It stinks, But It Will Make Him Stronger
Posted January 5, 2017
Kamloops Blazers goalie coach proud of Connor Ingram
'He's grown as a person. He's grown as a goalie. That's why he's there,' says coach
By Jenifer Norwell, CBC News Posted: Jan 04, 2017 4:25 PM PT Last Updated: Jan 05, 2017 9:20 AM PT
De Palma has been coaching goalies with the Western Hockey League team for the last eight years.
He says he didn't know right away that Ingram was going to become the kind of player who could compete at an international level.
"You could always see the skill was there. He had some real natural ability, but there's a lot of other things that go with it that put a guy at the stage that he's at," he said.
Ingram started with the Blazers at age 16 and since then, De Palma says, he's developed a lot to be able to play at the World Juniors.
"He's grown as a person. He's grown as a goalie. That's why he's there," said De Palma.
He says Ingram will come out of this experience in the international tournament a better player when he returns to the Blazers.
"It stinks, but it'll make him stronger."