Ice Hockey Camps in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

During the 2009-10 season, eight Pittsburgh natives logged ice time in NHL uniforms. While producing U.S. hockey stars was once the domain of Michigan, Minnesota and Massachusetts, the Pittsburgh area also produces players for the professional and international stage, including Ryan Malone, who helped the U.S. win silver at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. With such a burgeoning youth hockey scene, the Pittsburgh area offers myriad hockey camps to help further develop its local talent.

  1. Learn to Play Hockey Camp

    • In many cases, the most useful camp a hockey player will attend is his first. The Pittsburgh Penguins, with the generosity of Dick's Sporting Goods, Reebok and Penguins star Sidney Crosby, began holding their own Learn to Play hockey camp during the 2008-09 hockey season. The camps introduces kids ages 4 to7 to the game and the basic fundamentals, and all first-time registrants are outfitted head-to-toe in brand new hockey equipment. In the 2009-10 season, 600 kids participated in the program. Registration, which usually ends in December, fills up fast.

      Learn to Play Hockey Program
      Pittsburgh Penguins
      Consol Energy Center
      1001 Fifth Avenue
      Pittsburgh, PA 15219
      412-255-1980
      pittsburghpenguins.com

    RMU Hockey Academy

    • Along with the Penguins' NHL franchise, Pittsburgh's Robert Morris University features a NCAA Division I program. The coaches for the Colonials host a series of hockey camps each summer at the RMU Island Sports Center on Neville Island. Unlike the hockey camps which try to encompass myriad skills and drills, the RMU Hockey Academy runs specialized camps such as checking, power skating and shooting camps. Each camp runs for a week over five three-hour sessions.

      RMU Hockey Academy
      RMU Island Sports Center
      7600 Grand Avenue
      Pittsburgh, PA 15225
      412-397-3335
      rmuislandsports.com

    Penguins Youth Hockey Camps

    • While the Penguins run a variety of hockey camps from their Holiday Power Skating School to their Scrimmage Camp, the Penguins Summer Hockey School forms the flagship of their amateur hockey program. This camp, usually run by a Penguins assistant and a former player or two, includes drills and instruction in skating, shooting, puck control, game skills and even conditioning. Each day includes an hour of scrimmaging and another 1 1/2 hours of ice time.

      Youth Hockey Camps
      Pittsburgh Penguins
      Consol Energy Center
      1001 Fifth Avenue
      Pittsburgh, PA 15219
      412-255-1980
      pittsburghpenguins.com

    Red Army Camp

    • United States "Miracle on Ice" coach Herb Brooks often pointed out that their speed and ability to play efficiently without the puck composed the strengths of the great Soviet teams in the '70s and through the '80s. Coaches taught Soviet players and Eastern European players to always be in motion, no matter the zone and no matter who had possession. The Eastern European Elite Hockey Development Camp, run by former professional player and Belarus native Yuri Krivokhija, adheres to that same motivation by focusing on fundamentals of skating and puck control. The camp runs in July at the Valley Sports Complex in New Kensington.

      Eastern European Hockey Camps
      3062 Beechwood Blvd.
      Pittsburgh, PA 15217
      412-606-2826
      pittsburghvipers.com

    Northern Elite Hockey Camps

    • One of the more popular hockey camps in Pittsburgh--it often sells out since camp sizes are limited to 12 players or fewer--Northern Elite also deals primarily in specialized camps. Players attending the Mount Lebanon rink choose from point of emphasis: scoring, defensive, goal-tending, checking or a dynamic practice which involves plenty of scrimmaging. In 2010, Northern Elite introduced 3-on-3 camps to give players more open ice to use to develop their skills.

      Northern Elite Hockey Camps
      8 In Town Terrace
      Middletown, CT 06457
      619-757-8199
      nelitehockey.com