Lakehead Thunderwolves Hockey and Head Coach Don McKee are very proud to announce that the Thunderwolves will be holding a new hockey school in Fort Frances, Ontario running from July 30th to August 3rd.
The camp will be run by Coach McKee and instructors will include Coach McKees son Phil, and the Thunder Bay father and son team of Dave and Christian Bragnalo. There will also be a strong Fort Frances factor with new Fort Frances SIJHL team coach Wayne Strachan and Shane Bliss also being feature instructors. Both are ex-Thunder Bay Flyers players who have gone on to the coaching ranks.
Coach McKee said the school will provide a great hockey learning experience. This is very exciting and its our first year in Fort Frances. We have great instructors who are committed to teaching hockey and all its aspects. We have a variety of camps and levels which will address the needs of all the players. We will focus on fun, fundamentals, fitness, and finesse. We have had a fantastic response from the people in Fort Frances and we are looking forward to working with the youth in the Fort Frances community.
Meet the Instructors:
1)Head Coach Don Mckee: McKee is the new Head Coach of the Thunderwolves and brings vast professional, university, and junior coaching experience to this camp. Mckee is a Level IV NCCP certified coach and has served on many provincial and national coaching bodies. He is an Instructor for the Hockey Canada National Coaching Certification Program, served as Chairman of the CHAs Coaching Committee from 1996-98, and was chairperson of Hockey Ontarios Coaching Committee from 1982-85. In 1998, Mckee won the Gordon Juckes Award for Development in Canadian Hockey. McKee ran a successful hockey school in Kitchener for 25 years.
2)Phil McKee: Phil is the Executive Director of the Ontario Hockey Federation. His hockey experience as a leader of the game in Ontario has been both on and off the ice. He is excited about going to Fort Frances as he had fond memories of playing high school hockey there.
3)Coach Dave Bragnalo: The Thunder Bay native played hockey for the University of North Dakota and then for the Allan Cup winning Thunder Bay Twins (73-74). The Lakehead alumni coached Lakeheads first hockey incarnation, the Lakehead NorWesters, from 1980-84. He was then the coach of the Thunder Bay Flyers USHL Jr. team for three seasons from 1995-97.
4)Christian Bragnalo: Christian played three seasons for the Thunder Bay Flyers and then had a successfull four year career at the University of New Hampshire. He then played pro hockey before turning his sites on coaching. He now coaches at the famous Shattuck-St. Marys School in Minnesota where he is the coach of their AA midget team and an instructor at their hockey schools.
5)Wayne Strachan: The Fort Frances native played for the Thunder Bay Flyers before going on to play four seasons at Lake Superior State University where he won two NCAA Frozen Four national championship titles. He then went on to a pro career before going behind the bench. Strachan will be the new head coach of the Fort Frances Sabres; the newest entry into the SIJHL Jr. A league in Northwestern Ontario.
6)Shane Bliss: Bliss played his junior hockey for the Thunder Bay Flyers and then went on to a career in coaching. He is now coach of the powerhouse Fort Frances High School Muskies team.
Thunderwolves Hockey Operations manager John Payetta said Thunderwolves Hockey Schools are really looking forward to opening the new school in Fort Frances. "The public response in the Fort has been great, the City officials are great there, and we look forward to a long relationship with the town of Fort Frances."
There will be approximately 150 kids (both boys and girls) in five diff