Minnesota hockey legend Herb Brooks inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame Monday
Herb Brooks Training Center moves toward January opening at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn.
NEWS RELEASE
November 14, 2006
Contacts:
Barclay Kruse, Media Director, National Sports Center
763.785.5634
bkruse@mnsports.org
Skip Peltier, Executive Director, Herb Brooks Foundation
651.226.7171
skippeltier@gmail.com
Blaine, Minn. (November 14, 2006) – On the day after U.S. and Minnesota hockey legend Herb Brooks was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, construction continued toward a January opening of the showpiece of Brooks’ legacy, the Herb Brooks Training Center, which will be located on the campus of the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., a Minneapolis suburb.
The 12,500 square foot training center will teach young players hockey-specific dry-land training techniques and offer education for athletes, coaches and parents. The center will be stocked with state-of-the-art on and off ice hockey training, including shooting, stick handling, speed ramp, plyometrics, goalie training, and strength training. The new facility will be incorporated into the newly expanded Schwan Super Rink, which is the largest ice arena of its kind in the world. This state-of-the-art facility, which originally opened in 1998 with four sheets of ice, is being expanded to eight sheets ice under one roof.
An opening ceremony for the Herb Brooks Training Center, and the newly expanded Super Rink, will be held Friday, January 19, 2007. The event will include an official dedication, celebrity appearances, free public skating, a figure skating exhibition, and the Bethel University vs. St. Johns University college hockey game.
The Herb Brooks Center is being developed by the Herb Brooks Foundation, in partnership with the National Sports Center and the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC).
Brooks, who died in a car accident in 2003, at the age of 66, had a longtime association with the National Sports Center and the MASC. He served on the MASC board for over 16 years, from the agency’s inception in 1987. He championed the MASC’s “Mighty Ducks” ice arena grant program that provided funding to help build 70 new ice arenas around the State of Minnesota. And he was a key booster to convince six partner cities to join together and build the original four-sheet Schwan Super Rink.
“Herb strongly believed that the original Super Rink should have had a dry land training facility,” said Paul Erickson, Executive Director of the MASC. “He was very disappointed when budget constraints forced us to drop that component from the plan. So it is fitting, and appropriate, that with the expanded Schwan Super Rink, we are able to honor Herb’s contribution by opening the new Herb Brooks Training Center.”
“With four million visitors a year, the National Sports Center is the ideal location for the Herb Brooks Center,” continued Erickson. “We are honored and proud to be partners with Herb’s family and the Foundation to create a flagship facility that will honor Herb’s contributions to hockey, and create a legacy for generations to come.”
In addition to the Training Center opening in 2007, the Herb Brooks Foundation will develop two additional features at the Schwan Super Rink in 2008. The Herb Brooks Legacy Walk will give visitors a viewing of memorabilia and memories from Herb’s illustrious career. And second, four outdoor hockey rinks will be developed to offer unstructured hockey opportunities for youth and adults, a key part of Herb’s philosophy to encourage creativity and inventiveness on the ice.