Senators Elite Hockey Development

The inaugural Senators Elite Hockey Development camp ran earlier this month and culminated in a successful weekend at the Mini Chowder Cup in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The five-day camp, which ran from Saturday, July 6 through Wednesday, July 10, provided local players going into their U14 year with valuable resources and elite-level training to set them up for their futures in hockey. Attendees, the top players in their AAA and AA leagues, came from teams located in Ottawa, Kingston, Québec, and even as far as North Bay and Sackville, NS.

Each day consisted of both on- and off-ice training, with players receiving three on-ice sessions each day. Located at the Bell Sensplex in Kanata, players partook in daily fitness training at the Fitquest gym facility.

Former Ottawa Senators’ defenceman Mike Kostka led a mental skills and performance classroom session on Saturday morning to kickstart the off-ice portion of the week.

The camp saw several notable guests provide players with mentorship both on the ice and in the classroom. Each day’s afternoon classroom session was hosted by a different guest speaker, which were:

• Peter MacTavish, player agent
• Brendan Bell, former Ottawa Senators defenceman
• Jeff Robert, HEO development programs officer
• Steve Spott, Dallas Stars’ assistant coach
• Mike King, Ottawa Senators video coach

Two other Ottawa Senators coaches were also present during the week. Goaltending coach Justin Peters and assistant coach Ben Sexton both partook in practices, providing players with guidance.

The Senators Elite Hockey Development camp was the culmination of hard work by numerous experienced High Performance Coaches and hockey program professionals. Sensplex Senior Director Andy Bryan, Head of Hockey Development Jake Bullen, and Head Hockey Instructors Marcus Quinlin and Tyler Druce were joined by guest coaches Luca Byrne (current Assistant Coach with the University of Ottawa and owner of Luca Byrne Hockey) and Casey Torres (current coach with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires and hockey development professional).

Each day of camp finished with a scrimmage played between participants, who were split into teams Red and Black.

Following the camp’s conclusion on July 10, the group travelled to Foxborough for the Mini Chowder Cup tournament July 12-14. The group split into two teams for the tournament — SEHD Black and SEHD Red. Following the round robin portion of the tournament, SEHD Red finished second in their bracket, while SEHD Black finished first in theirs. Three of the six players named to the 2011 All-Tournament Team belonged to team SEHD Black.

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