On Tuesday July 28th, Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Hartnell paid a visit to the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation’s summer hockey camp at the Polonia Bank Flyers Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia. Snider Hockey veteran participant Jonathan Quinones welcomed Hartnell onto the ice and introduced him to the 65 camp attendees. Hartnell spent nearly on hour on the ice with Snider Hockey participants providing instruction and advice on various skill sets such as passing, shooting and puck protection. Following the practice, Scott held a Q&A session where players had the opportunity to ask him a variety of questions relating to his experiences in the National Hockey League.

As a native of Regina, SK, Canada, Hartnell recently completed his third full season with the Flyers this past year by playing in 81 regular season games where he finished with 14 goals and 44 points. Hartnell was a key component of the team’s exciting Stanley Cup run where he notched 17 points in 23 playoff games playing alongside Danny Briere and Ville Leino. Nicknamed "Bird Dogg", Hartnell was drafted sixth overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators and was acquired in a trade by the Flyers along with Kimmo Timonen in 2007.

The mission of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation is to use the sport of hockey to help educate young people to succeed in the game of life. The program incorporates on-ice and off-ice activities, stressing citizenship, academics, and life skills. ESYHF services are targeted for boys and girls who otherwise would not have the opportunity to learn to skate or to play ice hockey. The Foundation provides equipment, ice time, and experienced coaching at no cost.

Thursday, July 29, 2010