Katie Janes was all smiles sharing the ice with Toronto Maple Leafs legend Wendel Clark during a hockey clinic put off by the National Hockey League club as part of the 2018 Hockey Day in Canada celebrations Thursday at the Corner Brook Civic Centre.
Janes was among the young boys and girls who had fun learning some new drills and some tricks to improving their shot or being a better skater for an hour.
She was also among the players — oh and there were lots of parents — who were eager to get a hockey stick, a jersey or a hockey card signed by Clark after the on-ice session.
Janes is a 10-year-old Deer Lake native who hones her skills in the Deer Lake minor hockey female division, which just happens to be hosting a U12 female invitational hockey tournament this weekend at the Hodder Memorial Recreation Complex.
She believes she got some good tips on improving her wrist shot and how to be a better passer so it was time well spent and she hopes to use those to help her team over the weekend.
It was a great bit of fun for her. It was worth the trip down the highway and she’s eager to meet some of the other hockey greats in town for the event before it’s all wrapped up on Saturday.
“It was really amazing because I’m a major Toronto Maple Leaf (fan),” Katie said.
She knows Clark is one of the greatest Leafs of all time so she thought it was great to meet him.
Her favourite Leaf today is Auston Matthews, so maybe one day she will get to meet him, too, because she found out that hockey is a game where anything is possible with Hockey Day in Canada organizers believing that Corner Brook would be a great city to host the country’s biggest celebration of the game.
