Hockey is a tool for life outside of athletics.

Philip McRae Hockey Clinic Photo Gallery

That has been the case for Philip McRae, who was born and raised in the St. Louis area before being drafted by the hometown Blues in 2008 and playing for them in 2010. McRae led a floor hockey clinic split in two sessions for kids seven- to 10-years-old and 11- to 14-years-old on Friday at the Mexico Area Family YMCA. 

“We wanted to help them understand the game of hockey and that you have a stick the whole time,” McRae said. “That is unlike baseball, basketball, football or soccer. It is a different sport where you have this tool the whole time you’re playing. The main thing is the fundamentals — how to hold the stick properly, how to stick handle, how to shoot and how to pass.”

The clinic was sponsored by Peoples Savings Bank in Mexico, supplying jerseys with the Blues logo, and the TPH Academy in St. Louis bought sticks for around the 20 kids who showed up. Derek Stuckenschneider is the regional president of the Mexico bank location and is the brother-in-law of McRae. TPH St. Louis is one of several TPH academies in the country for student-athletes and is where McRae is the vice president and the director and head of hockey. 

“I have to give all the credit to Peoples Savings Bank and my brother-in-law, Derek Stuckenschneider,” McRae said. “He just reached out to me to run it. All we had to do was show up and teach the kids, which was great.”

After playing 10 years of professional hockey in various leagues around the world, McRae said he and TPH St. Louis try to engage in community service whenever they can. He said the school teaches sixth- to 12-graders but also holds clinics for younger kids so he and the school has handled a range of 8-year-olds up to professionals.

McRae has played at various levels in his hockey career, winning championships at the youth level with the Chesterfield Falcons and the St. Louis AAA Blues and gold and bronze medals, respectively, with the USA National Team at the U-20 World Juniors and U-18 World Championships. He said he started early largely because of the influence of his father, Basil McRae, who played 16 years in the NHL including four years with the Blues.

“I was brought up around the game and naturally fell in love with it from a really young age,” McRae said.

McRae said he wanted to play only one sport but encouraged kids to try as many sports as they can. That was certainly the case for several of the kids Friday after playing various other sports in their lives. 

Other than playing in the NHL and in its minor league AHL, McRae tried something new by playing professionally in other countries. He did play in Canada for the Ontario Hockey League earlier in his life but said he has played in countries like Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic. While there are technical differences, McRae said hockey inside and outside of America is similar in that there is a rink, hence no out-of-bounds, and it teaches values for life.

“I’m a huge believer in sports because most of the tools and skills that I use on a daily basis — like teamwork, competitiveness, discipline, hard work and overcoming adversity — I learned through sport,” McRae said. “Playing in different countries, you never know where sports will take you.”

McRae said hockey is popular and successful in the countries that have the most kids playing. Those kids are playing because they find the sport fun so McRae said he wants to primarily make hockey fun. 

Even though the clinic ended and the kids don’t have any ice rinks nearby, McRae said they can still practice hockey on their driveway or another similar surface. He said it is important that kids stay active, which is why he and TPH St. Louis bought the sticks so they didn’t have that financial burden. 

“I like using hockey as a tool to be able to teach kids about life skills,” McRae said. “We use hockey to teach them about goal setting, how to be committed to something you’re trying to accomplish, about hard work and practicing when nobody’s watching. If I can ever have a kid choose to go outside and play hockey instead of just watching TV, I’m all for it.”