Joey Payeur
Cole Tymkin now has skated in front of an NHL head coach and done an interview with an NHL general manager.
His mission to live the prototypical Canadian boy’s dream just entered a new and very real phase.
The Rainy River native who now lives in Fort Frances returned this past week from the Dallas Stars’ four-day development camp in Frisco, Tex. with an initial look at what life in hockey’s most elite league is like.
“It definitely pushes you forward,” said the 17-year-old forward, a former SIJHL rookie-of-the-year with the Fort Frances Lakers coming off his first season with the OHL’s London Knights.
“The OHL was a huge step up from the SIJHL,” he noted. “But to go from London to Dallas, you see everything is so professional and to the point.
“There’s no messing around.
“It would be an honour to get on with any NHL team,” he added.
Tymkin was one of about 35 players invited to the camp, which included several of the Stars’ top draft picks.
“It was a really good learning experience, for sure,” he remarked.
“We had off-ice seminars on nutrition, sleep patterns,” he noted. “It was a lot to take in.
“Hockey players think they have to do more on the ice than off the ice, but that’s not true.”
Tymkin was put through some rigorous skating sessions during the camp–without pucks–that lasted up to 45 minutes and simultaneously taught him new techniques.
“There wasn’t really any scrimmages, which was not my favourite thing because I couldn’t show what I could do physically in a game situation,” he conceded.
“There was a lot of battle drills,” he added. “I thought I performed well.”
On the second day, attendees got a half-hour talk from newly re-hired Stars’ head coach Ken Hitchcock, who has 781 career regular-season coaching wins and needs just two more to pass N.Y. Islanders’ legendary bench boss Al Arbour for third place on the all-time list.
“He was talking mainly about how to be a good teammate; having each other’s back,” Tymkin recalled.
“At the end of the second day, we were not comfortable with each other on the team,” he noted.
“So [Hitchcock] made a rule where you had to make physical contact with everyone–it didn’t matter whether it was a high-five or a fist bump.
“By the end of the week, we felt like we were all on the same team.”
Tymkin also got a chance to be “Star”-struck.
“[Stars’ forward] Tyler Seguin walked past us in the gym one day . . . that’s the big time right there,” Tymkin said about
Please see “Tymkin,” B3
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Dallas’ leading scorer last season with 69 points.
Another top-five draft pick was on the receiving end of a geography lesson by Tymkin.
“It was pretty cool to explain to guys like [Miro] Heiskanen where I live,” he enthused in reference to the Finnish defenceman, who was the Stars’ first-round pick and third overall selection this year.
At the end of the camp, all the players were brought in for individual discussions with Dallas GM Jim Nill, assistant GM and the AHL’s Texas Stars’ GM Scott White, and Texas head coach Derek Laxdal.
“They asked me how the camp went and how I thought [the Knights] would do this season,” Tymkin recounted.
“I told them I wanted to step up my offensive role, and they were excited about it and said to keep working hard and things will happen.
“They were trying to put their finger on who came out of Fort Frances to play in the NHL,” he added.
“They guessed [current Chicago Blackhawks’ forward] Patrick Sharp [Thunder Bay] and I said no,” he grinned.
“I think I gave them a reason to keep an eye on me,” said Tymkin, who will head to Traverse City, Mich. to be part of the Stars’ crew taking part in an NHL development team tournament beginning Sept. 14..
“I’m hungry this year,” he stressed.
“I want to prove I can put up some points and be helpful to the supporting guys, and help the team win.”
Please see “Tymkin,” B3
