Davis Houle, 17, said he played the “best hockey of (his) life” at the 2015 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, which were held in Halifax from April 27 to May 2.
He was among the tournament leaders in goaltender goals against average and save percentage, as he helped backstop Team Alberta into the championship game against Saskatchewan.
There were many scouts in the stands watching that game, which ended up being a 4-3 decision for Saskatchewan. But, the scouts liked what they saw from Houle, and approached him after the game with an opportunity.
They asked the Goodfish Lake youth if he would like to participate in season three of Hit the Ice, a reality-competition show where the best young Canadian Aboriginal hockey players from coast-to-coast come together to participate in a two-week NHL-style training camp. The players that impress the coaching and scouting staff the most get an opportunity to earn a tryout with a Major Junior team.
Houle was honoured to get this opportunity. The camp was held from July 15 to Aug. 2.
“They never told me why they wanted to give me this opportunity, but I am really happy they did,” said Houle. “Two of my friends went to do Hit the Ice in the past seasons (Silas Makokis and Isiah Cardinal) and they said they had a lot of fun.”
While fun experiences on and off the ice brought the players together, Houle said the camp was very competitive and grueling too.
An exhausting fitness test, which took place soon after the players landed in Chateauguay, Que., was a strong statement from the coaching staff, led by former NHL assistant John Chabot, that the camp was going to be punishing.
The young hockey players had to do push ups, sit ups, jumping drills and a beep test to complete the challenge.
“The beep test was brutal,” remarked Houle. “Those of us that went to Subway before doing the test didn’t feel too good during the test due to being full.”
It was announced soon after the test that two scrimmages would be held, and at the conclusion of those games, six players would be going home early.
“We didn’t even practice once together before those games,” said Houle. “The coaches used those games to determine who the top team would be.”
Houle managed to survive this early purge, and ended up being one of two goaltenders that earned the right to stay for the whole camp.
Houle primarily worked with Sudsie Maharaj, a goaltending instructor that has NHL coaching experience with the Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes.
The drills that Maharaj had him do were an eye-opening experience for Houle.
“He had us do these crease movement drills and off-ice jumping and movement drills that he said NHL goaltenders get done in 10 minutes,” said Houle. “We had 30 minutes to do these drills. At the end of the 30 minutes we were completely exhausted.”
But as the camp progressed, Houle was able to get better and better in replicating the NHL pros performance in those drills.
Complementing the intensive lessons related to on-ice acumen were off-ice seminars on the importance of having good nutrition habits and making positive life choices.
In addition to the regular cast of coaches that were present from camp’s start to camp’s end, there were notable NHL personalities that stopped by the camp to offer wisdom.
Max Talbot, a Canadian forward with the Boston Bruins that once starred in the Quebec Major Junior League, said in a speech to the players that the toughest thing about pursuing a pro career is leaving home.
That message resonated with Houle.
“That is one thing I am struggling with,” says Houle. “I don’t know if I can play away from home.”
Houle has earned an opportunity to potentially play out-of-province in Manitoba for the junior ‘A’ OCN Blizzard. He will participate in that team’s training camp in September.
He earned that tryout while attending the Hit the Ice camp. There were numerous scouts from different major junior, junior ‘A’ and junior ‘B’ teams at the camp presenting opportunities to players.
The tryout that comes by winning Hit the Ice will be revealed at the conclusion of the upcoming season.
The third season premiere is being aired on APTN on Jan. 9, 2016. The third-season is made up of 13 episodes, and wraps up on April 3.
Houle encourages people to watch, as there are “a lot of interesting personalities” among the contestants in this year’s competition.
He identifies the highlight of the camp experience to be an exhibition game the Hit the Ice team played against the Cumberland Grads, an Ontario junior ‘A’ team. Houle only allowed one goal in that showdown.
Visit the show’s website at hittheice.tv/index.php to learn more about the TV series.
