On the ice, he looks like any other player, but Amit Vinegrad is a long way from home.

"The practice was very, very good," says the 14-year-old after a session at the Bell Sensplex.

"The ice, better."

Vinegrad lives in northern Israel, a country where there's less than 1,000 hockey players and just one arena with a full-sized hockey rink.

Amit's passion started like many young players, with his family. His grandfather, Boris Mendel, put him on skates at an early age.

"He took me when I was four, three-and-a-half, and then I love it," Vinegrad says.

Mendel immigrated to Israel from Russia and was the coach of Israel's national team for many years. He now coaches his grandson, but also shares a special connection with former Ottawa Senators coach, the late Roger Nielson.

"Roger Nielson and my grandpa did camps in Israel together," says Vinegrad.

"They were coaches together...and they were friends."

Vinegrad is in Ottawa for a week, lacing up his skates with Canadian kids at a development camp run by the Ottawa Senators. The trip is part of the Canadian-Israel Hockey School, an initiative started in Metula, Israel to expose kids of all ages and religious beliefs to the game of hockey. It's run out of Israel's only hockey rink, the Canada Center.

The hockey school has sent players to different cities in North America, including Calgary, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. They've been able to practice on the ice and go to NHL games. While this trip isn't a full one sponsored by the school, the hope is that it will still inspire kids in Israel.

"He (Amit) gets excited about it and comes back and talks about hockey stores, Gatorade and all this other stuff that we take for granted, that we see all the time...it blows them away," says Mitch Miller, a volunteer for the Canadian-Israel Hockey School.

Playing hockey in the Middle East has its challenges, like when the air raid sirens go off and you have to get to a bomb shelter.

"It was very, very scary (at first)...but after a year and a half, it was regular to me," admits Vinegrad.

Despite all those challenges, he's developed into a good player who's making an impression at the camp.

"He's up to par with the Canadian kids," says camp instructor Matt Bell.

"It's really great to see someone from not a hockey-typical country to come out here and perform just as well as the kids who have been playing hockey since they...were younger."

While many kids dream of playing in the NHL, Vinegrad has his sights set on another goal.

"Not to come to Canada, to the NHL...I want to get to the Israel team."