When I began to be involved in youth hockey as a "hockey dad",
I became aware of many excellent athletes that were not playing
to their athletic potential. Many of these athletes were not performing
up to their ability because their basic skills were not perfected.
Whenever I talked to youth coaches about the mechanics of skills
such as skating, shooting, passing, checking and stick handling,
they almost universally did not know how nor were they able to teach
the skills necessary for top performance. Whenever I talked to college
or professional coaches, they all indicated that the first thing
they look for when evaluating a player is the player's individual
skill level. The most important skill, skating ability, often received
the least amount of attention. It was also apparent that the most
highly skilled teams were typically the teams that performed the
best.
With these thoughts in mind, I began to look for the best programs
for my two hockey-playing sons. My search included both national
as well as local programs. Although I found several good general
programs, I could not find a program that provided the type of in
depth instruction that would allow my sons the opportunity to skate
to their athletic potential. My search included local figure skating
instructors and national programs. None of these programs were able
to provide the degree of assistance and/or knowledge required to
significantly improve my sons' skating skills. Finally, out of desperation,
I contacted Walt Kyle, the Assistant Coach for Northern Michigan
University (Walt has rejoined NMU as their Head Coach after serving
as an Assistant Coach with the NHL's New York Rangers). Coach Kyle
advised me to contact a former player that was working in the Marquette,
MI area by the name of Dave Moree. Dave, Coach Kyle explained, was
the best skater he had seen and probably the best skater to ever
have played at Northern Michigan University.
After contacting and meeting Dave, I was very surprised. In stature,
Dave stood approximately five feet seven inches tall and weighed
approximately one hundred and sixty five pounds. He had been a four-year
starter on defense for Northern Michigan University. When I asked
him how he had competed at such a high level, he explained quite
simply that his skating skills were always the best. Dave explained
that he had better speed and agility than the other players so he
could do things the other players could not. When I inquired as
to whether he would be interested in starting to teach his skating
skills, Dave readily agreed.
What I learned from Dave was that he had been teaching proper
skating technique since he was sixteen. Originally going to a power
skating school in his native British Columbia to improve his skating
skills, Dave was instead hired as an instructor. Dave continued
to teach proper skating technique up through his collegiate career
with Northern Michigan University before retiring to the world of
business.
When I first saw Dave on the ice, I was totally amazed. Not only
was Dave the smoothest skater I had ever seen, he was extremely
explosive with tremendous skating speed and agility. When I asked
him if he could teach these skills to my boys, he said, "Certainly."
My oldest son, Ken, was a late starter to hockey. Never having
skated or played hockey in his life, Ken took up the game at the
age of 10 and broke his wrist the first time he stepped on the ice.
His second time on the ice was during the house league draft skate
where he was the last overall pick.
Possessing excellent athleticism and tremendous heart, Ken continued
to battle and work hard to improve. Between his first and second
year as a pee wee, we had the fortune to work with Mark Leach, then
an assistant coach with Michigan Technological University. Mark
pulled me aside and advised me that Ken had Division I athletic
skills and correctly guessed that he had been skating for three
years. Mark implored me to get Ken with a figure skater or some
other skating instructor to improve his skating skills. After three
years and many attempts to find a really qualified instructor or
instructional program, we were able to find Dave Moree.
Although Ken had played on several successful travel teams (his
Tier II Bantam team finished second in the nation in 1994) and he
had a devastating physical presence on the ice, his skating skills
needed development. Dave Moree provided the technical expertise
that literally transformed Ken as a skater and player. Ken's development
was very rapid and before long, Dave selected him to be his assistant
instructor at the age of 16. After playing midget AAA hockey
and continuing to coach with Dave, Ken decided to attend college
after dealing with numerous set backs from injuries..
During the summer break after his first year at Michigan State
University, Ken was playing pick up hockey at Northern Michigan
University with alumni and current players from Northern Michigan's
team. Terry Metro, then an assistant coach at the University of
Wisconsin Stout was in attendance and was watching Ken play. The
two talked and Ken was offered a roster spot with the University
of Wisconsin-Stout. It took another year for Ken to decide
to transfer to UW-Stout but despite not playing competitive hockey
for two years, he made the team. Unfortunately, Ken's playing
career was cut short due to a series of concussions.
While Ken was not able to play at a competitive level due to
his injuries, he recovered completely and began to dedicate himself
to the teaching and coaching of players. Dave Moree left the Marquette,
MI area moving to Minnesota to pursue business opportunities. Ken
began where Dave had left the program and instituted a number of
critical program changes.
Over the years, Skating Dynamics has continued to grow, initially
only offering skating instruction and eventually offering a variety
of training programs focusing on skating, stickhandling, passing,
shooting, checking, and position specific training for forwards
and defensemen. The Skating Dynamics program offers detailed
technical instruction on the proper mechanics for these skills.
Skating Dynamics develops a player's technical correctness for all
hockey skills and for players of all ages and abilities.
In addition to founding Skating Dynamics, Ken was selected to
be the Head Skills Coach for the IMG Hockey Academy in Bradenton,
Florida. IMG represents more professional hockey players than any
other sport management company in the world. Ken was in charge
of on and off ice skill development for IMG's professional clients,
future prospects and aspiring amateurs competing at the Midget and
Bantam AAA levels. Since his return in 2001, Ken has continued
to develop Skating Dynamics to where it is today.
Ken epitomizes what Skating Dynamics is about. If a player
really wants to improve, he or she will become as technically
proficient as he or she can. They will work extremely hard and
take advantage of the best coaching and instruction available.
Although our story is still evolving, it is our intent to
provide the best training and support services available. This
company has been based upon proven results. Players that attend
our programs get better. We want hockey families to develop
their youngsters with the certain knowledge that they are
receiving the best instruction available. We don't purport to
know everything there is to know about hockey but we do know
what works. If you are interested in improving your skills, there is no better program.
