The Art of Scouting: How The Hockey Experts Really Watch The Game and Decide Who Makes It

Learn to watch the game the way the scouts do
Millions of kids in North America and Europe dream of playing hockey at the elite level. Thousands will work their way up the ranks of the minor leagues. Only a handful will ever play a single game in the NHL, and fewer still will have a career. Much is determined by what talent scouts think of their abilities. So what sets the athletes who make it in the NHL apart from the rest? What makes a scout sit up and take notice? And who are they to judge these players anyway?
One of the first media personalities to be welcomed into the secretive scouting fraternity, Shane Malloy has been covering hockey prospects, scouting and player development for the past decade and brings to hockey fans an enlightening and fascinating narrative that explains the culture, history, art and science of hockey scouting. Through interviews with hockey experts and his own unique experience, Malloy delves into:
The road to the NHL: The various leagues that players are developed in, their strengths and nuances
The tools of the trade: How technology is advancing and affecting how scouts do their jobs
The men in the corner of the rink: What the scouting fraternity is like, and stories from the road
The life of a scout: Long hours spent watching young hockey players in lonely rinks, drinking bad coffee, travelling constantly, and gathering priceless information in a high-stakes game
The Salary Cap Era: Why scouting and player development are more important than ever
And what it takes: The skills and attributes scouts evaluate and look for in hockey players.
Fans will come to appreciate the intense amount of work and dedication that every scout in every NHL organization undertakes to find the players who will shape the league for years to come, learn how to watch the game the way the scouts do, and gain a whole new appreciation for the game we all love.