This was the view of three visiting Swedish coaches who held a youth camp for 40 players at the Dunedin Ice Stadium this week.
They will hold a similar camp at Auckland next week.
''The kids really love their hockey. But you are a small country and rugby is too big,'' Bjorn Pettersson quipped.
''I have seen a lot of talent. It is everywhere, even in New Zealand.''
Pettersson is a staff coach with the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation and also works for the International Ice Hockey Federation.
''The coaches here don't know so much about skills,'' he said.
''That is why we are here, to show them how to work with the players.
''The players are not used to doing skills on the ice. It is important to work with basic skills like passing, shooting and faking.''
The manager of the Swedish under-16 team Ulf Hall said that New Zealand needs more ice rinks if the sport is to advance,''You need more ice surfaces, to give the players more time on the ice than they have today,'' he said.
''You need a rink in Wellington and another one in Christchurch.''
He has been impressed by the talent he has seen in Dunedin this week.
''You guys have a lot of talented players who want to improve their game,'' Hall said.
''But your coaches need to guide the young players more and realise they have a gold mine.''
Pettersson said that some time at public sessions in Sweden is given to hockey players who are allowed to use their sticks and puck on the ice.
''Maybe they could split the ice in two halves on some sessions each week so the kids here could use their sticks and pucks,'' he said.
Peter Andersson is the goalkeeping coach with the Swedish under-16 team.
''The goalies here have learnt to stop the puck and have shown they are not afraid of the puck,'' he said.
''That is a good start. My job has been to show them specific ways to stop the puck.
''Goal keepers in New Zealand must skate much more than they do at the moment.
''In Sweden we allocate more time on the ice to teams and clubs ... You have more public skating here than we are used to.''
At a glance
Swedish ice hockeyWorld ranking: Third.
Number of players: 75,000.
Visiting coaches: Bjorn Pettersson, Ulf Hall, Peter Andersson.
