The Flin Flon Xtreme Hockey School hits a milestone this week as it celebrates 15 years in the community.
The school, run by Flin Flon Bombers head coach and GM Mike Reagan, is the longest running hockey school in northern Manitoba.
A Flin Flon native himself, Reagan took over the school during his first year of college back in 1999.
“I’ve been doing it since I was 20,” said the director. “I’ve said it many times, but I’m proud of the (hockey school) and that it’s the longest running (one) in the North.”
Northern Manitoba has seen its fair share of hockey schools start up, but none have lasted more than a handful of years.
This year’s Xtreme Hockey School got underway Monday at the Whitney Forum. Though enrollment is smaller than in years past, Reagan says the numbers are more “manageable” and that he looks forward to another successful school.
Back to basics
No matter how it is broken down, hockey is hockey. It is still played in many of the same ways as it was decades ago. Players have to skate. Players have to pass. Players have to shoot.
“We try to keep it really basic,” said Reagan. “I’m not one of those guys who thinks it needs to be high technology in order for the kids to get something out of it.
“To teach a kid how to skate backwards, there’s only so many things you can do to teach them. I don’t need a special gadget to teach these kids how to skate backwards.”
Reagan’s theory on getting back to the basics of hockey is simple: if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
“It worked when I was a kid,” he said, noting that he learned to skate backwards the old fashioned way. “And I don’t see why it wouldn’t work now.”
Reagan says while the game has changed “a little bit” over the years, the fundamentals are the same.
“Hockey is like instinct. You create that instinct by practice,” said Reagan.
Skills are developed through repetition and the director says that’s exactly what a hockey school offers.
It gives players the chance to get back to the basics of the sport that are often lost throughout the season as well as the offseason.
“The game is too fast to sit there and think ‘oh, I need to remember to do that and to do this,’” said Reagan. “It’s got to be instinct and I think that’s why repetition and going through a hockey school [are] important.”
Reagan says having a player touch the puck 100 times throughout a session is only going to help that player come game time.
“I find that nowadays there is so much emphasis on games that the kids really don’t get a lot of opportunity to practice,” said Reagan.
Growing up in the minor hockey system himself, Reagan sees a difference in players as practices sometimes takes a backburner to games.
“You don’t develop skills playing games,” he said. “You develop skills in practice and in outdoor bunks and playing road hockey. Having as many touches of the puck as possible is where you’re going to develop that skill level.”
The Xtreme Hockey School offers “a great opportunity to get out there and work on that skill development,” said Reagan.
As a director for the past 15 years, he enjoys watching the players from year to year and seeing their improvements.
The Xtreme Hockey School is not just for Flin Flon area hockey players. This year, the program has participants from The Pas and as far west as Saskatoon and North Battleford.
In the past, the program has also worked with players from BC.
