Log in & Sign up
You are not logged in.
Most Commented
Skinner did drills with players at Candiens rookie camp last fall. (Allen McInnis/The Gazette)
Stickhandling guru comes to Pierrefonds
Sean Skinner takes his techniques on the road
John Meagher
The Gazette
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Skinner did drills with players at Candiens rookie camp last fall. (Allen McInnis/The Gazette)
It is the kind of North American tour befitting a rock star. Visits to nearly 30 cities, from Halifax to Vancouver, crammed into 10 weeks.
The CCM Guts & Glory II tour features Sean Skinner as its lead singer, a stickhandling guru whose instrument of choice is a hockey stick.
Skinner, a Michigan native who has taught slick moves around the hockey world, will bring his travelling stickhandling school to the West Island Aug. 4-8.
He and his staff will spend five days at the 4-Glaces Sportplexe in Pierrefonds teaching youngsters power skating and the fancy dekes of the pros, like the Gretzky move, the Jagr pull, the Lemieux fake and the Bobby Orr spin.
Skinner has worked with a handful of National Hockey League teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, who last year invited him to be a guest coach at their rookie camp.
Although Skinner has elevated the teaching of stickhandling into an art form, learning fancy dekes is not simply about being a hockey hot-dog.
As Skinner likes to point out, many of the game’s greatest players had one thing in common: they were all great puckhandlers.
“Look at Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and now Sidney Crosby: they can all handle the puck at high speed.”
Skinner, who is featured in his own series of hockey training DVDs, uses a variety of props and training techniques to condition players, both on and off the ice, to make the proper body movements when handling the puck.
“Players watch videos, and practice it on dry land, to understand how your body needs to move,” explained CCM spokesperson Jon Budge.
“Your movement patterns are completely changed from the first day to the last day,” Budge added.
“And we always emphasize you have to keep practising those movement patterns (after the camp ends) so it becomes second nature.”
Of course, there are no promises your child will eventually become an NHL hockey player, “but there should be a noticeable improvement in their ability to control the puck,” Budge added.
Last year’s Guts and Glory tour attracted 2,000 participants across North America.
“Almost every week we get a letter from a parent thanking us for what their kid learned at one of our camps,” Budge said.
Guts & Glory II has three summer tours swinging through Eastern Canada, Western Canada and the U.S.
“Sean travels from city to city visiting each camp for one or two days, and he has certified coaches with him,” Budge said.
There are still openings for the Aug. 4-8 session in Pierrefonds. The camp is open to players 8 years old and up. For more information, visit www.ccmsports.com