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Coach Steve Carroll was recently featured in the Edina Magazine: http://edinamag.com/protecting-pipes

I grew up playing hockey in the Edina Association and made the switch to goalie during my last year of peewees. The coach of that team saw me playing goalie in a neighborhood floor hockey tournament during the summer and asked if I would be interested in playing goalie on skates. I said I would give it a try and he picked me to be one of the goalies on the “A” team.

After that season, I played two years of bantam “A” hockey before earning a spot on the Edina-East High School varsity squad. In high school, we made it to the state tournament during my senior season. We won our first two games (Roseau  and Grand Rapids) in the tournament at the St. Paul Civic Center before falling in the championship tilt to Rochester John Marshall.

Nonetheless, it was quite the thrill and something I will never forget. Thanks for the magic of videotape, I have the games from back then and periodically watch them to rekindle the memories.

In fall 2016, the Edina Magazine contacted me about doing a feature story on my hockey career in the community and my goalie school, which is now in it’s 23^rd season. The Carroll Goalie School holds a three-day clinic at Braemar Arena in Edina, the exact rink I learned to play the game in.

 

St. Paul, MN – July 14, 2016 – The Minnesota Hockey Board of Directors voted unanimously to purchase 300 sets of QuickChange goalie gear through Total Hockey for distribution to all member youth associations in the state.

Each of Minnesota Hockey’s 145 community-based associations will receive two sets of the gear, which are designed to provide all players the chance to try the goaltender position by easily pulling them on and off over standard player equipment. The order for all of the gear will total nearly $60,000.

Consisting of 24-inch leg pads and a padded goalie jersey, both of which are designed to fit over standard player equipment, the QuickChange gear will allow 8U skaters to become goaltenders in 60 seconds. In the matter of one practice, every player on a team can give the goaltending position a try. The pads include an extra-wide knee channel to accommodate standard shin guards while the jersey/chest protector features an extra-wide neck opening with a Velcro strap to be easily slipped over a player’s helmet.

“We applaud Minnesota Hockey’s huge step toward promoting more participation at the goaltender position by purchasing this QuickChange gear for its associations,” said USA Hockey American Development Model Manager, Goaltending, Phil Osaer. “As associations across the country have embraced the ADM as the premier method of developing players, this is the next logical step to producing more goaltenders in the future. More kids will be given the opportunity to try the position without their parents needing to make the commitment to purchase gear until much further down the line.”

USA Hockey has placed an emphasis on the goaltender position, an initiative that includes the appointment of a Goaltending Development Coordinator within each affiliate. Edina native Steve Carroll was named Minnesota’s first-ever Goaltending Development Coordinator on April 7. Carroll is tasked with working with goaltending coaches throughout the state, as well as developing grass roots programs such as Try Goalie Days and goaltending clinics, in addition to implementing the QuickChange initiative.

“This is a very exciting step taken by Minnesota Hockey,” said Carroll. “Regardless of community size or location, every association will be able to utilize this gear to familiarize kids with all positions in hockey. I fully expect more boys and girls in Minnesota to fall in love with goaltending, which will only benefit all aspects of the sport in our state.”

The QuickChange goalie gear will be distributed to Minnesota Hockey associations in November in order to be used for the 2016-17 season. Associations wishing to order additional sets should submit their order here.

At this year’s Let’s Play Hockey Expo in St. Paul, the Carroll Goalie School gave away hundreds of free paper goalie masks. The promotion was a huge hit as goalies of all ages grabbed a souvenir.

CGS shared a booth with our partners from Brian’s Custom Sports. They had equipment on display and a sales rep who was available to answers questions about their innovative gear.

We are getting ready for our 22nd season of helping goalies improve their skills at our three-day clinics that are held throughout Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

While a majority of the goalies at our camps are from Minnesota, we also have had a number of goalies from other states train with us.

“We came all the way from Alaska to Blaine for the camp and it was well worth the trip,” said Shannon Gulley, from Palmer, Alaska. “Callaghan had a great experience, improved his skills and just reinforced his love of playing goalie. We are already

planning on another camp next year.”

And each clinic, we work on a variety of skating and movement drills before breaking into small groups to focus on game like save situations.

“Carroll Goalie School made learning advanced goalie skills fun for my son,” said David Reinsbach, from Shakopee, Minnesota. “The coaches ran drills I had not seen before at other goalie schools. They also made an effort to connect with all the participants!”

And then we typically finish each session with a game that the goalies really enjoy.

“I would highly recommend the Carroll Goalie School!, Katie Aafedt, Edina, Minnesota. “My son absolutely loved going and is still talking about the coaches vs goalies game they played every day at the end of the session. The goalies all worked hard the whole time but had a lot of fun with it along the way. We will definitely be back again! “

Always fun to see the Carroll Goalie School helmet that’s on display at the Wild restaurant in Terminal 2 of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Others helmets on display include those worn by NHL’ers Don Beaupre and Bob Mason.

The 2015 Minnesota Hockey Dave Peterson CCM High Performance Goalie Camp was held Aug. 6-9 at Augsburg College. The camp provided 50 of the state’s top high school goalies with a unique goaltending experience. The 25 boys and 25 girls, who received invites based on their participation in the CCM High Performance programs, were exposed to four days of specialized instruction on and off the ice.

The goalies got 12 hours of on-ice instruction and a number of classroom sessions on topics such as mental skills development, vision training, yoga and hockey opportunities after high school.

I help start this camp in 2005 and for the 11th year in a row I served as director. I thought it was extremely important that Minnesota Hockey provide a high-level skill development opportunity for boys and girls in this age group. These are highly motivated athletes who are determined to improve their skills and overall game so they can help their high school teams achieve success. Many of the participants also have set their sights on playing college hockey.

The camp provided goalies with an opportunity to learn the latest techniques and strategies from a combination of Minnesota’s most well-respected and talented college and high school goalie coaches. This year, 15 coaches ran drills throughout the camp.

We also had four Minnesota college goalies on the ice helping out as counselors and demonstrators. The goalies currently play at the NCAA Division I and III levels. They represented the following hockey programs: University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, St. John’s University and Gustavus Adolphus College.

 

I wear many hats during the hockey season including serving as USA Hockey’s Minnesota District Goalie Coach-in-Chief. That means, among other duties, I am frequently invited to give presentations about goalie development at coaching clinics throughout Minnesota.

Today’s assignment was to present a one-hour goalie development seminar to the 100+ coaches attending a Level 4 clinic in Bloomington. I touched on a variety of key topics during the presentation including drills and tactics.

As usual, my message to the coaches was clear – they must change the way they currently do business to make goalie development a priority with their team,  instead of it being an after thought. They all seemed to agree and assured me that would work on doing things differently to help with the development of their goalies.

Here is an article I recently wrote for Let’s Play Hockey newspaper explaining ways coaches can help develop their goalies.