Oswego freshman to travel to Italy for 'Mountain Cup Challenge'

Logan Slou’s introduction to goaltending sounds like pure chance.

It’s been home ever since.

Slou, a freshman at Oswego, had been playing hockey for two or three years when he first found his way into the net in the fourth grade.

“My team didn’t have a goalie, and we all took turns playing. When I took my turn, I liked it and wanted to stick with it,” Slou said. “I liked that control of the outcome of the game.”

Slou clearly took to it.

He plays for the Team Illinois U-14 team, that trains out of Seven Bridges Ice Arena. Slou has traveled all throughout the Midwest, Detroit a popular destination, and Canada for various tournaments, and two years ago went to the Quebec International Pee Wee Hockey Tournament.

Now he’s headed overseas.

In April, Slou will travel with the MCN Hockey Club to the U-15 Mountain Cup Challenge in Italy. Leaving April 22, Slou and the team will go to Milan for three days for an exhibition and some sightseeing, and then it is on to Torino for five games against teams from countries such as Sweden and Hungary.

Slou was found through a recruiting website, whose staff called his dad a couple weeks ago to extend an invitation. The MCN Hockey Club takes summer and showcase teams to tournaments throughout the U.S. and Europe.

“I was really excited, shocked, happy,” Slou said. “I’ve seen some of the other players go to this event. I thought it was pretty cool. I didn’t think anything about it.”

Slou is toward the end of his season with Team Illinois.

A typical day consists of school, home for a quick dinner heavy on protein, then off to practice, where he is usually on the ice for an hour to an hour and a half. Goalie drills are run, and occasionally at the end of practice they will scrimmage. Slou does goalie training on Tuesdays with the team’s other goalies, and on Sundays travels to Homewood-Flossmoor or Southwest Ice Arena in Crestwood for training with his private goalie coach, Phil Ryan.

Ryan said that Slou already had the foundation of the mechanics for a AAA goaltender, the highest caliber of minor league hockey, when they first started training three years ago.

“He’s a very coachable goaltender, very easy to connect with,” Ryan said. “His work ethic is that of a junior [ages 16-21] hockey player, an elite goaltender. He carries himself like a young man, but like a AAA hockey player.”

The ability to “travel,” or skate on his knees and use a butterfly slide, was mechanics Slou had down by the time Ryan met him. Slou credits his work ethic for getting him there.

“It was a matter of polishing it up,” Ryan said.

Donations can be made to help fund Slou's trip to Italy at https://www.gofundme.com/4g969r-mountain-cup-challenge