Once the long-awaited signing of Trevor Linden was complete, Dave Nonis happily exchanged his business attire for a warm-up suit, a pair of skates, and a hockey stick Tuesday at Vancouver Hockey School.

A pretty fair defenceman in his playing days, captaining the University of Maine Black Bears to back-to-back National Collegiate Athletic Association championship tournaments in 1987 and 1988, the Vancouver Canucks’ general manager spent part of the day helping out at Vancouver Hockey School in Richmond. During one drill, he stopped the  minor hockey d-men and gathered them together to explain how to adjust their gap control.

“Having Dave attend the camp each year as an instructor is excellent for the kids,” said Derek Popke (pictured right with Canucks GM Dave Nonis), who conducts both the Vancouver Hockey School and the island’s Victoria Hockey School. “Not only does he help all the kids, but he is able to lend some great tips.”                                                                                               

Nonis, 41, doesn’t get on the ice as much as he’d like to, so whenever he gets a chance he tries to take advantage of it.

“Obviously I have a job that I can be around the game a lot, but being around minor hockey kids and your own children (his son Nick, a Peewee-aged player, was one of the camp participants) when they’re playing is probably the most fun you’re ever going to have.”

Nonis stressed that hockey—or any sport for that matter—can’t be work for children.

“It’s something where if they’re dreading coming out, that’s not what you want to have,” he said. “Fortunately Nick likes to be around the game.”

Nonis fears as a society we’ve lost focus on what youth sport should be about.

“A lot of parents are looking for something more from their children than they’re going to get,”’ he said. “What they should be looking for is (that their children are getting a positive experience.

“Athletics is a big part of children’s lives and they should enjoy what they’re doing,” he continued. “It doesn’t mean they can’t be competitive, or learn about striving to be the best they can be. If some of these children end up being professional players that’s great, but at the very least they should learn to love the game, or love the sport they’re playing.”

Graduating with a masters of business administration degree from the University of Maine, Nonis said sports helped to prepare him for his future career in hockey management.

“You learn a lot about yourself through athletics, not necessarily just how good a player you can become” he explained. “There are a lot of life lessons you can learn.”

Other than his parents, he considers among his biggest influences his college coach Shawn Walsh, whom he followed to the University of Maine after initially expecting to go Michigan State following his B.C. Hockey League career with his hometown Burnaby Bluehawks.

Another major influence has been Anaheim Ducks’ general manager Brian Burke, who was Nonis’ agent as a player. The two became good friends and worked together in the NHL offices and later for the Canucks. Nonis replaced Burke as the Canucks’ general manager in 2004 after six years as director of hockey operations.

It was while playing at the higher levels, including a season in Denmark and a year as an assistant coach for Walsh, that Nonis learned the importance of self-discipline, training and competing. And not easily accepting defeat.

“A lot of those lessons you learn when you’re a little bit older, in a competitive environment, you can bring to everyday life,” he said. “It’s why I think a lot of things we’re teaching kids should be based on those principles, not necessarily becoming an NHL player.”

But for those who aspire to become NHLers, the level of instruction has never been better, he said.

GM Nonis went on to say “I’ve known Derek (Popke) a couple of years now and he’s done a good job with all levels of players from young guys all the way to professionals”. “And he relates well to children and mature players”. While it’s hard to project where 18 year olds are going to be, it’s come a long way. The ability to train with specialized people like Derek (Popke) (whose forte is skating) and strength trainers have given those guys a leg up on guys from 15 to 20 years ago.”

That said, skating remains the most important skill in hockey, he stressed.

“It still comes down if you can’t skate, you can’t play,” Nonis said.

“It takes a real special player in other areas to be able to play the game without being a naturally quality skater. It’s the biggest component of our game. And there are different areas you have to be strong at, not just speed, but also power, quickness, agility, and the ability to change direction.

“To me, skating is something you have to concentrate on if a player wants to become good at whatever level, whether it’s just a good minor hockey player or a pro.“

Pulling back on his manager’s hat, Nonis said he enjoys working in an environment where hockey matters and expectations are great.

“I think it helps you do your job to your utmost abilities,” he said.

Ensuring the Canucks, or any team for that matter, is competitive in the salary cap era isn’t easy. And a team can’t simply use money to attract players.

“You have to create an environment where players want to play because they’re a lot freer. You want players to thrive in the environment and want to win and raise their families here. I think we’re moving in that direction, we’re in a pretty good spot compared to a lot of teams.”

Nonis also believes in building from the net out.

“Obviously we’ve got Roberto (Luongo in goal) and the back end is the most critical part of any team that has a chance to win. So our defence and goaltending is where we’re going to continue to focus.

“But, he said, “you also need to develop players better than you’ve ever done, young players that can contribute are more important than they ever were.

“It’s not like before where if you had a competitive team you could keep it together for five or six years if you had the money,” he said.

“Those days are over. You’re probably going to have two or three years if you have a chance, and then you have to retool.

“That’s why you always want to have young players coming,” Nonis said.

“If you don’t, especially from the bottom, then you’re not going to have a chance to win.”

By Don Fennell
Sports Editor

Rich Harden has given a few tips to his cousin about life in pro sports.

And Kyle Beach, a projected ten pick in the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft, has appreciated each word of advice from the Oakland Athletics’ pitcher.

But be assured that Beach is his own man, as he demonstrated last season as a member of the Everett Silvertips. He showed he can score with 29 goals and 61 points, and proved just as tough with 196 penalty minutes. The combination earned him rookie-of-the-year honours in the Western HockeyLeague and the admiration and respect of teammates, foes, coaches, scouts and fans alike. And at 17-years-old, he’s already 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds with a commitment to get even better.

“He’s really strong and mature already, and has mental toughness too,” marvels his skating coach Derek Popke, who was challenging Beach with some demanding high-level drills during a session Thursday at the Richmond Ice Centre.

“A lot of players have skill but what they lack is that battle and compete level,” adds Popke. “He’s definitely got that. He’s the future of the NHL; not only can he back himself up, but put the puck in the net so the team can use him on the powerplay or when games get rough.” 

While Beach is aware of his stock, he’s keeping a level head. In fact, he’s remarkably humble.

“I’ve just got to continue to go out and do what I can,” he says. “If you’re worried about the draft that’s not going to help you. You can’t have that on the ice because when you’re nervous and worried about making mistakes that’s when you’re going to make them.”

Beach is also quick to compliment those around him. Considered a natural centre, he played the wing last season on a line centered by Zach Hamill who was selected eighth overall in the first round by the Boston Bruins in this year’s NHL Entry Draft.

“He’s an unbelievable player who complements my game well,” Beach says of Hamill, with whom he often trains during the off-season.

And of Popke, Beach says: “He’s a great guy who knows exactly what he’s doing. Skating is one of my weaknesses and him being a tall guy like me, he’s helped me a lot. I’m hoping to go back to Everett stronger and faster so I’m not wasting energy while I’m skating.”

Beach also works frequently with local strength and conditioning coach Scott Hebert in Richmond. Having previously worked with the Vancouver Canucks, Hebert knows what it takes to be a regular in the NHL and says Beach has all the tools.

“We’re treating him like a number-one one draft pick now and I know he appreciates it,” Hebert says. “To play in the NHL is not easy and he’s working out (with other NHLers) and seeing what the guys already in the pros do. I can’t see anything but good coming out of it.”

Hebert encourages young players like Beach and Hamill to work on gaining as much strength as they can right now.

“Kyle just turned 17 and being that age certainly hasn’t realized his maximum strength,” Hebert explains. “But the next five years are critical. And good training now can carry you well into your 30s. If I have any advice for kids it’s to do your training properly when you’re young.”

Both Popke and Hebert are impressed by the level of dedication Beach is showing toward his off-season training. They also credit former Everett coach Kevin Constantine for his progress.

“Both Beach and Hamill were offensive stars when they went to Everett and they will tell you right off the bat it was a huge advantage for them playing under Constantine (who demanded attention to detail and the ability to play without the puck),” Popke says. “He molded them into being full-package players.”

Beach’s favourite NHL player is Jarome Iginla, the captain of the Calgary Flames.

“He’s a leader and a good guy, willing to do whatever it takes to win,” Beach says. “He’s kind of what I want to be like; someone who can contribute in all aspects of the game.”

By Don Fennell
Sports Editor

Brent Seabrook knows all too well that you’ve got be prepared to endure the pain to make the gain.

At 21, he is already playing a regular shift in the National Hockey League. But the
 
Hockey players like Richmond’s Jeff May train with skating instructor Derek Popke to help give themselves an edge. May, a fifth-round NHL draft pick by the Detroit Red Wings last summer.
 
Chicago Blackhawks defenceman isn’t just satisfied with making it to the pros. He wants to be one of the best and is prepared to put in the extra time and effort to reach his goals.

He spends the bulk of his summer working out at Excel Fitness in Richmond, training intensively under the guidance of strength and conditioning coach Scott Hebert for the last five years. He appreciates that Hebert is willing, and able, to participate in all of the exercises.

“He’s always got so much energy and a great attitude and lifts more weight or rides the bike harder than any of us. That gives you energy.”

Added Seabrook: “You push yourself here and you get the results on the ice, I think. But it’s also your job and you’ve got to be able to perform or you’re not there.”

In his rookie year with the Blackhawks in 2005-06, the 6-foot-3, 220 pound Seabrook (born in Richmond and raised in Tsawwassen) played 69 games and scored five goals and 27 assists. Two of his goals were game winners.

Although he was selected in the first round, 14th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Blackhawks, he refuses to take his position for granted. And therein lies the reason his future is so promising.

“Getting drafted is obviously a great feeling, but there are so many first rounders that haven’t played (in the NHL) and so many seventh rounders that have,” he said. “It’s just a stepping stone or a chance to further your career. To take advantage of it you have to work on the ice and off it, harder than the guy next to you or Joe Schmoe from Saskatchewan who wants the same thing. If I didn’t put in the work here and try to push myself (I’m not sure I would have made it).”

NHL prospects like Richmond’s Jeff May—a fifth-round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings last summer—and John Lammers, who recently signed his first pro contract with the Dallas Stars, are among a select group of athletes who also train with Hebert.

May, 18, said he was a small, slight defenceman when he started an intense conditioning program at Excel but has become notably stronger in the three years since.

“It’s helped me to get more ice time, more stability on my skates, and I notice I;m not being knocked over as much,” said May, who is a stalwart on the blueline for the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League.

May expects to return to the Raiders for a final season this fall, but he’s keenly aware that Detroit’s defence is aging and not that deep.

“This is a big year for me and I want to be a big leader on the team and show Detroit I can be a leader on and off the ice,” he said. “This is the last look they’ll have of me because this is the last year they’ll retain my rights.” (If he doesn’t sign, he’ll be eligible to re-enter the draft).

Lammers, captain of Team Canada in the 2004 under-18 Five Nations tournament, is coming off a brilliant final year in the WHL when he led the Everett Silvertips in scoring with 38 goals and 37 assists. He was fourth in the league in powerplay goals (16) and had four shorthanded markers. Even during the pressure of the playoffs, the 5-foot-11, 184-pound forward managed to produce 11 points in 15 playoff games.

“Everyone wants to be quicker and stronger,” he said.

“And with the game now all about skating, whether you’re a defenceman or forward, you’ve got to do it all.

“It helps me a lot to train with guys like Brent and (Toronto prospect Brad) Leeb,” Lammers continued.

“They’ve been there or are older and more experienced. Sometimes you want to quit (the often intense workouts) a bit early, but you learn you’ve got to push through that.”

The assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Vancouver Canucks from 1999 through 2001, Hebert has had proven success training hockey players—both pro and junior—as well as athletes in lacrosse, rugby, football, soccer, baseball and basketball. Along with Derek Popke of Vancouver Hockey School who conducts a skating program for current NHL’ers and professional players, he’s seen many players become NHL draft picks and make significant strides in their games.

“Our goal is obviously to get them a pro deal,” said Hebert.

“And we hope we make them resilient enough to make it.”

Both Hebert and Popke are intensely competitive. They don’t just push the athletes they work with but also expect the same of themselves.

With the Canucks, Hebert mostly worked with draft picks to help them get ready for NHL standards. He said off-season training was key and it was a chance for him to also see how NHL players prepared themselves.

“Our success (in business) in getting the player to make it and the credibility that brings,” Hebert said.

“Derek and I believe that it’s best to work with very small groups in a specialized environment. We want players who are little more serious and they have to commit to a full-time program, five days a week (otherwise) they’re wasting their time.”

The athletes are all tested at the start of the program and then every two weeks after.

The current group of six or seven hockey players was most recently tested for skating, endurance and physiology last Friday and every one had improved.

“My marker is not so much if they’re working hard but if we’re over-training them,” Hebert explained. “But if Derek sees them fading 45 seconds into a minute-long skating drill, I know I need to focus on conditioning more. There has been a connection between the dryland training and what they’re doing on the ice.”

Hebert finds it ironic that historically conditioning—like running lines—was a form of punishment. Now, he believes if players embrace similar conditioning sessions they end up being a benefit.

He said if players can, for example, improve their skating speed by just a half per cent and their endurance by two per cent it puts them in front of teammates they’re fighting for ice time with or makes them a step quicker to get to the puck faster than an opposing player.

Throughout the year, both Hebert and Popke follow the progress of the players they work with, and try to point out any weaknesses that the players can correct as soon as possible.

“Most players at this level can all play the game,” Hebert said.

“But the things that are in their control (to make them better) are things like diet, conditioning and strength and they are the things we try to provide but at most levels are non-existent. The warmups a lot of teams do are wrong for what the elite athlete should be doing.

“If you make it through the WHL to be drafted there has obviously got to be the element of a player there,” he continued.

“But if you come in and score poorly on a test or can only do eight pushups instead of 35, those are the measurable gains we can give them.”

Hebert said the Excel program is based on a concept to make conditioning so difficult that the game is easy.

“We went on a five-hour hike the other day,” he explained.

“There aren’t too many hockey games that last five hours. It’s good to get the guys so far out of their comfort zone that if they make it to Game 7 or overtime they’re going to be in a position physiologically that they’ll be able to handle it.”

Every level a player moves up, the pressures and expectations are that much greater, Popke said.

“For someone like Lammers, he was the top player in Everett but now he’s down at the bottom and starting all over again (with Dallas).

“Now it’s hard.”

And Popke said there is no room for error, because the NHL is a business. Teams won’t wait long for a player to progress.

“One of the important points we sometimes forget, and that we also try to work on, is the mental side,” he said.

“During these workouts we try to make them stronger mentally and to make them think they can do (the drills),” Popke continued. “Every player today is strong and fast, but it’s who got the grit and who doesn’t break down mentally that will make it.”

By Don Fennell
Sports Editor

Zach Hamill has always been a quick study.

But perhaps because of this, he’s not quite as ready to concede his future in pro hockey as so many others are.
 
Zach Hamill, a projected first-rounder in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, worked out with skating coach Derek Popke in Richmond this week. 
 
Hamill, 17, is widely seen as one of the top junior players in the country and was invited to Hockey Canada’s junior summer camp July 23 to 28 in Calgary-the only underage to receive the honour.

The Everett Silvertips forward is also a projected first-rounder in next summer’s NHL draft to be held in Columbus, Ohio. And no wonder. A smooth skater and blessed with an abundance of natural offensive skills, he’s as aware of the need to check as to score. In other words, he’s the complete player teams covet.

Hamill, who works out in Richmond with a host of other NHL prospects-and soon-to-be pros-doesn’t take any part of his game for granted. Including skating.

Earlier this week, he joined pro skating coach Derek Popke for an on-ice session.

“He started as a pretty upright skater,” says Popke, who has been working with Hamill for the last three years. “But after a full season in the Western League (he was the top 16-year-old scorer with 33 points in 57 games in 2004-05), and once he started to train a little harder, he’s become (a more complete skater). What we’re working on now is just fine-tuning the little things like explosiveness from a dead stop and being able to change speed to drive around defenceman.

“His skill is above average but you can always get stronger when it comes to speed, explosiveness, and change of pace,” adds Popke.

Hard work is clearly in Hamill’s repertoire. He was training Wednesday when the call from Hockey Canada came.

“My sister took the call,” he says.

“I was pretty excited. It’s something I was looking forward to and now I’ve got to go and work harder. There are a lot of top players going and not many spots open.”

Hamill’s international experience should put him in good stead though. He made the under-18 World Cup team earlier this year, was part of Team Pacific at the world under-17 challenge the previous season, and also played for Team WHL in a Canada-Russia challenge.

Like many Canadian boys, Hamill laced up his first pair of skates-hockey stick in hand-when he was about three or four. Since then he’s taken continuous if not spectacular strides. A former member of his hometown Port Coquitlam Buckaroos of the PIJHL, he was only 15 when he joined the expansion Silvertips for their maiden playoff voyage in 2003-04. After picking up two assists in four regular-season games, he had three goals and five points in 20 playoff games.

One of Hamill’s three goals-his first in the WHL-was particularly memorable.

“It was my third game against Spokane,” he recalls. “We were up 4-1 but they came back and tied it and forced overtime. If we won we’d be up 3-0 (in the series) or a loss and it would be 2-1 and they’d have momentum. Ten minutes in the puck came to the slot and I shot it low to the corner and it went in. It was pretty special.”

Everett went on to play in the league final.

Hamill was still considered a rookie when he returned to Everett for the 2004-05 season, but the playoff run helped him feel already ensconced in the Silvertips’ room.

“I knew all the players from the first year and knew the system,” he says.

Having former NHL coach Kevin Constantine, a known disciplinarian in the Sutter brothers mold, back behind the bench didn’t hurt Hamill’s progress either.

“He’s a pro and expects the best from you,” Hamill says. “But if anything that helps and I respect that in him.”

Last season, Hamill continued his ascent to the pros with another strong all-around season. He was second in Silvertips scoring (21 goals and 59 points in 53 games) to good friend and workout buddy John Lammers (who this summer signed a three-year contract with the NHL’s Dallas Stars). He added another 14 points in 15 playoff games, which included a four-assist effort in one of the outings.

Currently a slight five-foot-11, 165-pound centre, Hamill plays a style of game that might remind one of Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche or even his boyhood idol Steve Yzerman, who just retired from the Detroit Red Wings. Like Sakic and Yzerman, Hamill is a gentlemanly player who takes few penalties but is still competitive and doesn’t take even a shift off.

Still, the mere thought of following Sakic and Yzerman’s foosteps into the NHL makes Hamill nervous.

“I don’t think words can explain what it would mean,” he says.

By Don Fennell
Sports Editor

The toughest critic of Zach Hamill, the Boston Bruins’ first-round pick (8th overall) in the National Hockey League Entry Draft last week, is, well, Zach Hamill.

Few hockey players work harder, which is why the Bruins are so excited about the potential of the eighth overall selection.

While his skating continues to be questioned by some, his skills are not. Nor are his hockey smarts; and playing under former NHL coach Kevin Constantine the past two seasons with the Western Hockey League Everett Silvertips, he’s become an even more complete player by adding that all-important defensive element to his game.

Hamill, who will be 19 Sept. 23, won the WHL scoring title last season with record low 93 points. But the point total is even more impressive considering he played on a team that stressed defence first and won many low-scoring games.

“He’s so hard on himself when it comes to improving his skill set,” said pro skating coach Derek Popke, who put Hamill through the paces at an early-afternoon session Thursday at the Richmond Ice Centre.

“If he’s having a problem with a drill he won’t want to move on (until he’s got the mechanics perfect),” Popke continued. “The other thing I notice is when it comes to skating, a lot of guys get here and the first thing they want to do is shoot on a goalie. But Zach knows how important skating is, and the shooting is a reward. And, we only have so much time with him in and out of Boston this summer.”

Hamill will be attending the Bruins’ rookie camp starting July 8, and he’s hoping the intense skating lessons will give him a leg up.

“At the NHL level, they don’t care about a player’s strengths,” Popke said. “They know (Hamill) can put the puck in the net. They say your strengths will always be your strengths, what they care about is weaknesses and eliminating them.”

While a player can be a decent, maybe even a great skater in junior, the NHL is another, significant step, Popke said.

“We’re really starting to pick apart really little things that the average junior hockey player would tend to ignore,” he explained.

Hamill isn’t a particularly poor skater, and his success in the WHL proved that. But realized four years ago he could get better and started working with Popke. According to the latter, “he has made tremendous strides.”

“I have been with Derek since I was 14 years old and he has helped me a lot,” said Hamill, who remains remarkably humble. “It’s going to pay off, I hope, in helping me make it to the NHL sooner rather than later.”

“Zach is working out 10 times harder than he feels,” says Richmond-based strength and conditioning coach Scott Hebert, an assistant with the Vancouver Canucks from 1999 to 2001.

“He’s tremendously motivated to get himself into even better shape, and while we’d love for him to make it to the NHL as an 18-year-old, its also a matter of getting into the NHL in quality shape. It’s not difficult at all with him though, because his work ethic is like that of a trojan warrior.”

Hamill, who will attend Canada’s world junior camp later this summer, is the kind of person who coaches love, Hebert said. He works tirelessly to improve his weaknesses, qualities you can’t coach but hope every athlete has inherently.”

Hamill met with brass from Boston three times before the draft, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when the Bruins selected him. And given that the Bruins’ first-round pick a year ago, Phil Kessell made the team last season, has given Hamill added incentive to do likewise.

“I look at the NHL and it’s pretty young, but whatever they decide is best (is okay with me),” he said. “It doesn’t hurt going back to a team like Everett.”