听 听 听 听 听 听 Two young hockey players from Kamsack and Canora, who are members of the 2008 Selects Hockey Development team, which has ties to 鈥淢r. Hockey鈥� Gordie Howe, are 小蓝视频 trained for likely careers in the sport.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Cameron Allard of Kamsack and Chase Hembling of Canora are two of the 16 boys on the team that is part of a program that was recently brought to Saskatchewan by John McDermott and his wife Donna Allen.
听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淲e are the 2008 SHD Selects,鈥� McDermott said last week. The SHD stands for Selects Hockey Development and the SHD banner is owned by Legacy Global Sports out of the United States.
Legacy is a multinational association with AAA teams throughout the world, he said. The company also owns 小蓝视频 Kent School, which is a premier hockey prep school in the U.S.
Legacy is owned and operated by Travis Howe, grandson of the late Gordie Howe, he said. 鈥淭his only makes it that much more fitting that we brought this program to Saskatchewan, which is the birthplace of Mr. Hockey.
鈥淭he program was brought into Saskatchewan by me and my wife. And with over a year of planning with Legacy the program is running strong.
鈥淲e currently have five teams that run under this banner. In the inaugural year in Saskatchewan we are running 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 boys teams as well as a 2008 girls team. Each team is birth year specific.鈥�
In the 2008 boys team is comprised of children from across southern Saskatchewan with kids coming from several communities including Kamsack, Canora, Estevan, Weyburn and Carlyle.
The players have either been scouted personally or have attended a large tryout over the Christmas break, he said.
鈥淚n the case of Cameron Allard of Kamsack and Chase Hembling of Canora, these two players were personally scouted and invited for a skate with our core group, at which point we invited them to be a part of our team,鈥� McDermott said.
鈥淐ameron is a big stay-at-home defenseman who can move the puck when needed,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e has a great shot from the point and when the other team is stationed in front of my net I can count on him to move them out of there.
鈥�(He is) a very quiet boy but a pleasure and an asset to any team.
鈥淐hase Hembling is a different situation altogether. This young man has what you might call silky mitts. He can make his way through rush hour traffic and come out the other end and he will still have the puck on his stick, and usually, if he can, he gets to the net and the results are in our favour.
鈥淐hase is also a pleasure with a great personality and a sense of humour to boot. All this led me to select him as one of our assistant captains, which is a role he takes seriously and definitely fulfills.
鈥淭his team is a first-year team and as such development is a priority.
鈥淲e recently participated in the Source for Sports AAA challenge in Brandon, Man., and although we did not win the tournament, the boys had a great time and learned a lot to take to the next tournament.
鈥淲ith two more tournaments in Winnipeg, another in Saskatoon and our season finale at the prestigious Whistler international AAA tournament in July, the boys are training hard with two-hour practices held weekly at various arenas throughout the southeast.
鈥淎s well as fitness programs, they are to compete at home and have homework of taking 80 shots a day on net at home.
鈥淥ur 2008 boys team has been invited on a Scandinavian hockey tour next year with exhibition games in Sweden followed by an international tournament in Finland,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur 2009 team has had a very successful season so far with winning the championships at the two tournaments it has attended thus far. This team is going to do big things in Saskatchewan.鈥�
听
