DAX MACLEAN &
sTACY sMALLMAN
There are many reasons why hockey appeals to such a wide variety of people. For some, it is the pure excitement of putting on equipment and skating with speed across the ice. For others, it is the pursuit of competition and challenge, or even the love of being around a team. Our program is designed to help all players, regardless of skill level or age, improve their overall performance and enhance their understanding of this sport.
We co-founded our Champions Hockey program because we built a love for the game and we wanted to pass on our learnings and experiences in a practical way. We believe the keys to success in hockey are to develop sound fundamentals, for each player to build an understanding of how they can be most effective, and to develop the Champions Attitude.
To us a “Champions Lifestyle” is more than winning. It’s how you conduct yourself off the ice, at school, at work, and in life every day. This lifestyle is what we try to instill in our players. Doing things the right way, for the right reasons. No shortcuts, being polite, ethical and professional, it may be more work and effort for some, but it is work worth doing.
OUR HISTORY
The history of Champions Hockey began in the summer of 2007 when we wanted to get extra ice time for our boys Spencer and Brett during the summer months. We wanted this ice time to be strictly skill development and conditioning,. We began by calling our sons teammates and friends to help pay for the cost of the ice.
After that first summer in 2007 with one group of 15 kids, word quickly spread of what we were offering. In our second year we grew to two groups of approximately 25 kids. In the summer of 2009 is when we grew to three groups and decided that this was going to become a small business venture instead of just a hobby for us, and ice time for our kids.
The year 2009 also saw the introduction of the name “Champions Hockey” when we needed to come up with a better name than “Stacy & Dax’s summer program”. Since we both played hockey at UNB and both won National Championships, Stacy in 2007, Dax in 1998, we thought it made sense. The name “Champions” represents the standard, and more importantly the “attitude” in which we aim to operate.
Today, we now have numerous groups catering to player’s ages 5-17. We also have midget prep camps, high school prep camps as well as weekly training for Professional, University and Junior players in partnership with The Atlantic Canadian Sports Institute.
We also do day camps during professional development (PD) days during the school year. Throughout the season, we are often hired by individual teams and coaches to run practices; as well as put on team building weekends
In the summer of 2012, we partnered with SJ Sea Dogs to be their Head on-ice instructors for all their Fall and Winter development program which runs from fall to spring.
