Sports BY ANGELA MATUA PUCKthe Just one month ago, L.I.C.-ICE was the best kept secret in Long Island City. But an explosion in membership has proven how hungry city residents are for ice hockey training. The facility, located at a warehouse at 10-12 46th Road, began offering clinics at the end of February. Coach Ladislav Majkus said the staff wanted to work out the kinks of running the firstof its-kind training facility in New York City before spreading the word. “We were trying to be hidden as long as possible,” Majkus said. “We had almost 380 people going through the door to our clinics and that’s just the players.” L.I.C.-ICE offers personalized and teamfocused hockey training for hockey players as young as 6-years-old. Each class is capped at 10 students and the eight coaches conduct off-ice and on-ice training. Majkus said off-ice training is important for developing players to improve their agility and stability. The training practiced at L.I.C.-ICE resembles Crossfit but the students do not use weights. “Any sport is a very complex thing,” Majkus said. “You have to become an athlete and have the ability to before you can do anything else. Kids can challenge themselves and move themselves to be better athletes.” The coaches at the facility want to duplicate the training that NHL players go through and provide children with an alternative to the “sad” state of a typical gym class, he said. The facility is equipped with a 2,300-squarefoot ice rink and a 1,600-square-foot gym featur- LIC warehouse provides NHL-level ice hockey training for kids Pass Photos courtesy of L.I.C.-ICE
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