Garrett gets some 1 on 1 from Danny Taylor

It is a little earlier than usual, but it is 2nd week of Hockey Camp time…  I’ll be spending a large part of next week at the skating rink watching my older son play his favorite game.

All year long he looks forward to spending two (non-consecutive) weeks playing hockey and hanging out with the coaches and other players.  Honestly, I look forward to it as well.  Maybe not as much as Garrett, but it is a lot of fun.

The folks that Dan Sullivan gets to coach for the Come And Get It Hockey Camp are a pretty cool bunch.  Dan played with the Gladiators and currently plays for the Colorado Eagles (both in the ECHL).  Several other past and present coaches are current or former Gladiators… as well as some players that have been in the Ontario Hockey League and the NCAA.  Eric Boulton (of the Atlanta Thrashers) has been to most of the camps with his sons, and this time, he is making it official… he’ll be on the ice with the players.  Chris Thorburn of the Thrashers has also been involved with the camp.

The kids are a lot of fun to watch, too.  Some of them are pretty talented… enough that the pros will step out of the weight room, or hang out by the glass after their ice time to watch the kids play.  Of course, part of that might be them thinking back to their days of hockey camps and youth hockey.

Hockey players are different than a lot of other athletes.  Even in Canada, hockey rinks aren’t at school… and often, ice time for youth players is at “inconvenient” hours.  One pro player told me that when he was in high school, he was at the rink at at 5:00am… then school, homework and finally… the rink, at 10:00pm.  Games were often at 11:00pm or even later.  High school athletes in other sports usually don’t have to put up with the same hardships to play their sports. Hockey players are a dedicated bunch.  Mine is only 7, and this is what he loves.  And he works REALLY hard for his coaches.

And if you are looking for something to do, you might drop by the Duluth Ice Forum next week for a scrimmage.  The kids will play a game each day between about 3:00 and 4:30 in the afternoon (the play for an hour… in there somewhere).