In early February, the HRC team touched down in Vancouver for the second of six Canadian Tire Hockey School NHL Skills Camps that are taking place across the country.

Each skills camp gives about sixty players (aged 6 to 12) the chance to learn on-ice skills as well as valuable lessons including fair play and teamwork from NHL alumni and coaches. To participate in the camps, the children have to be registered members of the Canadian Tire Hockey School, and be lucky enough to be selected from a random draw.

So, bright and early on Sunday February 13, the HRC team headed out to the Rogers Arena, home to the Canucks, to set everything up for registration at 10 a.m.  This mostly involved putting up a lot of signage and arranging the dressing rooms for the kids. Having already run a very successful event in Halifax on January 23, the set-up went even smoother this time around.

One of the best parts of these camps is watching the kids enter their dressing rooms. Just like the pros, the children were treated to their very own stalls – with a name plate and everything! Inside the stall, awaited a personalized Canadian Tire jersey, tracksuit, socks, hat and water bottle.

In Vancouver, our alumni were Canucks great Dave Babych and (attention Leafs fans!) Garry Valk. Both guys, as well as all the coaches from the Roger Neilson’s Hockey Camp, proved to be tremendous with the kids. 

Though the venue did present logistical challenges – elevators, multiple floors and locked security doors at every turn – the arena staff did a wonderful job helping the HRC team shepherd the kids and parents around. The caterers at Rogers Arena cooked up a delicious lunch of spaghetti and garlic toast for both kids and parents, and near the end of the day, the children also seemed to enjoy the chance to ask the NHL Alumni some “colourful” questions.

It was clear that Canadian Tire provided the kids with an unforgettable experience, and the HRC team received a number of thoughtful thank you notes from the appreciative parents. Media in attendance included City TV, Global TV and local bloggers from Aha Media.

Following a successful Vancouver event, the team flew to Calgary for another camp on Thursday. The NHL Alumni for this one included Perry Berezan, Jamie Macoun and none other than Flames legend Lanny McDonald.

Held at the Don Hartman NE Sportsplex, the Calgary camp ran seamlessly from start to finish. With the Heritage Classic just days away, hordes of media showed up, including CTV, Global TV, CBC, The Calgary Herald, The Calgary Sun, 660AM NEWS, NHL.com, as well as CityTV’s Breakfast Television, which went live to the Canadian Tire camps multiple times throughout the morning.

Next up are camps in Montreal on March 1 and Toronto on March 5. If the current trend continues, these should prove to be our best ones yet. High Road’s excited, Canadian Tire’s excited, and we know the kids are excited for what comes next.