Former Michigan State hockey captain Brad Fast has rejoined the Spartans program as the director of player development.
The Spartans have also announced that Will Morlock has joined the strength and conditioning staff with his primary duties training the MSU hockey program.
Previously the director of hockey operations at MSU (2015-19), Fast comes back to his alma mater after a year and a half at HoneyBaked Hockey Club in the Detroit area. There, he was the club’s director of athlete development where he worked alongside specialized professionals and coaches to create, implement, and oversee player development plans and best-practice teaching protocols.
“We are super excited to have Brad back with the program,” said Spartans head coach Adam Nightingale in a statement. “We have put a premium on player development and feel hiring Brad in this role will help our players reach their potential. As a former Spartan captain who went on to the NHL, Brad will be able to mentor our student athletes having already lived it. He is very well respected in the hockey community, which is reflected by the number of NHL players he trains in the summer.”
A standout blueliner at Michigan State from 1999 to 2003, Fast compiled 114 career points in 164 career games and helped lead MSU to the Frozen Four in 2001. As a senior and team captain, he garnered both All-America and Academic All-America honors that season and was also named the CCHA’s best defensive defenseman. Fast’s team-leading 35 assists in 2002-03 ranks as the seventh-highest single-season total by a defenseman in school history. Additionally, he was selected as the winner of the Dr. James Feurig Achievement and Service Award, honoring an MSU senior student-athlete who carries a minimum 3.0 GPA and is active in community service initiatives.
Fast was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the third round of the 1999 NHL Draft, played one game for the club and a total of three seasons in the organization. In 2006, he moved overseas and played in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and South Korea until his retirement in 2011.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in general management and psychology from MSU in 2003.
A certified strength and conditioning coach through the NSCA, Morlock has also completed Reflexive Performance Reset Level 3, ELDOA level 4, Functional Range Conditioning and Assessment courses, as well as being certified in Applied Functional Science and 3DMAPs through the Gray Institute. In addition to his work with the team in the weight room, Morlock will work closely with the athletic training and hockey analytics departments. Using applied sport science, he will work to maximize available technology, with the goal of developing each student athlete.
Morlock was most recently the director of performance for GVN Performance in Plymouth, Mich., and concurrently served as the head of strength and conditioning for the U.S. National Team Development Program, with additional involvement supporting the gold medal-winning 2021 World Junior team. In his role with GVN, he led a comprehensive off-season program for NHL, AHL, collegiate and youth players.
Before joining GVN, Morlock served as the strength and conditioning coach for the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks and Fruitport (Mich.) High School. He also was a camp strength and conditioning coach for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks during the 2019 prospect development camp and preseason main camp.
Morlock was a standout soccer goalkeeper at Hope College for two seasons and earned his BS in Exercise Science at Hope before going on to earn an MS in Sport and Exercise Science at Leeds Beckett University in the UK. As a professional soccer player with the US National Beach Soccer Team, Morlock competed on three continents and attended 10 training camps.
