Teen travels from Tel Aviv to share ice with Sidney Crosby

Itamar Amiel was a bundle of nerves as he stepped onto the ice at Cole Harbour Place for Day 1 of the Sidney Crosby Hockey School.

Amiel is a long way from his home in Tel Aviv, Israel.

"I am very excited to go on the ice for the first time, especially in Cole Harbour where Crosby grew up," said Amiel.

Amiel, who turned 13 on Monday, was born and raised in Israel, but his father is from Halifax.

Jonathan Amiel moved to Tel Aviv 22 years ago.

His son got his first taste of hockey three years ago when the family came to Nova Scotia for a vacation.

They made their way to the BMO Centre in Bedford for a public skate.

"Next to the public skate there was a rink where Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand were all playing," said Jonathan Amiel. "Itamar just fell in love with the game."

Ice time limited in Israel

Itamar Amiel started playing hockey competitively about a year and a half ago.

He plays ice hockey once a week and also uses in-line skates twice a week. But ice time in the country, where the climate is not conducive to frozen water, is limited.

"It's a winter sport and in Israel we don't have a winter therefore having an ice facility is very difficult," said Jonathan Amiel. "There are only two ice facilities in the entire country one is in the north part of the country and the other is in Tel Aviv."

Favourite player is Crosby

Despite being on the other side of the world, Itamar's favourite hockey player is Sidney Crosby.

"I saw the last series of the Stanley Cup and all the games I saw were very exciting," said Itamar.

The Amiel family is nearing the end of a long vacation. They've already spent a few weeks away from home, travelling through the United States, where they made a trip to Disney World in Florida.

But the highlight of the vacation for Itamar is his trip to Cole Harbour.

"I think I'm going to learn a lot of new skills," said Itamar. "But it's going to be a little bit hard going on the ice against kids who are better than me."

Amiel is one of 160 players taking part in the hockey school.

Every Canadian province and territory has at least one player taking part, and there are many American players, with 32 states represented.

Crosby, now a three-time Stanley Cup champion, will join the players for some of the on-ice sessions that will continue until Friday.