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A night with the Shaw Meadows Thunder

February 5, 2010 11:31 AM | Posted by   Kelly Hrudey  

Boy, do I ever have a lot of admiration and respect for the parents and volunteers that mentor and help our kids going through the minor hockey programs across our country.

On Friday night I was the guest coach for the Shaw Meadows Pee Wee 3 Thunder team during their game in south Calgary.

Organized by Craig Schiissler (team manager), my night included being on the bench to offer advice, and then following the game we did a 45-minute Q & A with the boys and their parents. I left the arena very impressed with the team’s work ethic on the ice and their manners off the ice.

Coaches Dave Rigby, Richard Loewen and Andy Ketchin did a superb job of pushing the kids to reach their potential through words of encouragement, plus teaching them about proper positioning to make the game easier and more enjoyable for the boys.

Dave, Richard and Andy believe in a strong pressure game with short shifts which lead to some great scoring chances. I was really impressed by the puck-moving skills shown throughout the game and by their accurate passing too.

The kids were great listeners and responded well to the advice we all shared on the bench which lead to a strong game. In fact, I was told it was perhaps their best game this season.

Boys should be proud

Led by Andrew Fisher in the nets, Adam Blaine, Nigel Bowen, Bradyn Gardiyash, Matthew Ketchin, Alex Loewen, Jake Martin, Tyler McCullough-Greiff, Luke Miller, Dawson Nelson, Braxton O’Grady-Blais, Braeden Rigby, Connor Schiissler, Zachary van’t Riet, and Philip Whelan, (missing were Travis Tripp and Stephen Wihak) the boys should be awfully proud of themselves for not only their strong play but for their sportsmanship as well.

The Q & A was a resounding success too. The boys had some interesting questions, like "What did I want to be if I didn’t play hockey for a living?" (The answer is a park warden in one of our country's beautiful national parks – Banff, Jasper or Yoho would have been my choices)

Overall, I wish I had more time to do this type of guest coaching a little more frequently, just to see the joy the game offer the kids, parents and volunteers.

Lastly, a very special thanks to Shelley McCullough, president of Maclin Ford for making this event possible.

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