This writer recently embarked on a quest to find the sniper whom the Flyers so desperately need. Watching countless highlight videos and rummaging through piles of stat sheets on players eligible for this year’s NHL Entry Draft led to the discovery of a hidden treasure: James Hardie. His stats are among the league’s best, but somehow he still has managed to be overlooked. Recently, this winger with the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) was featured in a piece from this writer (if you haven’t read it yet you should, by clicking the link). After writing that piece James was willing to set up an interview to help us understand his drive, and more.
Growing up, James credits his father, Steve, as the person who made the biggest influence on him during his most formative years in youth hockey. Mostly because he was James’s first coach, but also because he was the man that introduced him to the game that he loves. Steve took the time and laid the groundwork that showed James how to play hockey the right way. Throughout his career, James’ dad rarely missed one of his son’s games; This is something that is still true to this day, since James was lucky enough to get drafted by the Steelheads (who play less than an hour away from where James grew up). To this day, Hardie and his dad still find the time to sit down for a meal after his games where Steve provides feedback and support.
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But now that he plays in the OHL, Hardie attributes his continued development to Mississauga’s head coach James Richmond, who, as Hardie told this writer, has not only pushed James to be a better player than he was the day before, but who has also helped him to establish a sense of confidence. This confidence is something that James undoubtedly has used to amass 34 goals this past season. Another name that some of you may recognize, that James credits to helping him during his time with the Steelheads, is his line-mate and fellow-NHL prospect Cole Schwindt. Schwindt, who is now a member of the Florida Panthers organization (after being drafted by them in the 3rd round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft), has been helping James prepare for the draft process. When these two aren’t practicing together at the rink you can find them on the golf course, where James has found refuge while he was made to stay away from the rink during the highest points of this COVID pandemic, saying:
“It’s just something that I enjoy doing and something that gets me…away from everything, and I just enjoy my time on the golf course.”
James Hardie says in an interview with Lance Green
When asked about his best element, Hardie states “I’m a shot-first kind of player, so for me, my shot is definitely my biggest attribute…I like picking the goalie’s weakness.” James went on to admit that he has been trying to improve upon his defensive game during this extended break. The types of drills that James has been working on in practice to strengthen the defensive skills are board-battles and breakout drills which will help him to try not to “cheat (as much) on the play” in order to get a jump on it, thus improving his ability to stay in a good position so that his defensemen can utilize him for a for a nice outlet pass.
Keeping this in mind, Hardie says that he tries to focus on watching players like two-way forward Tyler Toffoli (of the Vancouver Canucks), who “is a skillful forward who can put pucks in the net and can also be a leader,” who is defensively responsible as well. With this approach, James hopes to improve upon his totals from last year by setting his sights on 40 goals next season. Hardie stated that he thinks this is achievable because he had a slow month early last year, where he did not score any goals. So, if he stays consistent throughout next season, the sky is the limit for this promising young prospect.
When this writer asked James about his current draft stock and how he felt as far as where most mock draft boards had him, Hardie stated that he’s not that worried about it because you never can really tell which player some teams are higher on than others, and which may make a move to take that player earlier than expected. Additionally, when asked if many NHL clubs have been trying to contact him, James said that they have been and that the call volume is only increasing as the draft looms nearer.
Here’s hoping that a few of those calls are coming from a South Philadelphia area code and that the Flyers’ General Manager is doing his due diligence (maybe after reading this writer’s previous article?) by scouting this young prospect. If the Flyers are, in fact, able to obtain this natural goal-scorer on draft day, Hardie will certainly push himself to make them look like one of the smartest teams in the league. With a little luck and a bit more development, Hardie will be ready to join the Flyers in no time, and help Philadelphia in their pursuit of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.
