Hockey Evaluation Form

Give each evaluator one roster grid for the series, or print the sheet below once per skater. Circle one number in each row, and check the written levels below the table when you can't decide between a 3 and a 4. Leave goalies off this sheet. A shooting row says little about a goalie, so they get the goalie sheet further down.

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One Grid per Evaluator, Numbered by Pinnie

A skate with 24 skaters and four evaluators adds up to 96 single-player sheets, so a roster grid saves a lot of paper. Copy as Table puts the sheet on your clipboard as a grid with 24 blank lines, one per skater, and the six rows as columns. The title sits above the grid and the level descriptions below it. Paste it into Google Sheets or Excel, number the lines to match the pinnies, and print one copy per evaluator.

If you print single-player sheets instead, write the pinnie number in the Jersey # field. Want a PDF? Print Form prints the skater sheet and its rubric and nothing else around them. Then choose Save as PDF in the print dialog. Download as Image saves the same sheet as a PNG for a tablet or a team chat.

To evaluate a hockey player, watch them skate before anything else, then score puck control, passing, shooting, hockey IQ, and coachability against written levels across several skates and at least one game. Score from off the ice, where you can see the whole rink. Watch the player without the puck as closely as you watch them with it.

Hockey Canada makes that last point in its article on getting ready for evaluations(opens in new tab). It calls away-from-the-puck play an often overlooked part of evaluating and says that "evaluating a player's skills, decisions and abilities away from the puck is crucial to determining their overall capabilities."

The Four Basic Skills, Plus Two

The four basic skills in hockey are skating, puck control, passing, and shooting. Skating comes first because every other skill happens on skates. A player who can't stop and turn both ways never reaches the puck in time to use their hands. The sheet adds hockey IQ and attitude/coachability. The first four show what a player can do today. The last two hint at how fast that will change.

Skating in Both Directions

Start with stride length and recovery. A good skater finishes each push and brings the foot back under the body before the next one, so the movement looks smooth. Then check crossovers both ways, pivots from forward to backward, and acceleration out of a turn. OHF's notes on its skating drills ask evaluators to look for equal ability on both feet. Expect a weak side in most young skaters. A player who can't turn left gets exposed as the game speeds up.

Puck Control With the Head Up

Head position tells you more than the hands do. A player staring at the puck can't see the play forming around them. Does the player handle at full speed, or slow down to do it? Do they keep the puck when a checker arrives? Protection shows in the small-area drills, where a body between the puck and the chaser counts for more than a fast deke.

Passing and Receiving

Judge the weight of a pass along with its aim. A puck that arrives on the tape but too hard to handle helps nobody. Good passers hit a moving teammate on the forehand and the backhand and lead them into space. Receiving is half the row. A player who shows a target with the blade and takes the puck in stride keeps the play alive.

A Shooter's Release

With young shooters, a quick release usually beats a hard shot the goalie can read. Score accuracy from different angles, and notice whether the player picks a spot or fires at the middle of the net. Then compare the drills with the games. Some players score freely in a shooting line and fade once a defender closes in. The game skates show you which ones.

Hockey IQ Away From the Puck

Physical tools get noticed first. Hockey IQ shows in what a player does without the puck. Do they move to support the carrier? Do they read where the play is going and get there early? On defense, can they read a rush and close the right lane? It's also the hardest row to score from a drill, so lean on the game skates for it.

Coachability Between Reps

Score what a player does with a correction. Coaches on the ice talk to players between reps, so watch the next rep. A skater who applies the correction straight away has earned a 4 or a 5. One who nods and repeats the same mistake gets a 2, however talented they look.

Hockey Canada is blunt about goalies. Its evaluation article says goaltenders "are often overlooked or passed off by coaches during the evaluation process" and that "it is very important for coaches to include goaltenders in all evaluation situations."

The same article lists what to look at in a goalie, and the sheet below uses that list as its six rows: angles from deep to aggressive, rebound control, footwork (slide, shuffle, T-push), tracking pucks from different distances, recovery and save selection, and stick and puck control. The level descriptions are ours.

In skate 1 the goalies work with the goalie coach at the far end for 20 minutes, as OHF's plan has them, then take a net each. The coverage table in the tryout plan shows which evaluators see them in each skate. OHF's third plan has forwards dump the puck in on the goalie for a defenseman to pick up, a direct look at the stick and puck handling row.

Rank goalies against each other on this sheet only. Its total is out of 30 like a skater's, but the rows differ, so a goalie's 22 and a defenseman's 22 can't share one list.

Bring out the position sheets once you know where a player projects, at a later skate or for returners whose role is settled. A player who listed forward but read the rush well in the defense split may deserve a defense sheet too. The hockey player profile template carries a player's rows on into the season.

Forwards

Forwards need speed to create separation and puck skills to finish. Watch the first three strides. Can they beat a defender wide? On the forecheck, do they take an angle that cuts off the defender's first option, or do they chase the puck around the boards? Centers need a closer look. Face-offs matter at older ages, and a center who leaves the zone early for offense hurts the team in all three zones.

Defensemen

Defensemen live by gap control. Too much space and they get walked. Too little and they get beaten wide. Body position through the neutral zone shows who understands the fundamentals. Then watch the first pass. Can they get the puck out of their end while a forechecker closes, and do they shoulder-check before it arrives? A defenseman today also needs the legs to join the rush and still get back.

Hockey Canada names its age divisions(opens in new tab) by the age players are under, from Under-9 up to Under-18. In the youth table of USA Hockey's 2026-27 age classification chart(opens in new tab), each division from 8U to 18U covers two birth years, so 12U is players born in 2014 and 2015. The table pairs divisions that cover roughly the same ages.

Percentages by Division

These weights are our own recommendation. Neither Hockey Canada nor USA Hockey publishes them. Each division's weights add up to 100%, so a weighted score stays on the sheet's 1-5 scale. For each row, multiply the average by the percentage, then total the six products.

Green marks the heaviest weight in each division. At U15 and 14U, skating and hockey IQ tie at 20%.

Take a U13 forward whose averages come to 4.0 in skating, 3.5 in puck control, 3.0 in passing, 3.5 in shooting, 4.5 in hockey IQ, and 4.0 in coachability. Weighted, that's 1.00 + 0.70 + 0.45 + 0.35 + 0.675 + 0.60, or 3.78. The plain average of the same six is 3.75. Weights move a player most when their line is lopsided.

U9 to U11 and 8U to 10U (Ages 7-10)

At seven to ten, watch the stops. A skater who stops on both edges and turns back for the puck is ahead of one who circles wide to change direction, whatever their hands look like. Do they get up quickly after a fall and chase the puck again? Puck skills are still forming, so go easy on the handling score. Watch whether they can take a pass and make a simple play. Coachability counts for a lot here. A skater who hears a correction and tries it often overtakes a more gifted teammate who tunes out.

U13 and 12U (Ages 11-12)

Differences in skill open up. You can look harder at skating mechanics (crossovers, transitions, edges under pressure) and at who makes plays at game speed and who still needs time and space. Position habits start to show. Let players try both forward and defense, and write down the tendencies you see.

U15 and 14U (Ages 13-14)

Players understand their jobs now. Use the position sheets for forechecking decisions, gap control, and a goalie's angles. If your league allows body checking at this age, the body positioning and puck protection rows can include contact. If it doesn't, score them from stick-on-puck battles like the one-on-ones in OHF's second plan. Watch how a player answers a mistake, too. Bouncing back on the next shift belongs in the attitude row.

U18, 16U and 18U (Ages 15-18)

Positions are settled, and the gap between casual and committed players widens. Look for consistency shift to shift, good decisions when tired, and the ability to play inside a structured system on both sides of the puck. That is why hockey IQ carries the most weight in this division.

Here is one 50-minute evaluation skate for 26 players (24 skaters and 2 goalies) and four evaluators. The clock and the skater drills come from Evaluation Plan #1 in OHF's guidelines. The goalie and evaluator columns are ours. Run check-in in the lobby before your ice time starts. Hand out the numbered pinnies there and give every evaluator a grid with the same numbers, so the first whistle starts the skating.

On the Ice and in the Stands

On the ice, an on-ice lead runs the session with at least three coaches and a goalie coach. In the stands, four evaluators each keep their own grid, and the coordinator collects the grids after skate 5. The ice staff never score, and the evaluators never coach.

For the first 20 minutes, you have all four evaluators watching all 24 skaters. In splits 1 and 2, forwards work the end zones and defensemen the neutral zone, so the evaluators pair up and swap groups at 0:30. In split 3 the defense shoots from inside the blue line, and in this plan they share the nets the forwards drive. Have the on-ice lead alternate a point shot with each rush, so a goalie faces one shooter at a time. The pairs swap back at 0:40.

Skate 1 on the Clock

The schedule moves 26 players through 50 minutes of ice with four evaluators off it. Forwards, defense, and goalies work side by side in three groups of 16, 8, and 2.

What Each Block Shows

OHF's teaching points put technique ahead of speed in these drills and ask for feet under control over raw pace. Score a clean crossover done slowly above a sloppy one done fast.

Five Skates, One Grid

OHF's guidelines call for "a minimum of three evaluation sessions" to place players, one per evaluation plan, followed by two sessions of game play. They allow scoring to be done cumulatively or after each session, and this plan scores cumulatively. Each evaluator keeps the same grid for all five skates, pencils in a score the first time a row shows, revises it at later skates, and circles the skate number at the bottom.

For the game skates, ask the on-ice staff to change lines on a whistle at a fixed interval, so every line gets about the same ice. Keep pinnie numbers big enough to read from the stands.

Who Sees Each Row, Skate by Skate

Every evaluator scores every skater on every row over the series, and this table shows where. "All four" marks a block where each evaluator watches every skater, or both goalies. "Pairs" marks a split where each pair sees one position group.

Skate 1 follows the schedule above. Skates 2 and 3 name blocks from OHF's second and third plans, paired by our own rule (all four on blocks where forwards and defense work together, pairs on the splits, swapping at every split). Skates 4 and 5 are games.

Before Skate 1, Score the Same Players Together

Four evaluators need practice before their 3s mean the same thing. A week before the series, sit the four in the stands at a regular practice. Each scores the same five returning players on all six rows without talking. Compare afterwards, row by row. Wherever two scores for one player sit 2 or more apart, the two evaluators say what they saw and settle together what earns a 3. If the gaps don't shrink, repeat with five more players. No practice that week? Use the last practice of the previous season, or have all four score the opening 12 minutes of skate 1 on a spare sheet and switch to the real grids at 0:12. After the skate, settle the spare-sheet gaps and copy the settled scores onto the real grids.

OHF hands the scores to an age-division coordinator, who collects and tabulates them. After skate 5, gather the four evaluators' grids and work down them one pinnie number at a time. On each skater's line of the compile sheet you write six numbers, the mean of the four evaluators' scores for each row. In the gap column, write the widest spread between those four scores and name its row in full, such as "passing, 2 apart". The division's percentages then turn the six means into the weighted score you rank by.

• A spread of 2 or more gets settled before that skater has a rank. The 2-point line is our own threshold, and no federation sets it. Ask both evaluators which blocks they scored the row from. A score from a split rests on one split with one position group, and the coverage table shows which blocks could have produced it.
• Goalies go on a list of their own, ranked by the six-row average on their goalie sheets.
• Two skaters on the same weighted score are split by the row your division weights most, skating up to U13 and hockey IQ at U18. At U15 and 14U, where the two tie, hockey IQ goes first, because the game skates show it better than any drill. If that row ties too, go to the next-heaviest row, and let the staff settle a tie between rows of equal weight.

Enter One Baseline in the App

To carry the scores into Striveon, set up the six rows as skills. The Evaluation Scale is set for the whole organization and runs 1 to 10 by default. If you change it to 1-5, do it before anyone scores: narrowing it pulls recorded ratings and written level descriptions above 5 down to 5. Once the roster is final, a single coach records each rostered skater's baseline in whole numbers, working from the compile sheet's averages and what the four evaluators wrote. One evaluation holds one score per player and skill, so if a second evaluator scores in the same evaluation, their 3 for a skater replaces the first one's 4. Four evaluators publishing four evaluations doesn't work either: the Progression chart draws each one as its own point, so a skater rated 4, 3, 4 and 2 on the same day would seem to rise and drop twice before playing a game. Publishing can't be undone. Striveon also emails the other coaches on your account and each rated skater who signs in, except anyone who has switched evaluation emails off.

What to Tell a Skater Who Missed the Team

Start from that skater's line on the compile sheet and go back to the block where their lowest row showed. "In the neutral-zone pivots, your turns to the left were a step slower, and both evaluators watching that split saw it" names a drill, a side, and a habit to practice. An athlete note in Striveon keeps that explanation with the player, and a player with their own login reads it in the Notes section of their dashboard. For a goalie, use the lowest row on the goalie sheet the same way, such as tracking the puck through traffic.

The six-row sheet ranks a tryout group over a few skates. It can't show whether a player's edges or first pass have sharpened since October. Scoring the same player again in Striveon can. Its hockey preset breaks the game into 20 sub-skills in five areas, each scored on ten levels.

Five Areas, Twenty Sub-Skills

This set goes a level below the sheet's broad rows, from turn skating and transitions to shift management. If you set up hockey from Striveon's starter content, you get it as is, and you can rename a sub-skill, remove one your program never drills, or add your own.

Score One Player Here

Choose an area and mark each sub-skill from 1 to 10. The five-area profile fills in as you go. Marks vanish when you navigate away. To keep a profile, copy its marks into a spreadsheet or save its card as an image.

On this page a 7 is whatever you decide it is. If you set up hockey from the starter content, the preset also brings Evaluation criteria, a written description for each of the ten levels. Every sub-skill shares those descriptions, and your staff can write a separate set for any skill area. Write rating levels your whole staff reads the same way.

Re-Score Through the Season

A tryout score names the best skater on the night. It says nothing about who is improving fastest. Put the same player through the 20 sub-skills again at midseason and at the end, and every sub-skill starts to show a trend.

Striveon keeps every evaluation on the player's record across seasons, so you pick the cadence (after a block, at midseason, or whenever you want a fresh look).

Your weakest player still needs to play, and a game on the bench teaches them nothing. Give them shifts where a mistake rarely costs a goal, next to linemates strong enough to cover for them. Their lowest rows on the compile sheet tell you what they need from that role.

Forward: Fourth-Line Wing

Put them on the wing of your fourth line. The job is simple. Drive the net, get pucks in deep, finish checks, and get off after a short shift. Pair them with a center who reads the defensive zone well. Keep weaker skaters away from center, which carries the most defensive work and the face-offs.

Defense: Next to Your Steadiest Partner

Pair a weaker defenseman with your most positionally sound veteran. The partner moves the puck and reads the rush. The weaker player keeps it simple: clear the puck, hold the front of the net, and avoid the hard chip-and-chase on their side. When you can, start their shifts in the offensive zone so they spend less time defending.

Goalie: Backup With a Plan

Give a weaker goalie a plan along with the minutes. Start them in lower-stakes games, and put them through the same net-front drills as your starter in practice. Then look at the goalie sheet rows they scored lowest on, such as rebound control or tracking the puck, and build their reps in your hockey practice plan around those.

Check the Placement at Midseason

Roster decisions don't end at the cut list. When you re-score at midseason, compare each weaker player's six rows with their tryout line on the compile sheet. A row that moved says the role is working. A row that stayed put says the role needs to change.