Reply To: Game Intelligence / Decision Training

I really enjoy following the paths of players in the CHL and USHL. One of the things that fascinates me most about following the next up and coming players (16 to 22), are the differences in progression that each player makes. (ie. A player considered the 5th or 6th (or even lower) best defensemen in the bantam draft, turns into a top 3 overall prospect for the NHL draft, a short 2 to 3 years later.
A couple months ago, while watching college hockey, one of the players highlighted during intermission was a young 18 year old forward. The thing that stuck out to me was that the head coach, team captain and the assistant coach all three talked about how quickly he improved from the first game to the current games.
What are everyone’s thoughts on the reasoning behind a kid who seems to improve in leaps and bounds every week and a same aged kid who’s improvement isn’t close to being as quick nor impactful?
(Some of my thoughts… I think kids who have sporting backgrounds that are many layers thick are at an advantage with quick/deep improvements. But I know a couple kids who only play hockey who improve in huge leaps every time I see them. Also, it seems in my experience, that more cerebral players do these huge leaps in development more so than non. Just my observation but seems to be.)