2024 Summer Hockey Guide

LET’S PLAY HOCKEY

SPECIAL SECTION SUMMER

HOCKEY GUIDE 2024

Summer Hockey Leagues – Clinics – Camps

Inside: Movement that distinguishes skating from sprinting..5 Expectations vs. Effort in the offseason................................6 What should dryland training accomplish?......................8 Gretzky and Einstein...................................................................... 14 Passing: A lost art?........................................................................16 Six keys to improve skating speed and efficiency.......20 Summer Hockey Opportunities

Red & Black Hockey League........................................... 2 Propel Hockey Camps...................................................... 2 Girl Power Hockey Camp................................................. 3 Wisconsin Blaze Summer Tournaments........................... 4 Minnesota Hockey Girls Gold Rush Camp.......................7 Minnesota Hockey Camps in Breezy Point......................9 St. Mary’s Summer Hockey Camps................................10 Impact Hockey................................................................ 11 Minnesota Made........................................................12-13 Carroll Goalie School............................. .................15 Pavel Barber Hockey Camp.................................... 17 Hilary Knight Hockey Camp..................................... 17 Minny Beauts Hockey Camp...................................19 Northstar Knights Summer Camps..........................21 Grunnah Power Skating & Hockey School..................... 22 Kern Hockey................................................................... 23 Minnesota Wild Hockey School......................................24 Next Level Hockey Camp...............................................24 .

All Day Summer Camps for Active Hockey Kids 10+ Years Creating Summer Fun!

ACTIVITIES • Full Day Camp • 2 Ice Sessions Daily • Off Ice Training (Kayaking, Fishing & Golf) • Academic Time • Minimum Age 7 • Dodgeball • Soccer • Kickball

For program details and registration visit

propelhockeycamps.com or call 952.297.5920

Minnesota’s Premier Skill Development League since 2014!

• 125 MINNESOTA SCHOOLS REPRESENTED • Proven development model with 300+ Alumni in Junior and Collegiate Hockey • Games played at multiple arenas around the entire Metro Area & Wisconsin • 18 Game seasons plus playoffs and all-star game • Open to High School eligible players, plus separate Bantam and Peewee Leagues • Individual registrations, team requests, and carpool arrangements considered

High School Spring League

• Tryouts for new players in March • Season runs April thru May (Fri-Sun games)

High School Fall League

• Tryouts for new players in August • Season runs Sept. thru Oct. (NO Friday games)

Increased Puck Time = More Skill = Better Results

Fall Bantam & Peewee League • Tryouts in July

• Season runs August to September

For more info, please visit our website

www.redblackhockey.com 2 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

Let’s Play Hockey

www.letsplayhockey.com

ONE GREAT CAMP TWO GREAT LOCATIONS

Providing FUN & EXCEPTIONAL on and off ice training for female athletes to achieve their goals.

FEEL THE POWER THIS SUMMER!

June 9-14, 2024 Breezy Point, MN Girls 8 -12 years

July 14-19, 2024 Directed by Barb Yackel & Corey McGinn

Registration opens Jan. 15, 2024

St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

(New Location 45 minutes from the Twi

Girls 12-16 years

n Cities)

Camp Details and Registration www.girlpowerhockey.com Questions - email: girlpowerhockey800@gmail.com www.letsplayhockey.com

Let’s Play Hockey

Summer Hockey Guide 2024 3

2024 WISCONSIN BLAZE TOURNAMENTS

2024

April 19-21

East Metro - Hudson, Somerset, Stillwater, Cottage Grove, Hastings, Forest Lake, Baldwin

August 16-18 Hudson & Somerset, WI, East Metro MN

Girls: U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16

Girls: U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16

Boys: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Boys: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

May 3-5

U-16 Boys (07/08) & U-18 Boys (05/06)

ALL TOURNAM ENT • 4 game guara S: • $1600 per tea ntee m• per team if you $50 off sign up 3

For more information and to register, contact Dan Gilkerson 715.222.2448 dgilkerson@somersethockey.com

www. blazehockey .net

Hudson & Somerset

4 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

Let’s Play Hockey

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The movement that distinguishes skating from sprinting Hip abduction-rotation-extension (A-R-E)

by JACK BLATHERWICK

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Using the largest muscles in the body (gluteal muscles of the hips), the power for every skating stride (except cornering) begins with hip abduction-rotation-extension (A-R-E). In simpler terms, this means thrusting to the side while rotating toward the next stride, and finally extending almost straight back as you move past the ice.

On the other hand, sprinting relies totally on hip extension; that is, thrusting straight back without abduction-rotation.

The twisting-thrusting hip motion in skating is coordinated with knee and ankle extension, an automatic (reflexive) kinetic chain. Without apology, I admit this is a mouthful of anatomical jargon, but the movement must be clearly understood if we are going to train players effectively off-ice to improve skating speed, acceleration and efficiency.

Warning: Kids learn this by feel, NEVER by a boring explanation (like this one) using technical words. However, they MUST LEARN to execute this movement well if they are ever to reach their potential for skating speed.

During acceleration – in the first strides from a standstill – the abduction to the side is directed mostly straight back, because the pelvis faces to that side before the leg is rotated (from the ball-socket joint) and arms swing in the opposite direction, toward the next stride. At high speeds, the abduction force is directed almost straight to the side for a brief instant. As you leave the ice behind you, this quickly becomes hip extension. All the while the skate blade is at a perfect angle (determined by feel, not the conscious brain) like the angle of a sail as a sailboat moves cross wind.

Contrary to myths presented for years as skating rules (which defy physics and neuro-reflexes), youth coaches should understand that hip abduction requires the arms to swing opposite www.letsplayhockey.com

the legs – across the body. So, in my opinion, beginning skaters should exaggerate arm swing to promote wider strides. Limiting the arms restricts the width of strides at a crucial age for the Central Nervous System to establish efficient, powerful habits. I’ve seen the results of arm restriction advice in 40 years of testing 4,000 skaters. No one skates as fast with restricted arms as with natural free arm and shoulder swing.

If a gym doesn’t include explosive A-R-E hip movements, the gym is inadequate – not wrong, just incomplete.

Furthermore – and quite astonishingly – we see that this same hip motion initiates ground reaction force for important skills in baseball (batting, pitching, throwing), football (passing), tennis and golf swings, plus hockey wrist and slap shots. Yet the motion is ignored in most weight rooms.

Throughout history, weight rooms Let’s Play Hockey

have prioritized hip extension with no abduction-rotation (squats, cleans, step-ups, for example). These lifts are constructive, but inadequate without explosive A-R-E movements added to the workout. In fact, all upper- and lower-body barbell lifts are limited to one plane, but most joints rotate in an infinite range during play.

Traditional weight training should always be supplemented with functional athletic movements like those we see in dynamic sports. Hall of Famers Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe were the strongest of their era, and much of their strength was built doing things like baling hay, chopping wood, playing dynamic sports and shooting pucks.

With creative coaching, this will change in coming years, and I offer one of many dryland skating exercises that promotes strength and kinesthetic feeling of reflexive, natural, explosive A-R-E. Summer Hockey Guide 2024 5

EXPECTATION VS. EFFORT IN THE OFFSEASON

by JOHN RUSSO

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

The “effort” in the headline is actually extra effort and time – and that it happens mostly during the offseason, but also in-season, and then mostly on the outdoor rinks available to most young players. I have three grandchildren, aged 8 through 12, that spend a great deal of time all winter on the outdoor rinks – mostly having fun, which is a great skill developer. It doesn’t take a camp or clinic or adults to get skills. Shinny is a great teacher.

This is the time of year when coaches want to meet with their players to review the season and to give them some advice for the offseason. That advice takes the form of reviewing their strengths and weaknesses – and suggestions as to activities that will get them where they want to go next November – or even in the summer league.

Coaches should be as honest as they can concerning the player’s weaknesses and what they need to do. They shouldn’t have to guess at what it will take to move up or get better at various things. The answer is pretty near the same for the players that have a potential for moving up. Yes, they can make a higher team, but it is strictly up to them. It depends fully on what they do in the offseason.

For some players, the advice might be concerning being able to move up to one of the first two lines. In youth coaches’ cases, the situation is very similar. Players are often trying to move up to the next level, or to A or AA, or to a better line. Sometimes, first and second line players are returning. The advice has to be for improvement.

In the end, however, it is critical that players understand the relationship between effort and expectations. Many, but not all, youngsters feel that they should be able to progress up without the offseason (and in-season) special work that is necessary to play at the A or AA level or the varsity level.

There are many distractions available today that make it harder for a player to set times to shoot pucks, do a stickhandling routine or work out.

Hockey is also a unique sport in that it is not a foot sport and it uses an implement (stick) to play. That means it takes extra work to gain skating or stick skills compared to any other sport. That means that the four- or fivemonth season is often not enough time to gain the kinds of skills it takes to be good to very good at the top levels of our sport.

I have told many of my players over the years that if they play three sports, they will not likely make the varsity the following year unless they are exceptional athletes.

Three sports in high school just doesn’t allow enough time to properly develop skills.

The other things that have to be done should come first. That includes studying, the other sport, social activity, family.

6 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

Sometimes it’s the parents who don’t want to understand, so the youngsters have little chance of understanding the effort vs. expectations’ relationship. I used to tell my players that by the time they reach the ninth grade, they need to pick two sports. If one is hockey, then the other sport should best be in the spring. That gives the players the spring off from hockey, but they still have six months (summer/fall) to do skill work for the two sports – if they want to progress up the ladder in both.

Often times it isn’t a matter of youngsters playing too many sports. It may well be that other social items take up their time, or they just don’t want to do skills’ work or work out. I don’t call these youngsters lazy, but rather poorly motivated. Other things are more important. If they are the right other things, then I don’t have a problem. It could be music or mathematics or physics – or that another sport is their favorite. All this is OK as long as the youngsters don’t have expectations that are unrealistic based on their level of commitment and effort.

Let’s take a look at the things that a serious hockey player should be doing offseason.

This applies from about Squirt level on up.

• Shooting pucks – It isn’t very hard to create a net or other shooting range in the yard or basement. Players can shoot three times per week (200 pucks) and get 20,000 shots in before next season. That can make the difference between fair shooting skills and good or excellent shooting skills. It is easier if a buddy is involved. A parent can help out, too. I was the goaltender for these shooting sessions for my children, until they were 11 or 12 (then it was too hard on the body), then I shagged pucks. We worked with 20 to 25 pucks.

• Stickhandling – It is pretty easy to set up a couple of stickhandling obstacle courses in the garage or basement. That, along with 15 minutes, three times per week of practicing the little drops and pulls of stickhandling, Let’s Play Hockey

can do wonders. Again, a buddy or parent is great.

The two key off-ice skill development activities will take about 30-45 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Really not that much.

• Working out – Unless a youngster has a naturally outstanding physique or body type, working out is critical to being a good athlete in any sport. This is especially important at about eighth or ninth grade when puberty sets in. Puberty allows muscles to be grown with exercises. A combination of weights (pulley mostly, but also some free weights) and plyometrics can make a tremendous difference in athletic performance.

It is also almost mandatory if a youngster wants to play high school varsity hockey at a good school. Even in high school, the 5-10 and 175- to 180-pound player will be a much better performer than the 145- to 150-pound players. Working out is not just for the boys, by the way.

• Skating skills work/quality play – I believe that players need to find skating skills help in the offseason because skating is the most important skill – and the most deficient in most players. A growth of even two or three inches in the offseason will also make re-education of the brain/feet necessary.

School camps that push the players to develop the skills are obviously the best. Quality offseason play is also an important piece of the puzzle. There are many leagues. The most competitive one available would be best.

Coaches can play a key role in this extra effort. Association and high school coaches should develop written materials and workout plans that can be provided to youngsters.

Many high schools have summer workout times for their training rooms for all athletes.

Lack of facilities should not be an issue.

Again, all of this really revolves around players having realistic expectations based on the effort they put out. Players can choose to not do extra work, but they must be willing to accept the results. www.letsplayhockey.com

6th Annual Minnesota Hockey

Girls Gold Rush Summer Camp

July 29-August 1, 2024 Burnsville Ice Center • Burnsville, MN • Featuring instruction from a seasoned group of all-female instructors that have competed at the college, professional, and international levels.

• On-ice instruction complemented with off-ice athletic training to promote comprehensive development and support the importance of multi-sport athletes.

• All players will be provided an opportunity to obtain autographs from and pictures with the featured staff of instructors.

• The training sessions will be led by Minnesota Hockey Girls Development Coordinator, Brooke White-Lancette, who played professionally for the Minnesota Whitecaps for 16 seasons. Brooke will be joined by assistant instructors who have had storied careers at a variety of high levels of competition.

• The camp will be limited to 40 participants at each age level offered: 8U and 10U/12U. All spots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants will be provided with a jersey and a T-shirt upon checking in for the first day of camp.

• The cost for the camp is $250 for 10U/12U players, and $120 for 8U players.

8U Schedule

10U / 12U Schedule

Monday, July 29 – Check-in (9:30-10:30am); On-ice (10:45-11:45am) Tuesday, July 30 – On-ice (11:00am-12:00pm); Off-ice dryland (12:15-12:45pm) Wednesday, July 31 – On-ice (10:45-11:45am) Thursday, August 1 – On-ice (10:45-11:45am); Off-ice dryland (12:00pm-12:30pm); Autographs/Photos (1:15pm-1:45pm)

Monday, July 29 – Check-in (9:30-10:30am); Off-ice dryland (10:45-11:35am); On-ice (12:00-1:00pm) Tuesday, July 30 – Off-ice dryland (11:00am-11:50am); On-ice (12:15-1:15pm) Wednesday, July 31 – Off-ice dryland (10:45-11:35am); On-ice (12:00-1:00pm); Q&A w/ Coaches (1:15-1:45pm) Thursday, August 1 – Off-ice dryland (10:45-11:35am); On-ice (12:00pm-1:00pm); Autographs/Photos (1:15pm-1:45pm)

For more info contact Tatum Manning Email: tmanning@minnesotahockey.org Phone: 763-360-6651

For registration and camp details, go to

www.minnesotahockey.org/goldrush www.letsplayhockey.com

Let’s Play Hockey

Summer Hockey Guide 2024 7

What should dryland training accomplish?

Workouts should focus on speed of hands, speed of feet and speed of mind

by JACK BLATHERWICK

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

For 150 years, North American hockey coaches have NOT met to outline the purpose of dryland training. Instead, it was left to strength coaches, scientists and fitness instructors to tell hockey what to do.

On the other hand, in 1947, the Soviet Union assigned Anatoli Tarasov to develop players at the start of their program. He came to North America to study our game (and also studied NBA basketball, by the way). He concluded that dryland and on-ice workouts should focus on “speed of hands, speed of feet, speed of mind.” In other words, dryland training was designed to improve hockey abilities.

Imagine that. North American coaches could have said dryland training should improve hockey abilities. Give strength coaches some direction as to what matters in a game. But strength experts decided on their own that hockey should train for strength in the same way football was training nose tackles.

Furthermore, lab scientists thought hockey players should train for endurance like marathoners or bicyclists – long, slow distances. “Cardio” it was called. No doubt, cardiovascular fitness is very important, and fitness centers were having their adult couch-potato athletes do long, slow aerobic training, because anything explosive might have caused a heart attack. But they (unwisely) told young hockey players that “cardio” should be long and slow. What is needed in a game, of course, is speed – not slow repetitions permanently imprinted into the Central Nervous System (CNS).

Along the way, “core training” became the rage, because couch potatoes wanted six-pack abs to look great at the beach. Side note – Having watched this fad evolve over the decades, I have to tell you: Looking great without a shirt on was a real challenge for some couch potatoes.

So we isolated core muscles lying on mats to challenge six-pack abs that were hidden under a layer of fat. But research shows that isolating muscles (rectus abdominis or ANY muscle) has little to do with increasing dynamic athleticism, the kind we see in the NBA, NFL or NHL 8 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

“Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe had it right 70 years ago. As kids, they chopped wood, baled hay and lifted heavy logs with their whole body. They ran hills and played other sports.”

– Jack Blatherwick (Google: Stuart McGill’s research). Athleticism requires that all core muscles work together with muscles that move limbs. Read that sentence again before you send a young athlete to do “core training.”

How can core workouts help young players develop athleticism, and improve skating power and efficiency? By putting it all together in dynamic wholebody movements where the core muscles work in concert with others. Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe had it right 70 years ago. As kids, they chopped wood, baled hay and lifted heavy logs with their whole body. They ran hills and played other sports. That way, the CNS was learning how to create synergy between core muscles and all others in the body.

Had hockey coaches been asked, they Let’s Play Hockey

would have said – as Tarasov did – “An ideal dryland program should help young athletes build speed, quickness, agility and explosive strength, along with skating efficiency, power and endurance.” The word “slow” would not have come up. Then strength coaches and scientists would have used their expertise to train young kids differently than adults – even differently than elite older hockey players.

The CNS is involved at all times – except perhaps in Washington D.C. It observes and memorizes every repetition as we train, not just the reps we’d like to remember. We become what we repeat most often. Given that, why would we ever practice slowness or isolate core muscles if we had 150 years to think about it? www.letsplayhockey.com

www.letsplayhockey.com

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Summer Hockey Guide 2024 9

Training Smarter

Just doing a drill for the sake of doing a drill serves no purpose

by ANDY NESS

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

When we look at skating there are many different avenues we can look at.

For this article, I would like to share with you what direction I like to go when skating and training during the summer and why. With so many options, it is important to understand and establish what is most important and disregard all the rest.

First, when I say there are many avenues to go down I would like to explain what I mean. When you are training in the summer, you can scrimmage, do small area games, do game drills or just do more games. Is this helping your individual development?

Remember, drills and skills are different. Just doing a drill for the sake of doing

a drill serves no purpose. When we look at skating specifically, we can look at overspeed, technique skating, or conditioning.

In the “video post” world we live in, skating has somehow turned into a lot of shock and awe drills. I have seen kids jump over tires, spin around in the air, do forward to backward flips on one foot, all really for the sake of a “wow” factor. Is this the best use of our ice time?

Here is the problem. With the limited amount of time that we get to spend with skaters in the summer, we want to make sure their skating skills are “functional.”

What I mean by that is the skating skills they are actually going to use in a game.

Get back to the nuts and bolts. When skating with pros (and even youth skaters), time is precious and important. Some kids I will only see five or six times in the summer. When I have to cover edges, balance,

power turns, crossovers, backwards, transitions, starts and stride, this doesn’t leave any room for “filler” drills. There are fundamental skating skills that need to be worked on. The only way to get improvement is through quality repetition through actual focused practice habits.

Some of the jumps and things aren’t bad, they just aren’t something in which an entire lesson should be focused around.

Establish what is important and disregard everything else. Off-season training is really quite simple. If you need work on your skating, skate. If you need work on your shooting, shoot. If you need to get stronger, get in the weight room. When we try to do a million other things, we end up spinning our tires in the sand and nothing gets better. Ice time is too valuable, make the most of it.

All-Inclusive Overnight Experience  $495 Squirt: June 20-23  Bantam: June 27-30  PeeWee: July 18-21 Girls U10-U12 & U14-U16: July 25-28

SAINT MARY’S SUMMER HOCKEY CAMPS Off-ice shooting and stickhandling sessions 3 on-ice development sessions  1 small-area game session  4 games 3 nights in Saint Mary’s University dorm facilities  Meals provided in the Saint Mary’s dining hall Workouts with Saint Mary’s strength and conditioning staff  Professional coaching staff Use of Saint Mary’s on-campus pool and recreation facility

“Winona, Minn. was once the Hockey Camp Capital of the Midwest in the summertime. Our goal is to offer a great camp experience, while keeping it affordable for all,”

says Ryan Egan, Head Coach, Saint Mary’s Men’s Hockey

FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER: CAMPS.SMUMN.EDU 10 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

Let’s Play Hockey

Camps held at Saint Mary’s University Winona campus Limited to 60 skaters and 4 goalies per camp.

Don’t miss out — register today! www.letsplayhockey.com

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S UM ME R R E G II S T R A T II O N S E G S T R A T O N SU UM MM ME ENR ROR R E G I S T R A T I O N W O P E N W O S U M M EN SE TN R AT I O N NRO OR WE G OIP P E N WE G OIP S U M M ENROR SE TN R AT I O N Year-Round Individual Skill Development Programs for Skaters and Goalies of All Ages NOW O P E N Programs for Skaters and Goalies of All Ages Year-Round Individual Skill Development Year-Round Individual Skill Development Programs for Skaters and Goalies of All Ages

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Call 952-545-7825 or register today at www.impacthockey.com. www.impacthockey.com.

Call 952-545-7825 or register today at www.impacthockey.com.

Summer programs fill fast. www.impacthockey.com.

Make An Call 952-545-7825 orImpact. register today at Make An Impact.

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Call 952-545-7825 or register today Year-Round Individual Skill Development Programs for Skaters andat Goalies of All Ages Summer programs fill fast.

Call 952-545-7825 or register today at

www.letsplayhockey.com

Summer Hockey Guide 2024 11

12 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

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Summer Hockey Guide 2024 13

Gretzky and Einstein

Creative geniuses who thought outside the box

by JACK BLATHERWICK

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Unlike college and professional football, offensive creativity in hockey comes mainly from players, and each year it is increasingly “coached” out of the game. Avoiding mistakes has become the highest priority, even at the youth level where the need to win eliminates creative trial-and-error.

Not only do coaches insist on simplistic, structured hockey (chip it out, dump it in, keep it simple), but our educational system joins them to discourage “childish” creativity. Consider how foolish we are as a nation to fall for the current dogma that memorization of facts actually constitutes an education. Those who memorize best and repeat like robots on standardized tests are called “A-students.” We forget that rebels like Albert Einstein were the ones who actually changed history, and Wayne Gretzky did 10 things a shift the coach never thought of.

No wonder Washington politicians have no new answers for old problems? No one has the courage, or educational background, to think outside the box. Actually, that looks a lot like hockey, 2019, while at the same time football coaches are coming up with offenses that are more creative than ever.

Walter Isaacson, who wrote the biography “Albert Ein-

14 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

stein, His Life and Universe,” decries any educational system that stifles non-conformity: “Of all the disservice we do our students, perhaps the most critical is demanding that they fit.” Keep that in mind when your PeeWee forwards try something unheard of, and turn it over at the offensive blue line, or a fourth grade math student asks, “Why should I learn long division if I will never use it again after fourth grade?” Maybe they’re right and the system is wrong.

We coaches are entrusted with the development of ambitious youngsters with lofty dreams. But we limit those dreams by removing the element of trial-and-error. How can another young Gretzky develop unbridled creativity in our highly-structured youth programs? There are too many trophies – too much hype from parents – too much pressure to avoid mistakes. No doubt, creativity can still blossom in a pond hockey scrimmage, where 10-year-olds learn new moves from older brothers, where the only stakes are bragging rights at the dinner table, and mistakes mean nothing.

Coaches and teachers are more likely to develop genius talent by acknowledging that Wayne Gretzky’s brilliance was that he did things the coach never drew up on the board, or that Einstein frustrated teachers with his distaste for conformity. It was because he thought outside the box that Einstein changed the direction of physics with revolutionary insights into the equivalence of mass and energy and his Theory of Relativity.

Einstein believed, “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” a thought that should be stenciled on every drill book and lesson plan. For coaches, it means that constant reminders about mistakes might prevent a turnover today, while discouraging a creative playmaker tomorrow. The impact players in hockey have always been those who learned the game by creative experimentation, and mistakes are part of the process.

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Carroll Goalie School helps goalies achieve success between the pipes

Weekend and evening clinics set for Minnesota and Iowa

The Twin Cities-based Carroll Goalie School is now in its 29th year of helping boys and girls build their individual skills and boost their confidence in a safe, challenging, and upbeat learning environment.

“I’m extremely proud of the reputation we’ve earned for developing quality, fundamentally-sound goaltenders,” said director Steve Carroll, a Minnesota goalie development leader who is a two-time NCAA Hockey National Champion and Hall of Fame goalie at Edina High School and Minnesota State Mankato. “Goalies who train with us work hard, improve

29THAL ANNU

their skills and have fun!”

The CGS instructors use their extensive playing and coaching experience to teach the goalies what it takes to be successful. They are experts who also share their wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the goaltending position with the kids.

“The men and women on our coaching staff are passionate about goaltending and do an excellent job of explaining, demonstrating, and reinforcing the essential techniques used in today’s game,” Carroll said. “Our coaches help the goalies feel good about their game and feel good about themselves.”

2024

CARROLL GOALIE SCHOOL

MINNESOTA AND IOWA LOCATIONS Alexandria, Blaine, Eagan, Edina, Richfield, St. Michael-Albertville, West Des Moines, Iowa • Weekend and evening ice hours • Upbeat learning environment • Improves individual skills • Expert coaches • Four programs - Advanced Skills, Intermediate Skills, Tryout Tune-up, Intro to Goaltending • Boys and girls, ages 6-14

Clinics designed by Steve Carroll - Goalie development leader - Two-time NCAA Hockey National Champion - Hall of Fame goalie at Edina High School & Minnesota State Mankato

Sponsored by Brian’s Custom Sports

@carrollgs @carrrollgoalieschool facebook.com/carrollgs

www.letsplayhockey.com

Book early for best selection!

www.carrollgs.com

CGS clinics are conveniently scheduled on select evenings and weekends during June-September. Ice times are at six Minnesota arenas including Alexandria (NorthStar Sports Complex), Braemar Arena (Edina), Eagan Civic Arena, Richfield Arena, Super Rink (Blaine), STMA Arena (St. Michael-Albertville).

In mid-July, CGS will be hosting two clinics (Intermediate Skills and Advanced Skills) at the RecPlex in West Des Moines, Iowa.

CGS offers four programs for goalies ages 6-14 – Intro to Goaltending, Intermediate Skills, Advanced Skills, and Tryout Tune-up.

Goalie parents like the variety of programs CGS offers because they realize that having their kids train with Coach Carroll and his staff can make a significant impact on their development.

“Steve Carroll and his team are amazing! They have elevated my son’s skills and fostered his love for the

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game and being a goalie,” said goalie parent Cecilia Teeuwen, Minneapolis, Minn.

“The coaches that CGS has are the best in the business – they interact so well with the goalies, the students don’t even realize how hard they are working,” said goalie parent Bud Samms, from Cambridge, Iowa. “My son gains more in three, twohour sessions than in any of the week-long camps he has attended.”

Becky Moore, goalie parent from Cheyenne, Wy., said “My daughter’s love for being a goalie was renewed and strengthened in just the first hour of the camp! Each day brought different skills taught in a supportive and fun environment that kids of all ages and skill sets benefited from!”

You are encouraged to register early for best selection. To reserve a spot for your goalie, visit www.carrollgs.com.

Summer Hockey Guide 2024 15

Passing – A lost art?

The one skill that seems to have regressed in youth and high school hockey is passing

by JOSH LEVINE

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

The one skill that seems to have regressed in youth and high school hockey is passing. It’s not sexy and a clip of an amazing breakout pass is rarely featured on any highlight reel or Instagram feed. But hockey is a game of speed and the cliché that the puck moves faster than any skater is true.

The best passing teams have substantial advantages over their opponents.

Imagine a sequence of two passes that takes A pass from one defenseman to the other on place just 0.2 seconds faster on one team compared to its opponent. Each time they make a set a regroup that is crisp, quick and accurate sets up of two passes, this team opens up space. At the the next play. Each consecutive hard and accurate boys’ high school varsity level, that space can be five feet or more! That’s how fast this game is and pass gives the receiver a wider range of options how crucial passing is to be successful in it. than he otherwise would have had.

Many players can recite a variety of coaching tips for shooting. Everyone, including coaches, would rather watch kids work on shooting than watch players learn to pass. Even a simple partner passing rewarding hard work. We reward scoring goals. What about drill can be excruciating as pucks begin to fly off players’ the passes that set up the goals? Not even the immediate pass sticks or not even come close to the intended target. Players to the goal scorer, but the many passes that came before the don’t automatically make consistent tape-to-tape passes. It’s goal that opened up space or that forced an opponent to skate a skill, like anything else, and it requires a lot of time. farther, longer and harder, leaving them a few feet behind Many youth players don’t hold their stick properly when rather than equal to the shooter. A pass from one defenseman receiving a pass. Their top hand is tucked against their rib to the other on a regroup that is crisp, quick and accurate sets cage rather than being away from the body and in a better up the next play. Each consecutive hard and accurate pass position to pass the puck once the player receives it. Many gives the receiver a wider range of options than he otherwise other players have a weak bottom hand. Pucks fly off their would have had. sticks, not because they don’t have enough give, but because As hockey continues to evolve and undoubtedly gets their bottom hand is too soft, and as the puck hits their blade, even faster, passing will become more crucial. Those that it opens up. master it will have an advantage that will be hard to beat.

We need to talk about and reward passing. We talk about

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Summer Hockey Guide 2024 19

Six keys to improve skating speed & efficiency

by JACK BLATHERWICK

Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Every year, some players dominate in the regular season, but not in the playoffs when the pace is faster. The difference is efficient high-end speed, and it’s highly trainable.

1. Longer skating strides = wider strides. At high speeds, you cannot lengthen your stride straight backward because your feet would have to be impossibly quick. Instead, push hard to the side (hip abduction). This is the major source of skating power and efficiency at high speed, yet it is ignored in most weight rooms. Because your skate blade is not perpendicular to the angle of force, this propels you forward, in the same way a sailboat tacks crosswind much faster than the wind. At the end of each stride, you are pushing backward (hip extension) because you’re moving past the ice. You also rotate your hips to prepare for the next stride. Off-ice exercises for hip abduction-rotation-extension include side-to-side jumps, Russian Box jumps, resisted lunge walks and slide board.

2. For acceleration, nothing compares to short off-ice sprints. Explode as fast as you can for 5-30 meters then walk back to the starting line for recovery.

Lean forward to 45 degrees like Usain Bolt. Extend your body in a straight line (SLX) so your leg force passes through your center of mass efficiently. On the other hand, bending forward (pike position) is an inefficient use of force, whether sprinting or skating. Efficiency must be part of your speed training, not just strength, strength and more strength.

3. Less equipment means faster skating practice. Today’s shoulder pads are so heavy they look like they’re designed for football. Hockey pants (breezers) have too much padding and restrict the width and length of the stride. Speedskating coaches would never burden skaters with restrictive pants. Keep in mind that all repetitions result in permanent changes to the brain and spinal cord(the CNS), so don’t practice slow, restricted strides every day at a young age when learning is greatest.

Get a pair of scissors to remove unnecessary padding. Slit the inseam to allow greater range of motion. Keep in mind that manufacturers are protecting their company from lawsuits, not just protecting your body. Include some “skating improvement days,”without 20 Summer Hockey Guide 2024

breezers and shoulder pads. Your feet will move faster, and stride width-length will increase.

4. Strength workouts must incorporate explosive movement of your body, not just slow strength alone.Sprints plus weighted and unweighted jumps (oneand two-legged) should be inserted into each workout. Traditional weight training is part of the process at older ages, but if you don’t add explosive movement to train the Central Nervous System (CNS) for speed, weight training is too limited by itself. Why? 1) The heavier the lift, the slower your body moves. 2) Every lift includes deceleration in the last part of the movement, at precisely the point where the skating stride requires maximum acceleration. 3) Traditional weight training ignores the key to skating power: hip abduction-rotation-extension. 4) The range of motion in all barbell lifts is restricted to one plane; yet no sport Let’s Play Hockey

– certainly not skating – is restricted to one plane.

5. Practice skating on your own.

Whether you take lessons or not, you must get thousands of repetitions on your own, just as golfers practice by the hour after each lesson. Add dryland skating workouts when you come off the ice. There is no speedskating coach in the world who would teach skating without dryland training.

6. On the ice, every repetition must be done with 100 percent quality, so rest intervals are critical. Even endurance training must be fast, with perfect execution to build speed and efficient mechanics. Never skate with poor mechanics and slow feet, which is inevitable if you do endurance skating drills past the point of lactic acid buildup and temporary fatigue (about 6-10 seconds depending on the intensity). www.letsplayhockey.com

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