RinkWise podcast: USA Hockey’s Jason Guerriero on development and recruiting

Jason Guerriero helped Northeastern win back-to-back Beanpots in 2023 and 2024. (Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

Jason Guerriero knows a thing or two about player development, scouting and recruiting.

USA Hockey recently named him its Director of Player Development for the Massachusetts and New England districts.

His new role is a change of pace after spending the last 13 seasons as a Division 1 assistant coach with stops at Holy Cross, Yale, Brown and most recently Northeastern, where he spent the previous two seasons.

As a player, he played Division 1 hockey at Northeastern before playing professionally in the AHL and Europe. Guerriero was a point-per-game player in the NCAA, tallying 147 points (49 goals) in 145 games. He was a first-team All-American in 2004-05 before moving on to a productive pro career.

He joined New England Hockey Journal editor Evan Marinofsky and writer Patrick Donnelly on the latest RinkWise podcast to discuss a range of topics, including his new role at USA Hockey. The conversation also delved into the intricacies of youth hockey, the scouting and recruiting process, and the challenges and evolving landscape of college hockey.

RinkWise podcast: Jason Guerriero on player development and recruiting

How important is hockey sense for a player?

Guerriero: “If we just start a drill and say, ‘Go around the cone, pass to the coach and shoot,’ and we do that over and over, that’s all the kid’s going to get used to. … The majority of the game is observing, thinking of what’s going on around you and how quickly you can react to those situations. Putting kids in that environment at a younger age is going to help. Then as they get older — I mean, we still do it with our college guys or the pro guys do it. It’s just constantly putting them in those situations all the time, not just doing it once or twice. It’s the same thing with my diet. I could do my diet for a week and be like, ‘Look, I’m on a diet, everybody.’ But then a month goes by and I’m not on it. It’s like, ‘Well, why is my belt a little tight?’ Well, I only did it for a week, but if I do it for six months, I probably will stick with it because now I’ve created that habit.”

What are some challenges in recruiting for coaches?

Guerriero: “We all know the advisors and agents play a big part of it, plus social media and all that. Just from when I was a player, you just played. I showed up, and I looked down the other side of the ice during warmups, you’re like, ‘Oh, they look big.’ That was it, and you played. … The stress level for these kids is through the roof. Almost every time they go on the ice, it’s like a job interview for them. I think we all created the problem a little bit as club teams, coaches, agents, parents, etc. It’s not that I would change anything with recruiting. Recruiting is recruiting. You’re always gonna have to be in a rink, but now just the advisors are a big piece of it, right? They’re pushing their players and I get it. That’s part of the business, but I knew there was a problem when you offer a kid — when Northeastern offered me or UNH offered me, I said, ‘Let me call my parents’ — now it’s turned into, ‘Let me call my agent.'”