Business, Friday, January 1, 2010, p. C1

Striding to hockey stardom; Dartmouth facility boasts skating treadmill, synthetic ice
Chris Lambie Business Editor

Want your kid to be the next Sidney Crosby? It might be time to check out a new, high-tech hockey training facility in Dartmouth. GameBreakers Inc. is offering everything from an ice-skating treadmill to gizmos that will analyze the Wayne Gretzky wannabe's shot at the company's location at 50 Raddall Ave. in Dartmouth. "The thing about this place is you wear your skates the whole time," general manager Bill Short said Thursday. "We've got rubber flooring everywhere. So when a kid comes in, there are dressing rooms, showers, they put their skates on and they can walk through the whole facility. A lot of places that you go to, they don't actually replicate hockey."

The building covers 1,300 square metres and boasts a synthetic ice surface half the size of a normal rink. "It unbelievably replicates what ice hockey's like," said Mr. Short, who coached hockey for more than a quarter of a century and scouts for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. The facility has shooting and stickhandling lanes. It also boasts a shooting training device that measures reaction time, accuracy and velocity. "It gives you data so you can compare yourself to anybody else in your age group," Mr. Short said. "This machine has (taken shots from) over 23 million pucks, so I liken it to McDonald's."

He predicted the biggest draw will be a skating treadmill developed by Alberta company Endless Ice. "It's the largest skating treadmill of its kind in the world," Mr. Short said. "It's the jewel in our arsenal. To teach any person how to skate, it's the best thing that I've ever seen. It reinforces all the things you're supposed to do and how to do it." The surface of the treadmill is about two metres by three metres. "As you get more proficient you can puck handle, you can pass and you can shoot off this device," Mr. Short said.

GameBreakers has a dryland training area loaded with everything from stability balls to plyometric training boxes. And the best part is it will never be as cold as your local rink. "It will probably be about 15 degrees or warmer, depending on how many kids we have," he said. Admittance won't be limited to children. "We expect any hockey player of any age in here, right from the novice child to the adult (recreational) player."

The program will track athletes and how their performance improves. Players can also expect to be videotaped as they practice their skating. "We have software in here that will allow us to do a frame-by-frame analysis of a person's skating stride," Mr. Short said. None of this comes cheap. "The membership is going to be $499," he said, noting that how long that lasts depends on how much people use the facility. Teams can get hour-long sessions that will cost $250 without the ice surface and $350 with use of the synthetic rink included.

"We've got approximately 27 bookings already (from minor hockey teams) without any advertising," Mr. Short said.
The business has three full-time staffers and about 10 part-timers. Partners in the venture include Eric Graves, his father Hilliard Graves (a former NHL player), Graham Burgess and Troy MacWilliams. Work on the venture started in October. One source said investors have spent about $500,000 on the facility. Backers wouldn't confirm that number. GameBreakers will host an open house at its Burnside facility Saturday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Figure: (picture coming soon)
Lance Wolgemuth from Endless Ice operates a skating treadmill while Matthew Erdelsky, 9, tries it out on Thursday at GameBreakers hockey training facility in Burnside. (Eric Wynne / Staff)