When I retired from hockey I knew I wanted to spend more time with my family, but I also loved the sport of hockey. I had opportunities to make coaching hockey my next career, and I was very interested. The idea of working with a group of players to build them up, and make them better, was something that really appealed to me. There were so many coaches that spent time with me throughout the years and I felt like I could help out the next generation.
In the end, having the flexibility to be with my very young family on a daily basis trumped the urges to get into coaching full time. I chose my family over my career ambitions and I parked the professional coaching idea on the back burner. Fast forward a few months and I was approached by Our Lady of Mount Carmel School to work with their young students on the ice. From the very first session, I fell in love. The kids are incredible to work with and I always look forward to skating with that group.
I was then asked by a friend of mine to help out with his group of youngsters who happened to be D-men. I went out and skated with them 10 times or so, and I worked with them on refining the finer points of being a defenseman. Teaching kids to play defense was right in my wheelhouse! I realized during those sessions how hard it is to play the position and that I have experience that I can share.
There is no doubt in my mind that defense is the hardest skating position to master in hockey, and the position that every team from Novice to the NHL is looking to fill by players that can get the job done. You can ask anyone involved in the game — there are never enough good defensemen to go around. It is a critical position for any team.
These days defensemen are required to defend against opposing forwards that continue to get faster every season. They are asked to get back into their zone quickly, retrieve the puck, and make a quick breakout pass under pressure. For teams to score goals, defenseman also need to be able to jump up into the play to help create offense. If the attack fails, those same defensemen will need to cover up for any mistakes that end up going the other way. It is a lot to ask, at any level.
With all this in mind, I started my own D-man development camp that runs in the spring (May 14th and 15th), and summer (August 22nd-26th). We will work on all the areas of the defense position including stick position, gap control, finding shooting lanes and much more. The list is very long but everyone will learn a lot, in a fun and encouraging environment.
But I need the help of the OilersNation. I would like to pay it forward for all the help I had growing up here in Edmonton. Since we all know that hockey is expensive, I would like to host three players for whom a camp like mine may be a stretch financially. If you have a player in mind please shoot me an email at info@jasonstrudwick.com.
If you need any further information for the camp you can see all the details at jasonstrudwick.com.
Thanks for your help.
Awesome work Struds! Love seeing the guys such as yourself give back ofter they are done in the pros. I’m sure 10-15 years from now there will be a few mentions from future NHLers about the great experience of learning from former pros like yourself.
Class act Studs
I have a few players in mind, but they are making a couple of million bucks, but they sure could use the help!.
On a serious note… great idea with this camp.
hey who knew retiring from hockey would allow one to become an entrepreneur? 😀
Your next endeavor should be taking over for some of the clowns on sportsnet, Struds>>>>>Spec
That pay it forward idea is awesome! Who knows, we could create another Brandon Davidson through this program.
Great idea and I wish more people would give back. My 11 year old loves playing D but is not a candidate from an affordability perspective. It is very hard to find coaches that are adept at training D skills like gap control. In youth hockey very few kids love or want to play D – most coaches emphasize offense and love to teach the forwards how to “score”. Are only Edmonton residents invited or can others register and attend from outside Edmonton? Keep up the good work at ON – love reading your stuff.
We have kids from all over to the camp!
I don’t have children yet, but when I do!
Atta be Strudz
Nice man, this is really cool helping some local community kids total class act, be proud dude.
Good show, Struddy. Lots of kids out there need this kind of help.
trying to convince my son to ask about your shoot out record if there’s still spots open tomorrow
I am sure you have lots of money, but send me an email if I can send a couple hundy to buy a stick or something cool for one of the kids.
I am sure you have access to my email, I would be happy to and will right away.
It’s sad how out of reach hockey has become for people in the last ten years. When I grew up it was a tough hitch for parents to afford 500 a year to put their kids in.. I hear it is out of control these days.
Just checked out Struds’ camp site and I will buy two more spots to add to his generous offer. Five Spots open for future nhl players that need a hand.