About
I grew up in a Canadian military family, moving every few years across Canada and briefly through Colorado. Starting over without friends was tough, but looking back, those years were a gift. With nowhere to settle in, I poured my energy into every sport I could find: dribbling soccer balls, chipping golf balls, and of course stickhandling and shooting pucks until the sun went down. My parents, Lorne and Nancy, modeled hard work, sacrifice, and tough love, and somehow kept up with three competitive boys who showed each other absolutely no mercy. I'm deeply grateful for the countless hours they invested in us and for every dollar they spent making sure sports were an integral component of our lives.
My path to professional hockey was anything but straight. I was under 5 feet tall through most of high school, which meant I heard "no" more than most. At 21, I retook two years of high school coursework just to meet NCAA eligibility requirements, but it led me to Bemidji State University, where I earned a degree in Exercise Science and proved what I already believed: the long way around is still the right road. God had a way of turning every setback into something stronger.
Underestimated and overlooked for most of my career, I lived by one maxim: pray like it depends on God, and work like it depends on you. That combination carried me further than anyone expected, and I was blessed to play 7 years with the Philadelphia Flyers organization and a year each with the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs. Honestly, it still feels like a dream.
After hockey, my wife Erin and I planted roots in Stillwater, Minnesota, where we're raising three determined, sports-loving kids of our own. That journey, every move, every rejection, every hard-fought opportunity, is exactly what drives the way I coach today.
From the Beginning
From a very young age, I understood that skating was the great separator in hockey. Good players could shoot and pass, but the truly great ones could skate in a way that made everything else possible: speed, positioning, creativity under pressure. I was blessed to play professional hockey for 9 years, and throughout that career I worked with a number of skating coaches, always chasing a deeper mastery of the craft and a greater comfort in every situation the game could throw at me.
coaching now
Since retiring, I have been coaching minor hockey across the U8, U10 girls and mite boys programs, and I love every minute of it. I am still very much a student of the game, regularly learning from coaches at every level. The knowledge I picked up from skating and skill coaches throughout my playing years is something I feel a real responsibility to pass on, and my hope is that the next generation of players can benefit from everything I was fortunate enough to absorb along the way.