ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Russo grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where he honed his hockey skills on many outdoor rinks in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. His game experience was in the tough northern Michigan and northern Ontario leagues. In 1962, he left for the University of Wisconsin Badgers, the first recruit when the UW restarted hockey. He captained the team and was inducted into their hockey Hall of Fame. Following a coaching stint at Iowa State University and Coaching Achievement Program Director work for USA Hockey, he moved to the Twin Cities in Minnesota in 1986.
Throughout four decades he coached minor hockey teams in Iowa and Minnesota, from squirts to high school to college teams. From the 1970’s to the 2000’s, Russo was a head or assistant coach for: Iowa State University (1972-82/1983-85); Ames, Iowa Minor YHA, founder; Prior Lake, MN HS (1983); St. Louis Park, MN HS (1987-89); Breck School, MN HS (1986-87/1989-90); Minneapolis South, MN YHA (1991-92); Farmington, MN HS (1993-94); The Blake School, MN (1995-2001); Hamline University (2008-2011).
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, he founded Russo Hockey Training Programs (skating, shooting, and stickhandling schools), where he utilized his unique innovative teaching techniques that focused on natural skill development and learning through proper drills and small area games. He applied these innovations to his own teams and successfully experimented with new ideas and directions.
In 2001, he founded the Upper Midwest High School Elite League, which included the best high school players from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin in competition during the fall. It has become the premier pre-junior development league in North America and is heavily scouted by every NHL, college and US junior team – and has helped keep high school hockey (his great love) alive in Minnesota.
In 2008, he received one of the highest honors from the American Hockey Coaches Association (NCAA college coaches) by being presented with the prestigious John “Snooks” Kelley Founders Award for coaching professionals that “have contributed to the overall growth and development of the sport of ice hockey in the United States.” The following year he was presented with the Dave Petersen Award in Minnesota for development of high school hockey in Minnesota.
From 1986 through the present, he has written over 500 columns in the now famous “Coaches Corner” section of the Let’s Play Hockey publication, and has a loyal following across North America. It is in this column that he has shared his ideas, expertise, and experience to coaches, as well as players and parents. This book is a compilation of the best of those 500 columns.
Surprisingly, he does not make a living from hockey, but donates over 800 hours per year to his hockey endeavors. He is Ph.D. Engineer (Iowa State University) and spent a dozen years in a professorial roll (and head of the Construction Engineering Program) at Iowa State University. He also has a B.S. (University of Wisconsin) and an MBA (Michigan State). He has operated his own consulting companies for nearly 30 years. He has an angel for a wife – who has allowed him to be involved in his great passions: family, engineering, and hockey (in that order).
He hopes to take his last breath on an ice rink – outdoors.
John Russo grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where he honed his hockey skills on many outdoor rinks in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. His game experience was in the tough northern Michigan and northern Ontario leagues. In 1962, he left for the University of Wisconsin Badgers, the first recruit when the UW restarted hockey. He captained the team and was inducted into their hockey Hall of Fame. Following a coaching stint at Iowa State University and Coaching Achievement Program Director work for USA Hockey, he moved to the Twin Cities in Minnesota in 1986.
Throughout four decades he coached minor hockey teams in Iowa and Minnesota, from squirts to high school to college teams. From the 1970’s to the 2000’s, Russo was a head or assistant coach for: Iowa State University (1972-82/1983-85); Ames, Iowa Minor YHA, founder; Prior Lake, MN HS (1983); St. Louis Park, MN HS (1987-89); Breck School, MN HS (1986-87/1989-90); Minneapolis South, MN YHA (1991-92); Farmington, MN HS (1993-94); The Blake School, MN (1995-2001); Hamline University (2008-2011).
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, he founded Russo Hockey Training Programs (skating, shooting, and stickhandling schools), where he utilized his unique innovative teaching techniques that focused on natural skill development and learning through proper drills and small area games. He applied these innovations to his own teams and successfully experimented with new ideas and directions.
In 2001, he founded the Upper Midwest High School Elite League, which included the best high school players from Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin in competition during the fall. It has become the premier pre-junior development league in North America and is heavily scouted by every NHL, college and US junior team – and has helped keep high school hockey (his great love) alive in Minnesota.
In 2008, he received one of the highest honors from the American Hockey Coaches Association (NCAA college coaches) by being presented with the prestigious John “Snooks” Kelley Founders Award for coaching professionals that “have contributed to the overall growth and development of the sport of ice hockey in the United States.” The following year he was presented with the Dave Petersen Award in Minnesota for development of high school hockey in Minnesota.
From 1986 through the present, he has written over 500 columns in the now famous “Coaches Corner” section of the Let’s Play Hockey publication, and has a loyal following across North America. It is in this column that he has shared his ideas, expertise, and experience to coaches, as well as players and parents. This book is a compilation of the best of those 500 columns.
Surprisingly, he does not make a living from hockey, but donates over 800 hours per year to his hockey endeavors. He is Ph.D. Engineer (Iowa State University) and spent a dozen years in a professorial roll (and head of the Construction Engineering Program) at Iowa State University. He also has a B.S. (University of Wisconsin) and an MBA (Michigan State). He has operated his own consulting companies for nearly 30 years. He has an angel for a wife – who has allowed him to be involved in his great passions: family, engineering, and hockey (in that order).
He hopes to take his last breath on an ice rink – outdoors.