By / Scott Fisher
Dean Chynoweth has been to his fair share of hockey schools.
Both as a youngster, and now, as an administrator.
“I went to the George Kingston U of C Special,” Chynoweth says with a hint of enthusiasm as he recalls his youthful playing days.
“I think every year, as a young guy, you got your new equipment from Christmas or the summer, and you were ready to get out to the hockey schools.
“I know the Calgary Canucks ran one for years. The (Calgary) Wranglers had one at the time, and the U of C had one, and George Kingston was into it.”
Chynoweth eventually parlayed what he learned into a lengthy NHL career
Selected in the first round (13th overall) of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders, Chynoweth scored four goals and 22 points to go along with 667 penalty minutes in 241 NHL games with the Isles and Boston Bruins.
The major hockey schools of today were just starting out when Chynoweth was looking for summer ice time.
“At that time, there wasn’t the Okanagans or the Sylvan Lakes,” he said. “Those ones were just gaining the growth where they eventually took over.”
Chynoweth, who has rebuilt the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos into one of the league’s premier franchises, said he attended a summer hockey school almost every year.
“For the most part,” he said.
“But I played a lot of other sports, which you don’t see as much now days.
“Hockey is a lot more sport-specific than it’s ever been. There’s a lot more skill development camps, opposed to just straight hockey schools or conditioning camps.
“The one thing I see, especially with the young kids who have just been drafted coming up, they don’t play other sports.
“And, at times, I wish they would. Because, if you’re good at one thing, eventually you’ll have to make a decision. But it makes you well-rounded to play the school sports — baseball, basketball, golf, all the different things.
“But sometimes the time commitment doesn’t allow for that.”
Chynoweth, the son of the legendary Ed Chynoweth, who is the dean of Canadian Junior hockey, said parents need to look at what kind of instruction is offered at the various schools.
“The teaching is No. 1,” he said. “The administration part has to be done and is a critical part of getting word out of what you can provide.
“Then you have to live up to the expectations of what you’ve promised you would provide.
“For the most part, it’s the instructors and the structure that is set up that makes the school credible.”
Chynoweth, the GM/head coach of the Broncos now helps run the WHL club’s summer school.
“When I got there, they asked if I wanted to go through with it,” he said. “I did.
“We had a girls’ hockey school and took that over and combined it with the Broncos school. A year ago, a quarter to one-third of our registrants were girls.
“So girls hockey in Swift Current has really taken off. The enrollment is up.
“It’s nice to see because we have the combination of the young kids and the girls as well.” – Scott Fisher covers the WHL for the Calgary Sun. |