Burke, Bennett, Morrison, Rehman Highlight Hockey Conference Roster

It’s not too late to register as a delegate for the 2015 Hockey Alberta Hockey Conference and Annual General Meeting, being held Friday and Saturday, June 12-13 at the Westin in Calgary.

Delegates select one of three streams in which to register: Hockey Administrators, Coach Directors, or Elite Coaches. Depending on the stream selected, each delegate will participate in a specially-designed day-long series of information sessions on Saturday (see outline below for each stream).

As well, every delegate is eligible to attend the keynote address and panel discussion on Friday evening during the opening session of the Hockey Conference, starting at 7 pm featuring six well known personalities from the sport. They will be discussing the development of the game, with a focus on effective recruitment and retention of participants, including players, officials, coaches, trainers and administrators.

Members of the panel are:

Brendan Morrison, NHL alumnus, 16-year pro career, and currently a minor hockey coach
Kyle Rehman, NHL Referee
Ray Bennett, St. Louis Blues, Assistant Coach
Paul Carson, Hockey Canada, Vice President Development
Fran Gow, Hockey Alberta, Coach Mentor, and Alberta Junior Hockey League, Vice President Hockey Operations

A social will follow the panel discussion, hosted by Hockey Calgary. All delegates are encouraged to wear their Oilers or Flames apparel, as there will be some special activities in a unique “battle of Alberta.”

The AGM and Hockey Conference provides opportunities for Hockey Alberta’s member Minor Hockey Associations, Senior and Junior Club Teams, Sport Schools, League Administrators, and other hockey industry people, coaches, parents, and officials to participate in interactive sessions targeted at some of the hot topics in the game today.

In addition to the Friday night activities, Saturday’s busy schedule includes the Hockey Alberta Foundation’s Every Kid Every Community Breakfast, Hockey Alberta’s Awards Luncheon, the AGM, and three streams of specialized sessions – Hockey Administrators, Coach Directors, and Elite Coaches.

Each specialized stream includes a list of specially-selected topics and very knowledgeable session leaders, including:

Hockey Administrator Stream: key topics for Local Minor Hockey Associations and other organizations that oversee amateur hockey programs. Session leaders are:
Joel Christianson, Province of Alberta; TOPIC: Minor Hockey Association Governance
Senior managers from Hockey Alberta with updates on non-body checking option, Initiation Hockey, and AA Hockey initiatives for 2015-16.

Coach Director Stream: featured topics are Coaching Pathway, Communication/Support, Player/Team Selection, Provincial Development Plan, Coach Mentorship Plan, LMHA sharing topics, Issues/Trends workshop, and NCCP Coach Clinics.

Elite Coach Stream: session leaders are:
Brad Kilb, Coordinator, Leadership in Coaching, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary; TOPIC: Generational Coaching
Mike Bergren, Goaltending Coach, Kootenay Ice; TOPIC: A Goaltender’s Perspective
Dominic Pittis, Skills Coach, Calgary Flames; TOPIC: Teaching Skills
Spiros Anatas, Head Coach, University of Lethbridge Pronghorns; TOPIC: The Little Things
Ray Bennett; TOPIC: Defensive Concepts

The two-day event concludes on Saturday afternoon, with Hockey Alberta’s annual general meeting, starting at 2 pm. The AGM includes elections for positions available on the Board of Directors.

Approximately 250 representatives from the hockey community in Alberta attended the two-day event, which was held at the Calgary Westin. Participants included executive members and coach directors from minor hockey associations, coaches, volunteers, and Hockey Alberta staff members.

A number of individuals and minor hockey associations were recognized for outstanding achievements as part of the Awards Luncheon. Recipients were:

Minor Hockey Association Executive of the Year: Graham Tanner, St. Alberta Minor Hockey Association
Minor Hockey Association of the Year: Killam Minor Hockey Association
Meritorious Awards: Darcy Haugan, Peace River; Gary Tremblay, Leduc
Provincial Championships Exceptional Host Site Awards: Hockey Edmonton/SEERA, Peewee AA Minor; Lacoka (Lacombe/Ponoka), Bantam Female A.
Hockey Development Awards: Blair Becker, Craig DeCoursey, Chris Turnbull
Ernie Boruk Award (for contributions to the Hockey Alberta Referee Council): Don Roberts
Dave Ganley Award (for contributions to officiating at the local or provincial level): Aaron Brown, Gary Greenough
Officials Zone Awards: Marty Tingstad (Peace); Robert Olynyk, Hockey Edmonton, Chris Rebus (North); Derek Krys (North East); Paul Coad (North Central); Geoff DaSilva, Sean Brett, Corey Halford (Central); and Aaron Brown (South).

During the AGM, chair of the Board of Directors Terry Engen presented the Chair of the Board award to Edmonton’s Betty Chmilar. As well, Jerrold Lemko was elected as a Director at Large to the Hockey Alberta Board of Directors.

The Hockey Conference and AGM opened on Friday night with a keynote address from Brian Burke, President of Hockey Operations for the Calgary Flames. The keynote was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dean Molberg and Rhett Warrener of Sportsnet 960. Burke joined panelists Ray Bennett (assistant coach St. Louis Blues), Brendan Morrison (retired NHL player), Kyle Rehman (NHL referee), Paul Carson (Vice President, Membership Development with Hockey Canada), and Fran Gow (Hockey Alberta Coach Mentor). The group talked about a variety of topics, including half-ice and year-round hockey, coaching, and body-checking.

Approximately 250 representatives from the hockey community in Alberta attended the event, which was held at the Calgary Westin. Participants included executive members and coach directors from minor hockey associations, coaches, volunteers, and Hockey Alberta staff members.

Over more than two decades with Hockey Alberta and the Hockey Alberta Foundation, Scott Robinson has amassed a lot of memories and seen many changes in the operation of amateur hockey in Alberta.

But starting in August, Robinson will be embarking on the next stage of his career, as the new Chief Executive Officer of the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer. The Canada Winter Games committee made the announcement on Friday morning in Red Deer.

“I have had the opportunity to be mentored and influence by so many people, from coaches to players to officials to colleagues. I have been gifted with the time, teaching and mentorship of some of the greatest minds, characters and leaders Alberta and Canada has seen not only in hockey but in sport and society,” said Robinson. “And I am looking forward to taking what I have learned and experienced over the past 23 years, and having that benefit the Canada Winter Games in 2019 in Red Deer, and sport development across Alberta and Canada.”

In reflecting on his time at Hockey Alberta, a few accomplishments and events particularly stand out for Robinson:

Director of Operations for Team Alberta male and female hockey teams at the 1995 and 1999 Canada Winter Games (the male team won silver in 1995 and gold in 1999; the female team bronze in 1999);
Developing the new Advanced 1 Coaches Development Model which is still used today;
Developing the Regional Centre Model in 2003 for Hockey Alberta. It was piloted in 2005 and is now implemented across the province;
Assisting in the transition to new Governance Model for Hockey Alberta in 2012 -2013;
Member of the Hockey Canada Hockey Development Council (1997-2004), Coaches Committee (1999-2002); and
Team Manager, 1998 National Under-18 Team at Four-Team tournament in Slovakia (gold medal).

Most recently, Robinson has been the Executive Director of the Hockey Alberta Foundation. The Foundation is Canada’s only provincial Hockey Foundation, and has invested more than $750,000 into hockey in Alberta since 2002.

“It has been my pleasure to work and volunteer beside Scott for the past few years. Since my earliest involvement with Hockey Alberta, Scott has been a constant figure, most recently as our Executive Director for the Hockey Alberta Foundation,” said John Windwick, Board Chair for the Foundation. “In my time on the board, Scott has been our key employee, working behind the scenes, running events, creating new programs and working on the strength of our Board’s governance and committee structure. Scott leaves us for a great opportunity where I know he will provide the same dedication and expertise he has shown the Foundation over these past few years.”

Robinson joined Hockey Alberta (still referred to at that time as the Alberta Amateur Hockey Association) in 1992 as Coordinator of High Performance. He was filling a vacancy left by Ray Bennett (current assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues), who had joined the Moose Jaw Warriors as assistant general manager with Mike Babcock.

Since then, he has served as Manager of Technical Development Programs, Senior Manager of Business Development, Executive Director of the Foundation, and overseen marketing and strategic planning processes for Hockey Alberta. In 2005, Robinson received the President’s Award from then-President Loren Krukowski, and in 2007, he received the Hockey Alberta Development Award.

“Scotty has been a mentor to many of us within the Hockey Alberta family, and he brought a passion that will be missed in our organization. It’s a huge shift for us to lose someone like Scott who, in many ways, has been Hockey Alberta since his start in 1992,” said Rob Litwinski, Executive Director of Hockey Alberta. “Working with Scott for 14 of those 23 years, it will be very different to work in this office without him. But I am happy to see him so excited for his new opportunity, I know how much the Canada Winter Games being in Red Deer means to him.”

Hockey Alberta has announced new Vision and Mission statements that will help set the strategic direction and guide day-to-day operations as the organization moves forward.

The new Vision statement is: Hockey for life.

The new Mission statement is:

To create positive opportunities and experiences FOR ALL PLAYERS through innovative leadership and exceptional service.

“We believe the new Vision and Mission statements are very aspirational in what Hockey Alberta would like to be, and reflect that at the end of the day we need to do what is right for the player,” said Terry Engen, Chair of the Board of Directors for Hockey Alberta.

The new statements emerged from a strategic planning retreat hosted by the Board of Directors in October 2014. The retreat also involved senior management from Hockey Alberta and key volunteer committee members. Participants evaluated whether the existing Vision and Mission statements, which had been in place for about 15 years, were in alignment with the feedback being provided by the hockey community in Alberta.

A significant aspect of the new statements is recognition of key stakeholders, who play major roles in ensuring that the goals contained in the Vision and Mission can be accomplished. The contributions provided by stakeholders are important in the growth and improvement of each and every player in the province, regardless of age, skill level, experience or location.

Hockey Alberta’s stakeholders include: Administrators, Alberta Sport Connection, Club Teams, Coaches, Corporate Partners, Hockey Canada, Leagues, Local Minor Hockey Associations, Managers, Officials, Parents, and Trainers.

The new Vision and Mission statements were unveiled during the opening session of the 2015 Hockey Alberta Hockey Conference and Annual General Meeting on Friday, June 12, in Calgary.