Next generation welcomes cutting edge
Ingham among top prospects closer to NHL ready after high-tech development camp
Jacob Ingham of the Mississauga Steelheads is the prototypical teenage goalie that scouts are looking for on the road to the 2018 NHL draft: six-foot-four and lightning quick.
At the recent Newport Next development camp, the 17-year-old joined netminder Malcolm Subban, drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2012, on the ice at the MasterCard Centre to perform some skills and drills.
Only this wasn’t just another summer workout.
Initially, Ingham was asked to do some routine moves. He dropped from a standup position to a butterfly, then moved laterally across the crease. His moves were stunningly swift, turning the heads of some seasoned observers from the Newport Sports Management team in the camp’s third year.
On the ice, renowned skills coach Jari Byrski skated up to the teenager after the drill and broke down his movements on an iPad, a first for Ingham.
It was just a small part of what the camp has come to represent — a week of exposure to everything prospects such as Ingham can expect once they’re drafted and landed with an NHL team.
“What they showed us is how we executed the drill,” Ingham said. “Sometimes you do it and you think you’ve done it right, but they show you that maybe your arm wasn’t where it should be . . . stuff like that. It’s pretty specific.”
It’s become a one-of-a-kind camp by combining training with hightech analysis. Some of hockey’s finest skills wizards — skating coaches Dawn Braid and Tracy Tutton, plus Byrski and former Maple Leafs winger Gary Roberts (now a highperformance trainer) — also exposed the prospects to the latest ideas on mental approach and nutrition.
Every coach was equipped with an iPad featuring hockey-specific programs, plus an Apple Watch Series 2 — including portals for monitoring and mentoring players’ progress through the summer and beyond. The apps include Coach’s Eye, where movements can be broken down using video, complete with voiceover capability and background instruction from the coaches.
The camp is held at the Leafs’ training base, which is also home to Journey to Excel, a cutting-edge facility run by Adrian Lomonaco and former Canadian Olympic hockey star Jennifer Botterill.
“For me, the iPad is like my stick and glove used to be,” Lomonaco said. “We used to do (training and coaching) based on feel, but now you can physically see what each athlete is doing.”
All of the A-list instruction and tech bling is about one thing: helping prospects achieve their NHL goals.
“This helps all of us,” said Ingham, one of 25 prospects at the camp — which also featured Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, the projected No. 1 pick next June, plus Czech defenceman Libor Zabransky and Soo Greyhounds centre Barrett Hayton.
“We’re going to go to the combine camps next year and this gives us more experience for events like that, and for just how the NHL is going to be.”
Ingham, who helped the Steelheads reach the OHL final in May, said many elements of the camp were entirely new. For instance, there was a morning session with Roberts, who established a communication-video portal with the prospects and spoke about the importance of good nutrition. He brought along a chef, who taught the prospects how to cook a healthy lunch — and made them eat it.
“We try to put them through a week of experiences that they have not had in their careers so far, and then give them an edge going into their draft year,” said Wade Arnott of Newport Sports.
Ingham and the rest of the prospects learned in detail about what scouts are looking for, in a seminar with NHL Central Scouting’s Dan Marr and members of the Philadelphia Flyers staff. They also heard from Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin on NHL management’s approach to the draft, while NHLers Tom Wilson, Matt Tkachuk, Ryan Strome and others hit the ice and answered questions about the road to the big leagues. Camp wrapped up with an NHLstyle practice run by Leafs assistant coach D.J. Smith. There was also a game and a skills competition recorded by a full crew from TSN, which offered tips on dealing with the media.
“A lot of this stuff we haven’t seen, not at this level,” Ingham said.
Arnott wouldn’t put a price tag on the whole project, but said the camp represents a “significant investment” for Newport, a top agency representing hockey players since 1981.
For Ingham, there was no other place he’d rather spend part of the summer.
“I wouldn’t trade this for anything,” he said. “I just think we are seeing how they do things at the NHL level, and that’s only going to help us.”