Our Staff
The same energy, focus, and effort we ask of every skater. That’s our promise with Great Gray.
We take our role as coaches and skills trainers seriously at Great Gray. Hockey parents have choices for offseason hockey with many programs available. We understand the perspective of both coaches as well as that of parents looking through the glass. AAA parents are invested in the development of their children as young hockey players.
We mold our program to achieve short-term objectives in the pursuit of long-term goals. Practices and drill progression are structured to iteratively build not only individual skill, but to layer that into team and game play concepts.
Hockey is at once both a complex and a simple game. We lean into this dichotomy and this friction by planning age-appropriate drills and practice, and then sequentially adding iterations and dimensions that more closely resemble game situations young players will find themselves in. This often includes pressure from another player, mirroring drills that force reactive agility. Success isn't getting kids through a drill sequence—success is young AAA hockey players being able to execute a sequence of actions at speed and confidently without unnecessary confusion or fear of making a mistake. And that requires skillful coaching both at the planning stage as well as on the ice.
That's our commitment to you: that we bring the same energy, focus, and effort we ask of every skater.
The Partnership
Great Gray Hockey was built on a partnership forged at Lakeville High School: TJ Guidarelli, the skilled playmaker on a trajectory to elite hockey, and Eric Anderson, the gritty grinder who made everyone around him better. Twenty-five years later, they're reunited to build a program that refuses to choose between skill and tenacity. We develop young skaters who are technically sound and hard to play against— players who skate with speed, compete with purpose, and understand that hockey rewards both finesse and grit.
Eric (or EA) is Great Gray Hockey's Managing Director . He played high school hockey at Lakeville and has 7+ years of youth hockey coaching in both San Diego, CA and Eden Prairie. Eric brings a philosophy rooted in fundamentals, confidence-building, and competitive tenacity. See his full bio below.
Eric S. Anderson
Managing Director
TJ is Great Gray Hockey's Hockey Skills & Performance Director—a former NCAA Division I player (Minnesota State, Mankato) with a ten-year professional career in North America and Europe. Now based in Victoria, Minnesota, TJ has coached at Velocity Hockey Center and Competitive Edge Hockey, working with players from first-time skaters to elite D1 athletes. See his full bio below.
T.J. Guidarelli
Hockey Skills and Performance DirectorEric’s Full Bio
Eric Anderson grew up playing hockey in Minnesota—a Lakeville High School teammate of TJ Guidarelli's, though their roles on the ice were different. While TJ's skill shone brightly on a path toward elite hockey, Eric welcomed the role of more of a grinder: the player who competed with tenacity, who made things hard on opponents, who understood that hockey rewards both finesse and grit.
After his playing days, Eric spent 25 years in international development and humanitarian assistance, working as a hunger and malnutrition specialist in some of the world's most challenging environments. That work—building systems, training others, watching young people gain confidence through deliberate, patient skill-building—shaped how he thinks about coaching. It taught him that development requires tenacity, that progress compounds when you refuse to take shortcuts, and that a coach's job is to build capability and character.
Whether coaching in San Diego, CA or working with the Eden Prairie Hockey Association, Eric has spent 7+ years focused on developing young hockey players through foundational skills, confidence-building, and the tenacious approach to the game he believes matters most at the youth level. When he and TJ reconnected to build Great Gray Hockey, the partnership made immediate sense: TJ brings the technical mastery and elite coaching. Eric brings the program philosophy—that young skaters need to learn not just how to play hockey, but how to compete. How to skate with speed. How to be hard to play against. How to combine skill with purpose.
Eric lives in Minnesota with his wife, daughter Samantha and son Max and remains committed to developing young hockey players who can take advantage of the wonderful gift of being a kid, enjoying a game, learning lessons of teamwork and shared sacrifice and having fun.
TJ’s Full Bio
Hockey has been a lifelong passion for TJ, starting at Lakeville High School where his skill and hockey sense stood out early. From there, he played two seasons of junior hockey with the Twin Cities Vulcans before competing at the NCAA Division I level at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
He began his professional career with the Quad City Mallards and Rockford IceHogs. Hockey then afforded him the opportunity to travel and see places he never thought he’d get to, playing professionally throughout Europe—competing at the highest levels of the game over a ten year career in Europe. He developed a rare combination of technical knowledge, tactical understanding and practical experience though his exposure to outstanding coaches, teammates, and organizations across multiple countries. That path taught him one thing clearly: elite hockey is built on elite fundamentals, executed at speed, with precision.
Now, as Hockey Skills & Performance Director at Great Gray Hockey, TJ channels that experience into coaching the next generation. His focus is the technical foundation—the skating, the hands, the hockey sense, the small details that compound into big differences. The coaching philosophy centers on strong fundamentals, building confidence, and creating an environment where young skaters understand how to execute at higher levels.
TJ lives in Victoria, Minnesota, with his wife, daughters Isabel and Vivian, and puppy Yuni—grateful to combine a love of hockey with the chance to mentor young athletes at every stage of their journey.