How the Best are Built

Why Most Top Players Are Built the Same Way — and How You Can Be Too

I’ve seen it countless times. When you look at guys who make it — to NCAA, the pros, the NHL — there’s a pattern.

They’re not perfect at everything. But they have a solid all-around game and one or two things that are scary good.

That’s the model. You don’t need to be elite in every area. You need to be reliable at most, and dangerous at a few. I wish I knew this growing up so I could have took action on this. 

‍

🔒 Solid, Reliable Skills = Your Foundation

This is the 70% of your game that keeps you consistent and trusted:

Basic skating ability

General hockey IQ

Standard fitness

Positional awareness

Passable puck control

These aren’t highlight-reel skills. But they keep you from being a liability and let you stay on the ice. Without them, nothing else matters.

🚀 Game-Changing Skills = Your Edge

This is the 30% of your game that flips momentum and gets you noticed. The skills that you develop that not many players can do at your level, whether it’s defence, consistency, lethal scoring, game awareness, skating ability. The way you figure out your game-changing skills are what you are naturally good at, and then double down on those strengths. Turn your strengths into superpowers. 

Blistering speed

Elite puck handling

High-end playmaking IQ

A lethal shot

Vision under pressure

You don’t need five of these. You need one or two that are undeniable — the kind of skill that creates separation, shifts games, and makes you irreplaceable. THIS IS THE HACK 

🔁 Why This Works

Your foundation makes you reliable

Your edge makes you dangerous

That’s the combo. That’s what coaches and scouts look for. That’s how the best are built.

Stop chasing balance. Build your base — and double down on what makes you lethal.

‍

‍

What I Wish I Did Differently

‍

If there’s one thing I’d change about how I developed as a player growing up, it would be this:

I would’ve overdeveloped one high-leverage skill.

I would’ve spent 70% of my time getting extremely good at one specific part of the game — something useful, valuable, and hard to replace.

Because as you get older, you realize:

 Unless you’re a generational talent, your best ticket to the top is doing one thing better than almost anyone else.

You still need to be solid all-around — you can’t suck at everything else.

 But if you can bring one elite, standout skill to the table, higher levels will always find a use for you.

Think:

A one-timer sniper (Ovechkin)

A puck-control machine

A shutdown, mistake-free defenseman

A next-level hockey IQ guy

It’s not the only thing that matters.  But having that one dominant trait — something rare — skyrockets your stock. It gives you leverage. It creates opportunity.

You need to offer something that’s hard to replace.

When I was younger, I chased being “good at everything.” And while there’s nothing wrong with that, it spread my focus too thin. I missed the chance to double down on something that could’ve truly set me apart.

If you're not an all-around unicorn, you need a value skew.  You need to be unbalanced on purpose — and that’s not what most coaches or systems will tell you.

But it’s what works.  And I wish I knew it earlier.