Chris Giannatasio, Steve Saviano and Joe Whitney of the Boston Hockey Skills on April 23 (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
Chris Giannatasio always wanted to be a hockey coach. And for 10 years, including a stint as head coach of Wakefield Boys, he made that dream a reality.
But after years of focusing on the on-ice grass roots of successful programs, working at large skill camps across the North Shore, and even struggling to get local ice time as a coach, he founded a new organization. Did. dream.
Giannatasio, along with fellow former hockey players Joe Whitney and Steve Saviano, wanted to create a new training area dedicated to building and mastering fundamental skills in a lighter environment. Whether you're just starting out with tick removal, a high school student looking to sharpen, or a professional athlete looking for a job. They felt there wasn't really a place around their area that offered it.
until now.
The three came together as business partners to bring just that to the community, opening the Boston Hockey Skills Facility in North Reading on April 1st.
“We have kids who are just starting (to play hockey) and we feel like there's a gap. We needed a place like this,” Gianatasio said. “Basically, it's about getting (the players) off the rink. Getting the kids into a fun, positive environment where they can try skills that they don't really have time to work on. … Making (training) fun for the kids,” he said. And there’s nothing better than that to get even better.”
Gianna Tasio, Whitney and Saviano play in the Reading Men's Hockey League after finding success in their youth. Giannatassio played Div. He played third division hockey in college. While Saviano followed his legendary career at Reading, playing at UNH and then going pro, Whitney was a two-time NCAA champion at Boston College before his long pro career.
The vision for Boston Hockey Skills was an idea rather than an actual plan for years until Saviano and Giannatasio decided to take the plunge in August 2023. They brought Whitney on board and in October he formed an LLC and signed a lease in February. , and invested a large sum of money to expand an empty warehouse over a six-week period.
“We said, “Okay, do we want to be the ones who say, “Okay, we'll do it,'' or do we want to be the ones who actually do it?'' Giannatasio said. “It's scary, but we wouldn't change anything. We're very happy. … We wanted to create a great place to go. We gave it our all. We believe We used up all our money and resources to build a facility that we couldn't afford.”
With that money, they built a 3,200-square-foot training space with 600 square feet of grass and an area of artificial ice that is about one-third the size of a competitive rink.
This allows players of all ages to work on basic and important skills like shooting, passing, and stickhandling. The main goal is to get out of a serious hockey setting and have fun while improving without burning out. They want to achieve affordability with a wide range of session types available and have a diverse set of 7 coaches to run camps, small group sessions, team sessions or one-on-one training. doing.
Its coaching staff includes former University of Reading and UNH standout Sean Collins.
“We want to provide a place for kids to develop skills. We have families at the rink during hockey season. Hockey is so intense that it's now held almost year-round. That's why everyone is at the rink,” Giannatasio said. “They're doing team situations, drills, team drills, situations. As much as we're practicing, they're not practicing shooting the puck or passing the puck. … For example, if a kid in practice Let's say you take 10 shots in one practice session. In our case, it would take 300 shots.
“We want it to be fun. There's plenty of seriousness in hockey. Obviously we want to get better, but we have music playing and a fun atmosphere.”
The response has been positive so far. The first week-long school holiday camp for ages 5 to 12 was sold out. The team is booking sessions and the remaining birthday parties (two per weekend) for the eight-week spring session are also fully booked.
“For the first three weeks, we were like, ‘Let’s do a couple of classes and see what happens,’ and those classes were all filled,” Giannatasio said. “The response has been great. The demand is there. The reason we built this building is because this region, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield, Wilmington, Tewkesbury, North Reading, Lynnfield, Andover, is so It's a hot hockey destination.”
The first birthday party they booked was for Giannatasio's 6-year-old son, one of his two children. That was a big motivation for opening the facility in the first place.
Now, the entire community can benefit from a new training location. The company also seeks to create jobs for college and high school players by hiring them as junior coaches for sessions and camps. This will further strengthen community ties.
That's exactly what this trio was aiming for.
“The goal is for kids to come and have a really good experience, work hard, leave with a smile on their face and want to come back,” Giannatasio said. “Our success means that the same kids come back year after year. … Our clients basically keep coming back because they are so happy with the experience. Because I can feel the results.”
