Hocktober Camp preps players for upcoming season

“All of a sudden our kids are competing”

It’s day two of the annual Hocktober Camp and camp head coach and Director of Hockey Operations for Rocky Mountain Hockey Camps Brian Smith wants to share a few words with the players ages 13 and up prior to their session.
He calls them in on the ice and as they amble toward him and take a knee, Smith is not pleased.
Sure, it’s been awhile since most of the hockey players have been on the ice but that’s no reason for them to come in at a snails pace.
Smith sends them out on the ice again and calls them back in. This time they skate in hard and are ready for another session.
“I’m a firm believer in discipline goes a long way,” says Smith. “Discipline and respect.”
Typically, the October Break is a time for Crested Butte families to get on one last trip to sunnier climes before the onset of winter. Still, there’s a large faction of hockey enthusiasts that stay home so they and their kids can partake in Hocktober Camp.
The camp is the brainchild of GJ Santelli and started three years ago thanks to the construction of the indoor ice facility in Gunnison, the financial support of the Wooden Nickel Fall Classic golf tournament and the efforts of the Crested Butte Parks and Rec Department.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good thing going for a good price,” says Santelli. ”For $50 they get good training, good testing and great coaching.”
Hocktober offers an opportunity for Crested Butte hockey teams to get a jump on the upcoming season almost a month ahead of time.
“We’re normally looking at ice time at the end of October and some years not until the middle of November,” says Crested Butte Wolfpack high school head coach John Mortell. “Hocktober Camp is a wonderful thing for us.”
This year the camp has sessions all day, every day from Monday, October 10 to Friday, October 14 for all ages, boys and girls, men and women.
Ninety-six kids are signed up this year from the mini-mites up to the high school age midget’s team. There are even two sessions for Hockey Moms and some goalie specific sessions. In addition to ice time and dry land work, Hocktober Camp is keeping track of the kids progression over the week. Smith brought radar guns to test the speed of their wrist shots and slapshots and the skaters are doing timed sprints and endurance tests on and off the ice.
While Smith runs the show on the ice, several Crested Butte coaches are helping out on a volunteer basis. Meanwhile, the Crested Butte Parks and Rec department has Vann Taylor and Brandon Snyder running dry land training just outside of the rink in Gunnison.
Smith has worked with Crested Butte players for several years at camps in Breckenridge and a couple Christmas camps in Crested Butte. He suggested to Santelli and other coaches that they should put together a camp like Hocktober for their kids but this year is his first year working at Hocktober Camp.
“The cool thing about him is he’s worked with our kids before and knows most of them,” says Mortell. “He pushed us to get this going and he’s just a wealth of knowledge.”
“Smith adds another element to our camp,” adds Santelli. “He has so much experience, even at the international level, and was just hired as a pro scout.”
Smith is impressed with what he has seen after not working with the Crested Butte players for two years.
“I’ve been really impressed,” says Smith. “It’s been pretty cool to see their growth over the past two years.”
Mortell uses the camp to get his high school team raring to go. According to Mortell, it’s more than just working the cobwebs out.
“I use it for double sessions,” says Mortell. “We have games in a couple of weeks so we’re looking forward to that. Plus, we’re taking in the new kids, the freshmen, and getting them right into the program. We open the season with eight non-league games and we want to be ready. I definitely think that, without it, we’d be a few steps back.”
Santelli points out that the Hocktober Camp appears to work as last year the Panthers girls’ team won the Aspen Fall Classic and the boys pee wee Blizzard team won the state title at their level.
“All of a sudden our kids are competing,” says Santelli. “Usually we wouldn’t be in shape until January or even February.”
Most of all, Smith sees the camp as perfect fit for the Crested Butte programs and a great start to the season for them.
“I’ve seen improvement out of them already,” says Smith. “These kids have always been so excited about hockey. This is the perfect opportunity for them to enhance their skills and get their skill set back. All of the groups are great.”