Hockey Summit
In 2018-19, we held our first Strathmore Hockey Summit. It was an amazing experience and a great success. This is something our program plans to offer every year for our academy students. Our first Summit was a 2-day event but subsequent years may run on a different format. In 2019-20, we're planning on two separate 1-day events.
HCSA Strathmore (3).mp42018-19 Strathmore Hockey Summit
The inaugural Strathmore Hockey Summit turned into something special. This 2-day event included hockey program students from Westmount Elementary (grades 4 and 5) and Crowther Memorial Jr. High (grades 7, 8 and 9). Each group received two on-ice sessions and two off-ice sessions each day, along with a catered lunch. The first day was extra special because we were treated to a fantastic keynote speaker, Olympic Medalist and National Champion hockey player Rebecca Johnson. The Summit was offered to students at no extra cost. We also opened up our Summit to any Strathmore Minor Hockey coaches, free of charge.
The sessions presented to students were as follows:
- On-ice Both Days: Vanessa Hettinger (Quantum Speed) - Skating
- Vanessa Hettinger is one of the few skating instructors that Hockey Canada has recognized as a "Master Skating Instructor". Vanessa Hettinger and fellow instructor, Marius Grandahl, presented a skating-focused on-ice session for each group on both days of the Summit. Vanessa and the Quantum Speed crew came to us from Edmonton. Quantum Speed developed and delivers instruction through the Q3 skating development process. They offer instruction to virtually all age levels from Bantam to Pro, and to especially motivated Atom and Peewee players. www.quantumspeed.ca.
- On-ice Day 1: Dean Seymour (Seymour Hockey) - Shooting and Scoring
- Dean ran our shooting and scoring session on the Day one. He is based out of Calgary. He travels a lot to work with the various teams that hire him (like the Regina Pats….no big deal) but he’s local, willing and worth it. http://www.seymourhockey.com/
- On-ice Day 2: Tanner House - Shooting and Scoring
- Tanner ran our shooting and scoring session on Day 2. Tanner is a financial adviser in Calgary and a friend of Kyle Tucker (Westmount Program Teacher). Tanner had an amazing hockey career through junior, college and then pro, highlighted by a 2-year 2-way deal with the Edmonton Oilers.
- On-ice Both Days: Goaltending Instruction with Fisher Goaltending and Dylon Sutton
- Each goalie coach was tasked with following a group of goalies through their sessions on Thursday and then switching groups and doing the same on Friday. Their job was to watch the goalies participate in each session and change or enhance any drills to better suit goaltender development. They also took advantage of any instructional gaps in the sessions to provide more direction goaltending instruction and guidance.
- Off-ice: MMA training experience with Justin Schmit (Apex MMA - Local Gym)
- Justin was awesome. He knows his stuff and was one heck of a hockey player. Like Tanner, he had a heck of a career, including several years in the AHL. Best of all he’s local. Justin was a perfect fit for our event. MMA training isn’t easy. It really expects an individual to be an all-around athlete, which is important for hockey players to be cognisant of in their off-ice training. With Justin’s connection with hockey he was able to make they training experience even more relevant and appropriate for our specific group of students.
- Off-ice: Floorball with Pier-Alexandre Poulin of Hockey Canada
- We were fortunate to have Pier-Alexandre Poulin of Hockey Canada as our guest instructor. He led each group through the basic skills and strategies of Floorball, which each group used in game situations in Day 2. In addition to his instruction, Teal Gove and the hockey Canada media crew filmed Pier's session with our grade 9s. This footage has become a training video within Hockey Canada's Resource Network. A proud moment for our program.
In addition to filming a our Floorball session, Hockey Canada and their media crew featured us in a Hockey Canada Community Video: Sharpening Skills in Strathmore. The video is at the top of this page and it's something we're pretty proud of.