8 minute read
Best Shift Hockey puts wheels in motion
by SHAFIN KHAN
Let’s Play Hockey Contributor
A new hockey training facility has found a home in Eagan, Minn. and is looking to make a positive impact within the hockey community with its services. Best Shift Hockey has established itself as a training facility where they welcome athletes of all ages and host various programs to help hockey players of any age hone their skills with an emphasis on using wheels for training during the summer months and throughout the hockey season.
Inline or “roller” hockey is popular on both the east and west coasts, and is used as a prime training technique to build better ice hockey players. It is growing in popularity in the Midwest and Minnesota.
The business began through the collaboration of GoodWood Hockey owner, Kelly O’Donnell, and professional inline hockey player, John Schiavo, creating the new brand: Best Shift Hockey.
“Bottom line – [we want to] grow the game. Expand access to training on wheels and put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces,” Schiavo said. “Best Shift Hockey isn’t just for roller hockey, it’s a place to become a more skilled hockey player. There are three shooting lanes that can be rented individually for hour-long training. The entire rink can be rented by the hour for private, small group or team training by your coach or association. There is a gym, dozens of training tools, and games available for use with any shooting lane or rink rental.”
While ice hockey is predominant, the Minnesota Roller Hockey Association [Joe Dustin, White Bear Lake], and John Schiavo have been working diligently to shift the habits of hockey training in the region to inline skating, as well as grow the base of youth and adults playing competitive inline hockey in addition to, or, when appropriate, in place of ice hockey. With a growing market and grassroots movement, it has led to a demand for high quality training and organization for the game of roller hockey in this marketplace. The facility houses 140-square meters of indoor skating tile (this area is able to be utilized as a full skating area, or sectioned off for three
Best Shift Hockey gives kids a chance to work on hockey skills while also learning roller hockey.
individual shooting lanes); three NHLsized nets will also give way to three shooting tarps in the shooting lanes for customization of training; One end of the rink area will end in an additional shooting tarp. The other end is a floor to ceiling, net-protected, 4.5-meter high industrial garage door with an NHL sized net for shooting. There is also 65-square meters of fitness equipment and training with Olympic weights, machines, and a fitness cycle, amongst other training aids. There is also 73-square meters of retail/ pro shop space.
O’Donnell and Schiavo want to promote their new facility as a place where organizations can work on team building
John Schiavo is a partner and co-founder of Best Shift Hockey, a new training facility in Eagan that gives kids a chance to learn roller hockey while improving hockey skills.
activities, have dryland practice and as a place that is inclusive of everyone. They host camps and clinics and are actively working to bring teams of all age groups to larger national tournaments during the summer months. There is still time to register for their July & August summer skills camps available for mite through bantam levels.
Schiavo, a still active ECHL athlete, hails from the east coast and hopes to bring his expertise in roller hockey and to training to Minnesota where there are more hockey players per capita than anywhere in the nation. “The talent pool in Minnesota is enormous for hockey,” said O’Donnell. “Roller hockey is an environment for not only the top tier players to open up their training & improve their stick handling and skating skills, but also allows for anyone to come play hockey. Whether you’re at the Learn to Skate level, have never held a stick, want to play recreationally, or play on multiple travel teams...roller hockey & training on wheels can be for you.”
The pair has organized a weekly Wednesday Hockey Fun Night and families can register for it on online at www. bestshifttraining.com. O’Donnell has also helped put together a pre-school aged open playtime on Monday and Wednesday mornings in order to help expose youngsters to the game of hockey and create a fun environment for them.
One of the biggest differences between ice and roller hockey is that roller is played four-on-four along with no icing or offsides, making it an extremely fast-paced game. These nuances between the two versions of games is something Schiavo hopes he can teach to kids at an early age.
“Shoulder pads aren’t really worn and we don’t wear hockey pants,” Schiavo said. “We wear specific roller hockey pants. Obviously, the surface is a huge difference as well. Tournaments are played on a special tile similar to Sport Court but roller hockey can be played on smooth concrete or other court surfaces as well.”
Another goal O’Donnell and Schiavo are striving towards is to help enhance the popularity of the roller hockey community in Minnesota. They have seen growth of the sport in other midwestern states and want to continue pushing that growth across the region as well. “We aim to be a huge catalyst for the game. Roller is already huge in the St. Louis area. Wisconsin and Iowa have also started growing the sport in the last decade as well,” Schiavo said. “It really only makes sense to reintroduce inline to the State of Hockey. I can tell you that I have heard an enormous amount of excitement from the national roller hockey community for Minnesota to become a powerhouse in roller hockey.” GoodWood Hockey [now Best Shift Hockey & Training] began as a lifestyle apparel brand in Minnesota and still continues to sell an apparel line at www.bestshifthockey.com. Training hours and camps can be found at www.bestshifttraining. com. The facility is located in Eagan, Minnesota at 1959 Shawnee Rd Ste 100.
Pittsburgh penguins All-Star Jake Guentzel was the leading NHL scorer who hails from Minnesota.
Guentzel, a former Hill-Murray standout, finished the regular season with 40 goals and 44 assists for 84 points. He is the only Minnesotan to finish in the top 50 in the NHL in scoring.
Blake Wheeler (Plymouth, MN) was the second highest scorer for a Minnesotan, tallying 17 goals, 43 assists for 60 points. Wheeler played high school hockey at Breck and had a great college career for the Gophers.
Brock Nelson of Warroad finished third amongst Minnesotans in the NHL with 37 goals and 22 assists for 59 points.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk (South St. Paul) was fourth with 16 goals and 47 points.
Anders Lee (Edina) finished 2818-46 and Brock Boeser (Burnsville) finished with 23 goals and 23 assists for 46 points.
Buffalo’s Kyle Okposo (St. Paul) finished with 45 points (21g, 24a), and Rem Pitlick (Plymouth) finished 1522-37. Zach Parise (15-20-35), finished his first full season with the Islanders and ranks ninth amongst Minnesotans. Rounding out the top 10 is Travis Boyd, the Stanley Cup winner who played high school hockey at Hopkins and tallied 17 goals and 18 assists this season for Arizona. Boyd ranked 227th in the NHL in scoring.
In all, the 10 players combined to play 732 games, score 229 goals and 275 assists for 504 points. The 10 players in their combined careers have played 6,103 games and scored 1,760 goals and added 2,307 assists for 4,067 points.
Jake Guentzel, a product of Hill-Murray High School, led all former Minnesota players in NHL scoring this season with 84 points. He was also an NHL All-Star.
Photo by Nick Wosika
Top 10 “Minnesota” scorers in NHL 2022-23 Regular Season
Player
Hometown/HS NHL Team Jake Guentzel Hill-Murray Pittsburgh Blake Wheeler Plymouth/BreckHSWinnipeg Brock Nelson Warroad NY Islanders Justin Faulk South St. Paul St. Louis Blues
Anders Lee Edina
NY Islanders Brock Boeser Burnsville Vancouver GP-G-A-PTS NHL Rank Career GP-G-A-PTS 76-40-44-84 24 375-161-180-341
65-17-43-60 80 1046-276-571-867
72-37-22-59 84 76-16-31-47 147 676-205-182-387 760-113-233-346
76-28-28-46 150 71-23-23-46 150 596-212-154-366 324-121-135-256
Kyle Okposo St. Paul Buffalo 74-21-24-45 155
Rem Pitlick Plymouth Minnesota/Montreal 66-15-22-37 212
Zach Parise Minneapolis NY Islanders 82-15-20-35 227
Travis Boyd Edina/Hopkins HS Arizona 74-17-18-35 227 909-219-345-564 77-15-24-39 1142-408-437-845 198-30-46-76
Totals 732-229-275-504 6103-1760-2307-4067
CRYHA is seeking coaches for the 2022-2023 season!
Coon Rapids Youth Hockey Association (CRYHA) has a strong need for Head Coaching Candidates at the Bantam, PeeWee, and Squirt levels Our coaches are key contributors to our player development both on and off the ice. We encourage anyone with an interest in helping mentor and develop our young athletes to consider becoming a coach. Coaching is extremely rewarding and provides you with the opportunity to make a difference in our kids’ lives. The kids forget the games after the season is over but they remember the coach for the rest of their lives!
Requirements: • This is a paid position and allows for 2 additional paid assistant coaching positions • Candidates must possess significant ice hockey experience • Candidate should not currently have a child playing hockey within CRYHA • Scheduling can be flexible for the right candidate, hockey events will likely include evenings and weekends as schedule and ice time allow • Ability to travel within the state of MN for out of town tournaments • Hiring is conditional on the successful completion of a criminal background check; applicants should also either possess or be able to attain required background clearances and necessary USA Hockey coaching certification. If you are interested in coaching during the 2022-23 season, please direct inquiries to Todd Bushy: toddbushy@cryha.com (612-412-6670) or Tim Matsche: timmatsche@cryha.com (651-497-0230)
AAA HOCKEY TOURNAMENT AUGUST 11 - 14, 2022 mnmadehockeytournaments.com
