(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: PRO PROSPECT: Princeton University men’s hockey star Jody Pederson controls the puck in a game last season. The senior defenseman from Smithers, British Columbia honed his skills at the Vancouver Canucks prospects camp in mid-July as he looks for a big final campaign with the Tigers.

After Getting Pointers at Vancouver Camp, PU Hockey’s Pederson Primed for Senior Year

Bill Alden

Jody Pederson and his teammates on the Princeton University men’s hockey team won’t waste any time hitting the ice when they arrive at school in 10 days or so.

“We skate as soon as we get back,” said Pederson, a senior defenseman from Smithers, British Columbia.

“Most of the guys will be on the ice everyday. Captain’s practices start the first day of school. The coaches can come on the ice with us in October.”

The 6’3, 210-pound Pederson’s preparation for the season got spiced up as he hit the ice at the Vancouver Canucks prospects camp in mid-July.

“It was a nice break; it was good to do different things,” said Pederson, who opted to stay in his home region for the NHL camp after also getting feelers from the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and the Nashville Predators.

“I was working five days a week doing cardio and lifting weights; three months of hitting the gym gets old. It was a good learning experience.”

Pederson overcame some butterflies in his stomach and put in some hard work at the camp which took place at the University of British Columbia.

“Leading up to it, there were some nerves,” said Pederson. “Once you got there, it was just hockey. It was a mix of stuff. We skated Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We had a fitness test on Monday; we did some tough fitness stuff after that.”

The camp also included some off-the-ice stuff that should help Pederson fine-tune things as he gets ready for his final college campaign.

“They brought in a nutritionist, we did yoga,” added Pederson. “It was pretty cool; they put a lot into the other things. It was more education than evaluation. They set a base to build on for the guys in the organization.”

After graduating from Princeton, Pederson would like to be part of a professional organization.

“I held my own; I think I fit in,” said Pederson, reflecting on his performance at the Vancouver camp. “I would like to go pro; I want to have a good senior season and go from there.”

Pederson enjoyed a fine junior season with the Tigers, setting career highs with five goals, 14 assists, and 19 points as he was named as a first-team All-Ivy League performer and a third-team All-ECACH selection.

While Pederson’s heroics helped the Tigers climb into the Top Ten in the national rankings last winter, things ended on a sour note as Princeton squandered late leads in losses to Cornell in the ECACH semifinals and to Minnesota-Duluth in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“We had a good year but it was a tough way to end things,” acknowledged Pederson.

“We learned that no lead is big enough. We learned that we really need to have the killer instinct; when we have a team down, we have to step on its throat.”

With his last Princeton campaign around the corner, Pederson is looking to produce a killer finale.

“We want to get our first win in the NCAA tournament,” asserted Pederson, who comes into his senior season with 44 career points in 101 games.

“But the ECACH is such a tight league, you can’t look ahead or you will be on the outside looking in.”

Pederson’s outside experience with the Canucks could help him keep Princeton ahead of the pack in the ECACH this season.

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