The Carroll Goalie School was featured on a story that aired on Minnesota Public Radio. It was about the PWHL inspiring young girls to pursue their dreams of playing professional hockey.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/11/26/pwhl-inspires-young-girls-to-dream-of-pro-hockey-career
I was recently a guest on the “Talk Goalie to Me” podcast, a show dedicated to deep conversations about the goalie position and hockey development hosted by former University of Minnesota and St. Thomas University goalie Olivia King.
The episode provides listeners with a thoughtful look at my journey in hockey, my coaching philosophies, and perspective on goaltender development at all levels.
During the podcast, I reflect on my hockey career — from the formative years playing high school hockey at Edina under legendary coach Willard Ikola to my collegiate success at Minnesota State University, Mankato. We also discuss how those experiences shaped me as both a player and coach and I shares insights into what it takes to coach goalies effectively and the unique mindset required to succeed between the pipes.
Listeners also get a behind-the-scenes view of my work running the Carroll Goalie School, a respected development program that has helped young goaltenders build fundamentals, confidence, and resilience.
Throughout the interview, I emphasize the importance of treating goalies as people first — understanding their challenges on and off the ice and fostering growth in a positive, engaging environment.
Here is a link to watch the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_yoTHd1Ba4
CGS gives goalies the proper training and attention they need to maximize development. By enrolling in our programs, goalies will improve their individual skills, self-confidence and elevate their game to new levels in a challenging, upbeat and fun learning environment.
Our expert coaches use their extensive playing and coaching experience to teach the goalies what it takes to be successful. They share their wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the goaltending position with the kids.
We’ve been a goalie development leader since we opened 31 years ago, helping boys and girls achieve success between the pipes through our popular weekend programs in Minnesota and Iowa.
“Goalies who train with us work hard, improve their skills and have fun,” said Edina, Minn. native Steve Carroll, a goalie development leader and two-time NCAA National Champion, who coaches goalies at the youth, high school and college levels. “I’m extremely proud of the reputation we’ve earned for developing quality, fundamentally-sound goaltenders.”
“CGS coaches are passionate about goaltending and do a great job teaching the skills that matter most in today’s game,” Carroll said. “They do a great job interacting with the goalies, breaking things down, demonstrating the skills, while helping goalies build confidence in their overall play.”
Goalie parents like the variety of programs we offer because they realize that having their kids train with Coach Steve Carroll and his expert staff can have a significant impact on their skill development. In 2025, goalies from seven states and Thunder Bay, Ontario trained at the Carroll Goalie School.
“We have been to quite a few of Steve’s camps and will be coming back for quite a few more,” said goalie parent, Kevin Rowe from Blaine, Minn. “Always a great camp and many locations to pick from when schedules get busy. Our son enjoys the camp and the coaches are engaging and have fun with the goalies while making them work at improving their skills. I highly recommend this goalie camp.”
Goalie parent Jenn Bernacki from Solon, Iowa, said “This was our first experience with a goalie-specific camp and it was a great one! The structure was great and coaches were very efficient with the time. Our daughter felt this camp really helped in her development as a young goalie. She loved every minute!”
Goalie parent Jared Bulinski from Sauk Rapids, Minn. said, “My son had a great experience with CGS. He enjoyed the challenges and learning that took place at the clinic. On the last day, he asked if we could sign up again next year. That is all the proof I need. We can’t wait to work with CGS again. Thank you very much.”
We offer four programs for goalies ages 6-14 – Intro to Goaltending, Intermediate Skills, Advanced Skills, and Tryout Tune-up. Our skill development programs are conveniently scheduled on select evenings and weekends during June-September.
MINNESOTA LOCATIONS
IOWA LOCATIONS
COACH STEVE CARROLL
Coach Steve Carroll brings more than 35 years of experience coaching goaltenders at the youth, high school, and college levels.
A two-time NCAA Hockey National Champion, he was also a two-time All-American goaltender at Minnesota State and a finalist for the prestigious Hobey Baker Award, presented annually to the top player in men’s college hockey.
Coach Carroll’s contributions to the sport have been recognized through his induction into both the Edina High School and Minnesota State University, Mankato Athletic Halls of Fame.
Reserve a spot for your goalie by visiting www.carrollgs.com
Every year at this time, the memories of playing in the Minnesota State Boys High School Hockey Tournament come flooding back. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to play goalie in the eight-team state hockey tournament during my senior year at Edina-East High School in 1977.
The 33rd annual tournament was played at the St. Paul Civic Center, the historic old arena that featured the clear dasher boards. (Game program cost .75 cents).
The talented tournament field included Rochester John Marshall (22-2), Mounds View (23-1), Hill-Murray (22-2), South St. Paul (18-1-5), Minneapolis Southwest (15-7-2), Edina-East (22-1), Grand Rapids (19-3-1) and Roseau (23-0). The record for all the tournament qualifiers was an impressive 164-17-8.
In the opening round, we played the late game on Thursday night against Neal Broten, his brother Aaron and Busty Erickson from Roseau. The Rams were unbeatenand ranked number one in the state, we were second. We came into the game with only one loss on the season. I remember the ice was soft, the lights were bright and it was hot in the Civic Center.
From what I recall, there was some sort of mix-up before the game which led to both teams wearing their green uniforms for warm-ups. That issue was resolved before the start of the game as we took the ice in our white uniforms. For our game., there was a standing room only crowd of 17,409, which, at that time, was the largest crowd to ever watch a hockey game in Minnesota.
A majority of the fans in the building were pulling for the northern Minnesota school, except for a couple of sections in the corner where the Hornet faithful were seated.
I was so excited to be there – achieving a goal I had been dreaming about since I first strapped on the pads as a peewee.
But I was also nervous, playing on such a big stage, in front of a record crowd and with thousands more throughout Minnesota watching the game on WTCN-TV with announcers Joe Boyle and Lou Nanne calling the game. Watch the highlights of this game.
Once the puck dropped, I couldn’t wait to make my first save. After that, I was able to settle down and focus on the task at hand.
It was a back and forth contest with both teams exchanging excellent scoring chances.
Teammate Bret Bjerken broke the scoreless tie a couple minutes into the third period. Another Hornet tally by John Donnelly a few minutes later sealed the 2-0 victory.
That set-up a semifinal showdown against the two-time defending state champions from Grand Rapids. Their team featured a number of future Division I hockey players including former University of Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia.
This game turned out to be a shootout from the opening face-off. Grand Rapids built up a 4-2 lead in the second period before the Hornets came storming back with four straight goals to take the lead in the third. Grand Rapids added one late but we hung on to win it in electrifying fashion 6-5. Former University of Michigan Head Coach Mel Pearson scored two goals in that game for the Hornets.
With the win, we advanced to the finals to face Rochester John Marshall, a team we did not know a whole lot about. But what we did know was the squad from southern Minnesota could put the puck in the net and had one of the best goalies in the state in sophomore Paul Butters who would go on to play at the University of Minnesota.
Rochester scored on a breakaway 36 seconds into the title game and added another seven minutes later. But we battled back on goals from Dave Terwilliger and Tom Kelly to tie the game at 2-2 after two. But that was a close as we got. JM added two in the third to win it 4-2.
Even though our team lost in the championship game – playing in the state tournament was a wonderful experience and something I’ll never forget.
And if I ever need a trip down memory lane, I can pop in a DVD and watch the games from that memorable weekend in March.
***
Fourteen players on the 1976-77 Hornets team
would go on to play college hockey.
Name College
John Anderson Gustavus Adolphus College
Bret Bjerken Michigan Tech
Steve Carroll Mankato State
John Donnelly Dartmouth
Mark Gagnon Cornell
Paul Gagnon Notre Dame
Gordie Hampson Michigan
Scott Hampson Colorado College
Tom Kelly Colorado College
Mike Lauen Michigan Tech
Mel Pearson Michigan Tech
Steve Pepper Minnesota
Bill Peterson Hamline
Dave Terwilliger Minnesota
We just produced a video showing what CGS is all about. Hear from a parent, who is a former goalie, about how impressed he was with the clinic his son attended.
Another winter hockey season is well underway.
It’s also the time of the year when people are realizing what the coaches are or are not doing to improve the skill development of the goalies on their team.
Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, nothing is being done during scheduled practice times.
Some coaches believe that as long as their goalies are seeing lots of pucks during practices they are getting better. That’s not necessarily the case. Goalies need time to develop their individual skills in addition to being available to participate in team drills.
I believe more coaches need to change the way they currently do business and improve on how they work with their goalies. Coaches need to break out of their comfort zone, so goalie development becomes a priority during every practice and not an after thought.
Sometimes coaches think that somehow the goalies will magically improve during the course of a season and become that much-needed difference-maker in big games. Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually work that way.
Some hockey association’s hire outside coaches to work with their goalies for periods of time during the season. This is certainly a step in a right direction. However, the fact an association provides goalie training periodically is not an acceptable excuse for ignoring goalie development during team practices.
The reality is, goalies spend considerably more time on the ice with their team than they do at any association goalie clinic. Constructive/productive use of a team’s practice time, in addition to any in-season goalie training progams, is the key to developing goalies.
Figuring out how to coach goalies can sometimes be a challenging and intimidating aspect of the job for many coaches. However, it doesn’t have to be.
Here are some goalie coaching tips that can help:
Coach Steve Carroll is a goalie development leader. He’s been running skill development programs in Minnesota and Iowa in the summer/fall since 1995. He’s a 2x NCAA National Champion, 2x All-American, Hobey Baker Award Finalist, and Hall of Fame goalie at Minnesota State and Edina (Minn.) High School. Learn more about his programs at www.carrollgs.com
We are co-sponsoring the Shutout Wall again along with our partners from Brian’s Custom Sports.
The popular Shutout Wall appears online and in Let’s Play Hockey newspaper. Each year, hundreds of goalies are listed on the Wall after earning a shutout.
Know a youth hockey goalie who earned a shutout?
Email the following information to editor@letsplayhockey.com: Goalie’s name, team name, level of play, opponent, shutout date, total saves, final score, mailing address.
Throughout the winter hockey season, some goalies will be randomly selected to win a souvenir from the Carroll Goalie School.
Also one lucky goalie who has had their shutout posted on the wall will be chosen to win a set of Brian’s goalie gloves.
By Bryan Zollman
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
Jan. 19, 2022
Less than a month after Team USA did the unthinkable and defeated the Russians 4-3 on their way to an Olympic Gold Medal, a group of young spitfires in Mankato were working on a miracle of their own.
After losing in the finals a year prior, Mankato State University (now known as Minnesota State), then a Division II program, faced a similar task as the USA Olympic team, only their target wasn’t an eastern country, it was the eastern coast.
“We were tired of hearing how great the teams out East were,” said Steve Carroll, the goalie on the 1980 Maverick squad.
His sentiment is similar to a line Herb Brooks said in the movie Miracle, “I’m tired of hearing how good the Russians are!”
Carroll came on the scene in Mankato in 1977-78 along with another slew of hungry hockey players. Don Brose was finishing up his first decade as the school’s bench boss, and was recruiting kids out of some of the bigger schools in the metro and adding key outstate players. Carroll actually wasn’t recruited much at all.
“St. Louis University had expressed some interest, but I did not hear from many other schools,” he said. “I would later learn there was some concern about how good I was because I played on a talented high school team (Edina East) that lost only two games.”
Steve’s older brother Mike was enrolled at Mankato and on the team, so Steve decided to follow in big brother’s footsteps. “I figured that was a good place for me to try to continue my hockey career,” he said. But as a freshman, he was fifth on the depth chart and eventually cut after tryouts. Luckily for him, though, two of the goalies did not return for winter semester and the coaches invited him back onto the team. He would eventually earn the starting job.
Later that season was the first time a NCAA Division II National Tournament was held. MSU was invited to play with Merrimack, Elmira and Lake Forest. They lost to Merrimack 6-1, but bounced back to beat Elmira 5-3 to earn third place. The following year they returned and beat Salem State in the semifinals before losing to UMass-Lowell in the title game.
By the 79-80 season they weren’t just well-seasoned, they were hungry. “We were determined to win it all,” Carroll said. “We were fired up to become the first school from the west to take home a DII national title.”
Former Mankato Free Press reporter Dennis Bracken wrote about how western teams got no respect from the eastern squads who could hand out scholarships like many Division I programs. Carroll was quoted in the article mentioning the hostility from eastern players, the press and fans.
“The MSU players were accorded less respect than, well, less respect than comedian Rodney Dangerfield,” wrote Bracken. “Any mention of the lone Western entrant winning the national title would have been looked upon as heresy.”
The Mavericks not only had a chip on their shoulder, they had talent.
While Carroll was steady as they come between the pipes, the Mavericks were loaded with offensive talent. Five different players would score at least 29 goals that season. Steve Forliti led the way with 32 followed by John Passolt with 31, Paul Mattson with 30, and Greg Larson and Tom Kern with 29 each.
“There’s no question we had a ton of offensive skill to go along with a strong defensive core,” said Carroll. “We had a great combination of experience, speed, skill, size, determination and grit. We enjoyed being on the same team and were close off the ice as well.”
But Brose was the mastermind, having assembled a group of kids from all over the state. Forliti was from Kellogg High School, Passolt from St. Louis Park, Kern from Hibbing, Mike Weinkauf from Hopkins/Eisenhower, and Mattson and Larson from Robbinsdale High School. Every player on the roster but one came from a Minnesota high school program.
“He continuously brought in talented players and was able to challenge us to be the best we could be,” said Carroll. “He had a knack for pushing the right buttons to get us to perform at high levels for most of that championship season. From my perspective, he was Mankato hockey and was the backbone of our success.”
That season the Mavericks averaged 7.3 goals per game, 293 in their 40 game-season, still a school record. Carroll, meanwhile, would play in 38 of 40 games and had a save percentage of .904 and a goals against average of 3.28, excellent numbers during a time when goalie pads were the size of couch pillows and teams were scoring six to seven goals a game on average.
But entering their third consecutive national tournament they still had to beat the eastern teams to get their coveted national title. Their first game was no easy match-up as they faced defending champion UMass-Lowell who had knocked them out the year prior.
The Mavericks got up 5-0 and never looked back in an 8-1 trouncing.
That set the stage to face Elmira for the national championship. Not only had Soaring Eagles beat them 6-2 in the season-opening game, the game was being played on Elmira’s home ice in New York.
“It was located in a dome and had really poor lighting,” Carroll said. “I recall seeing the ESPN trucks outside the arena, which elevated the tournament to a new level. There were about 4,000 fans at the game and all but about 50 of them cheering against the Mavs.”
Back then ESPN was in its infancy and wasn’t yet a regular at covering professional sports.
Despite the arena and the hostile atmosphere, the determined Mavs jumped to a 3-0 lead and held on to win 5-2. Carroll stopped 44 shots and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
“When that final buzzer sounded we were overjoyed,” said Carroll. “When they presented us with the national championship trophy we celebrated like never before. To their credit, the Elmira fans clapped for us when we received our trophy.”
Carroll and Weinkauf, who tallied 48 points as a defenseman, were named All-American.
The following season, the Mavs made their fourth straight trip to the national tournament, but came up short, finishing in third place.
Once the group graduated they scattered their different ways chasing careers, but still stayed in touch. There have been periodic reunions and golf outings where they reminisce about their old playing days and that magical 1980 season.
In 2005, MSU hosted a 25-year reunion and 19 players showed up as well as Coach Brose and Assistant Coach Wayne Harris.
“It was a great reunion and the first time in many years that most of us were together again in one spot,” he recalled. “The school presented us with replica jerseys from that championship team, which made it a memorable night.”
But no night was as memorable as March 15, 1980. It was less than month after Team USA had shocked the world by beating the Russians on their way to winning the gold medal.
“I have a ton of great memories from playing hockey at Mankato State,” said Carroll. “The highlight was being part of a team that made four consecutive final fours and being crowned national champions on that memorable night in New York. For us, that was our Mankato Miracle on Ice.”
After two years of coming close, the 1979-80 Maverick hockey squad was finally able to give the No. 1 signal after defeating Elmira College on March 15, 1980, the first and only national hockey championship so far for the University.
We will be the first goalie school at the sparkling new MidAmercan Energy Company RecPlex in Des Moines, Iowa, when it opens this spring.
“We’re are thrilled to be invited to bring our popular training programs to this unbelievable, state-of-the-art facility,” said director Steve Carroll, who is in his 27th year of offering weekend skill development programs. “Can’t wait to work with the goalies in the Des Moines area in their new arena.”
During the weekend of July 23-25, CGS will be hosting two clinics – Intro to Goaltending, Intermediate Skills. Sessions are for boys and girls, ages 6-14.
“I’m extremely proud of the reputation we’ve earned for developing quality, fundamentally-sound goaltenders,” Carroll said. “We want the goalies to feel good about their game and feel good about themselves.”
The RecPlex facility is an all-in-one sports and events venue with the ability to accommodate anything from a hockey league tournament or soccer practice to school field trips, baby showers, concerts, community events, and much more.
Spots are expected to fill quickly. Book early for best selection at www.carrollgs.com
Article from Minnesota Hockey website
Minnesota Hockey’s Goalie Coach-in-Chief presented with Ted Brill Award
Steve Carroll grew up in Edina during a golden era of hockey in the western suburb. While Carroll started playing the game a forward, a local coach convinced him to play goalie full time after watching him between the pipes during a neighborhood floor hockey 
tournament.
The transition proved to be a good one as Carroll made Edina’s top Peewee team that year and led them to a state championship in his first year between the pipes. Carroll’s success as a goaltender was just getting started though. He went on to play three years of high school hockey under Willard Ikola, led Edina East to a runner-up finish at the Minnesota Boys High School Hockey Tournament his senior year and was inducted into the Edina High School Hall of Fame in 2005.
Carroll was recruited to play NCAA hockey for Minnesota State University Mankato (formerly Mankato State University). As a Maverick, Carroll played in four NCAA Final Fours, was a two-time All-American and was named the 1980 NCAA National Tournament MVP after leading his team to the 1980 NCAAA Division II National Championship. Carroll was selected as a top ten finalist for the inaugural Hobey Baker Award and ranked first on MSU’s Male Athletes of the Century list.
After his own playing career ended, Carroll began passing his knowledge and skills to the next generation of goaltenders as a coach, which he has now been doing at several levels of the game for over 20 years.
Carroll has been a part of the coaching staff of the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey team for 20 years, helping the team win 15 MIAC championships and make 14 appearances in the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
In addition to his success as a collegiate goalie coach, Carroll has helped pioneer goalie development programs with Minnesota Hockey. He developed the Dave Peterson Goalie Camp in 2005 in conjunction with the CCM High Performance (formerly Advanced) programs. Each year the camp brings together 50 of the top goaltenders from across the state for a weekend of training and development, and recently, it expanded to include a shooting camp for skaters.
The impact Carroll has had goes far beyond the kids he has coached directly though. He has been instructing coaches about goalie development at Coaching Education Programs (CEP) for many years, and he spearheaded the development of goalie coach workshops in Minnesota, which are now a part of USA Hockey’s Goaltending Coach Development Program.
Carroll has also been highlighting youth, college and professional goalies on Minnesota Hockey’s website for over a decade, including the popular shutout wall which features hundreds of shutouts from Minnesotans each year. The webpages showcase goalie development tips and opportunities and accomplishments at various levels by Minnesota goalies.
Carroll’s passion and dedication to goaltending has made an outstanding impression on hockey in Minnesota, and Minnesota Hockey is proud to recognize him with the 2020 Ted Brill Award.
Thank you, Steve, for all you have done and continue to do to provide goaltenders in Minnesota the best opportunity to have fun and succeed!
Minnesota Hockey established the Ted Brill Award with great respect and fond memories of one of our most influential leaders. It is presented annually to an individual who has at least 10 years of service to any of the various player development programs (STP, HEP, High Performance/Selects, High School All-Star Series, etc.). For a list of past recipients, click here.
Link to article about Coach Carroll in Edina Sun Current newspaper.
