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Just because a kid signs up to play goalie doesn’t mean they should be shutout from coaching. I recently wrote an article about coaching today’s goalies. It’s designed to help youth hockey coaches understand how to help the kids who play, I think, the most important position on a team. Too often though, coaches forget about goalie development and hope they somehow magically improve throughout the season.

Read the article 

We’re hosting weekend sessions at convenient Minnesota locations this fall to help goalies prepare for tryouts and upcoming season. Clinics are set for Edina, Richfield, St. Michael-Albertville and Sauk Rapids.

Reserve a spot for your goalie by visiting our website.

CGS, which is now in its 30th year, provides game changing clinics for boys and girls, ages 6-14.

“I’m proud of the reputation we’ve earned for developing quality, fundamentally-sound goaltenders,” said Steve Carroll, an Edina, Minn., native, who is lead instructor at the popular evening/weekend clinics offered in the summer and fall.

Carroll uses his extensive coaching experience to teach goalies what it takes to be successful. He coaches goalies at the youth, high school and college levels. He shares his wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the position with the goalies who attend his clinics.

“Our talented and personable team of instructors are passionate about goaltending and do an excellent job of explaining, demonstrating, and reinforcing the essential techniques used in today’s game,” Carroll said. “Goalies who train with us work hard, improve their skills and have fun! We help goalies take their games to new levels by building individual skills, techniques, athleticism, consistency and self-confidence.”

Goalie parents like the variety of CGS programs (Intro to goaltending, Intermediate Skills, Advanced Skills and Tryout Tune-up) that are offered and realize that training under the watchful eye of Coach Carroll and his staff can make a significant impact on the skill development of their kids.

• “This was our first time at the Carroll Goalie School and we were SO impressed. My son learned a ton, did some fun conditioning, got a lot of 1:1 help and had a great time overall. He’s already asking me when the next one is. The coaches are so kind but they also work the kids hard. We will absolutely sign up again next time.” Sarah Bailey, Des Moines, Iowa
• “Our son has been attending the Carroll Goalie School for three years. The clinics are well designed and keep the players moving. The content is focused and the coaches aren’t afraid to provide the appropriate instruction. We love these clinics and they have become the standard we hold other programs to.” Paul Zackery, Apple Valley, Minn.
• “CGS ignited my son’s passion for the goalie position.” Craig Pelissero, Redmond, Washington
• “My young goalie had a great first season and wanted to have some additional practice that wasn’t just reps in the net. CGS gave her a great foundation to build off of and helped to reinforce good habits and helper her to eliminate some bad ones. Overall, a great experience that was both fun and productive.”
  Paul Warden, Mendota Heights, Minn.
• “My son enjoyed his time at CGS! Coaches made the entire practice fun but informative! He already asked us to sign him up again next year!”
  Brittany Bunn, East Grand Forks, Minn.
• “I think the biggest thing is the coaching staff here makes it fun. Each year we try to get the boys to one of the camps and it’s been pivotal in getting them ready for the fall or a little tune-up going into the playoffs and other parts of the year. We can definitely tell the difference when they come to the Carroll Goalie School.”
  Shane Hudella, Hastings, Minn.
• “The coaching staff at CGS did an incredible job working with the kids. They adjusted the training to suit the individual needs of the goalie within reason. They kept everything fun and demanding at the same time which displays a high level of knowledge on the material being taught. We can’t wait to train with CGS again.”
  Josh Bowers, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina
• “Steve Carroll and his team are amazing! They have elevated my son’s skills and fostered his love for the game and being a goalie.”
  Cecilia Teeuwen, Minneapolis, Minn.

COACH STEVE CARROLL’S BACKGROUND

Carroll has more than 35 years experience coaching goalies at the youth, high school and NCAA levels. He is the goalie coach for the Gustavus Adolphus College Women’s team, which won the 2023 NCAA Division III National Championship.

He was named USA Hockey’s 2024 Goalie Developer of the Year for his work as Minnesota Hockey’s goalie development coordinator.

As a goalie at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Carroll led the Mavericks to a NCAA Division II National Championship. He played in 119 games, made 3,570 saves, posted a career mark of 81-32-2 and still holds several of the school’s all-time goaltending records. He was also a two-time All-American and top-10 finalist for the inaugural Hobey Baker Award, presented to the best player in men’s college hockey. Carroll earned a free-agent tryout with the NHL’s Minnesota North Stars.

Before college, Carroll played three years at Edina High School (Minn.) for legendary Coach Willard Ikola.

Steve has been inducted into the Edina High School and Minnesota State athletic halls of fame.

 

Registration for our 2024 clinics is underway. We’re hosting 11 clinics in Minnesota and Iowa on select weekends during June-September. You are encouraged to register early for best selection.

“I’m proud of the reputation we’ve earned for developing quality, fundamentally-sound goaltenders,” said director Steve Carroll, a two-time NCAA National Champion and Hall of Fame goalie at Edina High School and Minnesota State. “Goalies who train with us improve individual skills, confidence and take their game to new levels in a safe, challenging, and upbeat learning environment.”

The CGS staff teaches goalies what it takes to achieve success between the pipes. They share their wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the position with the participants.

“Our coaches do an excellent job of explaining, demonstrating, and reinforcing the essential techniques used in today’s game,” Carroll said.

Goalie parents realize that training at CGS can make a significant impact on the development of their kids.

“Every year, ever since he was eight, he seems to get so excited about being at CGS, you just can’t get enough of that as a parent,” said Shelley Peterson, Becker, Minn. “The positive environment and it’s just a lot of fun for him. We’ll be back, you’ll see us for a while.”

Becky Moore, Cheyenne, Wyoming said, “My daughter’s love for being a goalie was renewed and strengthened in just the first hour of the camp. Each day brought different skills taught in a supportive and fun environment that kids of all ages and skill sets benefited from.”

Shane Hudella, Hastings, Minn., said “I think the biggest thing is the coaching staff here makes it fun. Each year we try to get the boys to one of the camps and it’s been pivotal in getting them ready for the fall or a little tune-up going into the playoffs and other parts of the year. We can definitely tell the difference when they come to the Carroll Goalie School.”

Tina DeLeeuw, Cambridge-Isanti, Minn., said “My son had a blast and touched up on all of his techniques and the coaches really helped him fix the little things he needed to fix before tryouts. I like how you go around and work with each kid individually and in small groups as well and you teach at every station it’s not just shots taking on him, it’s a lot of teaching as well.”

2024 CGS Highlights

• 11 clinics – evening and weekends in June, July, August and September
• Six Minnesota locations – Alexandria (NorthStar Sports Complex), Blaine (Super Rink), Eagan (Civic Arena), Edina, (Braemar Arena), Richfield, (Richfield Arena) St. Michael-Albertville (STMA Arena)
• One Iowa location –  West Des Moines (RecPlex)
• Four programs – Intermediate Skills, Advanced Skills, Tryout Tune-up, Intro to Goaltending
• Complimentary Carroll Goalie School jersey
• For boys and girls, ages 6-14

It’s our 29th season of providing goalie development excellence

With tryouts for right around the corner, the Carroll Goalie School is here to help your goalie get ready. Since 1995, we have been teaching boys and girls how to build their individual skills and boost their confidence in a safe, challenging and upbeat learning environment. You can reserve a spot for your goalie at www.carrollgs.com

“I’m extremely proud of the reputation we’ve earned for developing quality, fundamentally-sound goaltenders,” said director Steve Carroll, a goalie development leader who has been coaching goalies at the youth, high school and college levels for more than two decades. “We want the goalies to feel good about their game and feel good about themselves.”

The CGS staff of instructors use their extensive coaching experience to teach the goalies what it takes to be successful. They also share their wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the position with the kids.

“Our instructors are passionate about goaltending and do an excellent job of explaining, demonstrating, and reinforcing the essential techniques used in today’s game,” Carroll said. “Goalies who train with us work hard, improve their skills and have fun!”

We offer four programs including – Intermediate Skills, Advanced Skills, Tryout Tune-up and Intro to Goaltending.

Clinics are scheduled on evenings and weekends during August-September. Ice times are at Minnesota arenas in Blaine, Edina, Richfield, St. Michael-Albertville and the TRIA Rink in St. Paul, which is the practice home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

Goalie parents like the variety of programs we offer because they realize that having their kids train under the watchful eye of Coach Carroll and his staff can make a significant impact on their development.

“Our son has been attending the Carroll Goalie School for three years,” said Paul Zachary from Apple Valley, Minn. “The clinics are well designed and keep the players moving. The content is focused and the coaches aren’t afraid to provide the appropriate instruction. We love these clinics and they have become the standard we hold other programs to.”

Goalie parent Jeremy Anderson from Minneapolis, Minn., said “Our daughter goes to a lot of goalie schools during the summer, but CGS is by far her favorite.”

Goalie parent Shelley Peterson from Becker, Minn., said “Every year, ever since he was eight, he seems to get so excited about being at CGS, you just can’t get enough of that as a parent. The positive environment and it’s just a lot of fun for him. We’ll be back, you’ll see us for a while.”

Goalie parent Shane Hudella, from Hastings, Minn., said “Each year we try to get the boys to one of the camps. It’s been pivotal in getting them ready for the fall or a little tune-up going into the playoffs and other parts of the year. We can definitely tell the difference when they go to the Carroll Goalie School.”

Read more testimonials.

CGS director Steve Carroll is also the goalie coach for the Gustavus Adolphus College Women’s Hockey Team.

The Gusties captured the program’s first NCAA Division III National Championship in March with a triple overtime 2-1 thriller over Amherst College. It was the longest championship game in NCAA Division III history.

Gustavus goalie Katie McCoy was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

The victory marked the first NCAA title for a MIAC women’s hockey team and the first for any team in the West region.

Two of Steve’s brothers – Mike (head coach), Pat (assistant coach) are also on the Gustavus staff. The Gusties finished the season with a 27-3 record.

This is the second NCAA National Championship for Steve Carroll. He was the starting goalie when Mankato State (now known at Minnesota State) won a NCAA Division II men’s crown with a 5-2 victory over Elmira College.

To read more about the Gustavus championship game. visit the Gustavus Women’s Team page.

Note: Coach Steve Carroll was the editor of Let’s Play Hockey newspaper when the Minnesota Wild started playing in 2000. Here was at the X on the historic opening night and reflects on some of his memories from the early days of covering the organization. 

It seemed like it took forever for the NHL to return to Minnesota after the North Stars bolted from Bloomington in 1993.

Actually, it was only four long years before the league announced that a new NHL franchise would be located in the State of Hockey. The yet to be named club would call St. Paul its home.

A few months later, the team name was unveiled with great fanfare and the Minnesota Wild were born.

For the next couple of years, the organization worked hard at building community support and getting hockey fans ready for the return of pro puck.

And they were excited when it came time to welcome the NHL back. The Wild’s first regular season home game was Oct. 11, 2020 against Philadelphia. The game was played in the sparkling new, state of the art arena, known at the Xcel Energy Center. It was built on the site of the former St. Paul Civic Center.

More than 18,000 fans, many dressed in Wild jerseys, were on hand for the historic contest. As the managing editor of Let’s Play Hockey newspaper, I was among the large contingent of local, state and national media assigned to cover the game.

Before the puck dropped, I wandered the spacious concourses of the new facility. So much Minnesota hockey history and memorabilia to see. Included in that impressive display were replica jerseys from high school hockey teams across the state. A nice salute to an important part of our hockey culture.

As game time approached, I made my way to the Al Shaver Press Box, appropriately named after the long-time, legendary announcer for the North Stars. My assigned seat was a long way from the ice, but the large center ice video board and multiple TV’s nearby made it easy to follow the action.

The Wild skated to a 3-3 tie in home opener, with easily the highlight of the game coming from Richfield, Minnesota star Darby Hendrickson. He electrified the crowd late in the first period when he scored the first goal at the X in team history.

It was fun to interview Hendrickson and other members of the team after the game. They were all so excited about being part of Minnesota hockey history.

But as the inaugural season rolled on, wins were hard to come by for the new kids on the block. The team finished that first season with a record of 25-39-13-5. The 68 points they earned are second fewest in team history.

During that 2000-2001 season, local hockey fans also quickly became familiar the neutral zone trap, a defensive style of play made famous Jacques Lemaire, the Wild’s first coach. It meant for many low scoring games, with limited number of shots on goal by both teams.

While the system was designed to increase a team’s chances of winning, it made it particularly difficult to select the three stars after each home game, which was what I was often assigned to help with.

How do you pick three stars in a 2-1 game, where each team had fewer than 20 shots on goal? Did the goal scorers always get recognized? No, that didn’t happen.

What I learned to do was consider all the players for the three-star recognition, looking for the little things or intangibles they did during a game, in addition to the obvious goal scorers and stand-out netminders.

While I no longer cover the team, it’s been interesting to observe the strategies of the GM’s, styles of the coaches, and skills of the players through the years.

It’s been a roller coaster ride for sure, with some Wild teams doing better than others in their 10 playoff appearances. Wild faithful are ready for the organization to be a regular and legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

As the puck drops on the team’s 20^th season, I’ll be watching on a nearby TV. Much like did in the early days.

It’s great to have NHL hockey back in Minnesota.

 

It’s not often you get a chance to be in the radio talking about goaltending. But that’s what happened recently with WCCO’s Mike Max invited Coach Carroll be a guest on his nightly sports show.

They discussed a lot of topics including what’s the COVID break been like for goalies, what are some good off-ice drills for goalies to work on, what it takes to be a top goalie, how do goalies attempt to stop breakaways.

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link.

 

 

Just in time for tryouts, we are hosting two more clinics this month. The clinics, each featuring six hours of ice time, are set for St. Michael-Albertville, Sept. 19, 21, 22 and at Richfield, Sept. 20-22.

“We help goalies take their game to new levels by building individual skills, techniques, athleticism, and self-confidence,” said Coach Steve Carroll, a hall of fame goalie at Edina High School and Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Carroll, who trains goalies at the youth, high school and college levels, uses his extensive experience as a goalie and coach to teach his students what it takes to be successful.

“We’re proud of the reputation we’ve earned for developing quality, fundamentally-sound goaltenders,” said Carroll who is in his 25^th year of offering programs like these. “Our instructors are passionate about goaltending and do an excellent job of explaining, demonstrating, and reinforcing the essential techniques used in today’s game.”

Goalie parents like the CGS programs because they realize that training under the watchful eye of Coach Carroll and his staff can make a significant impact in the skill development of their goalies.

“I was so impressed with your passion and kindness for the kids. I could tell within seconds that you are an amazing coach. Thanks for everything! My son will never forget the weekend,” said Tim C., Duluth, Minn.

“This was my daughter’s first time at CGS and I could not say enough good things about this school. We walked away very happy with the coaches and the whole program. We will most definitely be back,” said, Nicole W., La Crescent, Minn.

Limited openings available, register at www.carrollgs.com.

During the winter months, the Carroll Goalie School and our partner from Brian’s Custom Sports, sponsor the Shutout Wall that appears in Let’s Play Hockey newspaper and on its website. 

It’s a popular way for goalies to get recognized for posting a shutout and as you can see there are easily a couple hundred shutouts posted on the wall. Congrats to all the goalies who earned shutouts in 2018-19.

Each week, a goalie, who had a shutout posted on the wall, was selected to receive a prize pack from CGS and Brian’s Custom Sports. The pack usually included a hat from Brian’s and a shirt from CGS.

In addition to that, at the end of the season, one goalie was selected to win a custom set of gloves from Brian’s Custom Sports.

This year, the winner was Griffin Simpson, a peewee goalie from Minneapolis. He was fitted for his gloves at the Let’s Play Hockey Expo.

Coach Carroll presented Griffin with his new gloves this summer at Richfield Arena. He was on the way to a baseball game and wore the gloves out of the rink. Congratulations to Griffin.

Look for the CGS/Brian’s Custom Sports Shutout Wall promotion to return to Let’s Play Hockey this coming hockey season.