Parents Rave About Whalers’ Recent Mid-Winter Break Clinics

In the middle of a hot Western Conference race for playoff positioning, the Whalers took a break to conduct a pair of two-day Mid-Winter Break Clinics with young hockey players on Monday and Tuesday, with a second session planned for Thursday and Friday at Compuware Arena.

 

The Mid-Winter Clinics coincide with a break in the school year for most of the surrounding communities. 

 

Parents and students braved the snow and poor road conditions to attend the two-day session on Monday and Tuesday, but based on the reaction of all concerned, the clinics are a unique and fun way for the Whalers to connect with a growing fan base.

 

“I have to say this is one of my son’s favorites,” said Skye Jendrell of Milford as she watched her son, Tor (8). “Not only because of the skill levels. The drills that are done are really well planned and are well-timed – they aren’t too long. 

 

“I think it’s great that the Whalers are out on the ice with the kids. It’s inspiring and makes it exciting.”

 

Whaler players connect with kids and their parents in different ways.

 

“For my son, number 24 (Rickard Rakell) is Swedish and my husband (Tobias) is Swedish,” Jendrell said. “He used to play competitively in Sweden. My husband loves the program, too. He’s played at the elite junior level in Sweden and he loves how the program is handled.”

 

Jendrell watched the clinic closely and was impressed.

 

“This is fun for the kids,” she said. “It’s not just drills. The one thing that impresses me about this, in a lot of the camps that you go to, the coaches are there (at the other camps) and they’re making money, but they’re not really doing things to develop the kids.

 

“Even in the two short days here, the skill sets they are working on are with the coach interacting with the kids and correcting them. They are making sure the drills are being done correctly. I think this is really worth your money and your time.”

 

Todd Anderson came from Romulus with three hockey players – his son Evan (5), nephew Liam (6), and niece Kelsey (8).

 

“We found out about the program a couple of weeks ago online,” Anderson said. “Compared to a lot of other programs we’ve been to, I like the fact that the team is out skating with everyone. I like that the camp is well-organized and am impressed with how well-run it is.”

 

As Anderson was chatting, Plymouth forwards Garrett Meurs and Mitchell Heard were rounding up a handful of students to go out onto the ice for warm-ups. There was plenty of friendly back-and-forth chatting going on between the Whalers and their students. 

 

“I like the one-on-one contact between the players and the students,” Anderson said. “I like the attention to detail. I can’t find one flaw with this program. We’ll definitely be back.”

 

The Whalers are very active in the local community. Heard, Meurs, and Rakell recently ran a practice for the Livonia mini-mites Bruins and their participation had a direct effect on the clinic on Monday and Tuesday.

 

“We found out about the clinic through my son’s coach,” said Shannon Kukla of Redford, the mother of Logan (5). “The Whalers came to our practice last week and we decided to come to this. The players are doing a great job with the kids. We’re having a really good time and we’ll do it again next time. Logan wouldn’t have missed this for anything.” 

 

For many young hockey players, the Whalers are no different than the NHL players many of them aspire to be.

 

“Sean (8) is absolutely thrilled to be here,” said Jennifer Bayer of West Bloomfield. “He loves the interaction with the Whalers. He loves hockey and this is as close as he can get right now to be with the big guys. We’ll be back in the summer.”

 

The long-distance award of the clinic belongs to Gary Ferguson, who was watching grandson, Leo (5). Ferguson lives in Hillman, MI, not far from Alpena.

 

Ferguson recently spent time in Florida and made a trip to the area to visit his step-daughter in Livonia before heading back up to Hillman. He loves spending time with his grandson.

 

“I’ll go to the moon to watch my grandson to play hockey,” he said. “This is his second year playing hockey and his first camp. I like the style of hockey and the quality of hockey here. Leo looks up to the players.”

 

There are still openings available for the two-day clinic on Thursday and Friday. Contact Natalie Shaver with any questions at [email protected] or at 734-453-3216.