Tampa Bay Lightning video coach Brian Garlock spent his Saturday morning giving back at Benchmark International Arena.
Garlock surprised youth hockey coaches at a USA Hockey coaching clinic downtown, sharing the story of his path to the NHL as well as some advice before the 2026-27 season begins.
He referenced the growth of hockey across Florida and USA Hockey’s work as a whole, making sure to reinforce to coaches in attendance that feedback is good for players but must always be constructive.
“If I can help younger coaches get a little bit better, then why not? I’m an American, and I’d like to see USA Hockey do well. I’d like to see all these coaches do well. I used to be one of them, really,” Garlock said of why he agreed to speak on Saturday.
Like nearly every coach, Garlock’s career began at the youth level. He once coached high school hockey before joining Lightning coach Jon Cooper in the North American Hockey League (NAHL)—first as an equipment manager—and advancing to the top league in the world.
Garlock told his fellow coaches how he became a video coach, and many were hungry for advice on how best to use video as a teaching tool across youth hockey. Most times, all you need is the camera on your phone and no more than 15 minutes at a time breaking down the clips, according to Garlock.
Among the nearly 100 coaches in attendance on Saturday were multiple leaders within the new Jr. Lightning youth hockey program as well as other area youth and high school coaches. Regardless of age, coaching should always be about creating a team atmosphere and working toward the same goals, Garlock said.
“You are not going to get anywhere if you're not enjoying it a little bit. It can be a grind. It doesn't have to be fun every second. It's challenging. It's demanding when you're on the road all the time, but these are humans. Professional athletes, they're people, man. They’ve got families. They’ve got their own stuff to worry about. If you're always digging into them, they're gonna tune you out. They're not gonna listen. They're just not going to. It's human nature,” Garlock said.
“Make it fun and make it relatable and give them some authority in this whole thing, too. You have to make it a partnership. Obviously if we're teaching nine year olds, you shouldn't be asking them, 'What kind of D-zone do you want to play?' But the older you get, if they have some ownership in some of the decisions, it's going to make them own it and enjoy it even more.”
Garlock has worked more than 1,000 NHL games and hundreds of victories in Tampa. He hopes coaches at Saturday’s clinic saw him as a kid from Michigan who found his own path to a career in hockey through coaching and now has his name on the Stanley Cup.
They can do it, too, if they want.
“I don’t think you need to have NHL pedigree as a player to have a coaching career in this league. I think there’s a path that’s different…So if the story of me being an equipment guy in junior hockey and then getting his name on the Stanley Cup and helping figure out how to beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final helps somebody make it, that’s worth it,” he said.
Gehrig Oppenheimer is working as an assistant coach for multiple Jr. Lightning teams this season. He said hearing from Garlock at Saturday’s clinic offered a unique opportunity.
After all, it's not every day that coaches get to take notes from an NHL video coach.
“Just hearing the words come out of his mouth and growing up in the hockey world and being around all sorts of coaches, the big takeaway is he’s just like any other regular guy, but his game knowledge is so much deeper,” Oppenheimer said. “There’s so many little key details you can learn from an NHL guy and learning certain ways of how to teach youth hockey and become better as a coach.”
Oppenheimer left particularly impressed after hearing of Garlock’s video experience, saying the Jr. Lightning program can utilize some of his advice.
“Having a video opportunity is gonna help them see the game from a different perspective of, ‘Hey, this is what we look like and these are some things we can work on,’” Oppenheimer said. "And as a coach, it helps you also see it because when you’re watching the game there’s so many parts of the game going on, and watching video back shows what they were thinking and shows you a whole different perspective of the game.”
Oppenheimer occupied one chair in a studious audience, one filled with coaches across multiple USA Hockey coaching certification levels. Most live in the area, while one traveled all the way from Buffalo, New York, and another visited from Maine.
Garlock found the large turnout encouraging. He believes strongly that providing youth hockey coaches multiple tools to be successful matters within the sport, one that continues to grow.
“You don’t have to convince me that Florida and Tampa in particular is a hockey state and becoming more of one. I’ve seen it here when we won, and it’s crazy,” Garlock said. "So to see the grassroots level and the youth level getting bigger and bigger and bigger, it’s not surprising anymore after 15 years…You see it now. There’s NHL kids from all over the place, whether it’s Arizona, Florida, Texas, California.
"That’s no accident. It’s not surprising, and it’s a really good thing.”
