SUMMER OF "99" A RESOUNDING SUCCESS FOR RIGHT REASONS!
The summer of "99" was a very special summer because the athletes were the most disciplined in the history of the camp and the top players in the older groups were products of our previous years of intense training. Camp director, Pat Funk, and veteran coaches Rob Grillo and Doc DelCastillo all felt the same about our athletes over the summer. "This is the finest group of young men and women we have worked with in twenty years of the camp's existence. This is a tribute to their parents and winter coaches as well as the training standards at our camp."

The intensity level during on and off ice training sessions surpassed all standards set by previous participants. Newcomers Chris Hartsburg, 7^th Rd pick of the NJ Devils, Michael Stuart, NY Isles draft, Kevin Clauson, and Pascal Appel all served notice that they are players of the future. Ryan Malone, 4^th round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Andy Disch, Jay Vancik and Leif Erickson showed that they are ready to move to another level. Players like Rob Lehtinen, Jonathan Lehun, Bobby John Byfuglien, Charlie Cook, Sage Swanson, Joshua Angevine, Daniel Pegoraro, Archie Dessert and Chayne Stallbaumer "raised the bar" in their groups in terms of effort put forth and results achieved. These are all players who put in some serious training time. These names come to mind because of solid practices/performances; but there were others.

Mike Craig, San Jose Sharks, worked out with us the entire summer. It is a treat to watch young men like Mike commit to the training necessary to maintain their professional status in the game. Mike was rewarded with a contract from the San Jose Sharks.

Joe Holden, Henrik Impola and Brian Reese set a new standard for Brainerd High School players and the local BAHA program set a record for total hours of training by their association. Keep it up and the results will be rewarding.

Alaskan AAA Midget and Bantam teams lit up the camp during a one-week training session. Plans are in place to extend their training period to three weeks at the beginning of the summer and two weeks to close out the summer of 2000. The intensity level in the practices and games was at play-off level and was a treat to watch. Our Swiss and German players continued their time honored commitment to training.

Europeans have a way of teaching us a lesson when it comes to commitment to practice hours. Chuck Grillo says, "There are no secrets. Maximizing your potential is directly related to time and effort put forth. North American players simply do not train at the level of the players across the Atlantic. Quality training enters the picture and we have that at our facility."

We are excited about the prospects for the future because we have a core group of athletes in each age group that are working toward their goals in hockey, as well as participation in our top groups when they mature. We are hesitant to mention names for fear of complacency setting in. Suffice to say that we have athletes in each age group that will be ready to make their mark in high school, junior, college and pro. It will be interesting to see how each player's season unwinds. We are excited about Ty Eigner rejoining our staff and Keith Fisher, Jim Drury and Andy Vicari; three young and promising coaching candidates.