EAST TEAM
ON ICE TEAM
BILLY JERRY - 1-on-1 TRAINER
Billy is currently a Forward for the Worcester Railers (ECHL) in his 1st year professional season. Prior to turning pro, Billy captained the Long Island University Sharks (NCAA) as grad transfer while being selected as Hobey Baker Finalist after concluding 4 years at RPI (NCAA) where he also captained the team as a Senior. He played Junior hockey for the Madison Capitals (USHL) and High School hockey for St. Thomas Academy.
ALEX VOLPICELLI - POWER SKATING COACH
Alex is the owner of StrideRx with more than 10 years of experience coaching power skating professionally in Massachusetts and Minnesota working with clients of all levels from Mites to the NHL. During her career as a competitive figure skater, she was a two-time New England Regional Champion, Eastern sectional competitor, and three-time US Junior National competitor. Alex is excited to help us take EAST to the next level by adding focused work on the highest use rate skill in the game, skating.
EDDIE WITTCHOW - 1-on-1 TRAINER
Eddie is currently a Defenseman for the Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) in his 7th professional season. Prior to turning pro, Eddie captained the University of Wisconsin Badgers (NCAA). He played Junior hockey for the Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) and High School hockey for Burnsville. Eddie was drafted by the Florida Panthers 154th overall.
IAN McCOSHEN - 1-on-1 TRAINER
Ian is currently a Defenseman for Ässät (Liiga) in his 8th professional season. Prior to turning pro, Ian captained the Boston College Eagles (NCAA) and appeared in the World Junior Championships twice. He played Junior hockey for the Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) and Midget hockey for Shattuck St. Mary’s. Ian was drafted by the Florida Panthers 31st overall and has played in 60 NHL games to date.
KYLE GRABOWSKI - LEAD DEVELOPMENT COACH
Kyle specializes in 1-on-1 and small group environments where he gets the opportunity to establish a process unique to each player's skills, habits, and strengths as a starting point. He aims to create a feedback process that allows for constant growth by always giving the player one action item after each interaction, unique to them, to build their game with the use of video analysis, constant dialogue, and time on the ice together. His ice sessions are built around 3 primary principles: (1) high frequency, game-like events, (2) variability within those high frequency events, and (3) the creative use of constraints to potentiate the scenarios degree of difficulty. He has spent the last 3 years with EAST working with a range of players from the Professional to PeeWee ranks, developing their individual skill sets and in-game tactics to advance their performance. Prior to being a skills instructor, Kyle coached Junior hockey for 9 years.
STEVE BRIERE - GOALIE COACH
Steve is currently the Goaltending Coach for the Seattle Kraken following 7 years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to his tenure in the NHL, he was the owner and head instructor of Canadian Professional Goalie Schools along with being a Goalie Coach in the NAHL, USHL, and NCAA Div. 1. As a player, Steve had a 10 year professional career where he spent time in the ECHL, IHL, AHL, and Europe. Steve is excited to help us round out our offerings by launching the goalie-specific branch of the program with an underlying focus on the sports vision part of the game and mindset strengthening.
TYSON FULTON - COACH
Tyson specializes in skill work with forward-thinking training philosophies. His training focuses on combining: skating and edge work, puck and stick skills, and hockey IQ at top speed with an emphasis on pushing players to perform outside their comfort zone so that performance in high pressure, game-like situations, comes very naturally to them. He spent 4 years coaching Centennial's Bantam AA team and the last 2 coaching the 14U Minnesota Blades. As a player, he won two State Championship titles with Breck High School, before going on to play at Waterloo in the USHL and Union College in the NCAA before finishing his playing career at St. John's University.
OFF ICE TEAM
STEVE CHEREKOS M.Ed., CSCS - PERFORMANCE COACH
Steve is a Strength and Conditioning Coach who specializes in working with hockey players. He has been coaching hockey players of all ages and levels since 2010, utilizing his Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and Master’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science. He has been exposed to strength training techniques from some of the best strength coaches in college and pro hockey, speed development techniques from world-renowned sprint coaches, endurance techniques from professional cycling coaches, and recovery modalities from a wide array of coaches in high-level athletics. These experiences have given him a unique and effective toolbox from which to help players become high performing, elite athletes and come up with new, unique, and different ways to train the many awkward positions hockey players find themselves in on the ice.
NUTRITION TEAM
CHEF NEAL
We have partnered with Chef Neal’s Healthy Meals, who has a passion for healthy living and gourmet cooking which drove him to create a line of food that both tastes great, and will make you feel great. All of his sauces, dressings, blends, and rubs are made from scratch. He strives to use the most natural and freshest ingredients sourced from the most reputable suppliers. Neal’s commitment to help people eat and live healthy is a perfect synergy with EAST on our mission to deliver quality meals at affordable prices to help give our athletes another edge over their competition.
CONSULTING TEAM
BOBBY FARNHAM - ADVISOR and MENTOR
Bobby serves in an advisory and mentorship role with EAST. He is currently attending Harvard Business School and serving as a Graduate Assistant for Harvard Hockey while simultaneously working on the agency side for Global Hockey Consultants as the Director of Player Development & Business Strategy, leveraging his unique understanding of every aspect of the professional hockey world. He provides mentorship and fosters family relationships with empathy and compassion every step of the way, understanding how long the road is to the pinnacle of professional hockey. As a player, Bobby spent 4 years at Brown University before his time in the NHL with Pittsburgh, New Jersey, and Montreal, along with over 400 AHL games before concluding his career in the European Elite with the Belfast Giants. He is working to provide professional clients with new and innovative resources, while simultaneously working in collaboration on the development of new, interdisciplinary offerings for our clients to access.
HARRY ZOLNIERCZYK - ADVISOR and MENTOR
Harry serves in an advisory and mentorship role with EAST. He is currently working on the agency side for Global Hockey Consultants as the Director of Player Recruiting & Business Operations, utilizing a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in the professional hockey world. He provides mentorship and guidance with a sobering honesty, always willing to tell players what they need to hear even if it’s not what they want to hear in order to help them reach the highest level of the game. As a player, Harry spent 4 years at Brown University before his time in the NHL with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York, Anaheim, and Nashville during their Stanley Cup Finals run in 2017 along with over 400 AHL games. He is working to provide professional clients with new and innovative resources while simultaneously working in collaboration on the development of new, interdisciplinary offerings for our clients to access.
JOSEPH ZUCKERMAN - ENGINEERING and DESIGN
Joseph is a second year PhD student in the System Level Design group in the Computer Science department at Columbia University. In 2019, he completed a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Harvard University as Magna Cum Laude with Highest Honors in Field with a specific focus on the design of architectures for machine learning applications. Joseph has spent time working for NVIDIA, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, NoiseAware, and as a research assistant at Columbia and Harvard University. He is actively working on EAST’s Engineering and Design product development.
TONY TURGEON - CONSULTING GROUP DIRECTOR
Tony oversees day-to-day operations for the consulting group with a focus on our transition protocol and assists on the ice whenever the opportunity presents itself. An embodiment of the process, his goal is to leverage his own experiences from youth hockey all the way through his transition to life after hockey to help players realize that becoming the best hockey player and person you can be go hand in hand and that it’s never too early to start creating a framework for what your future will look like after your time in the game. Tony grew up in Grand Forks, ND and played AAA for the Madison Capitols (AAA) before starting his journeyman Junior career that saw him attend 4 different high schools in 4 years; first in Wisconsin at the Junior B level, then with the Bismarck Bobcats (NAHL), and finally the Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL). He then went on to play 3 years for the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (NCAA) before turning pro where he spent 6 seasons in the Florida Panthers (NHL) system with their AHL affiliates.
OPERATIONS TEAM
JAKE HORTON
Jake leads innovation and development for EAST Hockey Group leveraging his unique experiences as a player and a person where he has pushed the limits in both sports and the ‘real world.’ He is a Minnesota native, but his path led him to spend many years outside the state playing Juniors in Janesville, WI (NAHL) and Waterloo, IA (USHL), College in Cambridge, MA at Harvard University where he was a captain, and professionally with the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) in the US before some time overseas in Herlev, DK, Pontoise, FR and Yokohama, JP. Outside of hockey, he spent time working at The Opus Group (MN) Redbrick Health (MN), dacadoo (SUI), and Tesla (CA). He is constantly looking to improve and expand the quality of training and services provided to EAST clients and their families in search of the ultimate end-to-end experience. He aims to propel players forward by bridging the gap between sports and the business world - creating a lifestyle brand grounded in quality, relationships, and access that will serve them well beyond their athletic years.
TONI INGEBRITSON - VP of __________ (depends on the day)
Toni has mastered the art of modifying her role depending on the current demands of the company based on both internal and external factors. She draws on extensive experience as the Administrative Director of the Minnesota Blades, along with the invaluable insight as a parent to 3 players to help carry out the long term vision of all EAST endeavors with a refreshing sense of pragmatism, while simultaneously juggling the day-to-day operations that allow us to operate efficiently.