Nathan Dyke takes the pass delivered to him by a machine and quickly fires a puck at the net.
“Three!” yells the crowd gathered around.
Despite a small bobble on the next pass, he gets the shot away.
“Two!”
The next is smoother, much like most of his shots. He cradles it with the blade of his stick as he receives the pass, then fires it with a continuous motion.
“One!”
When the next shot rings off the post before going into the net, a loud cheer goes up from the two dozen people watching.
The shot is the 50,000th he has taken on the RapidShot system at Polair Power Shot in Acton. It is essentially like a batting cage for hockey players, feeding them passes and then measuring the speed and accuracy of their shot, as well as how long it takes to deliver the shot.
The 10-year-old is just the second player in Canada, and the first in Ontario, to hit the 50,000-shot mark using the system. A defenceman for the U11 Credit River Capitals AAA team, Dyke said it didn’t take long before he noticed the improvement in his shot.
“After a week I noticed it was getting better,” he says. “Definitely the speed and accuracy got better.”
His initial shots three years ago clocked in at 15 mph; today he averages between 38-40 mph, with his hardest being 43 mph.
Mark Payerl, president of RapidShot North America, was on hand for the occasion.
“I was here when we installed the equipment (three years ago),” Payerl said. “It’s amazing to see his progress and to see that he reached his goal of making the AAA team.”
Dyke set his sights on the 50,000 mark after he and three of his friends completed a 10,000-shot challenge in 2023.
“I don’t think he’ll stop,” said his dad Dwaine, who owns Polair Power Shot. “We’re big on making sure he’s enjoying himself and not pushing him.”
And Nathan confirms, that indeed 100,000 shots is his next goal.
