Generations ago, one of hockey’s most enduring and pleasing myths was that players could develop their skill sets, playing unstructured games, on outdoor ice, in the chill of winter. Wayne Gretzky was the poster boy for this development path, and even if climate change and the evolution of youth leagues may turn this into an obsolete path, here is Kyle Connor, second year player with the Winnipeg Jets, proof that it isn’t always so.



Connor grew up in Michigan and when he was about to enter first grade, the family moved from Shelby Township to New Baltimore, largely so they could live on a larger property where his father, Joe Connor, could flood the back yard. According to Kyle, from about December to March, he could count on consistent ice – and that’s what he did during winters, played outdoors with friends, who’d sometimes sleep over so they could play late and then start again early the next day. It wasn’t only the chance to improvise on...