Meet the HDC Management & Owners

HDC Site Directors

Liam "Coach Red" McDonald

"Coach Red" McDonald is the Site Director for the Hockey Development Center. Coach Red grew up in Richfield, Minnesota and began playing hockey at the age of eight. He played hockey at Richfield high school and, after graduation, for Vermilion College (Ely) from 1984-86 and Concordia College (Moorhead) from 1986-88. After college, he was assistant coach at Concordia for a year and since has focused on youth from Bantams to Beginners. Coach Red started the Rink Rat Clinics six years ago and has helped with numerous other hockey programs. He recently received his Level 5 Master coaching certification from USA Hockey. He and his wife live in Lakeville with three children that are active in Lakeville Hockey.

Richard Zemlak

Richard Zemlak is the Co-Site Director for the Hockey Development Center. Richard grew up playing hockey on the frozen ponds of Wynyard, Saskatchewan, starting at the age of nine. He played minor leagues until the age of 15 when he left home to play two years with Saskatchewan Junior (Tier 2) hockey. He later played three more years with the Western Hockey League (Tier 1), during which time he was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1981 at the age of 17. He played for the Quebec Nordiques from 1986-87, the Minnesota North Stars from 1987-88, the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1988-90 and the Calgary Flames from 1991-92. During his career, his favorite coach was Herb Brooks who reminded players to “never forget it is about the emblem on the front of your jersey and not the name on the back.” He has coached the Bantam level in Bloomington and the Mite level in Lakeville. Richard has a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Hockey. He lives in Lakeville and has two children active in Lakeville Hockey.

HDC Owners

Brian McKinney

Brian McKinney grew up in Belleville, Illinois and has been playing hockey since he was 13 years old. He played high school hockey in Cahokia, Illinois and junior B hockey for the St. Louis Junior Blues. After graduation, he played for the Iowa State Cyclones from 1988-90. Brian has coached for youth hockey in Cahokia from 1989-93, Northfield youth hockey from 2002-04 and Lakeville youth from 2003-present. He has a Level 3 coaching certification from USA Hockey. Brian is an electrical engineer and founded Integrated Control Solutions, Lakeville, in 1998. In addition to his engineering business and coaching, Brian has been integral to the development and promotion of Total Hockey Training Systems. His skills and knowledge as an engineer have helped develop much of the technology that players experience when they enter the Total Hockey Training Center. From the technology that offers players immediate feedback to the benchmarking database to track player performance and improvement, Brian's expertise has helped differentiate Total Hockey from many other training programs. Brian lives in Lakeville with his wife and four children, two of whom are active in Lakeville Hockey.

Jake Enebak

Jake Enebak grew up in Northfield, Minnesota and has been playing hockey since he was four years old. He played high school hockey in Northfield and later played for the University of Minnesota from 1987-91 during which time he was drafted, in 1987, by the Quebec Nordiques. He was the assistant varsity boys coach for four years at Wayzata High School and five years as the assistant varsity boys coach at Rosemount High School. He has a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Hockey. Jake is the president of Tradition Development and Tradition Golf (including Legend's Golf Club in Credit River and Tournament Club of Iowa near Des Moines). He lives in Credit River with his wife and four children, three of whom are active in Lakeville Hockey.

Joel Owens

Joel Owens grew up in Rice Lake, Wisconsin and started playing hockey at the age of five. He later played for Rice Lake high school. After graduation, Joel entered the Air Force and served a total of three years where he received commendation that includes: Distinguished Service Medal, Commendation Medal, Achievement Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. Following his military career, Joel went into sales within the enterprise-class hardware industry. After several years of exceeding all sales quotas, he formed his own company QualTech International and later added QualTech Services Group. In 2004, after a successful sale of his companies to a publicly held firm in New Jersey, Joel stayed aboard as president for the hardware and hardware maintenance divisions of QSGI. Joel and his wife live in Credit River and have three sons, two of which are active in Lakeville Hockey. He coaches in the Lakeville Mites program and has a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Hockey.

Brian Smith

Brian Smith grew up in Lakeville, Minnesota and started playing hockey at ten years old. He played hockey for Lakeville high school and, after graduation, played football for Augustana College in Sioux Falls. Brian owns two construction companies, one in Phoenix and Spear Construction in Lakeville. He has a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Hockey and has been a coach in Lakeville for the last three years. Brian lives with his wife and three children in Lakeville and has two kids active in the Lakeville Hockey program.

Pat Farley

Pat Farley grew up in Alexandria, Minnesota where he played high school basketball and golf. After graduation, he went on to play golf for St. John's University. He has worked as an investment analyst for several years and is now in institutional equity sales with Craig-Hallum Capital Group. Pat and his wife live in Lakeville and have three children that are active in Lakeville Hockey.

Tom Oberg

Tom Oberg grew up in Apple Valley, Minnesota and started playing hockey at the age of five. He played high school hockey in Apple Valley and later coached at the Bantam A and B levels with the Apple Valley Youth Hockey Association for three years. He has a Level 3 coaching certification from USA Hockey and has coached in Lakeville since 2000 at the Mite, Squirt and PeeWee levels. Tom is the president of Total Access, which is a printing and office supply distributorship. He lives in Lakeville with his wife and three children, all of whom are active in Lakeville Hockey.

Corby Manes

Corby Manes grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri and has been playing hockey since the age of four. He played high school hockey for Webster Groves and Parkway West before moving to Michigan his senior year where he played Juniors with Kalamazoo K-Wings. He also played in the NAJHL for the Indianapolis Ice and was voted MVP. He went on to play for St. Mary's University in Winona until he graduated in 1995. While at St. Mary's, he achieved All American status during his junior and senior years. Corby has a Level 2 coaching certification from USA Hockey and has coached Bantam B in Rosemount and three years at the Mite level in Lakeville. He is in strategic marketing with Thomson West in Eagan and lives in Lakeville with his wife and two children, both of whom are active in Lakeville Hockey.

Mark Olsen

Mark Olsen grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota and started playing hockey at the age of six. He played high school hockey for Burnsville and later went on to play for Colorado College from 1985-89. At Colorado, he was a four-year letter winner and was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 1986. Mark has a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Hockey and has coached for four years in the Lakeville Hockey Association. Mark is a loan officer with Bankers Mortgage and lives in Lakeville with his wife and three children, two of whom are active in Lakeville hockey.

Merlin Ravndalen

Merlin Ravndalen grew up in Warroad, Minnesota and started playing hockey at the age of six. He played for Warroad high school and later went on to play Division III hockey with Gustavus Adolphus College. Merlin has a Level 2 coaching certification from USA Hockey and has held the head coach position with Bismarck Century varsity from 1986-88, assistant coach at Mankato State from 1989-90, assistant coach at Eagan boys varsity from 1991-94, head coach at Eagan girls varsity from 1997-00, head coach in Burnsville for Mites and U10B girls from 2002-05 and coaching positions in Lakeville during the last few years. From 1986-02, Merlin was the Shattuck Summer Camp coach and also developed and coordinated both the Eagan Girls Summer Camp and the DarBlitz Girls Summer Camp. He lives in Lakeville with his wife and three daughters that are all active in hockey. Merlin is a sales representative for Houghton Mifflin in the publishing industry.

Chad Schumacher

Chad Schumacher grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota and started playing hockey at the age of 10. He played high school hockey for the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield. He currently has a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Hockey and has coached for Lakeville Mites and Rink Rats. Chad has also been a scout for hockey programs in Rosemount and Brainerd. He is a private wealth adviser and the managing director for Tradition Wealth Management. He lives in Credit River with his wife and three children, one of whom has already become active in Lakeville Hockey.

Tim Poehling

Tim Poehling grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota and started playing hockey at four years old. He played youth hockey at Bloomington Jefferson and high school hockey for the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield. He began coaching hockey in 1994 at Bloomington Jefferson and coaches today in Lakeville. Tim has a Level 1 coaching certification from USA Hockey. He is the chief operating officer for Network Solutions Group at Ingenix, a UnitedHealth Group company. He lives in Lakeville with his wife and four children, three of whom are active in Lakeville Hockey.

Total Hockey Founder

Dean Talafous

Dean Talafous was born in Duluth, Minnesota and later his family moved to Hastings where Dean played high school hockey. After graduation, Dean played for the Wisconsin Badgers where he helped the team win a national championship in 1973 and he was named MVP. He was drafted by the Atlanta Flames in 1973 where he played in 1974. He joined the Minnesota North Stars from 1974-78 and the New York Rangers from 1978-82. His coaching career spans more than 20 years with experience at Division 1 and Division 3 schools. He was an assistant coach with the University of Minnesota from 1983-88, head coach with the University of Wisconsin (River Falls) from 1988-95 and head coach with the University of Alaska from 1996-01. Dean founded Total Hockey Training Systems in 2002 and currently lives in Hudson, Wisconsin.