Brad Davidson knows hockey.
Davidson, who grew up playing 'AAA' hockey for the Halton Hurricanes, comes from a long line of hockey lovers and to say Canada’s favourite pastime is in his DNA would be a bit of an understatement.
The Midhurst resident's family has been involved with professional hockey over the last century. His grandfather, Bob Davidson, was captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, his father and uncle played and scouted for the organization, and Davidson himself spent more than a decade working for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Marlies in a variety of roles, from hockey development and equipment manager to community relations and in-game operations.
And even though professional sports is serious business, Davidson has always tried to make sure it was also fun, something he has brought to his more recent role as “coach” for his two sons' local minor hockey teams.
After several years away from the industry, Davidson decided it was time to get back on the ice permanently and recently launched Perfect Skating Barrie, a small-group development program that helps improve players' games by focusing on movement, efficiency, speed, and agility.
“Every skater has a different body type and a different way of moving. We are going to teach them the way that your body is going to move and they are going to hone in, with our help, on how to make that as efficient as possible," he said. "It’s (about) utilizing your edges, the way your body bends and moves and then adding in the game play.
“You see in a lot of hockey development, some guys teach just skating. There’s no puck and there’s no relation to the game. It’s difficult for kids and athletes to put those two things together," Davidson added. “Our programs start with the skating aspect... and then we add in the puck and show them that during a game — and I will even be that defender — this is when you’re going to use that move or that different skill in a game.”
Program participants can expect to do a lot of reps, he said, noting that's the best way for a skill to become second nature.
“You go to the gym and you do 10 reps. We are going to do a whole bunch of reps here and make them sweat. They’re going to be able to remember and map it in their brains so that they can do that movement again,” he said. "When they’re coming down the ice in a game and they know what they’re going to do because they’ve ingrained it in their brain (and) it’s easily done. The body moves to that spot (automatically).”
Davidson credits his wife with encouraging him to make the leap back to a career in hockey.
“Courtney put the bug in my ear. I’d be on the ice and she’d be in the stands and the parents kept telling her how I'd changed their kids' lives (or) how they hadn’t really been into hockey… but (I had) given them the motivation to come to the rink,” he said. “I’d always made it as fun as possible for the kids, but I also wanted them to learn as much as possible. I just really honed in on this happy medium of skills and fun at the same time.”
As a coach and a dad of two young hockey players, Davidson told BarrieToday he believes its important for kids to enjoy what they’re doing.
“You want them to want to go to the rink. I do everything I can to make it so they want to go on their own and that it’s their decision to want to go train," he said. "I can provide those skills to be able to do that, but I really want them to find it in themselves to want to better themselves every day so that it’s not a parent forcing them into it but rather the athlete wanting to do it themselves.”
Davidson says he had initially intended to create his own program from scratch, but after learning about the franchise opportunity with Perfect Skating, he decided it was too great of an opportunity to pass on.
“Working with (MLSE), they are the most professional company you can be with — the best marketing, etc. — and I remember that. In hockey, being professional is No. 1 and I saw that within this franchise," he said.
Programs launched last week.
“It’s been amazing,” he added. “We were going to run one early morning, but the response has been so great that we’ve opened them up for more athletes to join. We are kind of overwhelmed right now, which is a good thing. We’ve been working hard to ensure we have summer programming, too.”
