'At the end of the day, it's all to help the kids'

The big picture is everything.

With a new coaching mentorship program in place, the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League, with the help of Craig Hartsburg and Zoltan ‘Toots’ Kovacs, is looking to improve the sport locally.

Doing that comes down to a lot of things, one of which is how coaches approach the game.

“We want them to think in the big picture and not just about their team,” Hartsburg said.

“At the end of the day, it’s all to help the kids,” Hartsburg also said. “If we can help put some structure in with the coaches, hopefully it will help the kids develop and enjoy the game and also the parents enjoying the game.”

In addition to developing players on the ice, Hartsburg hopes it will help players in other ways as well.

“You’re trying to develop them not just as hockey players,” Hartsburg said. “You spend a lot of time with them on the ice working on their skills but at the end of the day you’re also helping these kids grow up. That’s a very important role of coaches. They can address a lot of situations that these kids can take for the rest of their lives.

“The coaches have to understand that there’s a huge responsibility they’ve put on their shoulders,” Hartsburg added. “We’re trying to help them with that and make them better coaches.”

Enjoyment of the game is one thing Hartsburg hopes will come out of the program.

“For kids that want to play at higher levels, skating and skills are so important,” Hartsburg said. “That’s a big focus of what we’re trying to get across. Kids need to learn some positional play, it’s still important but that would be a small part of what Pee Wee coaches should be teaching. It’s getting kids to skate and enjoy the game. Get them to love the game. Get kids to love the game and they’ll love it for their life and they’ll be the ones eventually that will give back and help young kids at some point in their lives. It should be a big circle.”

With another meeting set to take place Thursday night at Sault College, Hartsburg called the reception of the initial meetings “very positive”

“We’ve had a couple of meetings and addressed what our goals were and the areas that we think are important for the development of the kids. We’ve gone from there and want them to really focus on certain areas.”

A veteran of 570 games in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars and 77 games in the World Hockey Association with the Birmingham, Hartsburg called the program an opportunity to give back following his lengthy playing and coaching career.

“With the knowledge and experience I have, hopefully I can pass things on and help put a program together that all of the coaches at the Pee Wee can be a part of and help build the program,” Hartsburg said.

“The game has been so good to myself that I’ve had some great experiences and it’s important that if I have a chance to give back, I give back,” Hartsburg also said.

Hartsburg retired from coaching following the 2015-16 NHL season after working four years with the Columbus Blue Jackets. His NHL coaching career included stints with the North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames. He also spent time with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm and Soo Greyhounds as well as the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips.

With the program in full swing at the Pee Wee, Hartsburg said it would also be open to other local coaches are welcome to participate.

“At any point, if any coach from Sault Major would like to be a part of it and listen to our program and our goals, they’re certainly welcome,” Hartsburg said. “We’re starting with the Pee Wee because that’s where we’ve been asked to help but along the way, it we can help other people, that would be great.”

Thursday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.