted the entire wall. The next day the scuff mark was returned in the exact same place.

Not everyone was kind to their sticks though. Petr Klima would break each stick after scoring a goal because he believed each stick had only one goal in it. Former Ottawa Senator Bruce Gardiner would dip his skate blade in the toilet before each game.

Oddball goalies

Goalies in particular are known for their oddities. Then again, if you had to stop 100mph frozen bullets for a living it would probably help to be a bit on the odd side.

Patrick Roy talked to his “best friends,” his goal posts. He also never skated across the blue line or center red line, consciously stepping over each instead.

“Mr. Goalie” Glenn Hall threw up before every game he started. Darren Pang copied this trend.

The great Jacques Plante spent much of his travelling time by himself while knitting.

In between periods Pelle Lindbergh would have the same drink every game, but it had to have exactly two ice cubes in it and had to be delivered by the same team trainer.

An old and well travelled goalie by the name of Gary “Suitcase” Smith used to shower in between each period.

Including your teammates

Teams tend to have their collective superstitions, as well.

In 1950-51 the New York Rangers were struggling mightily until a local restaurant owner made a “magic elixer.” After drinking it, the Rangers won! So they ordered many bottles and went on an 11 games winning streak.

The Philadelphia Flyers believed an anthem singer was their good luck charm. When the late Kate Smith sang “God Bless America” before a Flyers game, either in person or on video, the Flyers have posted an amazing 62-13-3 record.

In the 1970s the Toronto Maple Leafs coach Red Kelly employed “Pyramid Power,” placing small pyramids on the bench and in the dressing room. For whatever reason, the players seemed to think it worked.

Then there was the truly bizarre belief a rotting cob of corn brought good luck. The long defunct Ottawa Nationals of the old World Hockey Association rubbed a half eaten cob of corn before each of the team’s final 13 games of the 1972-73 season, in desperate hopes that it would bring them good luck and a playoff spot. It worked, as the Nationals won 12 of those games and made the post-season.

The idea that any of these crazy routines has any affect on the outcome of a sporting event is, of course, completely ridiculous. But these quirks can also be a lot of fun and a great way to bring your team closer and less stressed before the big game. They can also give you and your team a psychological advantage.

So if it works, don’t change it!

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Hockey Now! celebrates the best players in hockey today. Hockey's most dynamic stars are all profiled, including Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Jarome Iginla, Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Vincent Lecavalier, Ilya Kovalchuk, Dion Phaneuf and Zdeno Chara.

In total there are 74 profiled superstars in the 176 glossy paged softcover 5th edition. Each superstar is fully featured with a 2 page well-written biography and the exciting and rich photography. I really liked the sharp, clean hockey card layout. Career statistics might be a nice addition, but the fun facts box insert is a great touch.

This fast-paced book is an excellent Christmas gift idea for any puck enthusiast, but especially for the younger or newer/casual hockey fans on your shopping list. That being said, hardcore hockey fans should also consider this title. I know I really enjoyed the biographies and the presentation.

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Originally published November 2, 2008 on HockeyBookReviews.com

Hockey goalies tend to be amongst the most popular athletes in all of sports, partly because of the strange equipment they wear. No piece of goalie equipment is more revered than the mask, which nowadays is more often than not a piece of personalized art work that only adds to our love of goalies. For many it is the face of hockey, quite literally the saving face.

With about 150 images of goalie masks through the ages, this book is sure to be a hit. It would make an awesome coffee table book, encouraging discussion as guests flip through the photographic evidence of the evolution of the goalie mask, conjuring up old memories of years gone by.

There are some amazing early pics of primitive masks that never even made it to the NHL. Clint Benedict's and Jacques Plante's early masks head of the chronological evolution of the mask. Then there was the pretzel masks, the Fibrosport masks, the bird cage masks, and who can forget the "Jason" masks. Nowadays almost every goalie uses a combo mask featuring the specially fitted fiberglass helmet with the cage for vision and breathing. The most famous and most colourful masks are all on display in great, close up form.

But this book is far more than just a coffee table photo book. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a thorough text of the history of the hockey mask. Extensive research honors the key innovators, creators and painters over the years, including Bill Burchmore, Ernie Higgins, Greg Harrison, and Dave Dryden. Over a dozen key contributors are fully featured.

The book documents some of the dreadful injuries goalies suffered in the old days. The great Terry Sawchuk received as many as 600 stitches in his face thanks to hockey. He even had his right eyeball sliced by a stick. Legend has it doctors removed the eyeball, inserted three stitches and returned it to his eye socket. No wonder Sawchuk was such a wreck!

The authors go on to detail the goaltenders' fight for the right to use the mask. Though it may be unbelievable nowadays, wearing a mask in an actual game was a very controversial idea, very much disliked by the hockey establishment, hockey purists and even many goalies. Acceptance of the use of a mask was a long time coming. Fortunately for goalies everywhere Jacques Plante proved to be the perfect pioneer.

The authors then examine the craze of personalizing masks and adorning them with art work. Gerry Cheevers may have inadvertently started it all when jiffy markered stitches onto his plain white mask every time the puck hit him, but soon after virtually every goalie not wearing the bird cage mask was quick to embrace the expression of art.

My only beef with this book, and perhaps this is nitpicking, is that there is not a lot of imagery of current goalies and their masks. The current era seems almost under-represented in comparison to other generations featured in the book. Perhaps this is an unfair criticism, though, as too many of today's oft-moving goalies could date the book prematurely.

I also would have liked to have seen more goalies talking about their masks and chosen art work in first person. Gerry Cheevers does that in the book's foreword, and it is a real treat. The authors do do a good job of explaining the significance behind many of the masks featured in their text.

All in all, this is a very good book that does not disappoint. It will be a big hit with hockey fans of all eras. Everyone loves goalie masks, and everyone will appreciate this book.

Originally published September 11, 2008 on HockeyBookReviews.com

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This past weekend I was at a business conference where I was surrounded by people who are “light years” ahead of me in terms of their success.

It reminded me of my first game at college. I was so nervous to begin with that I could barely tie-up my skates. Then I go out for my first shift and I see Cammi Granato, who had just come back from leading the US team to the gold medal in Nagano Olympics, lined up across from me. There I was - a virtual nobody - standing across from one of the most successful female hockey players of all time.

When you are surrounded by greatness, either on or off the ice, you have to make a choice:

--> You can be intimidated OR you can be inspired.

There are always going to be games when you have to play against players and teams that are bigger, stronger, faster and better than you are.

But their success didn’t happen overnight.

They didn’t just start out at the top.

It took them a ton of hard work to get there.

Their success gives us something to shoot for and helps us to believe that we can achieve greatness too.

So when you are surrounded by greatness, instead of being paralyzed with intimidation, be inspired to take action. Start taking your hockey performance to the next level day in and day out and soon you will be the one that other players are intimidated by.

Make the choice to be great.

~Coach Kim

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Originally published on Total Female Hockey