Blog

Excellent, inspirational article in the Stillwater Gazette about one of the goalies I have the opportunity to coach at Gustavus Adolphus College.

On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the 2013-14 hockey season starts for the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s team. That date also marks the beginning of my 14th year as the team’s goalie coach. The players and coaches are anxious to get back on the ice after last season’s heartbreaking finish.

In 2012-13, the Gusties posted a perfect 18-0 record in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. We beat Bethel and Concordia in the MIAC playoffs to advance to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. In the national quarterfinals, Gustavus beat UW-River Falls 2-1 to move on to the Final Four.

In the semifinals, Gustavus faced off against Elmira College. The Gusties played really well, outshooting the Soaring Eagles 41-26 only to lose the game late in overtime 4-3. It was our first loss of the season.

The next day, we came back for the third place game and even though we battled hard, we came up short, falling to Plattsburgh State. We finished our amazing season with a record of 27-2-1.

This year our first game is Saturday, Nov. 2 when we host St. Mary’s in a nonconference game in St. Peter. Everyone is looking forward to that date.

Minnesota State University, Mankato added a third Carroll to it’s Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 27 as my older brother Mike joined myself and younger brother Pat in the HOF.

It was a special night in Mankato and fun to be back on campus celebrating the special honor with several members of our family.

All three of us played hockey for the Mavericks while also Mike played baseball. I was on the same hockey team as Mike for a couple of seasons, which was a lot of fun.

Mike currently is the head baseball coach and head women’s hockey coach at Gustavus Adolphus College. This year, I begin my 14th season as the goalie coach for the Gusties. I look forward to working with him again this year.

As you know, hockey tryouts begin soon. Is your goalie ready and at the top of their game? We can help by having them participate in our tryout tune-up camp.

Fall-Tryout Tune-up – Richfield Arena ($350)
Friday, Sept. 20       6:30-8:30 pm
Saturday, Sept. 21   10 am – noon
Sunday, Sept. 22     10 am – noon

Register today at www.carrollgs.com

Check out the new video about the Carroll Goalie School. It gives you a behind the scenes look at what we are all about.

http://youtu.be/BiYrQJt0cks

Summer hockey is here and the Carroll Goalie School can help your goalie improve their skills.

We can provide a goalie coach for your child’s summer team or we can provide private lessons. Send me an email (steve@carrollgs.com) to discuss objectives and I will custom design a program for your child. We have special discounted rates now through the end of August.

I am also offering a summer camp Schwan Super Rink, Aug. 23-25.

See the complete schedule at www.carrollgs.com.

The Carroll Goalie School – Success between the pipes.

The boys state high school tournament is always one of my favorite weeks of the year. It brings back wonderful memories from my Edina-East High School days when our team had the opportunity to play in the tournament in St. Paul.

Our first game was against Roseau High School which featured Neal Broten, who went on to become a star for the Gophers, North Stars and the 1980 U.S. Olympic team.

Fortunately, a parent of one of our players, owned a  video cassette recorder and was able to tape the game. I put together a few highlights from that memorable night at the Civic Center.

http://youtu.be/ZfEBhXajPFE

For those of you who don’t already know, I am the goalie coach for the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey team. We beat Concordia College 4-1 on March 2 to win our 10th straight MIAC Playoff Championship. With the win, our team improved to 26-0-1 on the year.

The Gusties now advance to the eight-team NCAA Division III National Tournament.

Read game story here.

I really enjoyed meeting 1980 Olympic goalie Jim Craig when he was in town recently.

Many of us remember exactly where we were when we watched the Americans win the gold medal in Lake Placid 33 years ago.
I watched the tape-delayed broadcast from my college dorm room at Mankato State.

Do you know that in March of 1979, USA Hockey actually held open tryouts for the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team? Even though most people felt Coach Brooks knew who he wanted on his team.

None the less, me and some of my Mankato State hockey teammates thought it would be cool to say we at least tried out for the team. Open tryouts were held in Minneapolis, Detroit and Boston.

A bunch of us registered for the tryouts in Minneapolis. Turns out, our team qualified for the NCAA Division II National Tournament, which was held about the same time as the tryout in Minneapolis. We contactedorganizers and asked if we could switch to the Detroit location.

They told us no, but said they would have scouts at the national tournament. If anyone caught their eye, they would be receive a special invite.

At the national tournament I made 59 saves in our semifinal game and another 42 in the championship game. 101 saves in two games. Not bad, but guess what, not good enough to win the national championship or to get a special invite to the open tryouts in Motown.

Not that I figured I had a shot at making the team, but it would have been fun to say that I at least had a chance to tryout for the club.