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Steve Carroll recognized by Minnesota Hockey for work with goalies

NOTE: Steve Carroll received the 2020 Ted Brill Award from Minnesota Hockey for his years of work developing goalies through various programs. Since the 2020 banquet was cancelled because of COVID, Steve was honored at the 2021
MN Hockey Awards banquet and presented with his award.

Here is the news release from Minnesota Hockey:

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 CEP clinics 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!

NOTE: 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

CGS to host clinics in Des Moines, Iowa

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

 

Wild hockey team celebrates 20th season

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 20th 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.

 

Coach Carroll interviewed on WCCO radio

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.

 

 

Minnesota Hockey honors Coach Carroll

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.

Helping goalies get ready

After a long break, we are back on the ice for our 26th straight year of helping goalies get ready for the upcoming hockey season.

We have weekend programs scheduled in August and September at Edina, Richfield and St. Michael-Albertville. Programs include Intermediate Skills, Advanced Skills and Tryout Tune-up. There are limited openings in these sessions. Reserve a spot for your goalie at www.carrollgs.com.

The health and safety of our participants, parents and coaches continues to our top priority. So when we return to the ice, everyone will be expected to follow the new safety guidelines set by the CDC and the State Health Department, which includes social distancing guidance for youth sports activities.

Minnesota Hockey has developed some return to ice guidelines.

Each ice arena has also developed their own return to ice guidelines that CGS participants will be expected to follow. We are have developed our own return to ice guidelines. We will share this information with parents/participants prior to each clinic.

If you have any questions, please send an email to info@carrollgs.com

Miracle in Mankato happened 40 years ago

Hard to believe it’s been 40 years since that night in March when Mankato State pulled off the upset to win the 1980 NCAA Division II National Championship.

I was the starting goalie for Mavericks at the school that’s now known as Minnesota State University, Mankato. In 1980, the Final Four was held at Elmira College in New York, less than a month after the U.S. shocked the world and won Gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

Read story on The Rink Live

Coach Carroll played four years at Minnesota State Mankato.

In the NCAA semifinals, we stunned the defending champions from Lowell University 8-1, despite being outshot 41-24.

That win put us into the championship game for the second year in a row, this time against heavily-favored Elmira College, the school that was hosting the tournament.

You can see Coach Carroll playing in the National Championship Game in this video.

There was a standing room only crowd of more than 4,000 people at the title game and it seemed like all but about 50 MSU parents and fans were cheering for the Soaring Eagles. Elmira outshot us 46-31, but when the final buzzer sounded, we proudly skated away with an stunning upset victory, defeating Elmira 5-2, giving us our own version of a Miracle.

Winning the National Championship was a tremendous thrill and one of my all-time hockey highlights. The game was televised on a new sports TV network called ESPN. It was shown multiple times on the cable on a taped-delayed basis. And through the magic of video, I still have vivid memories from that night in New York.

During my four years at MSU, we finished third in the country during my freshman year, second as sophomores, first as a junior and third as a senior. It was an awesome run! Great memories as a Maverick!

 

 

 

Unbelievable trip to Europe

This is a photo from Salzburg, Austria.

During the winter months, I am the goalie coach for the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey team. In late December-early January, our team took a trip to Europe for sightseeing and to play a couple of hockey games. It was an unbelievable experience.

Coach Steve in Prague.

We flew into Munich, Germany and visited the Marienplatz area and ate as group at one of the historic bier halls. Even though we had reservations, seating our party of 65 was no big deal for this place as we ate dinner with several hundred other people who were at the restaurant.

The appetizer included meats and cheeses and the main course was schnitzel and french fries. It was delicious.

From then we headed by bus to Salzburg, Austria. This was the favorite spot for most of the players. They liked scenery and the small town feel. The Christmas markets were still open and the city was all decorated for the holidays.

This also the city where some of the famous scenes from The Sound of Music movies were filmed in Mirabell gardens. We were able to check them out during a walking tour. We also visited a nearby concentration camp. 

Christmas markets in Prague

In our first hockey game against the Austrian National team, we beat them 3-2.

From there, we headed to Vienna, Austria, a much larger city.

We went to the Schoenbrunn Castle, visited a local winery and celebrated New Year’s Eve in Stephensplatz. It was a wonderful place to ring in 2020.

After that, we headed to Prague in the Czech Republic. There we visited Old Town and the famous Charles Bridge. We also played a second hockey game in that area. It was at an arena that was in the hometown of hockey great Yaromir Jagr. We beat a local women’s team 2-0.

The players visited with a two-year-old hockey fan after the game in the Czech Republic.

Beside schnitzel, other food items included pizza, pasta, fried chicken and duck. The breakfast buffets were something else at the hotels we stayed at. Wide assortment of eggs, sausage, meats and cheeses, breads and pastries. It was a nine-day trip that flew by. So many memories from our trip to Europe.

Two more CGS clinics scheduled before tryouts begin

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.

Coach Carroll visiting with goalie at one of his weekend clinics. 
(Photo by Bryan Singer© 2019)

“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 25th 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.

Goalies and coaches at CGS weekend clinic
(Photo by Bryan Singer© 2019)

“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.

CGS to offer September program in St. Michael-Albertville

The Carroll Goalie School is pleased to announce that we have just added a new location and times for our popular Tryout Tune-up program. We will be hosting a three-day goalie development session in St. Michael-Albertville on Thursday, Sept. 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, 3:30-5:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 22, 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Coach Steve Carroll helped at a goalie clinic in St. Michael in December 2018.

At CGS, we help goalies take their games to new levels by building individual skills, techniques, athleticism, consistency and self-confidence. Goalies who train with us work hard and have fun in an upbeat and positive learning environment.

Coach Steve Carroll and longtime CGS student/coach Amanda K. will be the lead instructors at this six-hour clinic.

Coach Amanda K. is the goalie coach for STMA Hockey Association and the NWC Riverhawks. She runs clinics during the season.

The CGS staff will help goalies improve their skills, consistency, work habits and overall game. They’ll feel confident they’ve gained a competitive edge and are on top of their game to start the season.

Topics that we will cover include footwork, save and recovery techniques, hand-eye coordination, angles, rebound control and breakaways.

This clinic is open to goalies in the St. Michael-Albertville and North Wright County Riverhawks associations as well other youth hockey goalies who are looking for last minute training to help them prepare for tryouts and upcoming season.

Session is for boys, girls ages 8-15. Limited space available. Spots will be filled on a first-come, first served basis. Register now.