Hockey Camps

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John Flyers Fan

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Couldn't recommend them anymore.

I was a poor skater before attending, and a 3rd line player, then every year from age 8-14 I went to Howie Meeker's Hockey camp.

Improved my skating tremendously, and the very next year I became a 2nd line player, and from age 10 on up a 1st line player, and usually one of the 1 or 2 best players on my team.

:bow: Howie Meeker :bow:
 

John Flyers Fan

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Buffaloed said:
A thread listing upcoming camps & clinics with dates and details would be useful in this forum.

I know that The Hockey News always publishes an issue that comes with a "Hockey Camp" insert ... detailing camps, info, prices, times etc. etc.

I think the issue comes out in February or March.
 

Pensfan86

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I will be honest with you. I think hockey camps are fun, but overall they really do not help you as much as theyd suggest. I learned some things, but in hindsight, I would have been better off saving my money and putting it into individual lessons, which I eventually did do, and it payed off.
 

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Pensfan86 said:
I will be honest with you. I think hockey camps are fun, but overall they really do not help you as much as theyd suggest. I learned some things, but in hindsight, I would have been better off saving my money and putting it into individual lessons, which I eventually did do, and it payed off.

IMO it all depends upon the camp.

Like I said before I attend Howie Meeker's camp, which was held at Potsdam College in northern New York for 5 years. Howie then moved his camp out to Vancouver, which was too far fo rme to go to. I went to another camp held in Ontario, it was a nice camp, but it wasn't nearly as good as the one run by Howie.
 

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The only hockey school instruction I ever got was through my team sponsored goaltending coach. The highest level I played was Junior A. In my opinion, unless it's one on one, schools don't help much when you're a goaltender and thats why I stayed away from them. When you have natural abilities, an instructor that works only with you for a couple of hours every other day really helps to fine-tune your skills.

Any goaltender in the Toronto area that wants to enter a school sponsored by the Jr. Canadiens 'AAA' hockey organization, just PM me and I'll give you the information and the referral (which comes with a 40 % discount on the price). Also, if any of these people wait till April, I could instruct you individually (one on one) for 20 % of the price you'd pay anywhere else. All sessions are held at the Jr. Canadiens practice arena (I believe it is called 'The Arch' in the West-End of Toronto) or The Rinx (by the Yorkdale Mall).

-EDIT- Entering the school also gives you exposure to the Jr. Canadiens, so if you think you have the abilities to play in the highest level of amateur hockey, come for a skate.
 

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Watching Howie Meeker on HNIC was like a clinic. His commentary was critical when warranted, but also very instructive. He gave a lot of great tips, especially on techniques. The hard part was getting past his voice and all the golly gee whiz's.
 

nic29+

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I didn't put my son in hockey camp this year but I did put him in a weekend power skating clinic. What a difference. They worked those kids pretty hard and my son loved it.
Now they have power skating once a month for one of their practices.
 

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nic30 said:
I didn't put my son in hockey camp this year but I did put him in a weekend power skating clinic. What a difference. They worked those kids pretty hard and my son loved it.
Now they have power skating once a month for one of their practices.

At such a young age, power skating should definitely be the first priority. If he loves skating, I'd put him in a skating school that goes once or twice a week. You'll see the difference :) However, once his skating is developed, you'll notice how easy he picks up various skills that are taught in hockey schools.

When I was really young my uncle worked really hard on my skating (two years, from about six years old to eight) and after I went to my first competitive try-out my dad and uncle said they could see that I was heads and tails above the others.

So IMHO, your son should concentrate on skating for the first little while, then let him pick up the hockey skills in schools or general practice/games.
 

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CloudNine said:
At such a young age, power skating should definitely be the first priority. If he loves skating, I'd put him in a skating school that goes once or twice a week. You'll see the difference :) However, once his skating is developed, you'll notice how easy he picks up various skills that are taught in hockey schools.

When I was really young my uncle worked really hard on my skating (two years, from about six years old to eight) and after I went to my first competitive try-out my dad and uncle said they could see that I was heads and tails above the others.

So IMHO, your son should concentrate on skating for the first little while, then let him pick up the hockey skills in schools or general practice/games.


Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking. Trent Yawney teaches the hockey school here but I was gonna wait till at least next year to put him in. Maybe I'll wait till the year after. This year is only his second year on skates.
 

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nic30 said:
Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking. Trent Yawney teaches the hockey school here but I was gonna wait till at least next year to put him in. Maybe I'll wait till the year after. This year is only his second year on skates.

I'm sorry if I asked this before but I can't seem to remember... how old is your son?
 

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CloudNine said:
At such a young age, power skating should definitely be the first priority. If he loves skating, I'd put him in a skating school that goes once or twice a week. You'll see the difference :) However, once his skating is developed, you'll notice how easy he picks up various skills that are taught in hockey schools.

When I was really young my uncle worked really hard on my skating (two years, from about six years old to eight) and after I went to my first competitive try-out my dad and uncle said they could see that I was heads and tails above the others.

So IMHO, your son should concentrate on skating for the first little while, then let him pick up the hockey skills in schools or general practice/games.

I agree that skating is most important. At Howie Meek'er Camp that I went to it was the emphasis on improving skating, that was most important.

Skating is they key to everything. I went from being a poor skater, to becoming an excellent skater. Not spedd necessarily, I was slightly abover average in terms of speed .... but agility, stopping, starting, balance, quickness etc. etc.
 

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John Flyers Fan said:
I agree that skating is most important. At Howie Meek'er Camp that I went to it was the emphasis on improving skating, that was most important.

Skating is they key to everything. I went from being a poor skater, to becoming an excellent skater. Not spedd necessarily, I was slightly abover average in terms of speed .... but agility, stopping, starting, balance, quickness etc. etc.

Definitely is the most important. Over the years I've played, I've learned that having great skating abilities allows you to concentrate more on specific skills. For a forward, having a strong skating technique can let you become what you want to be (a finesse player, a defensive player, checker, etc etc.). But of course, it is the hardest part to learn.

At a school my team went to a number of years ago they would analyze the skating technique of the players with a computer program. After the players watched the video, the instructors would work with them to better their stride and posture. After a year and summer of working with one of the instructors, a regular fourth line player on my team jumped up to the second line and then on to the first line. It was all due to his improved skating abilities. He's now playing for the Oshawa Generals.

With great skating, your natural abilities shine.
 

John Flyers Fan

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CloudNine said:
Definitely is the most important. Over the years I've played, I've learned that having great skating abilities allows you to concentrate more on specific skills. For a forward, having a strong skating technique can let you become what you want to be (a finesse player, a defensive player, checker, etc etc.). But of course, it is the hardest part to learn.

At a school my team went to a number of years ago they would analyze the skating technique of the players with a computer program. After the players watched the video, the instructors would work with them to better their stride and posture. After a year and summer of working with one of the instructors, a regular fourth line player on my team jumped up to the second line and then on to the first line. It was all due to his improved skating abilities. He's now playing for the Oshawa Generals.

With great skating, your natural abilities shine.


Among the skating drills I remember most from Howie meeker's camp was that as you skated around the ice, for all drills you were skating backwards going around the ice ... you only turned to skate forwad just before you reached the blueline, then did the drills between the bluelines, and then went right back to skating backwards.

By doing that it taught you backward skating, and also turning and balance. Only after you showed great proficiency, in skating ability (less than 10% of campers), did you get the opportunity to carry the puck during the skating drills. Even then you only carried the puck while skating backwards moving around the ice, you gave them in between the bluelines.

The other ingenious thing about Meeker's camp was how the scrimages were held at night. he hated regular scrimmages, because he didn't feel that players got to handle the puck enough. He created some crazy scrimmages, that are impossible to describe without being able to draw, but bottom line was that:

The was 1 puck for every two skaters on the ice., so players go to handle the puck a ton. There were shots coming from everywhere and very often so the goalies got a ton of work ... there was often mass confusion of a ton of players on the ice, playing different pucks going in different directions, so keeping your head up was a MAJOR priority.
 

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John Flyers Fan said:
Among the skating drills I remember most from Howie meeker's camp was that as you skated around the ice, for all drills you were skating backwards going around the ice ... you only turned to skate forwad just before you reached the blueline, then did the drills between the bluelines, and then went right back to skating backwards.

By doing that it taught you backward skating, and also turning and balance. Only after you showed great proficiency, in skating ability (less than 10% of campers), did you get the opportunity to carry the puck during the skating drills. Even then you only carried the puck while skating backwards moving around the ice, you gave them in between the bluelines.

The other ingenious thing about Meeker's camp was how the scrimages were held at night. he hated regular scrimmages, because he didn't feel that players got to handle the puck enough. He created some crazy scrimmages, that are impossible to describe without being able to draw, but bottom line was that:

The was 1 puck for every two skaters on the ice., so players go to handle the puck a ton. There were shots coming from everywhere and very often so the goalies got a ton of work ... there was often mass confusion of a ton of players on the ice, playing different pucks going in different directions, so keeping your head up was a MAJOR priority.

Hey, I noticed you played Penn St. I would've been in your division if I hadn't have gotten hurt. I got offered a full scholarship but had a horrible knee injury and after numerous surgeries, just decided to call it quits and concentrate on my education here (currently at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario).
 

John Flyers Fan

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CloudNine said:
Hey, I noticed you played Penn St. I would've been in your division if I hadn't have gotten hurt. I got offered a full scholarship but had a horrible knee injury and after numerous surgeries, just decided to call it quits and concentrate on my education here (currently at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario).

I played for Penn St in the mid-90's. I'm 29, but my body feels like it about 79 some days. I played hockey for a long time, and miss it in a big way, and never regret one second of it.

Unfortunately my body wasn't designed to play hockey. As senior in high school, I was 5'6 125 lbs. When I finished up at Penn St. I had bulked up to 130 lbs.

At the time, no matter what I did, I couldn't put on weight. I don't seem to have that problem now in my late 20's. ;)
 

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John Flyers Fan said:
I played for Penn St in the mid-90's. I'm 29, but my body feels like it about 79 some days. I played hockey for a long time, and miss it in a big way, and never regret one second of it.

Unfortunately my body wasn't designed to play hockey. As senior in high school, I was 5'6 125 lbs. When I finished up at Penn St. I had bulked up to 130 lbs.

At the time, no matter what I did, I couldn't put on weight. I don't seem to have that problem now in my late 20's. ;)

You're lucky you got the chance!! I wish I never got hurt... now it's just beer leagues/intramurals at my school =/ NCAA is the way to go now, you get your education along with exposure to NHL scouts.

You were smalllll... I'm quite a bit taller than you are and got critisized for my height many times :P What position did you play?
 

John Flyers Fan

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CloudNine said:
You're lucky you got the chance!! I wish I never got hurt... now it's just beer leagues/intramurals at my school =/ NCAA is the way to go now, you get your education along with exposure to NHL scouts.

You were smalllll... I'm quite a bit taller than you are and got critisized for my height many times :P What position did you play?

Yes, I was small, and was a center for the majority of my career, played one year of left wing.

My career ended with a shoulder injury. I had separated it when I was 12, and it never healed quite right. I then injured it again the last game of my junior season at Penn St., and due to that didn't get to have a senior season.
 

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John Flyers Fan said:
Yes, I was small, and was a center for the majority of my career, played one year of left wing.

My career ended with a shoulder injury. I had separated it when I was 12, and it never healed quite right. I then injured it again the last game of my junior season at Penn St., and due to that didn't get to have a senior season.

It's a shame when you can't play anymore due to injury. I was progressing so well... oh well! Stuff happens!

Since I can't remember back that far- did you play against anyone in the NHL (or AHL) now?
 

SkateLikeTheWind

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Correct me if im wrong, penn state doesn't have a d-1 team. I know they have a d-1 club team because they are in my league. But I am pretty sure they don't have a d-1 team.
 

John Flyers Fan

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CloudNine said:
It's a shame when you can't play anymore due to injury. I was progressing so well... oh well! Stuff happens!

Since I can't remember back that far- did you play against anyone in the NHL (or AHL) now?

Every year my team would play a big tournament in Providence, Rhode Island. Mike Grier was my same age and his team also came every year. At the time he was tall and very skinny. His team was horrible, but he'd score a ton of goals.

I played against a few other less known players ... and since we've been speaking about hockey camps, i'll throw in a few names that connect to Howie Meeker's Hockey Camp:

Scott Mellanby was there as an instructor, this was while he was in college pre-NHL. One of my best friends I made at camp, was from Toronto, and we roomed together for a number of years;

Gavin Morgan: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=27827
 
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