What a treat this week for our OHA Europe students as our Virtual Academy had the exclusive opportunity to hear from one of the NHL’s few playing brothers, Luke (Tampa Bay) and Brayden Schenn (St. Louis). Given the COVID-19 global pandemic that has put the world on hold the past several weeks, our academy has been temporarily moved online into the virtual sphere of hockey development. While it is not the ideal way to develop young hockey players, it has still afforded our student-athletes excellent opportunities to grow in many other ways. This interview with the Schenn brothers is one of those ways in which we have been able to teach our players and offer them a different perspective on the hockey world.
OHA Canada’s Dixon Ward moderated this interview with Luke and Brayden, who gave great advice to our players on topics such as: managing their time during the pandemic, competing and pushing each other to improve growing up, the importance of hard work and dedication towards development, and more. Both Luke and Brayden were drafted 5th overall in their respective NHL draft years and have each featured in over 650 NHL games. The Schenn brothers have achieved several accolades over the course of their NHL careers and younger brother Brayden was a member of 2018-19 Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. As the Okanagan Hockey Group moves forward with our Virtual Academy, our players will have more unique opportunities like this to hear and learn from those that have reached the highest levels of hockey success.