Campers Meet the Staff
During down time, kids at MHC jump in the lake
Over 40 years ago Chuck Grillo and Herb Brooks founded the Minnesota Hockey Camps. Chuck and Herb are two personalities that have both left a lasting mark on the game of hockey. Herb, obviously left his mark as the coach and architect to many great hockey ventures including the US Olympic Team in 1980, won 3 NCAA titles with the University of Minnesota and also the first Division 1 coach of St. Cloud State, the new kid on the block in the mid '80's. Grillo was a long time successful high school coach (Bemidji and Rosemount) before becoming an amateur scout for the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins and eventually the General Manager for the San Jose Sharks.
Chuck is best known to his close and extended family as Gringo. And his camp, Minnesota Hockey Camps, is best known for training its players to be "a quicker, stronger, faster, smarter and classier athlete.” MHC is the perfect combination of hard work and fun. Players get to skate twice a day - work on their stick handling and shooting, plus off ice dryland and strength training. Somewhere in between all of the hockey, the players get a chance to swim and fish on Clark Lake and Rollerblade into town (Nisswa).
Just Get It Done #JGID
A typical day at MHC includes three healthy meals (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner) - two on ice sessions, plus individual training sessions focusing on Stick Handling, Shooting, Weight Training, and Fitness. At the end of each day the players who work hard have little to nothing in the tank. One camper was overheard this week, "oh mom, bed time is not an issue for me here..." to which the mother roller her eyes.
The day to day operations of the camp are run by Dean and Carrie Grillo. The Grillo's are great people who do a great job of showing the rest of the country what Minnesota Nice means. MHC attracts more than half of its clientele from outside of the State of Hockey which makes for a great dynamic for the skaters. One Minnesota camper told YHH, "I made more friends last year from outside of Minnesota - I never knew the hockey outside the state was so good."
One of the most valuable lessons the players learn while at MHC are the intangible lessons of hockey. The nuts and bolts of being a good teammate.
There are no Shortcuts in life, Stay on the Stairs
The nuts and bolts of being a good teammate. A player at MHC will develop some physical skills in their one week stay, but the life skills of being in charge of themselves for a week and getting to meet and learn how to deal with 100 other campers has a huge value that can't be measured by a stop watch or a score sheet.
One of the core values MHC bases its camp are the Foundation of a Person. These include important emotional foundations such as Mental Toughness, Peer Group Relationships, Ego, Interdependency, Beliefs and Ethics.
Minnesota Hockey Camps is the whole package. A great place to train, just ask current pros like TJ Oshie and Scott Hartnell why they choose to train at MHC in the off-season. The answer is likely the same as why a 10 year old boy or girl, MHC is a positive environment with people who are very dedicated to the game in a beautiful setting.
Players from all over the globe come to Brainerd