By Jeff Gard/Today’s Northumberland
Tucker Firth and Noah Vandervinne are teaming up once again on the ice, this time driven to help younger hockey players develop their skills.
They have created Driven Hockey Performance, a hockey school for skill development and fundamentals through drills that can be used in real game situations, utilizing puck skills, hockey sense and incorporating key components of skating and shooting to develop well-rounded players.
Firth, who is now the captain of his hometown Cobourg Cougars, played with Vandervinne during their tenures with the Lindsay Muskies.
“I was his enforcer,” Firth quipped, adding “he was my captain there, an awesome leader. It wasn’t a great team at the time, but we made the most of it and did what we could. We grew pretty close there and had a great relationship and I’m lucky enough to be doing this with him now.”
Vandervinne was traded by the Muskies to the Cougars during his final Ontario Junior Hockey League season in 2019-20 and enjoyed playing at the Cobourg Community Centre, where Driven Hockey Performance is currently based out of.
“It was awesome,” Vandervinne said. “The fan base, the community, the people are great here. Obviously a beautiful building. I really enjoyed my time here and I recently moved out here from Ajax.”
Vandervinne built a great bond with Firth during their time together with the Muskies.
“He was a young guy when I was there working with him and playing with him,” he remarked. “We hit it off right off the bat. We were really good buddies. I followed his junior journey and to see him as the hometown Cobourg Cougars captain, as a friend I’m happy for him.”
Driven Hockey Performance has weekly skill sessions available in April on Wednesday nights at the CCC with U9-U13 groups on the ice from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and U14-U16 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The cost is $40 per session. For registration, e-mail drivenhockeyperformance@gmail.com.
You can also check out www.drivenhockeyperformance.com or check them out on Instagram: @drivenhockeyperformance.
Private sessions can also be scheduled. Firth and Vandervinne understand young players have had limited ice time the past two years.
“We want to work with the young athletes around here and help develop their skills,” Vandervinne said, adding they hope to work with full teams as well.
Both players know what it takes to get to the AAA level of hockey as well as junior A.
Skill sessions through Driven Hockey Performance, though, are available for any players from house league to rep.
“I played house league until I was about major bantam,” said Firth, who will play college hockey at Niagara University starting this fall. “I just loved the game and stuck with it. I was just doing my own stuff and never had schools to go to. Looking back on my childhood this is something I wish I had and being open to all age groups, and being open to triple-A to house league, it doesn’t matter the age group, it doesn’t matter skill-wise, anyone can build a career out of hockey if you put your mind to it.”
Vandervinne echoed the sentiment and recalled putting in a lot of his own time at home in the driveway working on skills. It doesn’t matter what level players are at.
“There’s always skills they can work on and of course that’s what we’re here for,” he said. “The biggest thing is that it’s something fun that they look forward to. We’re going to make a good environment for when they’re on the ice and make sure it’s fun and that they want to come to our skill sessions and our camps.”
Firth has enjoyed helping at hockey camps in recent years and working with young players.
“We’re here to develop kids in every way possible – skating, shooting, passing – building a great environment,” he said. “It’s the connection you build with them and the joy you see on their face and their excitement to pick up a stick. It’s awesome to see.”
