Clinics
Day only, On-Ice and Lecture only
* Spring Break Clinic April 2 – 6, PHD Sterling, VA $500
* Pre-Tryout Clinic  April 1   Prince William On-Ice: 9:30-11am & 2:30-4pm  $125
* Breakaway/Odd Man Rush Clinic May 19  Reston Skate Quest On-Ice: 10:10-11:30am  &  1:30-2:50pm   $125
* Holiday Clinic December 27 & 28 Reston Skate Quest  $250

Mini Camps
Day Only $200 6 hours of ice + off-ice + lectures + video analysis
* Hershey Essentials Mini Camp  July 14 & 15 (2 groups) Hershey Park Arena, Hershey, PA
* Pre-Season Mini Camp August 18 & 19  (2 Groups) Hershey Park Arena, Hershey, PA

Camps
GA Intensity Weeklong Camps at PHD VA & MD $500 per week long camp, Day campers only.
* GA Intensity Week Long Camps, Limited to 18 goalies (6 per group)
June 25 – 29
July 9 – 13
July 16 – 20
July 23 – 27
July 30 – August 3
August 6 – 10
August 13 – 17

* Hershey Extreme Camp July 19 – 22 Day Only $750
* Boston Elite Camp July 30 – August 3 $900 Day $1,200 Overnight (Double Squirt –Pee Wee & Bantam-Up)
* Pr William Week Camp, August 20-24, $350; 10am-12:30pm

NHL

Have Goalies Become Too Dominant?

OCTOBER 20, 2011

By MIKE SIELSKI 

Back when a goaltender’s ensemble consisted of a flimsy chest protector and a thin plastic mask strapped flush

against his face (if he wore a mask at all), the position was the dominion of eccentrics. It required an odd blend of guts and inertia that bore no relation to skating, checking or anything else that was happening on the ice.

Today, the goalie looms over hockey as if he were a giant green lizard.

The consensus throughout the NHL is that goaltending has entered a golden age. Goalies are more athletic. Their equipment practically blocks the pucks for them. There’s even an advanced form of hip surgery that can rejuvenate their careers.

This tide is so strong, in fact, that new rules implemented by the NHL to boost scoring haven’t succeeded. The league’s per-game scoring average fell to 5.46 in 2010-11, a 10% decline over the previous six seasons. The goalies themselves are thriving: Of the 20 best single-season save percentages by any individual goalie in league history, four were posted just last season, including a record .938 by Boston’s Tim Thomas. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do to stop it,” said Bill Howard, who coached several future NHL goaltenders during his 38 years at the University of Wisconsin. “It’s probably become the most dominant position in sports.”

Goalies, coaches and NHL experts say one of the chief forces behind this puck-stopping revolution is something pretty basic: The position is attracting bigger and better athletes. Bobby Taylor, a former NHL backup from 1971 to 1976, said that when he played, at 6 feet 1 and 185 pounds, he was regarded as a big goalie. Of the NHL’s top 10 leaders in save percentage last season, nine were at least 6-feet tall, six were 6 feet 2 or taller and another nine weighed 195 pounds or more. By most accounts, larger bodies in goal are better than smaller ones.

Instruction has improved, too, across all levels of hockey. Goaltending coaches, once a novelty in the sport, have become NHL fixtures. There’s also a growing army of private tutors who work with young players. “When I was 14, I just tried to stop the puck,” New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said. “Now, I see 10-year-olds, and they know exactly how to play.”

Then there’s the equipment. Armed with today’s 11-inch-wide leg pads, inch-thick shoulder and clavicle protectors, massive catching mitts that measure 18 inches from the heel to far edge of the webbing, and titanium-reinforced and composite-fiber masks, goalies have little reason to fear injury. “A lt of the save choices were designed to keep your body and your face away from the puck,” said Mitch Korn, who’s been an NHL goaltending coach for 21 years, the last 14 with the Nashville Predators. “Now, we’re not afraid to throw our face in front of it.”

All this equipment also gives would-be scorers less vacant net to work with. In the 1970s, an average glove might be half a foot smaller than today’s standard size, and leg pads were just seven inches wide. The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Dwayne Roloson, who stands 6 feet 1 and weighs 170 pounds, is skinny as a stick, Taylor said. “But you see him in equipment, and, man, he looks like RoboCop.”

Goaltenders may also be poised to benefit from advancements in medicine. After sitting out much of the 2009-10 season with hip problems, Boston’s Thomas, who has twice won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, regained his acrobatic style of play last season, helping the Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 1972. One possible factor in his renaissance: an arthroscopic procedure on his left hip.

Thomas, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the procedure. Brian Kelly, co-director for the Center of Hip Preservation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, who performed the operation, said it gave Thomas increased range of motion and made him more agile. He said it’s possible other goalies could extend their careers by having the surgery.

For its part, the NHL has taken steps to maintain scoring and, in some cases, curb the powers of goaltenders. After average per-game scoring fell to 5.14 goals in 2003-04, and after a lockout wiped out the following season, the league added the shootout as an option to decide regular-season games, placed restrictions on goaltenders’ movements outside the crease and legalized the two-line pass to encourage breakaways and odd-man rushes.

These changes haven’t boosted scoring, but that’s not entirely the fault of goalies. To counteract these rules, teams routinely play a suffocating form of defense where all five skaters collapse into the middle of the rink, siphoning opposing shooters to the periphery and forcing them to take tougher shots.

The league says it isn’t planning any major changes. NHL goaltending supervisor Kay Whitmore said he’s not troubled by recent developments. “The whole game has come a long way,” he said. “There’s a reason it’s as good as it’s ever been but the goals haven’t gone up. The excitement’s there.”

According to the Nielsen Company, the average TV rating for Stanley Cup Finals games in 2011 was 2.7, a 50% increase from the average in 2006.

“What’s the most popular sport in the world? Soccer,” Korn said. “They average two goals a game.”

If the NHL wanted to boost scoring, Bill Clement, a former player and television analyst, suggests it consider shrinking the specifications on the size of goalie equipment. Howard, the former Wisconsin coach, had another idea: He said the sport’s emphasis on defense over the last decade has eroded the skills of goal-scorers. “You need more emphasis on offense as you develop NHL players,” he said.

If nothing is done, one thing seems certain: Goalies are only going to get better.

Steve McKichan, a former NHL goaltending coach, said he has obtained a patent for a new set of goaltender’s leg pads that are angled like the blade of a snowplow. Whenever a goalie drops to his knees or kicks out his leg along the ice to make a save, the pads tilt backward seven to eight degrees more than a standard pair.

Any puck that strikes the pads, McKichan said, will carom harmlessly into a corner of the rink instead of going into the slot, where opponents can turn them into easy goals. McKichan said the prototype pads, which conform to the NHL’s current regulations, could be on the market in December.

Whitmore, the league’s supervisor, said he’ll have to evaluate them.

Families will receive a discount of 2 equipment cleanings for the price of 1 when they bring in two sets of equipment to be cleaned at the same time.  This promotion is limited to the first 200 customers.

Bring in any two sets of gear to be sanitized and receive the cleaning of both for $30.00!  Any sets of gear including hockey, football, lacrosse, firefighter, motorcycle racing suits, etc. can be included together.

To schedule a cleaning, please call Gabriella Wlassits at 571-438-3440.

Here is more information on the sanitizing process:

What we do.

Our Fresh Gear C40 machines use a unique process that forces ozone gas, with high volume and velocity, straight into the gear to penetrate deep into the dense padding and hard to reach places in gloves, boots, and skates. This enables the ozone to kill up to 99.99% of the odor causing bacteria lurking there! Ozone (O3) is one of the strongest oxidants and disinfectants available, ranking ahead of hydrogen peroxide, bleach, and iodine, without any residue or odor. Ozone is nature’s way of purifying air and water. It is colorless and occurs naturally in the air we breathe every day.

Why It’s Important.

Perspiration that is produced from strenuous activity allows bacteria to form deep within protective equipment, resulting in potentially dangerous contact with the skin, and the all too familiar odors associated with hockey equipment.

Recently, an alarming number of athletes in the NHL, NFL, CFL, NCAA and high school ranks have been sidelined due to serious staph infections (MRSA) often caused by a cut or scratch on the skin being exposed to the bacteria in their equipment.

Merely “airing out” your equipment does not kill the bacteria and, in some cases, introducing moisture via “washing” can make the problem worse.

How We Do it.

To address these and other health issues resulting from exposure to harmful mold, mildew and bacteria, Capital Fresh Gear uses a remarkably effective equipment sanitizing system developed by Ozone Nation Inc™. The system was designed to destroy the bacteria growing in your sports equipment.

The key ingredient in this powerful sanitizing system is ozone gas. Ozone has been utilized for decades in the sanitizing of food, drinking water, swimming pools, hospitals and in fire and flood restoration.

Click here to see the equipment cleaning process: http://www.freshgear.com/ozone_solution_freshgear_bacteria.html

If questions or concerns please do not hesitate to give Doug Michals a call at (617) 974-8866 or email at doug@goalieacademy.com.

One of the most highly regarded North American goaltenders entering this year’s NHL Entry Draft, Jay Williams isn’t your typical “jersey guy.”  And by that of course we are referring to Williams’ affinity for NHL jerseys.  Having amassed an impressive collection – from Olaf Kolzig to Roman Chechmanek to Alexander Ovechkin – Jay Williams has more sweaters in his wardrobe than Bill Cosby and Mr. Rogers combined.

http://ushl.com/news/story.cfm?id=4034

The Predators will skate out of the Haymarket Iceplex in Haymarket, VA.

MATT MICHALS

Congratulations to Matt Michals in making the ’95 MA Spring Festival Team. Matt Currently plays for the U16 Bay State Breakers and attends the Fessenden School in West Newton, MA.

Luke Frawley of the Hershey Jr. Bears Tier 1 program was named The Goalie Academy’s Wimpy Award Winner for 2010.  The Goalie Academy instructional staff votes for both the finalists and the winner of the award which is given each year.  Luke has been to The Goalie Academy summer camps for many years and he is developing into a very strong goaltender.  He has always exhibited the conduct, character, and work ethic that have allowed him to continually improve.  Congratulations, Luke! 

Awarded since 2001, the Wimpy Award is our highest honor, bestowed on the goalie who demonstrates the best work ethic, character, desire to improve and upward potential.  Dan Sullivan of the University of Maine is a previous Wimpy Award winner!

The Wimpy Award is named after Wilbur Franklin “Wimp” Hallman, who passed away on June 20, 2001.  The Goalie Academy and the hockey world lost a great friend in Wimp, who left a great void for those involved in youth hockey, especially in the Hershey, PA area.  Wimp was a long time member of the Hershey Area Minor Hockey Board of Directors, where he served as treasurer for many years.  He was also the Hersheypark Arena Rink Manager and former Director of The Goalie Academy.  

 It was Wimp’s commitment to making the camp work in the early years that allows us to continue to help goalies today.