Daily Grind

During our trip to Sioux Falls, I immediately learned how time consuming the job of an NHL Scout can be. A typical day includes writing game reports on games seen the previous day or week. Reports include documenting players seen and observing progress on Central Scouting listed players. In some USHL games, Bell may be observing up to 20 players in a game. I also spoke with Tony Gasparini, a Scout from the LA Kings on our visit and he said he spent the last 3 days catching up on 14 consecutive days of games that he had viewed.

Weekly

In a week, a Scout can take in 5 to 7 games, sometimes way fewer and sometimes way more. For example, one night Bell may be in Waterloo for one game scouting a USHL game with a two day break, but that weekend he may see five High School Elite League games. Depending on the game, there may be 5, 10 or all NHL teams on hand to see players. I counted 19 different NHL jackets the night we were in Sioux Falls.

Annually

Depending on the team and the size of their staff, a Scout may work 12 months out of the year with no break and spend less than 30 percent of his time at home. Others, like Bell, have lighter workloads during the Summer months after the June Entry Draft. Last year, Scott saw and reported on 250 games and is on pace for over 200 again this season. Extremely taxing work with sometime very little reward. That said, each of these jobs is highly coveted...hundreds of resumes fly into NHL inboxes when a position opens.

Working the Rink

During our travels, I got a chance to be a fly on the wall to several interesting conversations. Some were about players and their draft status (rising/falling), some were coaches informing Scott on players to watch that night. The most fun was listening to Bell talk to other Division 1 coaches on the phone about committed and uncommitted players. 

Bell spends a lot of time on the phone learning players, talking about players  - who he talks to runs a huge gambit. But generally, both parties in every conversation had a mutual respect for one another trying to help kids get to the next level. Probably the most refreshing part of the day was watching Bell "work the rink" talking with other Scouts, Coaches, etc building a rapport. Asking Bell what he gets out of networking with other coaches he said, "it is important to know as much about a player as possible, but I'm very careful to only scout with my eyes and not with my ears." Meaning what you hear from other people at the rink is nice, but seeing is believing.

Projecting

Each NHL team gets seven draft picks each season to add young talent to their ranks. Scouts are on the job to help their organization identify "the best player available" in all cases. NHL teams rarely draft on need alone. Players are drafted when they 18 years old, it is a scouts job to project where each player may be 3 to 5 years down the road. In the NCAA, an assistant coach must do the same, but with 15-16 year old players. When projecting how a player will look down the road, a scout looks at a lot of factors.

Body

Height and Weight is obviously a huge factor. A player's measurables are important, but also just as important are the players body type and potential for growth. Another factor is how the player uses his body or in some cases doesn't use it at all.

Ability

To play in the spaces where Bell is visiting, a player is already been vetted out for ability. Skating, hands and desire are subjective measures that Scott has to calculate every day.

Mind 

A great portion of our visit was examining players for how well they thought through the game. The popular term used is Hockey IQ, does this player have the smarts to help their team. "I am looking for players who understand the use of time and space...more players than not, fail in this category."

Compete

A very important subjective measuring stick for players is how hard they compete. It is impossible to give 100% on 100% of your shifts. It is a Scouts job to find the guy who will give their team the highest percentage of effort on the most shifts possible.

Thanks

Special thanks to Scott Bell for making himself available to YHH and giving us an up close vantage point of the inner workings of the NHL Scouting role. Thanks to the other NHL Scouts we met and the coaching staffs of both the Sioux Falls Stampede and Sioux City Musketeers for making themselves available to us.