How We Coach

Above all else, hockey is fun. If youth hockey feels like a job or an intense responsibility, in our opinion something has gone awry. It’s not that we’re against working hard and being committed to being the best player you can be. But this game is FUN TO PLAY. And it’s our belief that fun fuels excellence.

Whether your hockey dream is to play high school, college, or pro – whether the road takes you house or travel, AAA, or to the adult league championship – there’s nothing that compares to the rush of flying around the ice with your best friends making a great defensive stop, overtime GWG, or perfect centering pass to your linemate. At Lakeside, we foster this spirit and a love of this great game.

We focus on the fundamentals of the sport at age-appropriate levels for Mites through Bantams: Skating speed, balance, and power. Proper form. Heads up stickhandling, crisp passing, power and accuracy from shots. In addition to core skills, where appropriate we devote time to principles of team play – breakouts, forechecking, defensive strategies, power plays, and penalty killing. We help develop hockey sense with small-area games and drills that are smart and innovative – or ones that have stood the test of time.

We are available for private lessons, and for classes we aim to have no higher than a 7:1 player-to-coach ratio so that we can devote time to working on each player’s specific needs. At the end of camp or a series of sessions we prepare a player report detailing the player’s progress, areas of improvement, and room for growth.

Meet the Coaches »