Hudson Crusaders

The Hudson Crusaders main goal is to provide dedicated athletes a place to develop and reach their goal of playing college hockey.  We believe that by finding a group of 25 men with the same drive, determination and work ethic we can put a quality product on the ice.

We have on ice practice 3 times a week for a total of 5 hours.  Much of this time is spent working on individual skills to help the development of each player, instead of just teaching them to play into a certain system.  We feel that by developing the skills of our players, we give them the ability to play a number of systems and roles on their current and future teams.

Another hour each week, our players will train at Total Hockey Hudson with Dean and Pete Talafous.  Dean Talafous played over 500 career games in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers and Atlanta Flames.  He has also coached at the Univeristy of Minnesota, Alaska-Anchorage and Wisconsin-River Falls.  While coaching UW-River Falls, he led the Falcons to the 1994 National Championship.  Pete played junior hockey for the St. Paul Vulcans of the USHL and then played D-I at the University of Wisconsin and Alaska Anchorage.  Dean and Pete personally train all of our players each week to help them develop their skills and move them on to higher levels of hockey.

Our players also work out for atleast 3 hours per week in a weight room to develop their strength, endurance and flexibility.  They are shown lifts and stretches designed specifically for hockey.  Each player will track their own progress so they can see where they are developing and where they need more work.

Through 3 years, the Hudson Crusaders have already moved on 23 players to higher levels of hockey.  Our approach to this is simple.  At the beginning of each season we sit down with each player and set certain individual goals for them.  We have them pick 2 or 3 teams they are interested in playing for the following year.  Throughout the year we will contact the coaches of these teams to update them on the progress of each player and to attempt to have that team send a coach or scout to our game to watch this player.  At the end of the season, we have another meeting with each player to evaluate where they feel they are as a player and work out a plan on which camps to attend for which teams.  

Please check out our advancement list at the top of the page to track our past alumni.

We want each of our players to enjoy their experience with the Hudson Crusaders.  When each player moves on after their time with our team, we hope that they will look back and have great memories of their teammates and coaches.  

We want to provide an experience that allows each player to look back and know that they put in the hard work and dedication so that they have no regrets when they leave the Hudson Crusaders.