Any roadtrip to an NHL city for a small-town Canadian high school hockey team would be special enough - but to skate on NHL ice for practice with a professional coach leading the way? Good luck topping that experience.
That’s exactly what players and coaches from the St. Charles College Cardinals team from Sudbury, Ont., found themselves doing last Friday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.
Predators Assistant Coach Derek MacKenzie, who went to high school at St. Charles and still has connections to the school, was on the ice with the team as they began their time in Nashville for a weekend tournament at Ford Ice Center Bellevue.
As proud parents looked on and snapped photos from the stands, MacKenzie ran the team through a number of drills similar to those seen during a Preds practice. But the day wasn’t necessarily as much about the instruction as it was the experience - which could certainly be classified in the once-in-a-lifetime category.
“It’s fantastic,” St. Charles Head Coach Rob Zanatta said. “The kids were so excited just to come to the Predators game last night. We watched morning skates yesterday, and for these kids to be able to skate on an NHL rink with an NHL coach is an amazing opportunity.”
Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette, who also spent time at St. Charles in high school while growing up in Sudbury, and MacKenzie knew it was a no-brainer to make the connection when the team reached out ahead of their trip. For MacKenzie, the experience helps to put everything in perspective.
“We're [currently] in a situation where we're not winning hockey games, and I think the message was that hockey is just a game, and we all lace them up to have fun and play, and you can't forget that,” MacKenzie said. “It’d be easy today to be upset and kick dirt and walk around kind of cup ‘half empty.’ But, I think it's important that we know the tides will turn. Everyone's been on both sides of it, and they came a long way to have some fun, so we're going have some fun today.”
The team did just that, and their visit was amplified with a pre-practice visit from Preds players Roman Josi, Luke Evangelista and Philip Tomasino, with the latter two not far removed from where the St. Charles players are in their careers. That opportunity, combined with a pre-practice message from MacKenzie, provided plenty for the team to take home with them.
“Part of it is just the professionalism of it all,” Zanatta said. “The way Derek spoke to them about everything we do has a purpose, and they don't practice long, they practice smart. And for these kids to learn that and understand that every drill has a purpose to get you to be a better hockey player, and to be in the right places on the ice, is really important.”
MacKenzie hopes the team headed back to Sudbury as better hockey players, sure, but the chance to do something such as this? That’s what he wants them to take away long after their playing days are done.
“I just hope that it's something they look back on,” MacKenzie said. “As a kid, I got an opportunity to travel a little bit and play some hockey in different places. We're from a small mining town where sometimes it's tough to get out of, and they’ve got a great coaching staff that put a lot of work into making and facilitating this trip. So, I hope that it's just something they look back on. And I think, in a way, when you're up in the stands, things seem bigger and harder and tougher than sometimes they are. I think them getting kind of this [firsthand look] at guys who play hockey, they're humans, and they think and work and do all the same things that they're doing right now.”
