Our Coaches
About Jon Woodyard
After finishing his career in junior hockey, Jon turned his attention to training and has worked in player development for the past fourteen years. He has trained players on and off the ice from minor, junior, college, and professional levels.
In his sessions, Jon looks to find the skill limit in a particular area and push beyond it using drill progressions that get players to reach their next level. Enhancing skating stability and fluidity through assessment and adjustment allows players to increase the speed of game specific movements while maintaining puck control and peripheral vision. He often uses the aid of video to give players visual feedback on what they’re doing and on the changes they’re trying to make.
Jon also specializes in puck skills and has developed a system of enhancing puck feel, puck handling speed, range of motion, as well as step by step instructions of evasive maneuvers and fakes that can be applied and developed for various situations.
Aware that not everyone learns the same way, Jon works to understand what motivates and generates passion for individuals so he can engage players in their own learning process. He sees passion and enthusiasm combined with a player’s understanding of how they learn as key ingredients in the development process. Jon hopes to create an environment where a player has learned how they learn and loves doing it!
About Lubomir Macoun
Lubomir grew up in Slovakia and played in the top Slovakian league from U16 to U20. From there he went on to play in the EUHL and the Men's Slovakian 3 League. Lubomir also has a Masters in Coaching and has worked with some of the top Hockey Clubs throughout Europe as a skills coach and head coach. Lubo is now the Director of Hockey Operations for West Vancouver Minor Hockey Association and continues to do skill development with a wide range of players. To learn more about Lubomir's playing and coaching background please visit:https://www.eliteprospects.com/staff/69699/lubomir-macoun
About Reid Robertson
Growing up Reid played hockey for Coquitlam Minor Hockey and moved away from home at 16 to pursue a Junior Hockey career. At 18, after sustaining a serious and seasoning-ending injury he transitioned to coaching hockey to give back to the game that gave me so much. Reid's Junior Hockey experience spanned the course of five seasons. The first three were spent between the KIJHL and BCHL with the last two being in the PJHL. His playing experience combined with seven seasons as a coach within various hockey associations and the Northwest Hawks Zone program have helped Reid become a great all around coach. During this time Reid has spent time as a specialized skating coach for Two Way Hockey School and the BC Spartans. He has also run advanced defensemen camps, body checking and shooting clinics. Reid is now the longest serving BC Spartans Elite coach. He thoroughly enjoys working with young hockey players to help them grow and improve as hockey players, teammates and individuals both on and off the ice. I pride myself in my ability to create an environment in which players are eager to learn, be themselves and improve and have fun each and every time they show up to the rink.
About James Wall
James Wall is a Graduate of the University of Windsor who grew up playing hockey in British Columbia. James finished University in 2009 and he has dedicated his life to coaching and mentoring since that time. In 2012 James became West Vancouver Minor Hockey’s first ever hockey director. The position was created for him because of his dedication to its players and the value he brought to the association. James also started the BC Spartans spring hockey program that year. The goal of the program is to offer a great playing experience for players of all ages and levels with development and life skills being the philosophy of the program.
James is currently North Vancouver Minor Hockey’s Director of Hockey Operations, a High Performance certified coach and also holds various designations with BC Hockey and Hockey Canada. He is a certified BC Hockey coaching instructor for Coach 1 and 2, Development 1, Checking, and Specialty skills. James is also a Hockey Canada level 1 certified specialty skills instructor and facilitator. James has dedicated his career to developing the next generation of players and coaches by being able to get the best out of everyone he works with. Everyone who enters the Spartans program or works with James not only becomes a better hockey player, but a better person.
About Luke Kasteel
As an offensive skills coach, Luke excels at breaking down complex skills into fundamental pieces to speed up skill acquisition. He has spent countless hours reviewing video to understand the small details that make players successful and how to teach them effectively. Luke specializes in teaching forward and defensemen specific skills, tactics, and techniques that help them create offensive opportunities and put more pucks in the net. This is done by teaching elite stick handling, fakes, and game-specific moves, along with shooting mechanics and control techniques used by NHL players to get shots through and to open up holes in net. Endorsed by three of Vancouver’s best goalie schools, Luke has spent years learning how goalies move, read, and think in order to exploit them.
Luke is a coach who understands how to teach deception in order to control the opposition. He focuses on skills that transfer to the highest levels of hockey in order to condition players with habits that lead to future success. Luke regularly uses NHL video clips as teaching points with his players.
As a player, Luke’s career took him all over North America where he learned from coaches at both the pro and junior levels. Moving into a coaching role since retiring, Luke is in his third year with the NSWC. With over seven years of coaching and skill development experience, Luke’s technical mind and lifelong passion for hockey have allowed him to work with players from Atom to Pro. When he’s not experimenting how to make the perfect cup of coffee, you can find Luke on the ice or in the gym testing out his latest programs and drills on himself. Follow Luke on YouTube and Instagram @lightsteelhockey to see some of his work.
About Daniel Szpakowski
Daniel’s hockey philosophy centres around combing elite knowledge with a positive and structured environment in order to produce well-rounded hockey players.
He is an offensive and shooting specialist. Given his goalscoring background, he has a passion for breaking down the various tactical and mechanical strategies used to produce offence. He has spent countless hours training under some of the best skills coaches in the world honing skills such as shooting, passing, playmaking, play reading, and maneuvering. His goal is to expand this knowledge and pass it on in his instruction.
He has coached various ‘A’ teams in West Vancouver to league and tournament championships over the past 5 seasons.
Daniel grew up representing Coquitlam before moving to the Burnaby Winter Club for their inaugural Academy season. He spent 3 seasons in the PJHL where he became the franchise all-time leading goalscorer for the Port Moody Panthers. He also won a league title and provincial silver medal with the Delta Ice Hawks. He spent one season with the Red Lake Miners of the SIJHL.