More than 260 youth hockey coaches from around the state gathered in Bloomington, Sept. 19-20, to participate in USA Hockey’s Level 4 Coaching Clinic. The two-day clinic featured classroom presentations along with an on-ice session at nearby Braemar Arena. Presenters included representatives from USA Hockey along with top college and high school coaches.
As USA Hockey’s Minnesota District Goalie Coach-in-Chief, I was invited to give an hour-long presentation on Coaching Today’s Goalies.
I asked the group, why is it that the goalie, the most important player on a hockey team gets the least amount of coaching?
Responses included “I never played the position,” and “I don’t understand what is being taught these days, so I leave it to the experts.”
I understood where they are coming from, but encouraged them to break out of their comfort zone and learn ways they can help with the development of their goalies.
I strongly suggested they include 15-20 minutes of goalie development time during every practice.
I them showed them a variety of videos that showed fundamental skating and movement drills they can do with their goalies.
I also provided the link to USA Hockey’s goaltending website that features a variety of drills the coaches can use at their practices.
I hope my messages hit home and coaches make goalie development a priority this season instead of it being an after thought.
