UTICA, NY – Since the age of seven, Ryan Suwek has been doing what many kids in the Northeast region do during the winter – playing hockey. In the seven years since first lacing up the skates at one of the many rinks that dot the landscape of the Mohawk Valley in central New York, he has dedicated large chunks of time and a whole lot of passion to the sport, hoping like any other hockey-crazed kid to some day get a shot at hearing his name called at the NHL Entry Draft.
These days, the 14-year old Suwek can vouch for what hard work and desire can do. He can also say that he is a member of a select group, having earned an invitation to USA Hockey’s Select 14 Player Development Camp that was held in Rochester, NY.
The camp, considered to be the most elite amateur hockey camp in the United States, is run by USA Hockey, the governing body for amateur hockey throughout the country. It is an invitation-only event with players picked through a series of open district tryouts, spring tryouts and a regional selection camp. The end result is a concentration of the best 140 young hockey players in age groups from 14 to 17, both male and female, from across the country coming together for a week to learn from top level coaches, trainers, presenters and each other.
“It definitely exposed me to better players. Obviously not all of the top players in the U.S. are from the Northeast where the hockey league that we play in is,” Suwek said. “It shows you how good some of the kids are from all over. They’re not just good from one area. It’s all over the U.S.”
For Suwek, the road to the Nationals Camp started when his father Rich enrolled him in a learn-to-skate program in their hometown of Utica. As he climbed the youth hockey ladder in Whitesboro and Clinton, New York, it was apparent that Suwek had talent. The confirmation of how good the young man was came when while a seventh grader, he was picked to play for the team at Whitesboro High School, becoming just the second player in the history of the program to be that young and make the squad.
The fact that Ryan Suwek showed so much talent at that early age could be directly related to his biggest hockey mentor – his father. Rich Suwek has quite a hockey background of his own, having had a very successful junior career in Montreal. He then moved into the pro game, logging minor league time with the AHL Rochester Americans, IHL Port Huron Flags and the ACHL Mohawk Valley Stars.
The elder Suwek never pushed his son to play hockey, preferring that the boy be the one who chose how far he would take the sport based on sheer self-motivation and desire.
“I just didn’t want to force it down his throat just because I had played before. If he liked the game, then all the power to him,” Rich Suwek said. “Any ice time he can get, he’ll go down to the rink. He loves the game so much.”
Under dad’s suggestion, Ryan began his playing career as a defenseman. As her got older, he moved up to the forward line, learning each of the positions in an effort to expand his offensive range. On his father’s advice, he moved back to the blue line, the position that he continues to play.
“My dad pulled me back to defense because he wanted me to learn both parts of the game both offensive and defensively,” Ryan said.
A year ago, Ryan Suwek opted out of high school hockey in favor of playing for the Syracuse Nationals of the Empire West Amateur Hockey League (EWAHL). He is currently listed on the 2011-2012 Nationals roster for their 1997 AAA team (players born in 1997) as he enters the ninth grade this fall.
Even the summers have been full of hockey for Suwek. Each of the last three summers, he has been on the ice playing, including last year when he participated in the One Hockey AAA Tournament in Toronto. Suwek’s play against the region’s elite earned him a trip to Philadelphia to play in One Hockey’s top level AAA tourney.
The trip to the Nationals camp involved a lot of work and just a little bit of luck for Suwek. It began in March with the Central New York district tryouts where he performed well enough to be invited to the state Spring Selection camp. Following a series of skills sessions and two games in front of talent evaluators, Suwek began the waiting game, hoping he would receive an invitation to Rochester.
As it turned out, seven defensemen were initially selected to represent New York state at the camp. Suwek was judged to be the eighth best blue liner and one of three alternates. That’s when the luck kicked in as one of the original seven defensemen picked dropped out, giving Suwek the opportunity to take the final, very coveted spot.
Suwek was out at dinner with his father, uncle and one of his sisters when the phone call with the camp invitation came.
“It was quite exciting actually. He (Ryan’s father) got a message on his phone and he was telling me to be quiet so he could listen and I thought I was in trouble or something,” Suwek said. “Then he told me and I was really excited.”
Rich Suwek had to let the development camp people know by 9:30 pm that evening whether Ryan would be attending. It was a no-brainer type of decision but Rich was indeed glad that he checked his voicemail that evening.
“We had to contact them or else they were going to fill that spot,” Rich Suwek said.
With the invite squared away, it was time for Ryan Suwek to start preparing for the camp. And how does one prepare to compete against the best the country has to offer? Practice, practice, practice.
“I just skated. Skated and started to get in shape and everything,” Suwek said. “During the season I probably skate six to seven hours a week but I skate more during the summer than I do in the winter. In the summer I skate basically every single day, two to three hours each day.”
Suwek chose to skip playing in AAA tournaments so that he could work with former Minnesota North Star draft pick Ken Blum. Blum is the coach of the PT Bulldogs, a summer program that offers power skating, plenty of practice time and numerous scrimmages.
Rich Suwek attributes Blum’s coaching skills and mentorship as being instrumental in getting Ryan ready for the camp. Part of Blum’s plan had the youngster going up against Division III players with the intent of helping Ryan to improve his game.
“He gives Ryan all the ice time that he wants,” Rich Suwek said. “For example, this last month or so he’s been skating with local college kids that are playing at Hobart, Utica College, basically all over the place.”
By early July, it was time to head to Rochester. As he left for the camp, Ryan Suwek felt a flurry of emotions including excitement and nervousness for what was about to come. Those anxieties were put to rest as he bonded quickly with his two roommates and the rest of the team, a bonding that will continue through Facebook.
“I was afraid I was going to be stuck with some goofballs in my room or something and I wasn’t going to know anybody,” he said.
Living arrangements aside, the butterflies on the ice were even bigger. The prospect of facing off with the top players from around the country for the first time in front of national, collegiate, junior and pro scouts is a daunting thing to deal with, especially when you are just 14 years old.
“When I first got on the ice with all of them, I was thinking wow these kids are amazing and I don’t think I can keep up with them. Then as they started playing in the game and everything, I started to change my mentality,” Suwek said. “I would pick up my game and everything and I started skating better. It was such a good experience with the best players in the United States, the top 140 kids.”
The camp schedule consisted of one practice and one game per day. Players were set up in two brackets with five teams in each bracket. For Suwek, it took a bit of adjusting to since his roommates – both goalies – were on a slightly different schedule.
“I roomed with both of the goalies so I was up at the crack of dawn every single morning. I was up at 5:45 and the goalies would wake up and go to their practice,” he said. “While they were at their goalie practice, we’d (other players) all go to breakfast.”
The players would then swap ice so that the net minders could break for their morning meal and the rest could practice. The entire team would then regroup, leave the ice and perform various bonding exercises.
One of the off-ice bonding exercises was a fun yet hard game that in the end proved to be a badge of honor for the young men to take home with them. It consisted of teammates having to pass a ball in less than ten steps while not allowing the ball to hit the ground. If anyone did drop the ball, the entire team had to hit the ground and do fifteen pushups.
“We ended up doing over 1,500 pushups (during) the whole week,” Suwek said.
After the bonding period, the players had time to grab a nap before heading back to the rink two hours before their afternoon game for warm-ups and access to a trainer. They would play the game and then immediately go through an end of the day coaching room session before heading to dinner and back to their rooms.
During the “chalk talks”, the coaches would focus on two-way feedback, letting the players know what they did well and what they needed to work on. Suwek said that he was impressed with how the coaching staff, which consisted of two coaches who worked on the hockey aspects and a designated team leader who dealt with players’ attitudes, fostered team bonding and in turn helped both on and off-ice communication within the team.
“They were the best coaches I’ve ever had for any hockey,” he said.
The camp was not all about being on the ice. Some of the off-ice presentations were eye-openers for the kids. One of the sessions – presented by the College Hockey Association – taught the young men that some of the Canadian junior programs are considered professional and that signing with them would end any eligibility for U.S. college hockey.
“You either go play college (hockey) and get your degree or you go play juniors and then do whatever you want after that,” Suwek said. “You’ve got to be pretty mind-set if you’re going to go play juniors if you think you’re going to get drafted because you can’t go get your college degree (and play NCAA hockey) after that.”
Despite Suwek’s team winning its bracket, the camp was more about development than it was about succeeding within the high-level competition. Ryan and his teammates found themselves leaving with the one thing that most fourteen year old don’t want to think about during the summer – homework. In Suwek’s case, he and Ken Blum will focus hard on defensive zone coverage and offensive zone puck possession.
Suwek said that the camp experience has changed some of his immediate goals when it comes to on-ice improvement but his long-term plan, the specific path he wants to follow, is still the same as it has always been.
“The route I want to go is probably to play in the USHL, play some Division 1 college hockey and (then) hopefully get drafted because every kid wants to be drafted,” he said.
Asked if there was any advice that he could pass on to players coming up through the Peewee and Bantam ranks, Suwek said that it all boils down to one thing: practice.
“Ice time is everything. Yeah, practicing off ice does help but getting in the most ice time that you can and trying not to skip practice for stupid things (is important). Games always help. They’re big too,” he said. “You’ve got to work on everything from power skating to shooting to passing to keeping your head in the game while you’re playing. Everything.”
Through his experience at the National camp, Ryan Suwek came away with a new found humility and honest perspective about his own talents, a lesson that all players should learn.
“There’s just always competition out there. If you think you’re one of the best out there, there’s always someone better,” he said. “You’re not the best. I mean, there’s always someone really good out there. There’s always room for improvement.”
And if he continues to heed his own words, Ryan Suwek may just get his to see and hear his dream come true.
Contact the author at wendy.hull@prohockeynews.com
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