B4

By The Daily Gleaner

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Mike Eagles is looking to cultivate a following for his St. Thomas Tommies' hockey team among the youth of the area.

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Stephen MacGillivray Photo

Here’s how you do it: Matt Eagles, centre, an instructor at the STU hockey school which wraps up today at the Lady Beaverbrook Rink todaylooks on as Logan Johnston, 10, left, and Dylan Goodine, 11, compete in a drill Thursday. The St. Thomas hockey school winds up its first year of operation with scrimmages today. A total of 55 youngsters enrolled in the school. St. Thomas will run an all-female hockey school next week.

And teach them a few things about the game as well.

The first of what Eagles says will be an annual hockey school put on by the Tommies for area youngsters between the ages of 7-12 has been going on this week at the Lady Beaverbrook Rink.

Fifty-five youngsters from the city and surrounding areas such as Minto, Stanley, Sussex, etc. signed up for the week-long school that is being held in advance of the annual pre-season camp STU puts on for local teams at the end of August.

"I expect a lot of the kids at the school this week will be out to our camp at the end of August as well,'' says Eagles, men's hockey coach and athletic director at STU. "We're trying to take our program to the next level and doing things like this in the community is part of that.''

Eagles says the youngsters have been divided into two groups: green and gold, matching the school colours. Along with the two on-ice sessions per day, there are a series of off-ice training drills being taught along with sessions in the classroom. There will be a series of scrimmages during the final day Friday.

"We're focusing on the basic fundamentals, the basic skills that kids need to know to improve,'' says Eagles, who carved a successful 15-year career as a player in the National Hockey League. "Power skating. Puck-handling drills. Goaltending drills. We're covering all the basics.''

Eagles and Tommies' assistant coach Brad Shepard are directing the camp that includes many of the Tommies players as instructors.

Along with many of last year's returnees including goaltender Ben MacFarlane, defencemen Andrew Andricopolous, Dave Crossman and Keith Wynn and forwards Maxime Chamberlain, incoming Tommies such as Eagles' son, Matt, who played last season with the Moncton Wildcats and forward Alexandre Labonte, a recruit out of the Victoriaville Tigres program are also among the instructors at the school.

Additionally, Frederictonians Mike Thomas, playing with the Saint John Sea Dogs, and Eric Neilson, who just signed a one-year deal with the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs, have stopped in and shared their expertise with the youngsters, says Eagles.