The Steel Ice Center has a dedicated staff of professional skating and hockey instructors for all of your skill development needs.
The Steel Ice Center prides itself on providing the highest level of experience and expertise to provide a professional teaching experience. All of our select coaches posses training national governing bodies.
For ice hockey, our instructors are accredited at level 4 or level 5 by USA Hockey, Inc. Our skating instructors are professional members of USFSA and are rated by the Professional Skaters Association.
ICE HOCKEY
Technical Skills
- Skating for balance and agility
- Skating for speed & acceleration
- Puck control and stick handling
- Shooting to score techniques
- Body contact and checking
Tactical Skills
- Position specific training
- Specialty training for goalies
- Individual and team tactics
- Strategies for generating offense
- Strategies for developing defense
Instruction is available Monday through Friday at the Steel Ice Center. Convenient hours in the morning and afternoon can be scheduled for private lessons and small group instruction. One hour and 1/2 hour lessons are available during Private Hockey Lesson Time.
ARENA FEE
$10.00 per 1/2 hour $15 per hour
INSTRUCTOR FEE
$25.00 TO $45.00 per 1/2 hour/varies by instructor
Professional Hockey Instruction
The below instructors are approved to instruct at the Steel Ice Center, these are the only instructors who should be giving Private Hockey Instruction. Please contact us at steelicecenter@gmail.com to get more information or set up a lesson with one of our instructors.
Keith Krem – Keith was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley and started playing hockey when he was 5 for the Lehigh Valley Comets and also played for the Junior Flyers. Keith went on to attend the Hill School and then the Rochester Institute of Technology where he transferred his talents to play for the National Champion Roller Hockey Tigers of the ECRHL. He led the team between the pipes to 4 top 10 finishes and was a 4 year ECRHL All Star. Keith began coaching youth hockey in 2007 and in 2014 was named Coach of the Year by the Lehigh Valley Flames organization. That same year he was also named as the first ever Tier 1 coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Youth.
Ryan Bertelsen – Known as “Berts”, Ryan is the youngest head coach in the organization at 21 years old. He played for the Flames/Phantoms for 7 years, at the AA level from U12 to U18. Ryan’s coaching experience includes 2 years assistant coaching the U10AA and U12AA levels, and head coaching U12A National in 2022-23.
With an emphasis on teaching today’s style of hockey, Ryan is constantly coaching new techniques and systems to help kids adapt to the ever evolving game. Aside from Phantoms, Ryan offers private lessons and group instruction at Steel Ice.
Ryan will be a graduate of Moravian University in the Summer of 2023, with a degree in Sports Management.
Chris Kollevoll
Gitte Kollevoll – PSA skating coach with over 25 years of teaching competitive figure skaters from beginners thru USFS senior level and hockey players from beginner thru the pros. Gitte is a former Nationals competitor in singles figure skating in Denmark. She has coached skaters through senior level in USFS’s testing system and has also had students competed at Regional’s and Junior Nationals. Gitte was a coach at USA Hockey Nationals at the Bantam level. She is a hockey power skating coach for a professional club in Europe, USA Hockey Certified Level 4 coach, PSA Certified Hockey 1 and 2, PSA Certified Hockey Skating 1 and 2, trained and certified in conditioning and strength training by the Danish Sports Institute and is Certified in sports injury and first aid with 12 years medical background as a Surgical Assistant. Gitte has taught in Europe and the US with Russian Coaching Exchange program in both the US and Russia, in both figure skating and hockey
During his tenure in Hockey Operations, the Phantoms have grown from approximately 250 players to nearly 500 players. It is John’s personal mission to provide guidance and assistance to any player that wants to advance beyond youth hockey and ensuring they find their path. In addition, the Phantoms Youth successfully partnered with St. Luke’s Sports Performance to build a gym at the Steel Ice Center. Another key element of success and rebuild of the Organization is the implementation of the Mite development program. As a result, more Phantoms Players have advanced to NCAA, ACHA, Prep and Junior hockey in the last 3 years than the last 10 years combined.
John is devoted to growing and developing hockey players in our area and has expanded his responsibilities outside of the Phantoms Organization acting as a Coach and Scout for Lehigh University, ACHA D1 Hockey as well as a Regional scout for the Charlotte Rush of the USPHL. In addition, these roles and his Hockey Operations responsibilities, he is the Head Coach for 13AA and Assistant Coach of 18AA teams for the 2022-2023 Season.
James Pierson – James has lived and played as a goaltender in the Lehigh Valley since 7 years old. He played two years of Varsity hockey for Easton. During his time with Easton I led the league in saves and was awarded an opportunity to play for the All-Star team his senior year. In addition to playing with Easton he played for the Comets Midget 18AA , during that year he was also given the opportunity to play in the DVHL All-Star Game and the DVHL vs NJ Youth All Star Game. The two years following his time with the Comets James played Junior Hockey. He played in the Continental Junior Hockey League with the Reading Rails and the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League with the JR. Flyers. In addition to playing James has coached and developed goaltenders of all ages since 2003. For the last two years he has served as a goaltender coach for the Midget 16A team with the Lehigh Valley Flames. As a teacher James strives to help young goaltenders reach their potential. He caters to the needs of each goaltender to enhance their strengths and weaknesses. James studies goaltending techniques including European and North American models. All lesson plans are coordinated well in advance of the lesson and catered to the specific needs of the goaltender.
Cody Ruff – CODY STARTED AS A HEAD COACH FOR THE LEHIGH
VALLEY COMETS IN 2008. SINCE THEN CODY HAS BEEN AN ASSISTANT COACH FOR WHITEHALL HIGH SCHOOL’S VARSITY TEAM, HEAD COACH FOR NORTHAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL’S JUNIOR VARSITY AND VARSITY TEAMS. CODY COACHED THE LEHIGH VALLEY REBELS FROM 2014-2022
WHERE HE WAS HEAD COACH AT U10 MOVING UP TO U16, WINNING MULTIPLE DVHL CHAMPIONSHIPS ALONG THE WAY. THIS PAST SEASON, HE SHIFTED HIS FOCUS AND COACHED U16 GIRLS FOR THE LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS YOUTH. IN BETWEEN COACHING STINTS, HE ATTENDED AND PLAYED FOR KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY (ACHA DII) FROM
2010-2013, WHERE HE SERVED AS AN ALTERNATE CAPTAIN HIS JUNIOR AND SENIOR YEAR, AS WELL AS WINNING A CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2013. BEFORE COLLEGE, CODY WENT TO NORTHAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL.
CODY HAS BEEN WORKING WITH AND TEACHING SKILL DEVELOPMENT FOR OVER 15 YEARS RANGING ANYWHERE FROM 5 YEARS OLD TO ADULTS PLAYING AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.
Chris Schache – Chris has been playing hockey for over 30 years and has been coaching youth hockey from peewee to midget at various levels. As a head coach he has won 2 DVHL championships, numerous tournaments, and helped develop players from the B level to AA. He has been coaching hockey for 15 years and prides himself on developing player to get to the next level.
Chris started coaching free hockey at the Rink at the Lehigh Valley where he developed a passion for helping youth players develop their basic skills. He has coached for the Lehigh Valley Rebels (2016-2021, Peewees HC-2x’s AC -1, 16U -AC, 14U -HC) before joining the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Youth organization in 2021 as the 18UA head coach for 2 seasons and now the 14UB team.
He is a student of the game and has a true passion in developing players to help reach their max potential.
Evgeniy Sviridov – Evgeniy is a member of USA Hockey, USFS and PSA and brings 19 years or coaching experience. He has coached skaters through Gold Freestyle, Moves in the Field and Pairs as well as coaching skaters at the Junior National and Sectional Level. During his skating career she was fortunate to have participated at the World Championships and the 2002 Olympics in pairs as representative of Uzbekistan. Evgeniy enjoys teaching skaters of all ages in freestyle, choreography, pairs, moves in the field, dance spins, power skating for hockey and hockey skills.
Janet Tremer – JANET HAS BEEN COACHING SKATING SKILLS AND POWER SKATING FOR HOCKEY PLAYERS SINCE 1983. SHE HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE AND INTEREST IN WORKING WITH PLAYERS OF ALL ABILITIES AND AGES. ADDITIONALLY, SHE HAS CONDUCTED TRAINING SESSIONS IN GOOD SKATING FUNDAMENTALS FOR COACHES AROUND THE COUNTRY. SHE IS A WORLD & OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATING COACH.
For More Information
Contact The Steel Ice Center
To schedule private lessons or small group instructions, contact Marie @ steelicehockeydirector@gmail.com .