{"id":98507,"date":"2025-08-26T14:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/98507\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T14:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:46:12","slug":"nhl-stars-take-part-in-muskoka-hockey-event-the-hockey-writers-editors-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/98507\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Stars Take Part in Muskoka Hockey Event – The Hockey Writers – Editor’s Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, NHL stars came to Bracebridge, Ontario, to take part in a Muskoka Hockey<\/a> event at the recently built Muskoka Lumber Community Centre. Muskoka Hockey was founded by former NHLer Sam Gagner<\/a> as he set it up to provide a program for NHLers to train during the summer. The program also has camps for U8-10 and U11-14, as well as an Elite Academy Program designed for players ages 14\u201320, who are competing at the AA, AAA, Junior, or NCAA levels.<\/p>\n

Gagner is the founder, but doesn\u2019t run it all himself. He hired Brady Leavold who is the Head Development Coach. Leavold, who was in the WHL from 2003-08 and played for the Swift Current Broncos and Kelowna Rockets, would go on to sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unfortunately, after a long battle with mental illness <\/a>and substance abuse, it ended his hockey playing career. However, it didn\u2019t end his hockey career entirely, as he became known as a public speaker, an advocate for those struggling mentally or with substance abuse, as well as a skill development coach.<\/p>\n

Related: Maple Leafs Still Remain Frontrunner For Jack Roslovic<\/a><\/p>\n

Together, they have one of the best hockey programs in Ontario and it was fully on display yesterday when the NHL stars took the ice at the Muskoka Lumber Community Centre.<\/p>\n

The Players Involved in the Event<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, I was given a sheet with names of the players that were involved in the Muskoka Hockey program. But that didn\u2019t mean that they were going to be in Bracebridge when they hit the ice. Some of the names that the list included were John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>, Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders and Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers. Unfortunately, none of them were in attendance, but here were the players that were:<\/p>\n

Brandon Montour<\/a> \u2013 Seattle Kraken<\/p>\n

Adam Henrique \u2013 Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n

Dylan Cozens \u2013 Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n

Connor Brown \u2013 New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n

Taylor Hall \u2013 Carolina Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Erik Gudbranson<\/a> \u2013 Columbus Blue Jackets<\/p>\n

Kevin Bahl \u2013 Calgary Flames<\/p>\n

Sam Gagner \u2013 Owner & Ottawa Senators Director of Player Development<\/p>\n

Isaak Phillips \u2013 Winnipeg Jets<\/p>\n

Mitchell Russell \u2013 Savannah Ghost Pirates (ECHL)<\/p>\n

Philippe Daoust \u2013 Ottawa Senators Prospect<\/p>\n

Stephen Halliday \u2013 Ottawa Senators Prospect<\/p>\n

Nathan Bastian \u2013 Dallas Stars<\/p>\n

Artur Cholach \u2013 Vegas Golden Knights Prospect<\/p>\n

Brady Leavold \u2013 Muskoka Hockey\u2019s Head Development Coach<\/p>\n

When the Stars Hit the Ice<\/p>\n

They did drills, showing off skills including three-on-two drills below the slot and four-on-three drills within the blue line. These drills allowed the players to show just how good they are in tight spaces, as well as how well they see the ice, finding their teammates across the zone with four or five bodies in front of them.<\/p>\n

These types of events also show the fans of the game how good they are, regardless of their role. One player that stood out was Gudbranson of the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a>. Although he is known as a defensive defenseman, who plays the shutdown role with the Blue Jackets, he was snapping passes that were going through other players\u2019 feet. At one point, he nearly snuck a shot through the goalie\u2019s five hole, but at the last second the goalie was able to squeeze his legs and keep the puck out of the net.<\/p>\n

\"SamSam Gagner & Erik Gudbranson, Aug 25, 2025; Bracebridge Ontario, Canada; Muskoka Hockey Event<\/p>\n

After the drills, they transitioned into a three-on-three scrimmage that saw white shirts vs. blue shirts. Some notable players from either team were:<\/p>\n

Team Blue: <\/p>\n

Gagner<\/p>\n

Cozens<\/p>\n

Bahl<\/p>\n

Brown<\/p>\n

Phillips<\/p>\n

Russell<\/p>\n

Cholach<\/p>\n

Team White:<\/p>\n

Montour<\/p>\n

Hall<\/p>\n

Gudbranson<\/p>\n

Henrique<\/p>\n

Bastian<\/p>\n

Halliday<\/p>\n

Daoust<\/p>\n

The scrimmage was five, five-minute periods, where both sides got a chance to have fun and show off some of their skills and give the fans a fast-paced, entertaining way to see some of the NHL\u2019s best in action in their small town of Bracebridge. The Blue Team came out on top in the scrimmage, winning 7-5. They ended the event with a friendly shootout, which further displayed their skills but also some moves that they likely wouldn\u2019t try in an NHL shootout.<\/p>\n

At the end of the practice, Gagner spoke about the work that goes into the event and the training. He mentioned that it wouldn\u2019t be possible without the players electing to spend their summers in Muskoka. He also wished all the young fans good luck in their respective seasons before saying \u201cI\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t say go Leafs go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Autographs & Interviewing the Players<\/p>\n

After the scrimmage came to an end, the kids headed upstairs to meet the players in an autograph session. During that time, only four players were made available, Cozens, Gudbranson, Hall and Gagner. The fans lined up out of the room, with well over 175 people waiting for their chance to meet the players and get their items signed. Muskoka Hockey was also giving out one of their hats which most of the people were getting signed. After all was said and done, I was given the chance to meet the players and ask them a few questions, which as always is an honour.<\/p>\n

\"TaylorTaylor Hall, Aug 25, 2025; Bracebridge Ontario, Canada; Muskoka Hockey Event<\/p>\n

My first question went to Cozens, where I joked about the Maple Leafs beating the Senators<\/a> (I\u2019m a die-hard Maple Leafs fan). I asked him how the series was, and he replied \u201cIt was fun, it was a great series.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had the chance to talk with Gudbranson and asked him about what events like this mean and why they are so special. Here is what he said: \u201cMy family is local, this is what it\u2019s all about. This is home for me now, I spend my summers here and hopefully many, many years in the future. My kids will skate here and will play here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last person I spoke with was the founder, Gagner, to which I asked the same question that I asked Gudbranson, what events like this mean and why they are so special, and he said: \u201cThis community is great. Growing up with my dad playing in the NHL (Dave Gagner) fuelled my passion to play the game. I hope that the kids who come and watch here today have the same thing happen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, the event was fantastic. For those who get the chance to experience it, cherish it because it\u2019s not every day that some of the best players in the world come to your city and put on events like this. If you are in and around the Southern Ontario\/Northern Ontario area, I\u2019d encourage you to check it out at least one time, especially if you have kids. Muskoka Hockey has now completed its second year, but plans to return on an annual basis in the summer before the start of the next NHL pre-season.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yesterday, NHL stars came to Bracebridge, Ontario, to take part in a Muskoka Hockey event at the recently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[57236,49,48,57237,57238,448,57239,82],"class_list":["post-98507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-brandon-montour","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-connor-brown","tag-muskoka-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-sam-gagner","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}