Posted on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Hi everyone, it has been a few weeks since I last posted and there has been a lot going on and there is a lot to talk about. Out here in BC I have been very busy the last couple weeks, our camp is going in full swing, we have been increasing the workouts and started on ice workouts last week too. Some of the kids have really improved over the summer and I think are going to do great at their upcoming camps. When I look at some of the kids here, I wish that some of the young hockey players in the UK had the same kind of opportunity that these kids here in Canada have. There is just so many more options here and so many more goals and dreams for these young players to try and accomplish. I feel that in the UK there is such a fine line when a hockey player reaches around 16 whether he makes the next step or not. I think there is a big gap there that could be filled with some kind of Junior A type program where the kids are in a professional style environment with good coaching and full time training. Maybe I am way off, but I think this would help a lot with development and you would see a lot more young impact players coming into the Elite League and maybe even other top leagues around the world.
OK, I’m finished my rant. Onto more fun stuff. Two weekends ago, I was back in Fernie, British Columbia for a former Giant’s wedding. Who was this Giant you ask? Well it was Steve O’Brien. In case you have short memory or are a new fan, Steve was a team mate of mine when I last played in Belfast when we won the league in 2005/2006. Steve was a great team mate who worked extremely hard on and off the ice and it was great to catch up with him again. This is starting to sound like a speech! But anyways, it was a great wedding, with great food, scenery and some great people. Another former Elite League and long time UK import player that was there was Ivan Matulik. Ivan mostly played in Cardiff in the UK and now lives in Vancouver in case anyone was wondering! Ivan was (is) a monster of a man and was my first choice for team mate in the river rafting trip we had the day before the wedding. I think he saved me about 3 times from going overboard. On many occasions was the only person in our boat strong enough to hold on and paddle at the same time!
I can’t believe my summer only has a couple of weeks left. My flights are all booked up and I am ready to come back, this summer came and went so fast. I am looking forward to being back in Belfast and meeting all the new guys. Training camp is like the first day of school and Christmas all at the same time. Meeting the new guys, new coach, for some a new city. I know for some guys it is a hard transition moving to the UK, different food, new city, different banking and lets not forget, different driving! That always makes for good conversation in the locker room, hearing the new guys talk about their experiences driving on the wrong (correct) side of the road for the first time. I am not going to talk about my wife’s first time driving in Belfast or I may not be allowed to get a Giants car this year! (sorry Charles Hurst) Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be playing back in the UK. I could look at it one way and say I failed in my attempt to make it big in North America and the NHL. But in another way I can look back and feel very happy and content about the way things have went in my career so far. I played for 12 years in Canada in the States, led a Jr A league in scoring, got drafted to the NHL, got a scholarship and attended one of the top hockey Universities in the US. Among other things, now, I get to play professionally practically where I grew up, only a couple of hours from home. Sometimes I forget how lucky we hockey players have things, and especially me.
Colin Shields
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