Hockey tailored to your needs

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

Even when he is skating after the puck on the other side of the Atlantic in Belgium, World Junior league player Carl Michaelson's thoughts are never too far from Westlake Hockey Development School near the West Island, which he co-founded three years ago and coaches at.

"I eat and breathe this school. It's 365 days a year," said Michaelson. Westlake is hardly just another hockey development school, according to him. After coaching hockey in different places for years, Michaelson really saw the need for an establishment that caters to each player's individual needs as much as possible.

"It's really focused on the individual," said Evan Haney, 17, who was so impressed with the school three years ago when he first attended that he went there for the next two years.

Instead of focusing simply on on-ice training, for example, Westlake has a dedicated weight training room along with an instructor, and check-ups on players' nutrition and diet.

Haney said he was particularly impressed with the off-ice aspect of training. Instead of hitting the weights three times a week, he goes for five days, for example. "That's what ultimately separates you from other people," he said, when trying to make it to the big leagues. Haney attends a prep school these days in New York with the goal of moving up to the next level, a D1 college.

"We're not saying we're going to take a player and turn him into an all-star in a week," said Michaelson, "but we're going to give you the steps necessary for success."

Derek Andrews, 15, who attended the hockey school last summer, said he was impressed by the personal attention coaches gave their students as well as the high calibre of staff there. "One thing they really helped me with was my skating," he said. "We had Matthew Lombardi, who is one of the fastest skaters in the NHL."

"We develop relationships with the players, keep in touch with them afterwards," said Michaelson. However, he warned, the program at Westlake is not for amateurs who only want to play hockey for the fun of it. The school has top-notch instructors for a reason, and even offers a prep school consulting program.

Haney said Michaelson spent a lot of time sitting down with him to figure out exactly which of the prep schools were best for him.

The school currently has seven instructors, including Michaelson and Calgary Flames forward Matthew Lombardi, also one of Westlake's co-founders.

The school runs a six-week program in the summer, and as of this year will offer 11-13 year-old boys and 14-17 year-old girls the chance to hit the ice for the first time.

Though membership costs $800, Michaelson said Westlake enrolments qualify for the federal government's new $500 subsidy program for child fitness.

On-ice practice for the school takes place on its facilities at Cote de Liesse Road in St. Laurent, and off-ice training at another centre a stone's throw away. For more information, e-mail

info@westlakehockeydevelopment.com.