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TIPS WITH TONY CAMERANESI "Getting my first point in the first shift of my first game in front of our home crowd. That was extremely memorable in front of our fans." —TONY CAMERANESI ON REGISTERING HIS FIRST COLLEGIATE POINT FOR THE BULLDOGS 5 Ways to Elevate Your Game with UMD's Tony Cameranesi ony Cameranesi knows how to score. His 34 points last season ranked fourth nationally among freshmen while tying for the team lead. The speedster honed his skills in the Wayzata Youth Hockey Association growing up before starring for his local high school. He was then drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs and is now racking up points for the Bulldogs. Want to be a better hockey player? Tony has some suggestions. PHOTO: UMD ATHLETICS T Use your ice time wisely. We get ice before practice every day where we have time to go out and do whatever we want. Goalies will work on their skills. We'll work on faceoffs, passing and scoring skills. Our guys will set some pucks out on the ice and we try and stickhandle around them to work on our hands and coordination. We'll work in tight areas. Work in the corners and make tight cuts and quick moves to get to the net. Practice shooting from all angles and in front of the net. Pass with your teammates. Have some fun. Don't be afraid. A lot of times, players don't want to mess up. Maybe they think the coach will get mad or embarrass themselves. Try new moves by yourself. Go ahead and work on them before you pull them out in a big game. If you're trying to make a good play at the right time, there's no reason to be worried about parents or coaches. We had a pond in our backyard. We would take care of it pretty well when we were younger. We had four or five guys in my neighborhood that used to play with me after school for four or five hours until your parents yell out the window telling you to get back inside. We would also head to a local outdoor rink that had boards set up. We'd get our team out there after practice and play 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 or whatever. A few times the lights would shut off on us so we'd drive our cars up and put our lights on. Unfortunately a few times some car batteries died. A lot of it is about having fun with your buddies and having a love for the game out there. Maybe you saw your favorite player on TV make a sweet move. Try it. Try pulling the puck through your legs. Maybe it's a little bit easier than you thought. You work on it and you get better at it. There's no structure. You just go out there and do what you want and maybe try that move that you're afraid to do in a game. That's the perfect time to do it. We play small-area games every day. I think that's the key. Whether it's growing up or in high school or in juniors or here, it's been a big important part of our practices. Games can be won and lost based on these little battles you see in small-area games. People might not see that so much from the stands, but those little battles create odd-man situations and offensive chances that can change games. Small-area games are extremely important. We've worked on them at every level and we continue to work on them. DECEMBER.2013 // MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM 19