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.
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.
WATCH VIDEO OF OUR TRIP HERE.
I recently got back from an awesome 9-day trip to Germany and Austria with the Gustavus Adolphus College women’s team. (I am the team’s goalie coach).
We won the three hockey games we played while we were there including a 7-2 victory over the Austrian National Team.
In addition to the games, we had a lot time time to take in the major tourist sites. We took a tour of Munich, Germany and had lunch at the famous Hofbrauhaus restaurant.
From there we moved on to Salzburg, Austria. We toured the city and saw Mozart’s childhood home and various locations where the popular movie “The Sound of Music” was filmed.
After a few days in Salzburg, we bussed to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp near the city of Linz, Austria. It was a very interesting place to see, but spooky experience as our tour took place on a gray and overcast day.
From there, we headed to Vienna, Austria. We checked out a few of the royal palaces and toured the city. This is also where we celebrated New Year’s.
I was a wonderful trip filled with all sorts of memories. The Gusties return to ice in St. Peter on Jan. 11 hosting UW-Stevens Point.
I thought I would share an article I wrote for Let’s Play Hockey newspaper. It’s about encouraging youth hockey coaches to pay attention to the most important players on their teams — their goalies.
Read the article here.
I just got back from running a goalie clinic for the Woodbury Hockey Association. One of the rinks we use is the Harding Ice Arena in St. Paul. And that is where you can find the latest Carroll Goalie School banner ad. It’s only one of a handful of ads on the wall.
It’s another example of how the Carroll Goalie School supports youth hockey throughout Minnesota!
We are hosting a two-hour Holiday Goalie Camp on Dec. 16, from 12-2 pm at the Schwan Super in Blaine
. All goalies who register for this camp are eligible to win a free Brian’s goalie stick.
The camp is open to goalies ages 7 & older. This is a great opportunity for goalies to improve their game and build their confidence as they head into the second half of the season.
The cost is only $99. Register online today at www.carrollgs.com.
It was was quite the turnout at the USA Hockey Level 4 Coaches Clinic held recently in Bloomington.
More than 260 youth hockey coaches from throughout Minnesota and several other states were in town for the clinic.
I was invited to lead an on-ice goalie coaching clinic for the group.
Here is how it worked. They divided the coaches into four groups. I had about 65 coaches at a time for 30 minutes each. I started by showing the coaches the basic goalie stance with proper glove and stick positions.
After that, I demonstrated common goalie skating movements including forward and backward c-cuts, shuffles, t-pushes.
It was then time for the coaches to try the various movements. Across the Olympic-sized ice they went in groups of 20. It was interesting to watch them try to skate like a goalie typically does. Some coaches figured it out, but many of them struggled with the assignment.
But the bottom line was, it was a powerful learning experience for all the coaches who seemed to enjoy learning some of the tricks of the goalie coaching trade.
Hopefully they will use what they learned when their season gets underway in a few weeks.
As we roll into September, hockey tryouts will be getting underway soon. Will your goalie be ready?
If not, we can help! We have a limited number of openings left in the two pre-season camps we are hosting this month.
The camps provide perfect opportunities for goalies to improve their skills and build their self-confidence so they’ll be at the top of their game when evaluations start.
The camps are at Richfield Arena, Sept. 14-16, and Sept. 21-23.
Register online today at www.carrollgs.com.
This weekend, we are hosting a three-day goalie camp at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine. Great group of goalies in town for the camp, in fact they came from three different states to learn how to improve their game.
At the conclusion of each session, we typically play a game, goalies against the coaches. It’s a lot of fun. Check out the video following one of these games.
Spent the last few days directing the Minnesota Hockey Dave Peterson Reebok High Performance Goalie Camp. This is an invite only camp for 50 of the state’s top high school goalies. The camp was held at the Super Rink in Blaine on July 26-29.
The camp provided the boys and girls with an unique opportunity to train with a combination of Minnesota’s most well-respected and talented college and high school goalie coaches.
Seventeen different goalie coaches worked at the camp including seven who have won college national championships. That group included Steve Carroll, Edina, Mankato State University; Johanna Ellison, Cloquet, University of Minnesota-Duluth; Alyssa Grogan, Eagan, University of Minnesota; Adam Hauser, Bovey, University of Minnesota; Jody Horak, Blaine, University of Minnesota; Justin Johnson, Ham Lake, University of Minnesota; Andrew Kent, Lakeville, goalie coach for University of Minnesota women’s hockey team.
Other coaches were Mitch Baker, Steve DeBus, Steve Guider, Steve Houge, Todd Johnson, Bill Manual, Mike Moline, Pete Samargia, Sanya Sandahl, Bob Rajanen.
Mike Ayers, national goaltending coach for USA Hockey out of Ann Arbor, Mich., also helped out at the camp. He shared some observations and goalie development tips with participants and ran a station during on-ice drills.
More information about this camp is available online.
