page_title: Lou Vairo
section_title: Early U.S. national coaching duties
hierarchical_section_title: Lou Vairo / Early U.S. national coaching duties
caption_attribution_description: The arena where the figure skating events were held.
context_page_description: Louis Joseph Vairo is an American retired ice hockey coach and administrator. He served as head coach of the United States men's junior team at five IIHF World U20 Championships, and the United States men's team at four Ice Hockey World Championships and the 1984 Winter Olympics. He was an advance scout for the United States gold medal team at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and was an assistant coach on the United States team at the 2002 Winter Olympics. He has also served as head coach of the Netherlands men's team and the Italy men's team at the Ice Hockey World Championships. Vairo has coached in professional hockey leagues in Europe, won a Serie A championship with HC Milano Saima, and served as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils. In junior ice hockey, he won five Metropolitan Junior Hockey League championships and the New York State junior championship, and coached the Austin Mavericks to two Midwest Junior Hockey League championships and one national championship.
  Vairo showed an early interest in the European style of hockey, and attended a coaching clinic taught by Anatoly Tarasov of the Soviet Union national team.
context_section_description: Vairo joined the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS) in 1978 as its coaching director. He lobbied AHAUS executive director Hal Trumble for permission and funding, to invite players from all over the country to the national development camp at Blyth Arena in Squaw Valley, California. Vairo insisted on inviting players from non-traditional hockey areas including the Sun Belt, since he felt that experience could change the lives of potential national players who otherwise wouldn't be given an opportunity. He related the choice to his own life, that if he had been born in Minnesota instead of Brooklyn, he might have played in the National Hockey League (NHL).
  Vairo's work at the development camp transitioned into him coaching the United States men's national junior ice hockey team in the A-pool at the IIHF World U20 Championships from 1979 to 1982. He led the team to sixth place in 1979, seventh place in 1980, and sixth place in both 1981 and 1982. He also served as an advance scout for Herb Brooks who coached the United States team which won the gold medal in ice hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York.
  Vairo became head coach of the United States men's national ice hockey team in 1983, and led them to a first-place finish in Group B at the 1983 Ice Hockey World Championships, and earned a berth in ice hockey at the 1984 Winter Olympics. The team he took to the Olympics in Sarajevo had an average age of 20.7 years old, which was the youngest composition of the national team at the time. The team featured future NHL star Chris Chelios on defense, along with a forward line nicknamed the "diaper line" due to the young ages of Pat LaFontaine, David Jensen and Eddie Olczyk. Vairo led the team to two wins, two losses and two draw, and a seventh-place finish. He felt that team did not play to its potential, and believed that he had "acted too soft" in coaching them. It was the worst Olympic result for the United States hockey team at the time. Vairo stated that, "I took the Olympic coaching position in 1984 because no one else wanted it" due to the daunting task of defending the gold medal from 1980.
caption: Hockey arena at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid
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