After two weeks packed full of skating, shooting, stick handling and skill improvement, Barrhead’s Pro North Hockey Conditioning Camp has come to a close.
Camp organizer Christine Driessen, also one of eight coaches in the program, said the two weeks were very successful. About 130 kids in total took to the ice this year.
“We had a great turnout of kids, and awesome response,” she said. “A lot of great skating, a lot of great talent out there in the hockey world. It will be neat to see where some of these kids end up in the future.”
The campers had the opportunity to work with several experienced teachers. Driessen herself has coached figure skating for 30 years and powerskating for 18, and is happy with who the kids were learning from.
“We have an amazing coaching team,” she said. “Everybody here is all about the players and developing them. Making them better.”
Youngsters were also happy to learn from pro hockey player Gord Baldwin.
Originally from Manitoba, Baldwin has previously played for the Abbotsford Heat, and was drafted to the Calgary Flames in 2005. He was only able to help out at the camp during the first week, as he left shortly after for Sheffield, England, where he will be playing for the Sheffield Steelers of the Elite Ice Hockey League.
When Baldwin arrived, he said it was better than he could have imagined. He worked mostly with head coach of game strategy Mike Ivy on helping the young hockey players improve on their stick handling and puck protection skills.
“Some of the older kids, we’re trying to teach the strategic parts of the game,” said Baldwin. “They’ve made improvements every day, and we’ve tried to build on everything we’ve done.”
“There’s a lot of work with passing, stick handling, basically anything to get them game ready,” added Ivey, who has coached at the camp for six years. “For the younger guys we focus on the basics, for the older guys we get into some pretty in depth five on five coverage.”
Watching the players learn and improve over the course of four or five days is what Baldwin said he enjoyed most about teaching at the camp. When the kids put their skill to the test in a game, he said, they were so excited to play.
“They play so much harder than they practice,” said Baldwin. “You see that they can actually do it. That’s the best part.”
After playing six years of professional hockey, Baldwin said he feels he has had some of the best coaches available. Some of the drills and small tips he has picked up from them, he would like to pass on to these young hockey players.
“It wasn’t about working hard., it was about teaching them the skills, slowing it down and talking to them about the game and how to get better,” said Baldwin. “Hopefully I can motivate them too with what they’ve learned, and they can take that into their season.”
Ivey recalled when he came to the camp as a young hockey player looking to learn. Now as a coach, he too would like to pass on any knowledge he was given.
“I remember all the great instruction I got when I was a kid, so you try to give it back,” said Ivey. “We’ve got a lot of great instructors here that are teaching the kids very well.”
Head coach of shooting and skills Nick Bourgeois was also a participant in the program when he was younger. Now in his fourth year of helping at the camp, he teaches players everything from wrist shots, slap shots, and backhands, to small area battles, stick handling, and passing the puck.
Now back in his hometown of Barrhead, Bourgeois said he is glad to give back some of the knowledge he learned along the way.
“It’s nice to see local faces still playing hockey,” he said. “I’m glad to share my journey and things that I’ve learned on my way.”
Heath Klein, who has been working at the camp five years, was the coach of Elite Goalie Program. The big thing he works on with the goalies, he said, is individual skills without the use of pucks.
“Everyone thinks to be a good goalie you’ve got to stop pucks. You’ve got to be by far the best athlete, the most agile, so we work on a lot of conditioning,” he said. “A lot of skating for goalies. Even though they just stay inside a four foot by six foot box on the ice, they probably do the most movement of anyone.”
There is no hockey school in the world that can solve all of a player’s problem in a year, let alone a week, said Klein. However he hopes all the participants were able to improve on their skills given the high amount of ice time and professional practicing methods they had.
“The drills that we do here with the goalies are the exact same drills that the NHL goalies are doing right now. There’s no difference at all,” said Klein. “Guys that are being paid $7 million are doing the same things that we do.”
Learning wasn’t limited to the ice either. Glen Starman, who coached minor hockey more than 10 years, instructed off-ice skills. This included puck handling skills, stick handling, shooting, passing.
“They can practice the skills I teach anywhere. In their basement, on their driveway,” said Starman. “Basically stuff they can use when they don’t have ice. It’s kind of scarce now in a lot of places, so these kids can go home and use those things anywhere.”
Like the other instructors, Starman was delighted to contribute to the campers’ learning experience in any way he could.
“They’re at a stage where they’re like sponges. If you can give them the right information, hopefully they can take it and do something with it,” said Starman. “It’s a pleasure to give back to the kids that are so eager to learn.”
