Like most young hockey players, Cam Allard spent much of the offseason golfing, relaxing with friends and family, and working out. But just lately he’s spent it paying forward a gift that was paid to him in the youngest years of his hockey career.
Allard has been working with kids skills camps in his hometown of Yorkton now that the ice is back in at their local rink. Now the voice of experience, Allard is trying to be for the next generation of young hockey players what Yorkton’s older WHLers once were for him.
“I remember being in these kids shoes and going on the ice with the Western League guys that are from the area and being like, ‘Wow, this is really cool’,” he said. “I enjoyed working with those guys and it made camps a lot more fun. Now being that guy that’s playing in the Western League and being able to hopefully give those kids the same experience means the world to me.”
That won’t be the only time Allard comes in as the voice of experience of course. With 75 regular season games under his belt, he promises to be one of the more seasoned players on a blueline that, as of this writing, tracks to have four rookies for the Wheat Kings.
“I’ve always excelled in my veteran seasons in many of the leagues, like the (Saskatchewan) AAA league,” Allard said. “I gain a lot more confidence and I can be a leader and an example for some of the younger guys. I’m excited to get the rookie season out of the way and do well in that and set the bar high for my second season and hopefully meet those expectations.”
With that in mind, the preparations of this offseason seem especially important. In order to stay on the ice this summer, Allard traveled back to Brandon at the end of every week. He spent much of the summer working with former Wheat Kings skills coach (now the head coach and GM of the Winnipeg Monarchs of the MJHL) Riley Dudar and fellow skills guru Tyler Dittmer, and skating with a large group of Brandon-area Wheat Kings. Off the ice, he’s been hitting the gym hard all offseason long.
“I’ve worked a lot on my quickness,” said Allard. “Not far behind that, it’s my upper body strength. I’ve kind of lacked for that as I’ve grown into my body, I grew a lot pretty quickly and my weight was just trying to catch up. Now I’ve put on a little bit of weight and I’m working on getting that quickness up, which is the main thing. With the extra weight came some upper body strength too and that was a huge focus coming into the summer.”
Unfortunately, Allard got a little bit of snub-related motivation in late June when, despite being ranked 130th among North American skaters (a 60-spot leap for him from midseason to the end) he was passed over in the NHL draft. Consider that more fuel for the fire for the 6-foot-3, right-handed defenseman.
“It’s disappointing that it didn’t happen this year but you see many great players go on to play long NHL careers after being undrafted,” Allard said. “It’s really just a bump in the road for me, nothing much more than that, just a little adversity.”
Allard appears to be handling that adversity in the right mindset, and all the better for the Wheat Kings. The former Estevan Bear is their lone returning blueliner on the right side, one of just three veterans overall, and there will be opportunities for both he and the incoming rookies to seize major minutes.
“It’s going to be on my mind but I think just coming into camp you can’t think about that,” said Allard. “You’ve got to think that every situation, every minute is earned. Nothing is going to be given here. It’s going to come down to who’s the best fit for the situation, so I hope to be one of those guys but it’s not going to come easy.”
In the meantime, having seen how many of his teammates and friends are returning, Allard has already started counting down the days to training camp. The Wheat Kings do have a sizable contingent of returning forwards, and two returning netminders. One of them, Filip Ruzicka (who signed his entry level contract with the Minnesota Wild), formed a quick bond with Allard last season and the two were frequently roommates on the road.
“Especially with the rule changes now, hearing some of the guys who are coming back is super exciting,” Allard said. “A guy like Filip, I grew close with him. I hope I don’t have to buy a single snack for the hotel room this year.”
Allard played 62 games with the Wheat Kings last season, finishing with seven goals and 12 assists.
