Wendel Clark sniped a couple goals on Dawson Smith.

Smith is 7.

"It felt pretty good. I got scored on a few times by Wendel Clark, and that was kind of exciting because I've never gotten a shot from a NHL player,” Smith said, adding that he got tips from Kelly Hrudey to keep his stick on the ice.

Clark and Hrudey stopped by the goalie clinic held at the Canada Games Centre Wednesday afternoon, the second day of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada celebrations.

The rink was packed with goalies of all ages and levels, as well as the Team Yukon boys, who left for Halifax, N.S., the following day to compete in the Canada Winter Games.

It was difficult to tell if the kids recognized Hrudey from his NHL career with the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks or his commentary on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

It didn't matter much.

Team Yukon goaltender Nigel Sinclair-Eckert took a break to speak one-on-one with Hrudey.

"It was great, I talked to him about focusing, before and during the game,” Sinclair-Eckert said.

"It's always good talking to someone who's very experienced like him, he knows what he's doing, he's got a lot to teach younger goalies, and when he teaches it to me I can pass it on to younger goalies.”

There's quite a bit to pass on.

So Hrudey broke it down into simple ideas.

"There's one key thing to stopping the puck, and that's never taking your eyes off it,” he told the Star. "I know it sounds silly, but once that game starts, don't ever take your eye off that puck, and you watch it everywhere it goes. Maybe you get a little break when there's a whistle or something, but when that puck's on the ice, you're watching it all the time, you don't day dream, and it's actually a hard skill to learn.”

He stressed the importance of basic crease movements with Team Yukon girls goalie Jocelyn Wynnyk.

She later met Hrudey in the hallway to thank him for coming out.

"They've been there and they've been in the situation,” said 15-year-old Wynnyk, who will head to Halifax for the second half of the Canada Games on Feb. 19.

"It almost sets a goal of where I can go and what to look forward to when I'm playing in the future. It was really fun, because they know a lot and have a lot of experience.”

Both Hrudey and Clark agreed that above everything, having fun while playing is key.

Clark, the former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, told a line of Team Yukon boys that the best players play tough games like they play shinny.

"We're all hockey fans, it's Canada so we all played the game and lived the game, especially in these smaller towns, much like where I grew up in Saskatchewan. In the winter, it's 24/7, kids are either playing hockey or watching hockey,” Clark said in an interview.

"These are the fun times. These kids, from the youngest one on the ice to the ones going to the Canada Games, this is your most fun, so make sure you're really enjoying it and give it your all, because these are the times, when you get old like us, that you remember.”

This was Hrudey's second trip to Whitehorse, having been an ambassador for the opening of the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

"Every time that the schedule comes out, this is the weekend that I look for first,” Hrudey said.

"And it just seems as though, maybe because we live in bigger cities, most of us, that we lose what the rink really means in towns, in the smaller centres, it's a real gathering place.”

He added that he never would have gotten to the NHL without people helping him out along the way, so he gets out on the rink with the kids whenever possible.

"I think it makes us feel as though we're repaying some of the nice gestures a lot of the people showed towards us,” Hrudey said.

"That's the reason I enjoy these weekends, because we get to see families doing things together, and it's not only watching their sons and daughters play, but their nieces and nephews and family friends, so it's great.”

Any other tips for the Canada Games players?

"Just enjoy it, because opportunities like that don't always come around, and sometimes we get a little bit too worked up for it, and I think it's pretty safe to say most athletes play the best when they're calm and relaxed,” Hrudey said. "They do all their thinking before hand and just go out on the ice and react.”