Lou Vairo
Vairo showed an early interest in the European style of hockey and attended a coaching clinic taught by Anatoly Tarasov of the Soviet Union national team.
He invited players from non-traditional hockey areas to national development camps to give an opportunity to those would not usually get a chance.
They used improvised equipment for games, including a roll of tape for a puck, goal posts constructed from wood and fishing net, and goalie pads made from couch cushions and inner tubes.
They were inspired to join a league after a chance encounter with a man who taught them how to play, when "a beat-up old car drove up with "A-1 Pest Control" painted on the side".
[5] Vairo dreamed of playing for the New York Rangers, and as a boy he attended games at Madison Square Garden III in the cheap seats.
[6] His favorite players included Andy Bathgate, Rod Gilbert, Harry Howell, Jean Ratelle and Gump Worsley.
Vairo later stated that he thought the term midget referred to dwarves instead of the minor ice hockey age group for 15-year-olds.
Vairo obtained a US$3,500 bank loan to travel to Moscow, and stayed with Tarasov's family in the summer prior to the 1972 Summit Series.
[7] Vairo returned to New York, then coached in several different age groups within the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League.
[9] He introduced European coaching concepts for training, and put emphasis on puck control, passing and speed.
He lobbied AHAUS executive director Hal Trumble for permission and funding, to invite players from all over the country to the national development camp at Blyth Arena in Squaw Valley, California.
He related the choice to his own life, that if he had been born in Minnesota instead of Brooklyn, he might have played in the National Hockey League (NHL).
[10] Vairo's work at the development camp transitioned into him coaching the United States men's national junior ice hockey team in the A-pool at the IIHF World U20 Championships from 1979 to 1982.
[14] He also served as an advance scout for Herb Brooks who coached the United States team which won the gold medal in ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York.
[8] Vairo stated that, "I took the Olympic coaching position in 1984 because no one else wanted it" due to the daunting task of defending the gold medal from 1980.
[20] Vairo departed for Italy in 1987, and recommended former New Jersey Devils colleague Fred Shero to takeover coaching duties in Tilburg.
He also oversaw a task force on diversity which aimed to introduced hockey skills to children in the inner city and minority groups.
He was an assistant coach on the national team in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City.
He led the team into the 2015 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships looking to be promoted to the top division of the IIHF.
[2] Pat LaFontaine who played for the United States national team described Vairo by saying, "his passion for New York, for his roots in Brooklyn, for the game — he wears it on his sleeve".
