Although the Playoffs didn’t go as expected for Florida, there is a sense
of pride in seeing a former Tampa Juniors player making it this far in the
fight for the Cup. It is this kind of opportunity that the Tampa Bay Juniors
program has strived to make
possible for their young players
since their foundation more than a
decade ago.
The Beginning of an Era
Although the team is now deeply
rooted on Florida’s west coast, the
Tampa Bay Juniors got their start
about three hours north across the
state in Jacksonville. Back then,
they were known as the Ice Dogs.
Established in 2008, the Ice Dogs
enjoyed two successful seasons in
Jacksonville, nurturing talent such as Ferlin, and teammates Greg Gozzo,
who went on to play Division I hockey at Harvard; and Erik Drapluk who
played Division I for Lake Superior State.
During their final season in Jacksonville, the Ice Dogs won the Florida
Division of the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League (MJHL) with a 25-9
season. Ultimately, the Ice Dogs fell in the USA National quarterfinals that
year. With just two seasons under their belt, the Ice Dogs chose to relocate
themselves and find a new place to call home. Brett Strot, who was then the
Ice Dogs head coach, started anew in Tampa Bay for the 2010-11 season.
America’s Hockey Coach
With a hockey history whose roots started
growing in Maple Grove, Minnesota, Brett Strot
has helped develop the junior hockey program
in Tampa Bay to greater and greater heights,
season after season for the past 12 years. Part
of what makes Strot such an effective leader
of the Tampa Bay Juniors program is his truly
impressive hockey background, both as a player
and as a coach. Now well-known among the local and national hockey
communities, Strot began making a name for himself as a forward for the
University of Minnesota, where he played from 1986 until 1990. Following
his college career, Strot played professional hockey for the Jacksonville
Barracudas, as well as for teams in in the ECHL, UHL, ACHL, IHL and WHA2
until his retirement in 1997.
From then on, Strot began coaching and managing
the Jacksonville Hammerheads junior team that
competed in the Southern Elite Hockey League from
1998 to 2000. Nearly a decade later, after coaching
the Barracudas, Strot partnered with families
throughout the southeast to form an independent
14U AAA hockey team that advanced to the USA
National Tournament in the 2006-07 season. Two
seasons later, Strot and his independent team
formed the Jacksonville Ice Dogs junior program.
Seeming to have found his calling, Strot has taken
on some very important coaching responsibilities
throughout the years. Arguably one of his greatest
responsibilities was his position as the associate head coach of the Gold
Medal winning USA Women’s 2018 Olympic team. Speaking of the Women’s
National Team: Huge Congratulations are in order as they won their
fifth consecutive gold medal this April at the International Ice Hockey
Federation World Championship. Well done, ladies!
Strot is also the founder and owner of the Hockey International, an
advanced hockey testing and training program in Tampa, providing elite
hockey specific training for the Tampa Bay Juniors, and other elite hockey
players from around the country, and the world.
The Next Chapter of Tampa Hockey
Since their inception, the former Ice Dogs and the Tampa Bay Juniors have
proven themselves as one of the best in developing hockey players in the
Sunshine State. Thanks to the guidance of Strot, his brother Garrett, their
staff, and the state-of-the-art training facility at Advent Health Center Ice
the young men of Tampa Bay have access to many of the resources they
need to be great hockey players at the junior level and beyond.
The most important of those resources is the one that comes naturally,
the pure talent that a player must possess, and there is no doubt that the
Tampa Bay hockey community has plenty of that.
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