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I Love Hockey focuses on fun

Many Canadian youth dream of making the NHL. But when you’re a little kid who’s barely learned to skate, you don’t care about making it to the NHL and making a pile of money. At that age, you just care about having fun.
Andrew Carson (right) coaches Denver Nolan as he carefully skates across the ice at I Love Hockey on Saturday.
Andrew Carson (right) coaches Denver Nolan as he carefully skates across the ice at I Love Hockey on Saturday.

Many Canadian youth dream of making the NHL.

But when you’re a little kid who’s barely learned to skate, you don’t care about making it to the NHL and making a pile of money. At that age, you just care about having fun.

Having fun was the focus of the annual I Love Hockey event hosted at the Rotary Spirit Centre on Saturday morning. Through a series of obstacle courses and other activities, players from the age of four to six got to experience different aspects of the sport.

The idea is to hopefully get the younger kids who haven’t played hockey to see what it’s all about, have some fun on the ice “and hopefully end up becoming future hockey players,” said Westlock Minor Hockey Association (WMHA) vice-president Jeff Cuthbertson. “It lets them know hockey is fun. It’s not just the business we see with the professionals; it’s hopefully a life-long game for kids to get involved in.

“I think we forget that sometimes. We all get involved in the game, and you forget we all started as five or six or seven year olds learning to skate and watching it on TV.”

Although he didn’t have an official count as of yet, Cuthbertson said he estimated there were around 70 to 80 kids between the ages of four to six who took in the event.

They ranged in skill level from kids who glided across the ice dodging pucks to youth who slipped and fell every few seconds.

“Today we probably had eight to 10 kids that are still learning, that are still using the tripod stands, which is great to see them out as well.”

Notably, one of the adults helping out at the event was Mike McGinnis, a regional development consultant with Hockey Alberta. McGinnis said his focus is on development among younger players.

While he can’t get out to all 40 minor hockey associations that fall under his purview, he’s more than happy to go to events like I Love Hockey when he can.

He said working with kids around the age of five to six is “such an interesting group” because there’s no focus on competition at that age. “It’s just about the kids having fun,” added McGinnis.

Cuthbertson said it was great having Hockey Alberta involved in their event. The day also saw an appearance by the CFCW Critter, which helped reinforce that fun aspect.

After running through the activities on the ice, the participants in I Love Hockey got to enjoy some treats off the ice. Overall, the day went “spectacularly,” noted Cuthbertson.

“It’s a great introduction (to hockey and) a great program for our minor hockey association,” he added.


Kevin Berger

About the Author: Kevin Berger

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