A rink without a rink

Atomic Hockey has no ice rink. At its training centre on 200A Street, players lace up and skate on a skatemill, a giant treadmill for skates, then fire pucks across synthetic ice in four shooting lanes. Atomic bills it as the largest skatemill in the world, and the only one in the region with a built-in shooting lane.

It's there because its founder thought young players weren't getting enough time with the puck. “Our goal at Atomic Hockey is to provide a training option that wasn't readily available in the lower mainland,” the company's site says. “The rising cost and limited availability of ice time posed significant barriers for players seeking specialized skill development.”

A proud Pocoite

That founder is Brad Kothlow. According to his bio on his real estate team's website, he is “a proud Pocoite” who spent his whole life in Port Coquitlam and graduated from Riverside Secondary, where he won the Port Coquitlam Minor Hockey Association Scholarship and the Poco Minor Athletics Scholarship. The same bio calls him a serial entrepreneur who founded a marketing firm and a real estate academy, coaches hockey and baseball on evenings and weekends, and helps raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Atomic opened the facility in November 2022, according to a HockeyShot press release the following June. That release named Kothlow as owner and founder and quoted him eight months in: “Our instructors and programming have grown to the point where I'm extremely happy we invested in the technology and space we did!”

'The sport that gave me so much'

The “Our Big Why” page on Atomic's website isn't signed, but it's written in the first person by someone who calls himself “an entrepreneur and businessman.” “The discipline, determination, and resilience ingrained on the ice are invaluable tools in my professional life,” it reads. “I am passionate about giving back to the sport that gave me so much.”

The page also makes the case for the place. An NHL player touches the puck for only about 45 seconds a game, it says, and many minor hockey players get even less, so shooting rarely gets dedicated practice. The synthetic ice adds slight resistance that forces proper posture, “like a basketball player practicing with ankle weights.”

'More than hockey to us'

Kothlow isn't the only Kothlow on the coaches page. Kat Kothlow is listed as a director too. “Atomic is more than hockey to us. It's about family, balance, and giving kids the best possible experience both as athletes and as people,” her profile says. We haven't confirmed how the two share the work, and it's one of the first things we'll ask.

Brad's own coaching profile points to what's next: “Hockey has been my life since I was a kid. Building our Academy is about creating the environment I always wished existed, where players can thrive on the ice and in their education.” The academy pairs a BC-recognized curriculum, delivered through SCIDES, with daily on-ice and dryland training, in a classroom upstairs from the skatemill.

Start with a stride analysis

The skatemill program is powered by AK Hockey and Kelowna skating coach Aaron Konecsni, who has coached Vancouver Canucks prospects and at the Hockey Canada Skills Academy. Atomic's coaches go through AK Hockey's six-level certification. Sessions can be booked one-on-one or with a small group of up to six players, and the centre also runs small-group classes, team training, birthday parties and facility rentals.

A first skatemill visit includes a free live stride analysis, and Atomic suggests booking a full hour so there's time for both that and training. Bring skates, gloves, stick, helmet and shin pads, and take the tape off your stick before you go in. Then step onto the treadmill.

Photos: Atomic Hockey.