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NEWS STORY
Steel Name Nine Scouts to Hockey
Operations Staff
Bensenville, IL (February 15, 2007)
-- The Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League
announced today that the organization has named nine
scouts to their hockey operations staff. Steel General
Manager Jason Koehler made the announcement.
“These men are all people that I have been fortunate
enough to work with in and around the sport over the
years,” said Koehler. “They all have valuable experience
at various levels ranging from the NHL, NCAA, USHL,
NAHL, CSHL, MNJHL, AAA, and high school hockey levels
and will help shape the future of the Steel program via
player evaluations and research across the country in
the hockey community. They are committed to finding and
helping the top players succeed at the junior, college,
and professional levels.”
Joining the Steel staff are the following Regional
Scouts in alphabetical order:
Eric Ballard (Loveland, CO)
Ballard is currently the Head Coach and AAA Hockey
Director for the Rocky Mountain Wranglers organization
based in Greeley, Colorado. He also owns and operates
ETP Hockey, a developmental hockey showcase event for
young players.
Ballard has also served as Head Coach of the Colorado
Outlaws AAA team, and the Head Coach / GM of both the
Northwest Wisconsin Knights and Iron Range Yellow
Jackets in the MNJHL.
Bud Dombroski (King of Prussia, PA)
Dombroski is the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Jr.
Flyers Midget AAA team and is in his twenty-first year
with the program and twenty-ninth as a head coach. Bud
also serves as the Manager of Hockey Operations at the
Ice Line Quad Rinks in West Chester, PA.
Bud has seen many of the top Atlantic District players
over the years wear the orange and black of the Jr.
Flyers and has won sixteen Atlantic AAA Championships
over his career as well as earning eleven AAA National
Championship appearances. Dombroski has also previously
coached Team Philadelphia at the Chicago High Showcase
for five seasons.
Derek Eisler (Stockton, CA)
Eisler joins the Steel with the most experience in the
war zones at all levels. Currently, Derek serves as the
head coach and Director of Coaches for the San Jose Jr.
Sharks AAA program.
Previous positions held by Eisler include time as a
Coaching Staff Assistant with the San Jose Sharks in the
NHL, a Graduate Assistant Coach with St. Cloud State in
the WCHA college ranks, Assistant Coach of the now
defunct Billings Bulls of the NAHL and the USHL’s
Rochester Mustangs, Head Coach of the IMG Academy AAA
team, and the Head Coach of the US Jr. Selects that
toured the Czech Republic and Switzerland in the
summers.
Bob Jacobson (Cleveland, OH)
Jacobson currently serves as the Head Coach and GM of
the Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks in the CSHL where he has
been in this position for the last seven seasons.
Jacobson also served as an Assistant Coach with the
“Jacks” for two additional seasons and has twenty four
years of coaching experience.
Bob will provide player evaluations for the Steel on the
top players in the CSHL and in the Ohio AAA and high
school ranks.
Mark LeRose (Aspen, CO)
LeRose joins Steel General Manager Jason Koehler for
their third time working together. The two worked
together with the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) when
LeRose was the Assistant Coach and also when both served
as Coaching Staff Assistants with the Pittsburgh
Penguins in the NHL. LeRose has also served as an
Assistant Coach with the University of Wisconsin Badgers
in the WCHA.
The Canisius graduate is also experienced in
developmental hockey camps and clinics and has
previously served as Head Coach with the Aspen High
School team where he currently resides.
Jay Maciejewski (West Seneca, NY)
Former western New York hockey standout, Jay Maciejewski,
played junior hockey on the Buffalo Jr. Sabres in the
NAHL before heading to the NCAA Division I level with
Northern Arizona where he led the team in scoring as
freshman. When that program folded, Jay moved on to the
CCHA’s Michigan State Spartans where he played one
season before an injury ended his playing career. Jay
later earned a Bachelor’s from Buffalo State.
Maciejewski has previously been a Western NY high school
hockey coach with Cheektowaga and Amherst and is most
well known for his success with the Buffalo Saints AAA
team where as head coach, his team’s have won six NY
State titles and made three AAA National Tournament
semi-final appearances. Jay has also served as an
evaluator for the NY District’s Select Festival tryouts
and coached Team Western New York to a gold medal at the
Empire State Games. He has also been an instructor at
the Buffalo Sabres’ High School Hockey Camp.
Chris Pyzik (White Lake, MI)
Pyzik joins the Steel staff as the youngest member after
completing his education at Michigan State University in
2004. Prior to joining the Steel, Chris served as a
video coordinator with Wayne State, located in Detroit
and a part of the CHA NCAA college hockey level. Pyzik
has also been an Assistant Coach with East Lansing High
School.
Chris will be responsible for the Michigan teams at the
AAA, high school, and junior levels in the state.
Dan Serakowski (Pittsburgh, PA)
Dan is currently the Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Jr. B
Penguins which compete in the Empire West Junior Hockey
League. While with the program, Serakowski has had
tremendous on-ice success, but has also seen a large
number of his players move onto the Junior A level in
the NAHL, EJHL, and USHL. The past two seasons, Dan has
been selected to coach at the league’s All-Star Game.
Prior to joining the Jr. B Penguins, Serakowski attended
Gannon University in Erie, PA and has been the Varsity
level Head Coach at three successful high school
programs in western Pennsylvania - Gateway, Allderdice,
and Cannon-MacMillan.
Chris Stern (Pittsburgh, PA)
A Pittsburgh area businessman and practicing attorney,
Stern has coached for the Pittsburgh Hornets AAA
organization for many years. Stern also serves as the
Coaching Director of the Hornet Organization.
Previously, Chris coached at various Pennsylvania high
school teams and has roots as a player and coach dating
back thirty plus years. Teams he has coached have
participated in USA Hockey National Championships 7 of
the past 9 seasons including one second and two third
place finishes.
He has been instrumental in training Pittsburgh players
that have gone on to play in all major junior hockey
leagues (USHL, NAHL, OHL) the US National Team
Development Program and professional hockey. During his
tenure with the Hornets, that program has produced 11
NHL Draft Picks, 6 US N.T.D.P., and 51 Division 1
players.
He has been a coach and/or evaluator at various times
over the years for the Pennsylvania Keystone Games and
Team Pittsburgh (Chicago Showcase). Stern has also
evaluated players and worked with Steel GM Jason Koehler
for The Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL), Pittsburgh Forge
(NAHL) and Youngstown Phantoms (NAHL).
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