Herb Brooks: 'The Satellite Concept'

The following article contains the thoughts of Herb Brooks from several years ago before his untimely death. Brooks was one of the biggest supporters of the Satellite Program because it was a TRAINING PROGRAM. Brooks felt that players in the U.S. were spending too much time playing and not enough time working on and off ice on skills, conditioning and knowledge.

Big oil. Big tobacco. Big hockey. At least that's the way Herb Brooks sees it, and he's disappointed. The former NHL and Olympic coach and player is used to being a whistle blower. And whether you agree with him or not, Brooks' passion is undeniable.

What Brooks is trying to fix is hockey in the United States, although he made it clear that he doesn't see anything terribly wrong with hockey in America. “I just see there are ways to make it better,” he said. “We've got great athletes in our country, an ever-increasing infrastructure and eager coaches at all levels.” Brooks' mission is to broaden the base of hockey in the United States, and he shared with us to set hockey in the right direction.

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Once the season starts it's hard to concentrate on skill work, Brooks acknowledges. He views skills as a byproduct of games and practices, but thinks it's time to mess with the schedule to get better results.

“By using May through July to emphasize skill development we'll have exponential results,” he predicted. “In this period you can isolate various skills and create a curriculum that uses both the on- and off-ice environment to create a higher level of athleticism.”

And what would that curriculum look like?

“The curriculum would emphasize speed, quickness, agility, coordination, explosive- ness, balance, rhythm, flexibility, strength, power and endurance. Or athleticism, if you will,” said Brooks.

Competition has a role in Brooks' model, but in moderation. “During this timeframe [May to July], there should be district competition among these players, since competition, along with developing a person's athleticism, will add to this development,” Brooks said. He added that the competition would also boost player morale as they looked forward to periodic evaluations before the final Select camp roster was chosen. “This competition will create motivation to train individually and in groups,” he said.

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“Only after thorough preparation, the districts would pick the teams to be sent to the Select camps at the end of July or early August. Presently, the Select camps are earlier in the summer, canceling out time for training,” said Brooks.

Brooks doesn't think he's the only one frustrated. “There are those at the USA Hockey staff that agree with this concept,” he said. “Most notably Lou Vairo, who understands the importance of the grassroots hockey movement. Unfortunately, the USA Hockey Executive Committee and others who set policy don't understand, or lack the vision for growth in our country.

Massachusetts has been at the forefront of implementing a working model of how development can be emphasized in the off season. Players aged 12 and 13 are encouraged to take time off of skating from mid- April to the first part of July. In this time frame an off ice program is structured along the lines Brooks suggests.

“The people who can really effect change are our college coaches”, such as work in the Massachusetts Satellite Training Program. “They are visible and knowledgeable leaders who must look at the big picture. They must get involved with the game in their community,” he said. “They've got to get involved at the grassroots level. We all know in order to be takers from the game we also have to be giving to it.”

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