YouTube stickhandling star Pavel Barber (right) and Performance Edge Hockey Development founder Justin Scott (left) run through a drill with a group of young players at a Performance Edge camp on Thursday at Redcliff's Rec-Tangle Arena.--NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Young hockey players from around Southeastern Alberta have been adding a bit of flair to their game at this week’s Performance Edge Hockey Development camp, hosted by YouTube stickhandling sensation Pavel Barber at Redcliff’s Rec-Tangle Arena.
Barber – who has 225,000 subscribers and millions of views on his YouTube channel – says the camp aims to balance fundamentals with flashy puck handling, and it seems to be bringing some serious creativity out of the young class.
“Tons of creativity,” said Barber. “These kids, especially from a young age all the way up, they’re doing moves I was never doing at that age. It was pretty basic when I was growing up. A toe drag was a big move when I was growing up and it’s pretty basic for these kids here. So, it’s exciting for me as a coach to kind of push that further, maybe teach them where to apply the move better and build more consistency within those moves as well.”
Barber added the camp features a good deal of emphasis on fundamentals, stressing that every flashy move has a time and a place, and they all stem directly from the fundamentals of the game.
“We’re trying to teach these kids that it’s cool to have all these awesome moves to learn, but if you don’t know where and when to apply them, they’re all useless,” he said. “And you need to have the fundamentals in order to build on and get those higher skills.”
Performance Edge founder and coach Justin Scott says Barber caters his coaching to the individual with the goal of allowing each player to discover something new about their game while enriching their overall performance.
“He brings a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge, and I know a lot of kids have really gained some valuable information from him as well,” said Scott. “Especially for the younger kids, he really breaks down the fundamental stuff but also brings in a lot of fun and a lot of creativity.”
Barber added he’s seen a good deal of positive development from players at the camp – which has been running all week in Redcliff and concludes this afternoon.
“A lot of these kids are seeing a lot of improvement just in the overall control of the puck and just being able to keep it off the body. That’s the main thing, if you can keep it off the body you can have great control of the puck. A lot of them were stickhandling in their feet a lot before,” he said. “Just correcting that small little point opens up a lot of doors for them.”
With roughly 70 participants across three groups, Scott says numbers have been great to kick off the camp season, but there will be challenges ahead. Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Association has announced it will be following guidelines set by Hockey Canada and Hockey Alberta that will enforce a 14-day non-participation period for any player opting to take part in a separate ‘sport cohort’ – which would consist of anything from a separate sport to a hockey camp involving a separate group of players.
“We’ve got to abide by the rules just like everybody else. We’re hoping that if you’re at one camp, you follow their rules and whatnot so everybody feels safe and everybody stays healthy,” said Scott. “What we expect is that if you’re not feeling well, just stay at home and err on the side of caution, then hopefully we can end camp on a good note and everybody comes out healthy. Then you can move on to another camp or wherever you wish to go.”
