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Welcome to the second half of our exclusive interview with JD Ross, founder and president of Hockey Gyms, Inc. Over the last five years, Ross has helped design, supply, and deliver the key components behind more than 50 commercial hockey gyms worldwide.
His motto, “Starting from the ice up,” captures his philosophy—building training spaces around skateable or slick flooring that lets players work on shooting, stickhandling, and passing in skates or shoes, no rink required.
As ice time becomes harder to secure, these dedicated training spaces have become essential for development, and Ross has been a driving force in making them more accessible for players, coaches, and families alike.
Snipe Lights: If you had to pick one aspect of all this that you enjoy most, what would it be?
JD: It’s working with people that are in it for the good of hockey and being able to offer what’s needed in terms of extra training and equipment that supports that. Whether it’s the six-year-old learning to skate on a skate mill, the 15-year-old elite player in his draft year working on his shot, or the goalie on synthetic ice working on stabilizing core and crease work – it’s really the human interaction.
I haven’t met a bad person who’s been interested in conceptualizing what they’re looking to build with Hockey Gyms. When you bring it to life, seeing all the hard work that’s gone into it for the right reasons – working in sports, there are more happy people than unhappy people. When you interact with people who are like-minded, who appreciate where hockey is going and what’s needed to help develop any age of player for whatever their weaknesses are and improve their strengths – that’s probably the main highlight.
Snipe Lights: Anyone who’s been in the hockey community walks away with the impression that it’s such a unique community with such a sense of family and support. It’s really something special.
JD: That’s the culture – the off-ice stuff is all tied into what happens on the ice too. It’s very unique compared to other sports that I’ve played.
Snipe Lights: Can you talk about what you’ve seen in the evolution of off-ice training in recent years and where you see it going in the future?
JD: What’s interesting is the advent of technology in hockey, specifically as it relates to training aids and tools. I’m not going to pretend my product is accessible to the residential user or homeowner, but I want to put this into perspective for both commercial and residential users.
The accessibility of a product is super important, as is gamification – training without knowing you’re actually putting in the work. All the technology coming out now within the $300 to $1000 price range, whether VR training, stick handling tools, or electronic shooting targets like Snipe Lights, allows those at any level to quantify and qualify their training. It allows them to self-analyze and understand what the numbers mean to them.
What I can’t forget and always speak to with commercial facility owners is that having all the equipment in the world is fantastic, but it’s complementary to a phenomenal coach or staff. Whether it’s a standalone shooting lane with a simple net or a fully automated passing system with all the metrics shown on screen, it doesn’t mean you’re going to have an athlete that performs superior because of the equipment or lack of equipment. It’s always going to come down to who’s using the technology and how they’re able to educate the client or athlete on how to improve.
As much as I love all the technology coming into it, I want to emphasize that first and foremost, having a mentor in hockey – whether that’s a coach, skills coach, or development coach – is probably where the most money should be invested.
Then the equipment, based on how that instructor is going to teach, is going to be that huge value add. You need the human aspect to everything. When you have that technology and the human aspect knows how to deliver their education and coaching with it, that’s what pushes everything over the hump.
There are so many cool things out there right now that have a purpose, even the simplest pieces of technology. When put into the right program with the right coach – and that coach could be dad or mom at home – as much as there’s probably more stuff on the horizon to allow athletes to engage further in their training, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the experience and depth of knowledge of a mentor coach in combination with those things is really optimal.
Snipe Lights: The last thing I’m going to ask you is about Snipe Lights – what’s your experience been like with Snipe Lights and what’s the feedback you’ve gotten from players and coaches?
JD: In our experience, the feedback really comes from the players. Given my setup with the more advanced OZO shooting simulator, it’s really the athletes here that use Snipe Lights on their own. The setup is so easy – the games, one player mode versus two player mode. That’s where we get the most use out of them as an extra space or option right outside of the simulators.
We’ve had every kid from five years old using them. One thing people gravitate towards is putting the four targets in the four corners, but the younger kids, we’ve guided them, and they’ll bring down the target. They may not have the strength to get those top corners, but they’re still finding a way. That’s a testament to the way Snipe Lights have that easy attachment and setup – they can be placed anywhere you want, although most people do gravitate towards the four corners.
The gamification aspect of hockey – not realizing you’re doing work while you’re doing work – has been really eye opening for athletes using these. It’s not just shooting at a shooter tutor or open net. It’s allowing them to not realize they’re training while they’re training, but it’s also the decision making with different colored lights, reaction time, keeping their head up. There are a whole bunch of different reasons why an addition like this to just a standalone net makes sense for everyone using them.
We even had kids using them with heavy pucks and these things are built tough. We’ve been appreciative of having Snipe Lights here in our facility.
Check out JD’s website here to see everything that Hockey Gyms, Inc. has to offer.
Related links:
Snipe Lights Exclusive Interview with JD Ross of Hockey Gyms, Inc.
Interactive Hockey Shooting Targets for Kids: Building Skills the Fun Way