COACHING TEAM
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Dominic Dawes
Coach Dominic joined our Northern Root staff this past summer. He is currently in his 7th years as the Head Coach of Division III Stevenson University. He previously Coached Newman College to an NCAA Division III Championship. He played at Norwich University and spent two seasons playing minor professionally.
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RYAN DONALD
Ryan played junior hockey in Alberta for the Fort Saskatchewan Traders before earning a scholarship to Yale University. He was the captain of the Yale Bulldogs that won the ECAC Regular Season Championship in 2009-10. Following his college years, Ryan attended an NHL camp and played professionally in both the American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League. Ryan is now in his second season as an assistant coach back at his alma mater Yale University.great sense of speed, balance, strength, conditioning, and confidence when they are out on the ice.
PAUL GARDNER
Paul recorded 402 points in the National Hockey League in 447 games! He played for the Colorado Rockies, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres. Following his playing career Paul was both an assistant coach and scout in the Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators organizations. Since 2008, he has been coaching in Europe in countries such as Germany and Holland. Paul comes from a hockey family. His brother Dave was a long time player in the National Hockey league as was his father Cal. Recently Cal was named in the Top 100 players to have ever played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
BRAD HOLT
Brad played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire for the legendary Charlie Holt! Yes, he played college hockey for his father! Following his college career, he was drafted by the Washington Capitals. After playing defense in the Capitals system, he went on to play professionally in Sweden. Continuing the coaching tradition set forth by his father, Brad coached at the prep school, junior and college levels. After 5 years as the Head Coach of the University of New England, Brad began coaching in Italy, where he is currently in his second season.
Tony Iob
Tony grew up in Renfrew, Ontario and played for both the Kingston Frontenacs and the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres and played for their American League Affiliate Rochester Americans. He played professionally for 17 seasons including playing in the East Coast Hockey League, American Hockey League, Italy, Germany and Austria. He was part of Team Italy in the 2006 Olympic Games.
DAN HOUCK
Dan is currently the owner and director of Hockey Dynamics, a Partner of LGSA, based out of Maryland. He has been a Tier 1 AAA Head Coach and Hockey Director of Team Maryland and is currently the hockey director of a youth program in South Dakota. As a player, Dan grew up outside of Philadelphia and played Prep School for Deerfield Academy before playing for Williams College in Massachusetts. He was both Captain and MVP of the team his senior year. After graduating, Dan made the move immediately to coaching.
JOSH JOORIS
Josh is currently playing with Geneva of the Swiss National League. He played over 220 games in the National Hockey League with the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Arizona Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins. In his rookie season, Josh scored more than 20 points and was used in all special teams situations. Prior to signing his contract with Calgary, Josh played Division 1 College Hockey for Union College. During his three years with Union, the team made tournament appearances every year and one appearance at the Frozen Four College Championship. Josh played his junior hockey in the Ontario Junior Hockey League before his college years.
MARK JOORIS
Mark played junior hockey in Ontario before embarking on a college career at Rensellear Polytech Institute (RPI). His 4 years included a Division 1 National Championship where he was line mates with Adam Oates, former Head Coach of the Washington Capitals. After college he went on to play 13 years professionally including stints in the Finnish Elite League, American Hockey League, German DEL and both the Swiss National A and B Leagues. At the end of his professional playing career, Mark immediately turned to coaching. He has been a Head Coach in the Swiss National B League as well as the Ontario Junior Hockey League. He has also been an assistant scout for the St Louis Blues of the National Hockey League.
PETE LEBOUTILLIER
Pete grew up in Manitoba, Canada and played Tier I Junior Hockey with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League where he captained the team in his 4th season. After being drafted by both the New York Islanders and Los Angeles Kings, Pete dawned the jersey of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the National Hockey League.
BOB LESLIE
Bob played for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League before playing Canadian University Hockey for the Brandon Bobcats. He then played professional and coached professionally combing for over 20 years at the top level. His coaching career included 9 postings on the coaching staff of Team Canada. He was part of a coaching staff that won 3 Spengler Cups with either Team Canada or the Cologne Sharks of Germany. He coached professionally at the top levels in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and England.
BOE LESLIE
Boe is a former Division 1 College and professional hockey player, who now works full time in youth hockey development world wide. He played NCAA Division 1 hockey for the Union College Skating Dutchmen of the ECAC, while earning an interdepartmental major in German and Economics. During his freshman year, Boe was rewarded for his scholastic achievement as having the highest GPA of all players on the Division 1 College team. After his time at Union, Boe then advanced to play 8 years of professional hockey in Europe. The majority of his professional career was spent in Switzerland for clubs such as Lausanne Hockey Club and Hockey Club Chur. He also spent part of his career in England where he played for the Sheffield Steelers of the British Super League.
NATE LESLIE
Nate is the President and CEO Leslie Global Sports, the creator of his new member site, How to Play Hockey, and the Director of the West Coast Hockey Prep Camp. After 4 years of Junior hockey Nate played 7 professional seasons in Europe and North America including the Swiss Elite League, British Super League, and the Central Hockey League. Before moving to Vancouver in 2008 Nate spent 4 years in New York City building a hockey program in West Harlem and was the Athletic Director in the prestigious Manhattan boarding school, the Saint Thomas Choir School.
VILIAM PALA
Coach Viliam is a native of Slovakia, where he played all of his youth hockey,high school and club hockey in college. After graduating from high school, Viliam founded a health youth fitness center. He is a certified fitness coach with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He has now been coaching full time for the past 7 years. This past summer was his 4th as part of the LGSA staff and he was at all East Coast camps.
BRAD POWELL
Brad grew up in Connecticut but his hockey career lead him throughout New England. His junior career took him to the Bay State Breakers in Massachusetts and college took him to Vermont. He played 4 years at Division III Norwich University where he was part of National Championship team in 2003. Since graduation, Brad has been very heavily involved coaching youth hockey at many different age levels.
STEVE PRIOLO
Steve is our cross training all around athlete! Growing up in southern Ontario, Steve played AAA youth hockey and Junior B in Fort Erie, Ontario. He then left hockey to played University Basketball. During his undergrad years, Steve was drafted into the National Lacrosse League. Since 2010 he has been playing professionally for the Buffalo Bandits. He was also part of Team Canada’s Box Lacrosse team that won the gold medal at the World Championships in 2015.
JACQUELINE SCHEFFEL
Coach Jacqui is currently the Head Coach at Trinity College School in Ontario, Canada. She played 5 years of University hockey at the University of Toronto. Throughout her years as a player at the U of T, she was spending the summers coaching at hockey schools across the country and has been involved with Northern Roots for the past 5 years.
JOHN SICINSKI
John has recently made the transition mid season from Professional Player to Coach within the Peiting EC organization of the German Oberliga. Prior to coaching professionally, John was in his 16th season of professional hockey which included time in the East Coast League, Central Hockey League, German Bundesliga and German Oberliga. Prior to his professional career, John played Division 1 College Hockey for Union College.
RAY SMITH
Ray grew up in New York State playing his youth hockey for various clubs. After Midget, Ray spent his Junior years in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Since making the move to coaching, Ray has coached at camps all over the world including stints in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and England.
MARK SZUCS
Mark played Division 1 College Hockey for Union College before an 11 year professional career in Austria. During his years in Austria, he was chosen numerous times to represent the Austrian National team in the World Championships. After 10 years as a player with the Linz Black Wings, Mark stepped directly into his current role as an Assistant Coach. He is currently in his 9th season in his role as an Assistant.
DOUG ROBERTS
Coach Doug spent 14 years playing in the NHL with teams such as the Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers and Boston Bruins, playing alongside hockey legends such as Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr. He was a Stanley Cup Winner during his time with the Boston Bruins. After his playing years came to an end in Finland, he moved back to the States and coached Connecticut College for 24 years. Coach Doug has a family pedigree of hockey players. His brother Gordie played 22 years in the NHL, his son Dave played 150 games, while his son Dougie, nephew and other brother all played minor league professionally. It is a great honor for us to have him as part of our coaching staff. He has been with us for all 10 years in New York since the inception of our first camp. He is a wealth of hockey knowledge. Both coaches and campers love to learn and listen when he speaks.
PERRY WILSON
Jason is a Goaltending Coach, currently with Hockey Canada and the Canadian Women's National Team. He is also the Director of Hockey Operations for the University of Windsor Men's Hockey team. During his time with the National Women's program, he has been part of a staff that has competed all over the world in countries such as Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic. He has also served as the goalie coach with the New Zealand U18 National Team.
JASON WOLFE
Jason is a Goaltending Coach, Owner of Wolfe Hockey Development, and a Partner of Northern Roots. He played Division 1 College Hockey for Merrimack College in Hockey East. After completing college, he went on to play 9 seasons of professional hockey in both the States and England. It was during these years that he also established his own goaltending development business which he now owns and operates full time.
DINA WOLFF
Dina has been a passionate coach for power skating for hockey players over the last 20 years. Her background as a competitive figure skater, Bachelors degree in Education, and attending college in the Northeast drew her to ice hockey realm. Her goals is to have players not only improve technically on their skating, but, also have a great sense of speed, balance, strength, conditioning, and confidence when they are out on the ice. Dina has had the pleasure to run power skating sessions with professionals, youth leagues, school teams, and clinics. Her love and knowledge of skating has helped many players develop and advance to greater levels of play.