Kids at Cole Harbour hockey camp get surprise visit from NHL superstar

Andrew Sampson · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 12, 2025 3:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 12

When Nathan MacKinnon returned to his aged stomping grounds astatine Cole Harbour Place connected Friday to talk to kids attending a hockey campy successful his hometown, helium received a hero's welcome. 

"It was amusive and exciting," says 10-year-old camper Rosie Tanner, who plays hockey for the Metro East Inferno during the schoolhouse year. "He told america astir hockey and however helium played for the Colorado Avalanche."

For her and the different boys and girls — each ages 5-12 — enrolled astatine the 5th yearly Cole Harbour Hockey School, the 29-year-old MacKinnon needed nary introduction. 

In the past 2 decades, Cole Harbour, a suburban community successful the Halifax Regional Municipality, has developed a estimation arsenic a hockey haven. It's location to MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby, 2 of the brightest stars connected Team Canada and successful the NHL.

To them, some players are impervious that you tin turn up successful Cole Harbour and spell connected to beryllium 1 of the best hockey players successful the world. 

"I deliberation it's large information for the young kids successful our assemblage that everyone wants to beryllium the adjacent 1 … but it's ever hard," said Jon Greenwood, the camp's manager and pb instructor. "We'll beryllium fortunate if we ever person different one."

Greenwood, who besides grew up successful Cole Harbour, coached MacKinnon in peewees, astir the aforesaid property arsenic the oldest kids astatine the camp. 

"It's hard to accidental astatine that age, 'Oh this is going to beryllium an NHL superstar,' but we surely knew the tools were there, and astir importantly … the thrust and competitiveness were determination to continue," said Greenwood. "He's ne'er stopped astonishing us."

The campy launched with 94 players successful 2021 and has since grown to accommodate 160 kids. It present regularly fills up erstwhile registration launches each year, said Greenwood. 

For campers, it's a week to larn caller skills and conscionable friends, connected and disconnected the ice.

Tough enactment to follow

Tanner, who plays defence, and likes "stopping radical from scoring oregon going connected breakaways," said she enjoyed getting to bid connected adust land, enactment connected her shooting, and practise her shooting skills. 

Her favourite things astir the week were "learning caller things astir hockey and making caller friends." 

But her parent admits the campy tin acceptable a precocious barroom for others to follow. 

"When she went the precise archetypal time, the week aft she had Mitch's Soccer Camp, and she goes … 'Do you deliberation Messi is going to beryllium there?'" said Hanneke Tanner-van Gelderen.

You don't, aft all, get to conscionable your heroes astatine each summertime camp.

Greenwood said MacKinnon volition usually driblet by the schoolhouse if he's successful town, but there's nary guarantees.

If helium does marque it, arsenic helium did this year, it's a bully surprise. 

"Everybody near with a bully radical representation and an autographed representation of him," helium said. "It's a beauteous breathtaking decorativeness for the week."