Skating for Joy

When Martin Hlinka was a four-year-old in Bratislava, Slovakia, his father took him to skate for the first time at one of the two ice rinks in the city. He loved it from first stride.
"My dad said it was like I was fish in water," says Hlinka, laughing at the memory. "I pushed him to sign me up for skating and hockey. I was relentless."

That was 1980. Fast forward four decades. Hlinka is finishing up his final two weeks as an assistant coach for the Canisius College men's hockey program, which plays in Division I of the NCAA. Then Hlinka and his family will be heading our way to fill the role of youth hockey director for the Kraken.
Hlinka is one of four new Kraken Training Center leaders announced Wednesday. Chad Goodwin joins as figure skating director with a decade of experience developing and implementing figure skating, power skating and learn-to-skate programs, including the last four years with the NHL's Vegas franchise.
David Kyu-Ho Min and Katelyn Parker will be working with Hlinka as player development coaches. Parker, a native of Bellingham, is returning home after coaching the University of Connecticut women's Hockey team. Min most recently coached for Sno-King Amateur Hockey Association in Kirkland, Renton and Snoqualmie.
All skating and hockey programs will begin this fall when the center opens to the public. Registration will begin during early summer for adult and youth learn-to-skate programs, adult and youth learn-to-play programs and 8U to 12U youth hockey.

Hlinka knows the game from the perspective of a competitive player, coach and hockey parent. Goodwin arrives with experience as a four-time Canadian national figure skating competitor and building skating programs from the ground up.
Before joining Canisus, Hlinka coached for the Salzburg Red Bulls Development Academy in Austria, guiding his junior teams to playoff appearances in both the U-19 Czech Extraliga and the Alps Hockey League. In addition to his work in Salzburg, Martin served as a lead on-ice skills instructor with Synergy Hockey in St. Louis and enjoyed eight years as a lead on-ice skills instructor for the Pavel Datsyuk Hockey Camp in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
"I have played and coached all around the world, seeing different ways to do things," says Hlinka. "I have a passion for growing the game, seeing the smiles on kids' faces, doing it with the right energy. I want all players to have fun doing it."
Hlinka's own brother didn't fall in love with the sport at first, mostly because his coach turned out to be "a yeller and screamer." Clearly not the "right energy," providing one example of how not to do it when developing the Kraken junior hockey program.
"One important thing is getting kids to learn how to skate first, how to move and do stuff on your own on the ice," says Hlinka. "Kids will feel the joy of skating. It gives them confidence and makes it easier to come in and be part of the hockey program."
Goodwin concurs with his new colleague: "Our Learn to Skate program will have different levels and then kids can move through to the Learn to Play program for hockey or the figure skating option."

Goodwin says one of the attractions for figure skaters, new and experienced, is "you are constantly learning new skills [turns, jumps, spins]. One you master it, you can learn another one. Even though it is an individual sport, you create a team of other skaters who are learning those skills too."
As a hockey parent with three sons (eight, 10 and 12 years old), Hlinka says it is fun to get to the rink with his boys-and he's clearly thrilled about working at a training center with three sheets of ice and the intention to introduce the sport to girls and boys across a wider community and region. No matter if it is his sons or beginners or higher-level youth players, Hlinka eyes a common goal for players.
"I just want to get every player to the next step," says Hlinka, who played college hockey in the U.S. and competed as a pro for 15 years in the States and Europe. "We want all players to feel they are improving and having fun. It's about the joy and smiles."
Goodwin says the Kraken practicing and training at the center in the Northgate neighborhood will allow all skaters "to see the top of the elite" and "the biggest thing is kids will have role models and favorite players."
"But we will not be focused only on the elite [hockey players and figure skaters]," says Goodwin. "We will make the rink a fun place for everyone, kids and adults. There will be a path for everyone."
Goodwin has the credentials to back up that statement. In Las Vegas, he established and taught power skating classes that were based on levels. That could mean mixing "dads and moms with kids, sometimes even the whole family in the class."
When the training center's figure skating director lived in Whitefish, MT, before moving to Las Vegas, Goodwin effectively created a director of skating position at the Whitefish rink and led a fundraising effort to make it a year-round ice facility, still the only one in the state.
"People were skating up to me at public skates with checks to donate and say thank you," says Goodwin. "It was really cool to be in the trenches and give back myself to hockey and figure skating. I can't wait to see everyone on the ice in Seattle!"