Look at that stick. >> My name is Aito Iguighi from Saitama, Japan. Years old, 11. I am a monkey. >> First impression, in person, I thought he was a bit shy. Ten minutes later, the complete opposite.

He was just super energetic, super outgoing. >> Cup bud. And just a kid who loves life. >> And loves hockey. >> Whoa, whoa! >> Go, go, go!

Hard, hard, hard! Look up, look up, look up! Look up, look up, look up. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> As Stanley came to me.

I think you've seen my YouTube videos and you've seen my training footage for stick handling and stuff like that and he wanted Ito to have the advantage in that department. >> Hey guys. It's Pablo Barber here with another shootout tutorial. He sent me some videos and I was blown away at first,

I couldn't believe the level of skill. A pretty easy decision for me to take him up and help him out a bit. It's training day, stick handling? >> No. >> Passing?

>> No. >> Shooting? >> Yes! >> Scoring? >> Yeah. >> I saw that he loved the game and his stick handling was something that he took to pretty seriously. You just want the best for kids. Cuz you know exactly what he's thinking, what he's going through.

>> That was nasty. >> And I have the experience, so I'm looking to use my experience to help him be the best that he can be. So I'll go through it here, pass back, backwards. >> How many times?


>> Let's just go three. >> Yeah. Three times. >> Come on. Woo. That was dirty pops.

>> It's so amazing to see how quickly it picks something up- >> Just go on forehand like this. >> Without understanding the words I say. I mean, he clearly pays attention to the details. He clearly focuses on the task at hand and follows it very well. >> Okay, so we're gonna juggle some eggs, work on our soft hands here, okay.

>> You know, we talk all the time about his skills and all that stuff, but what really brings out his skills is his sense of creativity. >> His imagination and the way he sees the game. The thing is that he tries on the ice. >> Soft hands, okay? >> There's lot of kids out there who have skills but,

they don't have his creativity. >> Yeah. Yuppie. >> You wanna eat this? >> Eating. >> Eating. >> Eating. >> You know,

there's an old saying in Japan, that the nail that sticks out gets knocked down. But he is the nail that's sticking out. >> I'll pick you up at three. >> And he's not getting knocked down. He's out there having fun, doing all the things we're told you shouldn't be doing. Him moving away from home at 11-years-old to pursue this is insane to me.

I definitely wouldn't have done it if I were a kid, no way. I mean the average kid, they're just doing school, they have no jobs, no anything, they're just having fun with their friends. And this kid has just taken on a whole lot and he's doing it with a smile which is great. Of the family, I was the youngest, so I never got to be a big brother to someone.

He's an only child, so he didn't have any siblings. Having him around all day either training on the ice or away from the ice, being in that big brother role is awesome. >> Lany. >> Hm? >> Lany. >> Yeah.

What's Lany? >> Or rainy. >> Yeah. >> It's not raining. All right it's raining. >> But we're still gonna play some floor ball in the street.

Are you ready? >> No. >> That's a yes. >> No. >> A resounding yes. Let's go. There's nothing I hate more in this world than

seeing a kid who has potential and then seeing people drag him down. So what if he can stick handle when there is hitting he is gonna get nailed. He is clearly a very good player in Japan and stands out because other kids aren't so good. If he was from Canada, US, Russia, Finland or even Sweden, he would not get this kind of hype.

When I first saw Aito, I wanted to go that extra mile for him because I kind of saw myself in him. I saw he was tiny, number one. I was really tiny, so I think I struggle with that quite a bit, and wish I had someone to be that support system for me. And tell me that doesn't matter what other people say,

doesn't matter what they think. That's the kind of stuff I just despise. So, I'm really trying to be that positive influence on him so he'll know what voices to listen to. >> Seriously? Make me do all the work?

There you go. The bigger goal was to get him used to training against harder opponents. So that when the time comes he'll actually have to push himself to succeed, and that's what we wanted. >> You gotta toughen up. >> Being a small kid, playing in this sport, it's not easy to begin.

Again a lot of people telling you, you are too small, and that's what we're trying to get out of his head. >> The main thing he'll need to pick up on is his 50, 50 battles, just be more tenacious. Getting lower in his stance, being stronger, using every pound that he's got to win that puck.

>> Iso Iguchi. >> Brandon. Brandon, Brandon. >> Looking good. Is that my hat? For me, it’s really fun to be able to pass my experiences on with him. To be able to have fun with him and just get better at hockey alongside of him

The future for Aito Iguighi, it's unknown. My biggest wish is that he would just believe in himself and his abilities, focus on that, don't worry about what anyone else says about him. >> Aito! What I'd want is him to always feel comfortable coming to me asking questions. I always want to be part of his development.

As long as he's serious about progress I'll always be there to help him along the way. If you wanna be as good as you can. At anything in this life you gotta love it so if he doesn't love it, I'm not gonna be bummed out, that's his decision. And he'll be great at whatever he puts his mind to so I'm not too worried about that.



>> Hello.