Skating coach has become the 'X factor' in Columbus hockey

For Lee Harris, it's difficult to decide which is more fun -- instructing players at the highest level like the Columbus Blue Jackets, or working with Columbus-area kids who one day want to follow in the footsteps of their NHL heroes.
So why not do both in one day?

For the Blue Jackets skating consultant, this summer offered a unique opportunity, with construction at Nationwide Arena forcing the organization's prospects development camp to take place at OhioHealth Chiller North. Harris spent his mornings working with the groups of Blue Jackets draft picks from all around the world who were in town for the camp, then shortly thereafter went right back on the same sheets of ice with kids who had just watched the future Jackets.
"It's one thing for me to say it to the kids, or even the AAA players, 'Hey, I just did this drill with X, Y, Z on the Jackets or up in Cleveland,'" Harris said. "But when they're there and they have a session after us and they see, 'Oh my goodness, we do this drill all the time with Coach Lee,' then they get out there and you have instant credibility. They're like, 'This is what it really takes. If (the Blue Jackets) are working on it, then it's going to make an impact in my game.'
"It honestly is the best part of my job seeing young kids and watching them look up to them and try the same things and improve. It's amazing."
Rarely does a day come full circle for Harris quite as perfectly as that, but the 41-year-old founder of the Lee Harris Skating System is equally comfortable teaching NHL players the finer points of skating as he is helping youngsters fall in love with being on the ice.
Columbus has a growing hockey community that is thriving at all levels, and it's fair to say Harris is a big part of it. It's a testament to his teaching abilities that he's worked with just about every group of players in town, from junior hockey to high school hockey to the Ohio State varsity teams to the Blue Jackets and their prospects.
"He is the X factor in our city right now in a lot of ways," said Todd Ehrie, a longtime coach in the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program. "He's helped, it's got to amount to thousands of kids to this point. I would say as a coach, when I am asked, 'What should I do in the offseason?' my first comments are always, 'Get with Lee Harris and get into the Lee Harris Skating System.'"
In Harris' eyes, his unique background is what separates his work. Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, he was on the ice at age 3, but in order to get him more time, his father enrolled him in figure skating classes as well. It served him well; Harris played junior hockey until age 18 and also excelled in the figure skating ranks. In 2002, he won a U.S. junior national figure skating championship with skating partner Colette Appel and competed in the World Junior Championships that year.
From there, he went on tour a few times but eventually turned his eye to coaching. Noting that his figure skating background had served him well as a hockey player, he wanted to share his knowledge, and he noticed an immediate improvement in the players he was coaching.
"That's kind of how I finally named it a hybrid coaching philosophy because it is a rare thing," he said. "The biggest thing that I think hockey players are lacking is that one-on-one teaching with being body aware and how much of an impact your upper body and your hips and your shoulders make on the final details of what their feet and they're skating is doing. My tying those together definitely elevated what my knowledge was and my ability to help these guys improve quickly."

Sensing an opportunity, Harris eventually settled in Columbus, where he started coaching both figure skaters and hockey players. In 2014, he was hired by the Blue Jackets as the team's skating consultant, a role that allows him to help players throughout the organization who are hoping for that extra edge to make it to the top level.
While Harris can make players -- especially the young ones -- look awkward with his drills when he starts putting them through the paces, he's also at home right away on the rink thanks to his hockey background. Some players may have a preconceived notion of what spending time with a skating coach might be like, but drills with Harris balance skating advice with hockey drills designed to drive home the specific things he's teaching.
"I think obviously the pros, they can make an adjustment and it makes a huge difference right away," Harris said. "Even some of the guys on the Jackets, I'll say, 'Keep your chest up a little bit when you're doing this pivot.' You can see their eyes widen like, 'I've never heard that before,' and that makes a huge impact instantaneously."
Some of his success stories include Trey Fix-Wolansky and Carson Meyer. Fix-Wolansky suffered a knee injury during the spring of 2021, and Harris spent a lot of time on the ice with the young forward during his rehab to help him not just regain but improve his skating form. In February, Harris was in Cleveland for a session with Fix-Wolansky when he heard he had been called up to the Blue Jackets; Fix-Wolansky would go on to score a goal in his NHL debut.
This summer, he spent a lot of time working with Meyer -- who also made his NHL debut a season ago -- to help with his acceleration and edgework. A Powell native who has worked with Harris throughout his career, Meyer went on to be one of the standouts of CBJ camp, earning praise from the coaching staff for his improvement.
"I was a horrible skater when I was younger," Meyer said. "I was a bad, bad skater, and I think that's a big reason why even though I thought I was a good player, my skating always held me back. I think Lee is a massive part of me being able to get to this level. He's a guy that I worked with on all my skating, and now I think skating is one of my strengths. I give him a lot of credit."
But for Harris -- the father of two young daughters and a young son -- the time he spends on the ice with kids and junior teams across the area is just as rewarding, if not more so.
"It's a dream to be working with pro hockey players," Harris said. "But to see a kid that just gets on the ice one day and then three weeks later, now they're starting to maybe pick up one foot, or an AA player that busts his butt all summer, gets up in the morning and skates with me at 6 a.m. before school, and then all of a sudden makes the AAA team and they're off, there's so many stories and facets to what I do that are so rewarding."
Michael McBrayer has two sons that have worked with Harris, and he's seen the results firsthand. His oldest son, Nathan, is in his second full season with Muskegon of the USHL and is committed to play at Ohio State next season, while his younger son, Zac, is a member of the AAA Blue Jackets program as well.
"There are videos that I'll take of my son skating and I'll send them to Lee, and he's like, 'That's exactly what I showed him how to do,'" Michael McBrayer said. "And that's in a game! It's been phenomenal to see that transition from a practice to a game, and then Lee can break it down for you. I'm just a dad that watches, but he can break down the technical stuff for me and be like, 'Yeah, this is exactly what we worked on is what he's doing.' That's exciting once you see that transition happens.
"I've seen it now with several kids, not just my own. The process and the diligence that he teaches the kids at a young age, he really does a phenomenal job teaching the kids how to skate. And you don't have to travel -- he's right here in Columbus, so that's a huge benefit."
Over the past decade, the Lee Harris Skating System has grown to include a number of coaches that specialize on both the hockey and figure skating sides, including former CBJ player R.J. Umberger as well as David Ings, Jessica Lanka, Marla Arnold and Hunter Wallace.
All are a part of the ranks of dedicated coaches that are helping to take Columbus hockey to the next level.
"Just to be a small piece of that, being in a group of names that have done that is an honor," Harris said. "It's pretty awesome, and it's only going to get better. The amount of players and coaches and what they are doing for Columbus, they're showing their impact. I want to be in the city, and there's a lot to offer. We're very lucky."