The Crookston Blue Line Club is staying busy this summer with new training equipment available to use and the introduction of a new summer camp program.
A Nextstride hockey treadmill was purchased by the club from Thief River Falls in December and installed in the old community room on the upper level of the Crookston Sports Center. The treadmill helps players develop strength and speed while in a controlled environment.. “We have a newly installed hockey treadmill that we’ve put in, so a new training tool for kids around the area, not just Crookston, to come in, and we have hours throughout the week,” said Brady Heppner. “Kids can come in and get on that. It’s a great training tool for explosiveness, working on your stride, skating, get faster, quicker work on edge work, all different types of things you can do on that.”
Currently, players can participate in dryland on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons throughout the summer at the Crookston Sports Center, where they can work with Heppner and other coaches on skills like passing, shooting, and stick handling, and practice on synthetic ice.
Another addition for the Crookston Blue Line Club in 2026 is the first annual Crookston Summer Hockey Camp, which will take place July 27-31 at the Sports Center. The summer camp provides players with a rare chance to practice on a real ice surface, an opportunity now made possible by the Sports Center. “We’re gonna have ice last week of July, and that’ll be for kids, mites through bantams, to get on the ice, so it’s gonna be awesome,” Heppner explained. “We’re gonna have an hour and 15 minutes on ice for the kids, and then a little bit of fun with some dryland and floor hockey for about 45 minutes of the camp each day. So excited to do that and to get these opportunities out there for the kids.”
For players like Heppner, opportunities like this were scarce growing up and often required travel, but now the club can help the next generation access this new summer opportunity. “It means a lot. Growing up here, we never really had the option, being at the old rink, of putting ice here in the summer, so it’s kind of a unique opportunity to be able to give this to our kids here. They don’t have to travel quite as far to go on the ice at the end of July, so give an opportunity to stay in Crookston and bring some kids here.”
Registration for the summer camp is now open for 8U mites, 10U squirts, 12U peewee, and 15U bantam. The cost is $275 for players and $100 for goalies. Anyone interested in signing up can contact Heppner at 218-280-7544 or by email at bheppner001@gmail.com.
