From The Edge
September 2026Sharpen your edge every month – insights, tips and tools to help elite hockey players skate faster, smarter and stronger!
In this issue:
New Partnership: Falcon’s Edge and Guelph Gryphons Minor Hockey
From the Edge: A New Hockey Season Is Here
Coach’s Corner: Development Doesn’t Stop When the Season Starts
Performance Tip of the Month: The First Three Strides
HER Edges: What a Summer!
Keep Your Development Moving Forward: In-Season Technical Skating
Recipe of the Month: 20-Minute Hockey Night Chicken Burrito Bowls
Athlete of the Month: Graycen Kaminski
At Falcon’s Edge, every stride is a step toward mastery. Let’s get after it.
From the Edge
A new hockey season is here!
To all of our Falcon’s Edge athletes heading back to the rink this fall, I want you to know how proud I am of the work you put in this summer.
The hours spent working on your edges, stride, acceleration, technique and confidence have built a foundation. Now it’s time to trust your training and take it with you into your season.
But remember—the beginning of the season doesn’t mean development stops.
Keep working. Keep learning. Trust yourself. And most importantly, enjoy being on the ice.
Wishing all of our Falcon’s Edge athletes an incredible 2026–27 season. I can’t wait to continue working alongside you and watching your development throughout the year.
— Coach Stephanie
Coach’s Corner
Development Doesn’t Stop When the Season Starts
Making the team and starting a new season are exciting milestones—but they aren’t the finish line.
One of the biggest messages I want my athletes to understand is that development needs to continue throughout the season.
Practices, games and tournaments give you opportunities to compete and put your skills into action, but continuing to dedicate time to your individual technical development is what allows you to keep moving forward.
And development isn’t only physical. Your mental game matters just as much.
You are going to make mistakes. You are going to have shifts that don’t go the way you wanted. There will be new skills that take longer to learn than you expected.
That’s part of becoming a better athlete.
Instead of becoming frustrated, work through the mistake and learn from it. Focus on what you can control, make the correction and try again.
Confidence doesn’t come from doing everything perfectly. It comes from knowing you can make a mistake, work through it and come back stronger.
And remember—your preparation starts before your skates ever hit the ice.
The game and your mindset start the minute you leave home.
Come ready. Work with intention. Be consistent. Pay attention to the little things.
Sometimes the smallest correction can create the biggest change.
New Partnership:
Falcon’s Edge + Guelph Gryphons Minor Hockey
Falcon’s Edge Technical Power Skating is proud to announce a new partnership with Guelph Gryphons Minor Hockey for the 2026–27 season.
Beginning in October, Coach Stephanie will deliver in-season technical power skating instruction to Guelph Gryphons representative teams at the U10 through U14 A and AA levels. The program runs on Tuesday evenings in Guelph across 17 training nights, with four hours of on-ice instruction each evening, 68 hours of technical development over the course of the season.
Sessions are built around the skating mechanics that transfer most directly to game performance: posture, knee bend and ankle flexion, weight transfer, stride efficiency, edge control, acceleration, stops and starts, tight turns, transitions and multidirectional movement. Every night carries one coherent technical theme, and instruction is adjusted to the readiness of the athletes on the ice.
In-season work like this is where technical progress is protected. Team practices and games are where skills are applied—dedicated technical ice is where mechanics are corrected, reinforced and moved forward.
We are looking forward to working alongside the Guelph Gryphons coaches, managers and athletes throughout the season, and to watching this group build habits that carry well beyond this year.
Interested in in-season technical skating for your team or association? Contact info@falconsedge.ca.
Performance Tip of the Month
The First Three Strides: Acceleration and Ice Coverage
In hockey, your first three strides matter.
Whether you’re racing for a loose puck, creating separation, closing a gap or transitioning into offence, those first few strides can make the difference between getting there first—or chasing the play.
But acceleration isn’t simply about moving your feet faster.
At Falcon’s Edge, there are four things I want athletes thinking about:
Forward body angle — put your body in a position that allows you to drive forward and generate momentum.
Keep it light — fast doesn’t mean frantic. We want quick, efficient movement rather than heavy, forced strides.
Stay on top of the ice — good acceleration comes from controlling your body and your edges rather than fighting against the ice.
Maximize your ice coverage — think about how much ice you are gaining with each stride.
Three efficient strides can create far more separation than several short, ineffective ones.
It’s not about taking more strides. It’s about getting more out of every stride.
HER Edges - What a Summer!
What an incredible summer for our HER Edges Technical Skating Program!
One of the highlights of the summer was seeing such an amazing group of young female athletes come together on the ice to learn, work hard and challenge themselves.
These girls showed up ready to work. They listened, made corrections, tried again when something didn’t come easily and continued working toward their individual goals.
As a coach, there is nothing better than watching an athlete begin to understand a correction and then seeing the confidence that comes when everything starts to click.
We are incredibly proud of every athlete who joined us this summer.
And we aren’t finished yet…
HER Edges will be back this fall. Stay tuned for upcoming session announcements and registration information.
Keep Your Development Moving Forward
In-Season Technical Skating
Once hockey season begins, schedules become busy very quickly.
Practices. Games. Tournaments. School. Homework.
It can be tempting to put individual development on hold until the next offseason—but maintaining your technical skating skills throughout the season is incredibly important for continued progression.
At Falcon’s Edge, we offer private, small-group and team training sessions throughout the season.
These sessions give athletes the opportunity to step away from the demands of team practices and focus specifically on their individual skating mechanics, corrections and areas for development.
Technical skills require repetition and reinforcement. Continuing to work on your skating throughout the season helps maintain the progress you’ve already made while allowing you to continue moving forward.
Small corrections. Consistent work. Forward progression.
For training information and availability contact info@falconsedge.ca.
Atheletes of the Month: Graycen Kaminski
This month, we are excited to recognize Graycen Kaminski of the Guelph Girls Hockey Association as our Falcon’s Edge Athlete of the Month!
Graycen worked incredibly hard this summer, focusing on her stride, upper-body technique and acceleration. Her confidence in her skating has grown immensely, and it has been wonderful to watch.
Graycen is a joy to coach. She takes corrections well, puts them into practice right away and isn’t afraid to push herself outside of her comfort zone. She always arrives at the rink with a smile and a genuine love for being on the ice.
Keep up the great work, Graycen! We can’t wait to see what this season brings!
Recipe of the Month: 20-Minute Hockey Night Chicken Burrito Bowls
September means back to school and back to busy hockey nights!
Dinner doesn’t have to be complicated to give young athletes the fuel they need. These quick chicken burrito bowls are packed with protein, carbohydrates and colourful vegetables—and everyone can customize their own.
Ingredients
2–3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
Mild taco seasoning
2 cups cooked rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn
Chopped bell peppers
Shredded lettuce
Shredded cheese
Diced tomatoes
Avocado
Salsa
Plain Greek yogurt
Lime wedges
Directions
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and cook the diced chicken with taco seasoning until fully cooked.
While the chicken cooks, heat the rice, beans and corn.
Add rice to each bowl and top with chicken, beans, corn and whichever fresh toppings your family enjoys.
Finish with salsa, Greek yogurt and a squeeze of fresh lime.
Hockey Family Tip: cook the chicken and rice ahead of time and keep them refrigerated. On practice nights, simply reheat them and set out the toppings. Everyone can build their own bowl, and dinner can be on the table in minutes.
For athletes with food allergies, always check individual ingredient and seasoning labels and prepare foods according to your family’s allergy requirements.