Mid-Week Mugging is a series of features by BayToday. Each Wednesday, we will run a profile on a local business or organization that will be "mugged" with BayToday coffee cups. The subjects will then "mug" for our camera and we will tell a little bit about their story.
Most people will think of a car dealership when you say the name Mike Stockfish. But the well-liked North Bay Ford car dealership owner has quietly made quite a name for himself in the hockey coaching ranks.
But it is hard not to recognize coach Mike these days, especially after five of his players on the Minor Midget AAA Trappers hockey team were recently selected in the 2018 OHL Priority Selection by the North Bay Battalion. Included is Pacey Schlueting taken in the first round by the Troops, and forwards David Campbell, Jesse Kirkby, Jack Stockfish along with goaltender Reece Proulx in the later rounds.
“The thing is, minor midget is the biggest year for the career of a youth hockey player,” said Stockfish.
“So we had a good couple of years in bantam, our teams were good and everything just seemed to carry on.”
Stockfish has been the man behind the bench with most of this age group for the past decade. He says it is important to take a humble approach and continue to want to learn from others.
“I admit I have done a million things wrong but one of the things I did was I asked, begged and stolen ideas from everyone,” said Stockfish.
“I have read many coaches in the NHL have done that so we practice with the Battalion, take advantage of that, I got drills from Guy Blanchard, I had Butch Turcotte in my office for an hour going over some of his old drills from the Pinehill Coffee Shop days.”
While the commitment is large, he says hard work has always been the key to try to keep up with teams in Toronto.
“I’ve always felt we are at a disadvantage,” said Stockfish.
“We are starting the 100-metre race, five metres behind the other guys because we are in a small northern Ontario town and we are expected to compete against Toronto, so I always thought we had to work harder.
“We practiced a minimum three times a week, we had a skill session once a week that I did on my own. We had spinning classes once a week, we had video sessions every week, we had Larry Sheppard doing powerlifting. In my opinion that 02 group is one of the hardest working groups in Ontario and I have said that many times and I truly, truly believe it. They have worked incredibly hard.”
But Stockfish admits he could have only done this with good help on the bench with him plus players and parents believing in the challenging hockey program he created.
“I have to say if you coach kids for this long and we have a great group of kids, I think part of it is you have to get lucky and I have been really lucky with a great group of kids and a great group of parents. We have had no parent issues to speak of period.
“I say behind every AAA player has to be an AAA parent that is ready to take them to the rink at 6 a.m. and help them get to bed and night and help them eat like a champion.”
Stockfish also credits support from the North Bay Battalion for recognizing the local talent.
“Stan (Butler) has supported the Trappers AAA Association and North Bay hockey very well and this is not the first year. He took three last year and he said he would support the North Bay kids and he put his money where his mouth is, so I am really hopeful the kids make him proud and it is a tribute to Stan and his desire to help develop North Bay hockey players,” said Stockfish.
But that decade of coaching is likely coming to a close this season as his assistant coach Calvin Gomes is taking over the minor midget program and his son will have a different coach this upcoming season.
That will allow this dedicated hard working dad to watch his son from the stands and get more of an opportunity to watch his older daughter Madelaine, who is playing junior hockey in Barrie.
