Louis Joseph Vairo was born on February 25,1945 and is an American former ice hockey coach and administrator.
72 Facts About Lou Vairo
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Lou Vairo served as head coach of the United States men's junior team at five IIHF World U20 Championships, and the United States men's team at four Ice Hockey World Championships and the 1984 Winter Olympics.
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Lou Vairo was an advance scout for the United States gold medal team at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and was an assistant coach on the United States silver medal team at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
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Lou Vairo has served as head coach of the Netherlands men's team and the Italy men's team at the Ice Hockey World Championships.
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Lou 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.
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Lou Vairo introduced European coaching concepts to the United States, and based his coaching style on a blend of Soviet and Canadian coaching methods to fit the culture in America and taught teams to play with speed and not rely on fighting.
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Lou Vairo served as coaching director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States, and later as the director of special projects for USA Hockey.
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Lou Vairo invited players from non-traditional hockey areas to national development camps to give an opportunity to those would not usually get a chance.
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Lou Vairo implemented coaching education programs and published manuals and articles about coaching hockey.
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Lou Vairo sat on the International Ice Hockey Federation coaching committee, and served as the technical coordinator of ice hockey for the Italian Ice Sports Federation.
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Lou Vairo was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for service to American hockey, the Paul Loicq Award for contributions to international hockey, and was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
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Lou Vairo was born on February 25,1945, in Brooklyn, New York.
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Lou Vairo's family is of Italian descent, and he grew up in the neighborhood of Canarsie.
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Lou Vairo recalled that they played daily, and sometimes on a frozen a swamp during winter using second-hand ice skates.
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Lou Vairo began playing organized sports in a roller hockey league for children ages 10 to 12.
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Lou Vairo played on a team called the Canarsie Rangers.
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Lou 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.
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Lou Vairo served two years in the United States Army and was discharged in 1966.
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Lou Vairo later worked as an air conditioner repairman and short-order cook.
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Lou Vairo began his coaching career when a friend who organized the league he played in asked him to coach a midget-age team.
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Lou Vairo later stated that he thought the term midget referred to dwarves instead of the minor ice hockey age group for 15-year-olds.
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Lou Vairo knew nothing of coaching at the time, and was simply instructed, "you go on the bench and organize them".
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Lou Vairo went to the library the following day to get a copy of The Hockey Handbook to find out as much as he could.
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Lou Vairo later talked his way into attending a New York Rangers practice to learn more.
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Lou Vairo watched a match televised on Wide World of Sports between the Soviet Union national team and the Sweden national team in 1970, and was fascinated by the European style of hockey.
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Lou Vairo wrote a letter to Anatoly Tarasov who coached the Soviets, wanting to learn more about the style of play.
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Tarasov wrote back and invited Lou Vairo to attend coaching clinic.
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Lou 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.
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Lou Vairo learned new methods of workouts and training on dry land which were not practiced in North America at the time, and Tarasov's methods of motivating players.
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Lou Vairo stated, "He told me you don't coach with your feet, you coach with your heart and your brain, and you have to have leadership qualities, drive the boys, work them hard, but do everything you can to support them".
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Lou Vairo introduced European coaching concepts to the United States, and based his style on a blend of Soviet and Canadian coaching methods, and said that he "tried to mend them together to fit the culture of our people" in the United States.
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Lou Vairo returned to New York, then coached in several different age groups within the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League.
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Lou Vairo introduced European coaching concepts for training, and put emphasis on puck control, passing and speed.
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Lou Vairo's teams had a reputation for being the fittest in the league and did not rely on fighting.
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Lou Vairo's teams won five Junior B-level league championships in Brooklyn and The Bronx, and the New York State junior championship in 1975.
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Lou Vairo moved to Austin, Minnesota in 1975 and coached the Austin Mavericks in the Midwest Junior Hockey League to two league championships and one national championship in 1976.
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Lou Vairo joined the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States in 1978 as its coaching director.
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Lou Vairo 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.
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Lou Vairo insisted on inviting players from non-traditional hockey areas including the Sun Belt, since he felt that experience could change the lives of potential national players who otherwise wouldn't be given an opportunity.
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Lou Vairo 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.
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Lou Vairo led the team to sixth place in 1979, seventh place in 1980, and sixth place in both 1981 and 1982.
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Lou Vairo 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.
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Lou Vairo became head coach of the United States men's national ice hockey team in 1983, and led them to a first-place finish in Group B at the 1983 Ice Hockey World Championships, and earned a berth in ice hockey at the 1984 Winter Olympics.
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Lou Vairo led the team to two wins, two losses and two draw, and a seventh-place finish.
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Lou Vairo felt that team did not play to its potential, and believed that he had "acted too soft" in coaching them.
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Lou 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.
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Lou Vairo served as an assistant coach to Doug Carpenter for two seasons on the New Jersey Devils.
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Lou Vairo began coaching in Europe in 1986, when he moved to the Tilburg Trappers who played in the Eredivisie in the Netherlands.
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Lou Vairo was head coach of the Netherlands men's national ice hockey team at the 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships, with Ron Berteling as his team captain.
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Lou Vairo departed for Italy in 1987, and recommended former New Jersey Devils colleague Fred Shero to takeover coaching duties in Tilburg.
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Lou Vairo coached five seasons in Italy's Serie A, with the first three seasons in charge of HC Fassa from 1987 to 1990.
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From 1990 to 1992, Lou Vairo served as head coach of HC Milano Saima.
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Lou Vairo was an assistant coach of the Italy men's national ice hockey team in Group B at the 1991 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships.
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Lou Vairo returned to the United States in 1992 to work for USA Hockey as the director of special projects.
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Lou Vairo implemented standards for a coaching education program and for player development camps which lead into the national team programs.
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Lou Vairo oversaw a task force on diversity which aimed to introduced hockey skills to children in the inner city and minority groups.
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Lou Vairo published several manuals and articles about coaching hockey.
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Lou Vairo sat on the International Ice Hockey Federation coaching committee while working at USA Hockey.
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Lou Vairo established a development camp program at the IIHF, and sought for coaching concepts to be shared internationally.
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Lou Vairo returned to the United States men's national ice hockey team as its head coach at the Ice Hockey World Championships from 2000 to 2003.
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Lou Vairo was an assistant coach on the national team in ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City.
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Lou Vairo coached the United States men's national junior ice hockey team in 2003 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
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Lou Vairo was named technical coordinator of ice hockey by the Italian Ice Sports Federation in 2014, and became head coach of the Italy men's national ice hockey team.
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Lou Vairo wanted to develop Italian-born players and compose a national team that was "made in Italy".
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Lou Vairo led the team into the 2015 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships looking to be promoted to the top division of the IIHF.
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Lou Vairo remained friends with Anatoly Tarasov and said, "I'd later invite Tarasov to Brooklyn and he danced and ate spaghetti and meatballs at my grandmother's house, so it became a great friendship and I learned so much from him".
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Lou Vairo enjoys the culinary arts, is a gourmet chef, and has raised his own chickens.
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Lou Vairo is referred to as the "Godfather of American Hockey" due to his strong Brooklyn Italian accent.
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New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Vairo Lamoriello said, "I think it's evident in where the game has come today that you might say Lou Vairo was ahead of his time".
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In 1994, Lou Vairo received both the John "Snooks" Kelley Founders Award from the American Hockey Coaches Association, and the Walter Yaciuk Award from the USA Hockey Coaching Education Program.
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Lou Vairo was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy in 2000, for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.
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In 2014, Lou Vairo was inducted into the New York State Hockey Hall of Fame, and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.