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The Cowboy Chronicles: The Cast of Characters

Sunday, 27 June 2010 17:00

Freelance writer Chad Buchholz is spending time with some members of Canada's Alpine Ski Team as they prepare for the upcoming season and he's agreed to send us a few updates. Here's the latest instalment of "The Cowboy Chronicles."

The Men's CAST hockey camp in Magog, QC has been over for a few days now, but ever since it ended I've been thinking to myself how interesting are the parallels to be drawn between the individual guys as skiers as compared to the individual guys as hockey players. None of the guys play puck with the same sort of aplomb with which they ride skis obviously, but in watching them on the ice once can see how the characteristics that have made each respective athlete excel on the slopes could have translated to success on the hockey rink, had the athlete been so inclined.

As an old hockey bum and still-devoted student of the game, I present my observations...

The Sleeper - Perhaps similarly to how he's positioned himself on the World Cup circuit, on the ice Robbie Dixon is the quiet killer. He's not the flashiest player and he doesn't make the most noise, but when he gets an opportunity he takes full advantage of it. Flying under the radar, he plays sound positional hockey and comes through in a clutch.

The Magician - Watching Trevor White on the ice it would be hard to mistake him for anything other than a slalom specialist. Blink-and-you'll-miss-it quickness, unmatched hand-eye co-ordination, and poise in tight places, White was a one-man highlight reel throughout camp.

The Upstart - Just by watching you can tell that Dustin Cook has the most competitive hockey experience of all the guys. But, also, in watching him you can see the desire to use the skills he has to dominate, establishing himself in his first camp with the big boys as a force both on the ice and in the gym. Led all scorers and potted the decisive goal in the White team's 5-4 victory in Game 5 of the series.

The Stalwarts - Watching the on-ice rivalry develop between Manny Osborne-Paradis and Erik Guay was especially interesting. As the camp went on it seemed like each established himself as team captain through sheer on ice-presence - towards the end of the last game there was genuine heat as the two battled in front of the Red team's net (all in the name of fun, of course). Their styles are vastly different from each other - Manny powerful and bruising, Erik balanced and positional - but both approach the hockey training with an almost intimidating determination to soak up every piece of schooling and refine every technique as quickly as possible. You can tell that the both of them expect to dominate whatever it is they put their minds to. Also, and perhaps not surprisingly, each athlete possesses the heaviest shot on each of their respective teams, both at one point or the other rattling a goalie unlucky enough to get in front of the puck.

The Scrapper - On ice, Mike Janyk's technical skills are still in the refinement stage. Despite this lack of polish, Janyk is able to surprise on the ice with deceptive speed and the sort of never-quit tenacity that makes getting around him a difficult proposition in any situation.

The Headhunter - Louis-Pierre Helie has the downhiller's nose for the net possessed also by the likes of Manny and Erik and a slapshot that can be categorized somewhere between 'dangerous' and 'deadly.' Had Lup's third period deflection in the final game not hit the crossbar there's a pretty good chance the Red team would have taken the series.

The Grinder - While he might not have had the most points for the White team, Tyler Nella played one of the most important roles, using down-low strength and puck-hungry determination to prove himself almost unbeatable along the boards. Sure, this isn't the glitziest designation in hockey, but without somebody like playing a game like Nella's a team can forget about winning championships.

The Rookie - Before the Cowboys hockey camp, Kelby Halbert had, by his own estimation, played hockey "Maybe once in the last ten years." While working one-on-one with coaches Matt Price and Felix Potvin throughout the camp to improve his skating, Kelby within a span of five days went from unfortunate observer on several opposing team to goals to defensive specialist, using his almost 7' wingspan and extra-long stick to swat the White team away at the blueline. AND he got the snipe of the tournament during the shootout that followed game 4, potting a far-side low corner shot to bring the Red team into a tie with White.

The Unsung Heroes - Trying to play a competitive hockey game without a goalie is akin to trying to ski a slalom without gates - it doesn't make a lot of sense and it's not a whole lot of fun. If, however, you happen to have goalies, and those goalies are playing their hearts out, you've got yourself the makings of a good time. Local Magog goalies David and Stefan returned for their third year of backstopping the Red and White teams and were both oftentimes brilliant. Thanks guys.