hockey
Coaches

Coach

Serguei Kouznetsov

• Member of Russian National Team
• 1992 Men’s Cup of Russia Gold Medalist
• 1991 Men’s Russian Nationals Silver Medalist
• 5-year principal skater for Disney on Ice
• Almost 30 years of teaching experience and is a Senior US National Championship, International, Grand Prix, and Junior World’s Coach
• Specializes in teaching Power Hockey skating skills
• Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and Sports Psychology
• Proud member of USFS, PSA, and the Sunshine State Figure Skating Club
• Certified at CER A Level
• Available to teach all levels and ages
• Coaches Rate: $120.00/hr

Pavel Vorobei

Pavel played professional hockey in the KHL, Finnish League, ECHL and represented Team Belarus in the IIHF World Men’s and Junior competitions. In 2017, he won the World Junior Championship Group B with Team Belarus and became the tournament’s best defenseman. He was also named the best player of Belarus in 2018.

He lived in China for 1.5 years while playing for KHL’s Kunlun RedStar. Pavel was often chosen to participate in shootouts because of his strong shot. 

Pavel specializes in stick handling, passing, corner battles, puck protection, one-on-one battles, body checks, stick positioning, blue line plays, in front of net plays and other defensive skills. 

Over the years, he has worked with elite coaches like Dave Lewis (Detroit Red Wings), Mike Keenan (New York Rangers), Ville Nieminen (Colorado Avalanche), Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Barkov Sr, and Vladimir Bure. 

Pavel is multilingual in English, Russian, and Belarusian. 

Natalia Zagorodnikova

Power skating, and Off-Ice Hockey Specific Training
USA Hockey- CEP Level 4 Ice Hockey Coach
USA Hockey- Certified Ice Hockey Director
Certified “Master of Sport” (Moscow, Russia)

Natalia Zagorodnikova is a native of Moscow, Russia, where she spent her youth skating and training in the rink of Moscow’s premier hockey club, CSKA. Following her competitive career, Natalia decided to bring her experience and knowledge of skating technique to ice hockey, “the greatest sport on earth’”. Natalia went on to work with Finnish and Russian NHL prospects and players, as well as women of both the USA and Finnish National Olympic Teams. Natalia has developed and perfected new teaching methods with a unique approach based on research in neuroscience and biomechanics. From years of collaboration and experience, Natalia has created a slide board system; a combination of on-ice and off-ice hockey specific training; designed to teach skating from its most basic form. This method is extremely functional and efficient for today’s game of hockey which is faster and more agile than ever. Natalia works with all age groups, to help them become more confident in their skating abilities, while reaching for the goal of helping her students become great hockey players.

A few of the athletes who have received 1 on 1 training with Natalia:
Erik Haula – NHL
Roope Hintz – NHL
Nora Raty – Finland Olympic/ National Team
Monique & Jocelyne Lamoureux – USA Olympic/National Team

Adam Pineault

Adam Pineault is a former professional hockey player who was drafted 46th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Pineault, who was originally a product of the U.S. National Development Program, quickly established himself as a heavy shooter during his eight years in the NHL, AHL, ECHL, and the Czech Extraliga. With Pineault’s background, he now spends his time coaching hockey players to improve their shooting skills.

Kristin Folch

Folch, a level 4 USA hockey certified coach, has over 20 years of hockey experience including prep school hockey at Tilton School in New Hampshire, as well as4 years of NCAA Hockey at The University of Southern Maine. Her strong coaching skills, athletic background and yearsof playing experience has given her the ability to develop players both on-and-off the ice. Folch currently coaches, runs hockey camps and offers private lessons.

Goalie Coach

John Drysdale

Born in Toronto, Canada, John and his family moved to Milton, Florida in 2005.  He began coaching youth and adult hockey in 2008 while living in Ponte Vedra, Florida.  He is a USA Level 4 Certified Coach as well as a Bronze Level Certified Goalie Coach; John is also the Hockey Director for AHCI.

Nils Semjonovs

Dr. Nils Semjonovs grew up in Latvia, and that is where his hockey journey began. Nils’ passion for hockey did not leave him after he stopped playing at a competitive level. He continued to be involved in hockey by working nationwide, providing power skating and skill developemtn sessions to organizations and camps like Heartland Hockey Camp and Bob Hartley High Intensity Camp. Nils graduated from Utica University with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. By combining the two assets of coaching and physical therapy, Nils recognized that many athletes are not using their full potential due to a poor foundation in skating and movement.  His experience in physical therapy allows him to analyze and identify key components in the movements necessary for athletes to achieve success in their road to development on the ice. Nils uses motor learning strategies to enhance athletes’ growth for long term learning and to create proper development.

Dwayne Roloson

Goalie Coach

Bernie Desrosiers

Bernie Desrosiers is a retired software entrepreneur whose sole mission is to “give back to the game of hockey”.  Bernie began as a young goaltender in the late 60’s at the age of 10 playing (without a mask) at the outdoor rink at Cass Park in Woonsocket, RI.   He later moved to local municipal leagues (with a caged mask) and then on to Mount Saint Charles Academy (with a fiberglass mask) in the early 70’s.  He continued on to Providence College and then played amateur hockey for the Rhode Island Ringers. After moving to North Carolina, he began to coach and teach instructional hockey in the Southeast for over 11 years in addition to playing for the Raleigh Ice Caps (Charleston Stingrays) for two seasons (Goalie of the year in 1982 with a 1.21 GAA and 1.86 GAA in 1983).  He then moved to Tampa, Florida in 1992 where he founded U.S. Club Hockey (a privately funded “fantasy” youth hockey league) with 16 teams and over 1,000 players in 12 states.  He also founded “Club Zero” (an organization with 200 young goaltenders nationwide).  In addition to being a goalie coach for several local Tampa Bay area teams in the Southeast, he founded Sunbelt Hockey in 2003 to enable players throughout the U.S. and Canada to have more opportunities to play at the prep school, junior hockey, and college level.  Bernie currently lives in Wesley Chapel, Florida with his wife Anne and 3 children and 5 grandchildren.  He offers his assistance to any player and parent who is interested.

Brendan Burgess

I started in my hockey journey at age 12 on wheels, not ice. The inline & wheels quickly swapped over to ice skates, and I played my freshman year of high school with Durant High School as a two-way-assigned player. Between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I became a certified official, & found myself on the ice in the stripes almost anytime I wasn’t playing in a game or practicing over the next 4 years. My next 3 years of high school was as a varsity player, & during both my junior and senior years, I also played travel. I was primarily assigned as a center, but could play defense as well, which worked to both my & my team’s advantage when things would get hairy. In my junior year of high school, I was offered a Juniors contract from Wilkes-Barre out of Pennsylvania but declined due to my desire to finish out my senior year at home. During my senior year, I was offered Juniors contracts from multiple teams including Wilkes-Barre out of Pennsylvania, the Potomac Patriots out of Washington, DC, the New Jersey Hitman out of New Jersey, the Carolina Junior Canes out of North Carolina, & the Bold City Battalion out of Jacksonville, FL. After much consideration of these fantastic & potentially life-changing opportunities, I decided to stay in Tampa to pursue a contract as a youth hockey private lesson instructor, as I knew all along that teaching players the love of the game as well as the fundamentals was my true passion. Being a part of a young players’ growth & love of hockey is incredibly important to me, & I am excited to partner with players & parents alike to help you achieve the goals you’re reaching for.
I just completed my 2nd season with the Tampa Bay Crunch as an assistant coach at the 14U level & am looking forward to continuing coaching.

Stephen Kasper

Stephen has been skating/playing hockey since the age of 4. The ice is his happy place so in 2016 he made the transition from competitive hockey to coach in order to share that joy with others. Stephen has experience coaching ages 3-75 years old and has experience coaching all levels of skating and hockey students in both private and group classes. He specializes in hockey fundamentals, speed, and power. When he’s not coaching you can find him on the water or playing golf. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management. His performance credits include more than two decades of competitive ice hockey traveling around the United States while playing travel hockey and junior hockey.