Posted by Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Sabrina Byrnes 
A passion for goaltending has given one young Espanola player an opportunity to train with the best of the best nationwide.
From the age of two, Kevin Labelle has had a love for the game. With pillow cases strapped to his legs, the toddler was taught by his father, Yvan, to block pucks.
"I just wanted to be goalie from there," said Kevin, who is now 12 and has just been drafted to play the spring season with the Nickel City Sons AAA PeeWee team.
The pillow cases were eventually upgraded to foam pads. By the age of four, the boy was blocking goals while balancing on skates.
For the past five years, Kevin has been training with Scott Murray at Revolutionary Goaltending school in Sudbury.
The Grade 6 student now will be heading to a National Development Camp at York University Aug. 2-9 with the Goaltender Development Institute (GDI) to train with elite athletes.
"He (Murray) has pretty much been the reason for his (Kevin's) development," Yvan said.
Aside from training with Murray, Yvan said they look to camps to give the young boy experience. This year, while looking on GDI's website, they were contemplating a goalie camp out west.
During their research, Yvan came across the National Development Camp. When Yvan inquired, he was told it was by invitation only and was for players between the ages of 14 and 18.
"It's the elite of the elite that they look at," Yvan said.
He went online and registered his son anyway, inputing all his stats. 
Kevin played goal for the Walden Devils PeeWee Minor Rep Team this season, and had six shutouts in 31 games. His goals against average was 1.7 per cent and his save percentage 0.92 per cent.
Yvan said he received a call asking for a reference letter, not necessarily about Kevin's skills, but about his behaviour.
Yvan said Murray wrote a nice letter on his son's behalf and they received a call New Year's Eve inviting the 12-year-old to participate in the camp.
"It's a good opportunity for him. I'm very, very pleased," said the young goalie's father. He said all his hard work and dedication is paying off.
"It's boosted my confidence a lot," Kevin said about being accepted to the camp. He added there is a bit more pressure on him now too because it is an elite camp and he hopes he can keep his skills up to remain at that level.
The camp is run by Dan Blackburn (former NHL goalie with the New York Rangers) and Ian Clarke (goalie coach for the Vancouver Canucks).
It runs for six 15 hour days with players up at 6 a.m. and lights out at 9:30 p.m. There are three ice times throughout the day at an hour and a half each, as well as dryland physical fitness and eye-hand coordination. The development camp accepts eight goalies nationwide for each session, with five sessions total.
Yvan said this is an opportunity most kids don't get, and it will give his boy more exposure as well as push him to the next level.
Kevin said he's a little nervous about being the youngest one there.
His father said he thinks the older kids will probably take him under his wing like big brothers and show him the ropes.
Kevin said he's most excited about meeting the instructors and having the chance for them to see him play.
The boy said he loves hockey.
"It's competitive and you get to meet new people," he said. One of the things Kevin said he enjoys about goaltending is the fact that you're always on the ice and you do get to play the puck as well.
The young player said he wants to continue playing goalie, perhaps one day for the NHL, but has more short term goals.
"Right now I'm looking at getting a scholarship and then hopefully get scouted and try to get in the NHL," he said.
His father just wants him to go as far in hockey as he can and enjoy himself at the same time. "He's got the size, the ability and the drive," he said.
Aside from hockey, Kevin enjoys soccer, lacrosse and fastball, and has an interest in animation.
