The second player from or camp in two years was drafted to Major Junior this week.

The tall player in white was chosen in the Bantam Draft this week. That is two in two years. You have to be able to skate. This year his focus will be foot speed.

http://www.hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=2012073013502219
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The camp has 22 players. Age range is 6-19. The 19 year old is captain of a Jr. A team and a fantastic skater who has come to the camp the last 10 years. He comes to refine his skating technique.

We have 4 young girl's who just started playing last year. They are all under 10. There are 4 little boy's all under 8.

There is a group with 6 boy's and 2 girl's that are under 12 and one small boy who is 9 but one of the best players there and plays with the older boy's. The oldest group has boy's ranging from the really good 9 year old to the Jr. player, a father and my son who plays the games with them to model.

They all skate together and the faster ones go first so no one is passed. They get 7 skating sessions and 7 hockey sessions in 4.5 days. They also do dryland at the end of each day where they do core work and stretching.

We start Day 4 today and Gaston will focus on the start. Yesterday he did a lot of Chocktow and Mohawk turns. The first two days were on the basic stride and x-overs. He also does 3 figure skating sessions per day with a group of 5 girl's.

My focus in the hockey sessions is carrying the puck and playing with good habits. We practice the Russian Big Moves along with lots of other stick handling skills. Players partner up with older ones instructing the younger ones. They play SAG with modified rules for at leat 30 out of each 60 minutes. There are always 3 or 4 games going on at the same time.

Today we have 2 hockey and one skating session and we will have them do peer coaching to review puck handling and passing technique. I will do the same thing with shooting in the second session. We have been using 6 small nets as there are zero goalies. Today I will use 2 full sized nets with the big group by putting one face down and the other behind it. This gives an opening at the top of 6" - 10 cm. that they must learn to hit vs. butterfly goalies (who are everywhere). I will focus on them becoming players with 270 degrees of vision instead of 90 degrees. They will do drills and play games that mandate they face the play with the puck so they are in a strong "triple threat", 'lock and load,' 'stick in the hip pocket' position. (they all mean the facing the play with the puck on the forehand side.)

We have a simple theme for the whole camp. 'Be able to skate in all directions with power and balance - be able to handle the puck all around the body and pass and shoot while skating."

Good Technique + Good Habits = Good Players

Japser is magical in it's beauty. Yesterday I biked up a mountain trail to Pyramid Lake Island. Many couples get maried there. I was looking around and there was a family there whispering to each other like they were in a church. it was like they didn't want to ruin the majestic silence they were in 'awe' of. I love this place.

I found this link showing the lake. http://www.explorejasper.com/sights/pyramidlake.htm

I brought my two sons and wife from Philadelphia, PA (USA) to Jasper for Gaston and Tom's camp this year. From the moment we woke up the morning before check in to camp until the day we reluctantly left, we were wowed!!!

First the camp was incredible, both my boys were excited to find out what was going to be instructed next at power skating (yes, this is true) with Gaston or hockey with Tom. Gaston and Tom were very professional, knowledgeable and most of all passionate about their instruction. My boys like most teenagers are underwhelmed so impressing them is hard to do, both Gaston and Tom made an impression. I was amazed to see my sons drink in all that was surrounding them with the camp and the nature.

With all the instruction what was most impressive was to watch Gaston and Tom spend their time with the boys and girls at camp, after the ice time was over they sat and chatted with them as they were colleagues whether at lunch or dinner. To overhear them take the time to discuss certain topics or share a laugh.

This was an unbelievable experience for my whole family. I felt as though we were among family. And if that wasn't enough, Jasper, Alberta was picturesque, which could be understood by the over 7,000 pictures we took. It was overwhelming how beautiful the scenery and locations were. The people in town, all the lakes, tourist attractions, hiking, mountains, glacier water, wildlife. It was truly an experience of a lifetime. I am so very grateful I was able to give this opportunity to my family. My boys are already looking forward to next year camp dates. My wife and I are also excited to take advantage of all the other attractions we missed this trip.
I would highly recommend this camp to anyone.

Craig
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Campi, it was great having you, Martina and the boy's at the camp. I saw them progress in their skating, puck handling and game sense.

It was great when you and Martina cam over and sat with Gaston, Jim, Alden and I. We listened to Grizzly Alden tell stories of how he made a Bear drop the ball he took from the fairway by walking up and threatening it with his golf club, and how when he was a boy he let Marilyn Monroe ride his bike while she was there making a movie with Robert Mitchum. Great laughs.

I am happy that you and your family loved the experience. Jasper is a magical place and I look forward to that week every summer. I also love going there just after New Years and doing a camp for their hockey association. My favorite part is driving back through the mountain pass. I see a car about every half hour and can only tell I am on a road by the snow piled on each side. I stop, get out of my car and listen to the silence. It is mystical, with the mountains surrounding you and the stars glimmering above.