The ACE Checkmate

The latest in hockey teaching innovations is the right kind of hit with kids and their coaches.

By Pat Cronin

Every so often there is a great new idea, perhaps some special innovation generated on the hockey scene that eventually assumes a standard, essential place in the game. The goalie's mask comes to mind immediately and helmets are also now standard fare at all levels of hockey. This was not always the case but strict rules now require safety equipment be used from youth up to the professional leagues. In both examples, the motivation for these relatively recent innovations was simply to make the game safer.

And so it is that another hockey innovation - the ACE Checkmate - has recently appeared in hockey arenas in southeastern Massachusetts. A life-size dummy created for on-ice checking lessons and drills, the ACE Checkmate has contributed significantly to making hockey, and specifically the teaching of hockey, safer in recent clinics around New England. "Terrific clinics," offered one parent whose son recently had worked with ACE Checkmate. " We wanted to let you know that Bryan thought the checking clinics he attended in Falmouth (Mass.) were two of the best he has ever had! Drills were well-organized and explained thoroughly and clearly- small group was great- (the ACE Checkmate) dummies were perfect .... Bryan said he really learned a lot (actually, so did we!) and had fun too. Thanks!"

Hockey coach and trainer Mike Getchell came up with the idea for the ACE Checkmate when he was looking for a way to teach young players the proper techniques for checking. The newest version of ACE is capable of wearing any team's uniform, but the prototype originally sported heavy white tape around its neck. The white neck reminded Mike of the ever-present turtleneck worn by one of his all-time favorite Bruins, Ace Bailey. Tragically, Bailey perished as a passenger on one of the planes that was flown into the World Trade Center on September 11. "We originally started calling him ACE because of the white tape," says Getchell, " but then we realized it was a great acronym for what the equipment actually represented, A Checking Experience. After September 11 we were saddened by hockey's loss, but happy that the letters in the acronym could also serve to honor Ace Bailey in some small way."

Getchell , a native of East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, came up with the idea for his checking dummy, at least in part, as a result of his experiences as a high school football and hockey player."In football we always used dummies during our daily practice drills, for tackling and blocking. I remembered this when I was looking for a better and safer way to teach kids how to check, " says Getchell. "The object of checking is to get the puck away from the other team, not to pound the guy and risk injury while often missing the check completely. With the use of ACE Checkmate kids of all skill levels are able to finish a check. We teach both offensive (forecheck) and defensive checking (hip check, pivot check). We also do game realistic drills. After each check the players pass and shoot. With the use of ACE Checkmate kids have fun, and they are more focused on what the coach is teaching."

Getchell uses his invention (he has a patent pending on ACE) at the CDL Arena in Raynham, Massachusetts, where he puts his experience as a college hockey player and 20 years of coaching hockey to good use as a coach in the NECDL. "The NECDL has been a great experience for me. They really help develop players from 9 years of age to those in high school. It is a private league and we allow kids to check at 9 and 10 years old. With the help of the ACE dummies we are able to teach them from an early age the proper way to check. We believe it helps make the league safer for the kids." Besides teaching hockey skills to players of all ages, Getchell is also one of the area's most popular personal trainers, and now operates a new training facility he opened at the arena. "I use the checking dummies in my practices, as well as in the clinics we run for players aged 9-12," says Getchell. "Actually, we have used ACE Checkmate with all ages including high school players, and it has worked great. My focus is on the young kids, but ACE Checkmate can and should be used with all age groups," he emphasizes. "We have developed instructional clinics and programs so that all of the kids who have been taught the proper checking techniques with ACE receive a special certificate," Getchell explains. "We can have the teams come here to the CDL Arena, or we can travel."

Because Getchell now has financial backing for this hockey teaching tool, he is prepared to produce more of them and make them available to teams and organizations that want to buy an ACE Checkmate of their own. "Because we have modified and streamlined the ACE Checkmate, it is now lighter than the original, easy to transport from one facility to another, and once there, just as easy to move about on the ice for drills. We have also developed an instructional video that can accompany the ACE Checkmate that explains exactly what it can do and how to do it," says Getchell. "We are excited about the interest that has been generated by the ACE Checkmate in the local hockey community, and we are now looking to pass the word along to anyone who wants to teach checking properly and safely while giving kids the opportunity to have more fun. With the use of ACE Checkmate kids have fun, and they are more focused on what the coach is teaching. As we all know as coaches, it is difficult to keep kids' attention. ACE helps!"

And with his own training facility right there within the hockey rink in Raynham, Getchell is now incorporating an exercise program into his hockey instruction. "Kids can now be trained with specific exercises that will enhance their checking ability, as well as strengthen them for many of the other moves they make on the ice such as skating, stick handling and shooting. With the training facility right here at the rink, we now offer a total program to those players, actually of any age, including high school and college, who want to get better. And as we all know, any athlete who is willing to work a little harder to get better is often going to have an edge on those who are not doing the extra work," says Getchell.
Colorful goalie masks and helmets are now commonplace in hockey arenas around the world, primarily because they brought increased safety to the exciting, fast-paced game of hockey that so many people enjoy playing and watching. As more and more ACE Checkmates appear in hockey clinics and practices in arenas around the country, it is very possible that this latest instructional hockey innovation will also soon find a permanent place in the game.