By Andrew Thomson
You could count the number of spectators on one hand: a few parents scattered along the boards, and myself, losing the battle to find a heater and a warm seat.
It was 4 p.m. on a rainy Monday afternoon at McNabb Arena, and the City of Ottawa’s weekly children’s shinny program was getting underway. Some players came to the Percy Street rink by bicycle, others with a parent.
One young player almost ran me down on a slick Gladstone Avenue sidewalk as he rollerbladed towards the arena with goalie pads in tow.
Despite these hazards, this day was an opportunity to watch our national sport in its purest form. Pools of ink have been spilled in recent years lamenting the pressures faced by minor hockey players in Canada: screaming parents, win-at-all-cost coaching, and being scouted before puberty to name a few. Many writers want us to long for the “good old days” of dawn-to-dusk pond hockey with no rules or supervision.
Sitting alone on press row — a long, cold, wooden bench in the south stands — I wondered what the same type of experience would bring for Centretown’s finest young shinny players, albeit in an indoor rink.
Trying to keep track of which skater was on what team was an exercise in futility. At one point there were 15 players on the ice chasing the puck.
There was an Ottawa Senator, a Washington Capital, and even a goalie from the Colorado Avalanche—though a little Patrick Roy he was not. One of the best players had no gloves on, and another skated in jeans and his minor team jacket.
There were no off-side or icing calls, no face-offs, and no line changes. In fact there weren’t even referees to blow their whistles at any of the rules infractions that were plaguing the ice.
There were also no glass-rattling bodychecks, high-sticking incidents, or bench-clearing brawls. But there were some good saves, a few nice passes and dekes, and even a top-corner goal.
Maybe they thought the anonymous man scribbling in his notebook was a scout.
Carleton University student Greg Andujar laced up his skates to act as the game’s supervisor at McNabb. After an hour of making sure the older kids weren’t breaking the rules or hogging the puck from the younger participants, he talked in the arena lobby about the program’s goals.
“We promote team play, skating, touching the puck. Most of the little ones are just starting off and getting a feel of the game,” Andujar said.
Cindy Sanschagrin talked about the benefits of the free shinny program to improving her six-year-old son’s skill level. The same program exists at Sandy Hill and Tom Brown Arenas for children 12 and under, and she said the free cost of shinny is important for a lot of families.
“I’d be very upset if they stopped it,” Sanschagrin said while standing near the visitor’s bench, adding that not enough people are aware of the program.
Back to the on-ice action, and my attention kept returning to the smallest player on the ice, a boy of perhaps five or six years whose neckguard hung over sweater.
He had taken to cherry picking for both teams, rhythmically banging his stick for the puck at all times. Shooting on goalies twice his size, he couldn’t buy a goal.
With ten minutes remaining in the session he finally scored on his own rebound, with everyone else banging their sticks for a pass.
Good for him.