KILLAM — While the Stanley Cup made an appearance just down the road in Viking two weeks ago, Travis Child of Killam was out of province on a hockey mission of another sort.
On the same day that Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter showed off the Stanley Cup in his Alberta hometown, Child was in Mississauga, Ont., tending goal in the Allstate All-Canadians mentorship camp, a showcase of 42 elite bantam players from across Canada.
Child’s coach for the nationally televised final game was none other than Edmonton Oilers budding star Taylor Hall.
Tyler Seguin, John Tavares, Jeff Skinner and Sam Gagner were among the NHL players offering tips to the top prospects as part of the NHL Players’ Association camp, with ex-NHLer Gary Roberts directing sessions applicable on and off the ice.
“It was really good,” said Child, 15. “We learned about nutrition, how to work out, and what you should eat on a regular basis to improve your performance.
“We got to meet a few NHL guys and see what they’re like. It was a great opportunity to see where you stand (among bantam players) in the country. It was an honour to go there and be chosen as a top-42 in Canada.”
Child is on track to play in the Western Hockey League within a couple of seasons. This past spring, with the 29th pick overall, the Swift Current Broncos selected him in the second round of the WHL bantam draft.
After two years of bantam AAA in Camrose, he hopes to step up to major midget AAA this season with the Sherwood Park Kings. The six-foot-two, 170-pound goaltender is already applying the lessons he learned in Ontario.
“Off the ice, eating right is supposed to help a lot,” Child said. “It helped Gary Roberts get his career back on track, so it should be pretty good to eat all the nutritious stuff. Well, sometimes you don’t like it all, but it’s good for you, so you should eat it.
“And then, you’ve just got to cherish every moment on the ice and do what you can to improve every time you’re out there.”
Breaking from their farm duties back home, Child and his family cherished the All-Canadians trip, which included a Hockey Hall of Fame visit and watching the Toronto Blue Jays live.
It’s been a busy summer for Child, who attended a three-day goalie camp in Edmonton immediately after returning from Ontario. He hasn’t had as much time to help his father on the family dairy and beef farm, or to socialize with his friends.
“I’ve been doing a lot of leg and core stuff,” Child said of his backyard training. “A little bit of arm stuff with a buddy down the road, keeping me motivated to try to beat him every day.”
Child plans to billet with relatives in Sherwood Park this coming season and attend Grade 10 in a high school with a greater enrolment than the population of Killam.
He’s not eligible to play in the WHL full-time in the 2012-13 season, but he’ll soon become acquainted with Swift Current when he reports to the Broncos’ training camp Aug. 20.
Child was sitting in his Grade 9 math class last May when a couple of classmates — tracking the draft online — noticed he had gone to the Broncos seven picks into the second round.
“A couple of the guys were checking on their phone more constantly than me,” he said. “They told me about it.
“I saw it on my phone in class. My Mom won’t like hearing that, but … I was keeping updated with it and seeing who was going and who was picking next.
“When I finally see my name pop up, I couldn’t stop smiling. It was really just a relief to be finally picked and not having to wait a couple of more rounds to go.”
Swift Current netted Child just one pick before the Red Deer Rebels also chose a goaltender, Taz Burman of Vancouver.
Child believes the Broncos drafted him for more than his ability to stop pucks.
“I think my ability to play the puck really got me noticed out on the ice,” he said.
“Always going out there and playing the puck and doing the best I could to help my defencemen out.”
Child tries to model his game after NHL goalies Pekka Rinne and Carey Price.
“Pekka Rinne, because he’s more of a hybrid goalie — he won’t go down unless he has to,” Child said. “I model my game after Carey Price, too, because he plays the puck a lot like me and he’s really relaxed in the net, and he’s never too tense or anything like that.”
U16 SHORT LIST:
Child is among five goalies on the 34-man short list that Hockey Alberta announced last Friday as part of its selection process for the under-16 provincial team. From that group, 20 players will be selected to represent Alberta in the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup, which runs from Nov. 1 to 4 in Calgary.