By most accounts, the story of Ted Stephens' hockey life is unique.

The 21-year-old Yukoner was a key centreman in the Moncton Wildcats 2010 Memorial Cup run after winning the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

Last September, he got a shot at a Columbus Blue Jackets rookie camp, the second NHL-team camp he was invited to.

Now, after four seasons in the QMJHL, Stephens will head to Antigonish, N.S., to play hockey for St. Francis Xavier University.

But his hockey education began in Whitehorse.

And a key part of that education was attending the annual Northwestel Summit

Hockey School, presented by the Yukon Indian Hockey Association (YIHA), which will run from Aug. 1-5 at Takhini Arena and the Canada Games Centre pool this year.

Stephens was nabbed by Wildcats' head coach Danny Flynn, who will return this year as head instructor of the camp.

"That was the main reason I went there, because he had been watching me for a couple years at Summit Hockey School and invited me down for a tryout and I cracked the lineup,” said Stephens, who in 2007 became the first Yukoner to play in the QMJHL.

"He's a great coach, a great person, probably one of the better coaches I've had. I definitely owe a lot of credit to him for my hockey career.

Flynn said Stephens deserves the credit for building himself up to be one of the

league's best players after essentially walking onto the Wildcats.

"It's a remarkable story. He came in as an unknown and developed into one of the better offensive centreman in this league,” Flynn said.

"When he's done (playing for St. FX), provided he can continue to improve as a player, he'll be 23-years-old with his degree tucked in his pocket, and he'll take another crack at pro hockey, older and stronger.”

Those young players ages six to 17 looking to follow in Stephens' footsteps can register for the Summit hockey school at Sport Yukon.

Stephens will lend a hand as assistant instructor, along with Jared Tuton, captain for the University of Alaska Anchorage in the NCAA.

Flynn will be joined by fellow head instructors Joe Martin, assistant coach and general manager for the Merrit Centennials of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), and Brian Kozak, assistant coach of the Quesnel Millionaires of the BCHL and 2002 national aboriginal assistant coach.

Alumni from the hockey school have gone on to play in the NCAA, BCHL, QMJHL and the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL).

Flynn has seen the rise in Yukoners heading Outside to compete since he first led the hockey school nearly a decade ago.

"If you're there on a day-to-day basis, you might not see it. But for someone like myself, who comes in every year, you can definitely see the quality of the players improving,” Flynn said, adding that, after working in player and coach development for Hockey Nova Scotia for six years, he has a passion for promoting Canada's game in remote communities.

"I certainly have a passion for that. I've seen such improvement in the Yukon since I started almost 10 years ago now. The programs are stronger. The coaching is stronger. The kids now have the confidence to leave the area and know they can play with the best kids across the country.”

Last year, Summit partnered with the YIHA, who marketed the idea and brought in

nearly 60 kids. The on-ice component remains the same, but there are more off-ice activities like dryland training and guest speakers.

Martin said that partnership with the YIHA was important for two reasons.

"We wanted to help young hockey players, bringing people up and teaching them on-ice activities as well as off-ice activities,” Martin said.

"I coach for a living, and we've been doing it for such a long time that it was easy for (the YIHA) to come on board with us as opposed to going out and starting a new thing.”

Another component is to bring in 14-17-year-olds from the communities to instruct kids registered for the hockey school.

Kluane Adamek of the Kluane First Nations is an instructor for the aboriginal coaching certificate. Instructors taking that course will use Summit as their practicum by helping to coach throughout the week, Martin explained.

"We bring them in, and that's why it's called ‘Learning to Lead,'” he said of Martin coached hockey in Whitehorse from 2003 to 2007, leaving Whitehorse after coaching Team Yukon at the Canada Winter Games to coach in the BCHL.

With registration for Summit at $250, Martin said this hockey school is as cheap as you're going to find.

"No one's getting rich off this, that's not even the idea. It's not about money or cost. It's $250, as opposed to any camp that I've seen in B.C. that's a week long, nine hours a day – easy $600 to $1,000,” Marin said.

The idea is to keep costs down through sponsorship from Northwestel and the YIHA, he added.

"So that kids can afford it. For eons, they've been sending kids out to hockey camps in B.C.

"If you go with one parent, your flights are easily $1,000, plus hotel, plus registration. Parents are spending $3,000 to put a kid through a hockey school that they might not even enjoy.

"It's money saved. You're in Whitehorse. You can still go to work, for the parent, just drop the kid off and they're there from 8:30 to 4:30.”

Martin said having Flynn – who coached in the NHL for the New York Islanders – return year after year is a major draw.

"Danny's probably losing a little bit of his luster in the Yukon because he keeps coming back,” Martin joked. "People are just getting so used to him, but some people just don't know is that Danny's one of the respected junior hockey coaches

in Canada. He's great with kids. He's been a professional hockey coach for close to 20 years, if not more.

"He's a great mentor of mine. I've done a lot of learning and had some success in coaching in part thanks to him.”

Flynn added that the camp represents a breather for his all-out schedule.

"When you're a coach of major junior hockey, it's 24/7; it's a chance for me to catch my breath a little bit while being part of a good program,” Flynn said.

He spoke to the Star via phone while on the road in New Hampshire scouting for the Wildcats.

"It's always been that I have lots of fun and get a chance to see one of the prettiest areas of the country and I always look forward to coming back,” Flynn said of the Yukon.

He added that coaching style depends on the caliber of the players and not which region of the country they come from.

"Kids are kids. Basically down deep they all want to learn, they all want to develop.

Your approach changes from group to group, but it's not based on where the kids are from, just sometimes based on the skill level of the players. Mostly the kids are hungry to play and hungry to get better.”