A 'Goalie Nation' Celebration
Details on the 2024 National Goaltending Symposium
In less than two months, USA Hockey will be hosting the first-ever National Goaltending Symposium in St. Paul, Minnesota. The event takes place over four days and is composed of two pieces — an expo and a coaching symposium.
The National Goaltending Expo will take place on Saturday, June 1 at the St. Paul Event Center. It is open to all USA Hockey members and will feature booths from a variety of goalie gear manufacturers and brands. There will also be a group of special goalie guests in attendance, connecting with fans and celebrating the storied past and bright future of the goaltending position.
I’m excited to say that I have been invited to speak at the expo about our Lift The Mask program. I will also be giving out helmet stickers, books, and some other swag in support of mental health in the goaltending community.
The other piece of the NGS is an educational opportunity for coaches of all levels and positions. The USA Hockey National Goaltending Symposium takes place from Friday, May 30 until Sunday, June 2 and includes a star-studded lineup of goalies, coaches, and leaders in the industry from across the country.
Big Win for American Goalies
As you can imagine, I’m over the moon about this initiative by USA Hockey.
Free and accessible goalie-specific events like these are quite rare, and therefore super valuable for the hockey community at large. This is a great way for athletes and parents to receive free education about many key aspects of the position, from the gear to the advanced training to the recruiting process.
Steve Thompson, USA Hockey’s manager of goaltending development, has been working hard to make this event come to fruition. Knowing that it will be a highlight in his career and a milestone for US goaltending, I reached out to him to learn more about the NGS.
“Fans can expect to see a little bit of everything at the expo,” Steve said. “Our goal with this event is to celebrate the history of the position by bringing in some former Olympians, NHL players, and goalie coaches to share where we’ve come from and how we got here. But we also plan to showcase some of the current stars and future legends that today’s goalies look up to.”
By bringing athletes and their families together to celebrate goaltending, USA Hockey gets to show some much-needed “love” to the position as a whole. In essence, they are creating a node and “point of interest” for the country’s goaltending community and the continued growth of its culture.
“This is massive. The fact that USA Hockey is fully behind this and is treating it like a marquee event for the entire organization, not just the goaltending sector, is huge,” Steve added. “I think it just speaks to the commitment we have to Goalie Nation. From the top down, the entire company is supporting this and making it a really big and memorable event.”
While the NGS is not expected to happen every year, there will be additional symposiums in the future, potentially held in different cities.
“We want to make sure that every time we get together, the event is relevant and powerful and exciting,” Steve explained. “We’re going to give it a two-to-three year break after this one, just to let the game change a little bit. We think that gap in time will make future symposiums a much more rich and impactful experience.”
Personally, I think the timing of this event couldn’t be better. It falls close to the middle of the decade and at the height of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, in a season where American goalies have been nothing short of dominant.
Furthermore, if the event isn’t happening every year, then we could possibly see the third or fourth NGS being held in 2030 — the key date in USA Hockey’s well-known “51-in-30” rally cry.
The Goalie Coaching Symposium
Alongside the one-day expo, USA Hockey is also hosting a free goalie coaching symposium for anyone interested in the position. It begins on Thursday, May 30 and concludes on Sunday, June 2. This requires USA Hockey membership to attend, as Level 4 and 5 certified coaches get five credits of continuing education.
REGISTRATION: www.usahockey.com/page/show/8408881-national-goaltending-symposium
To learn more about the coaching symposium and what you can expect during the three-day event, be sure to read this FAQ with Thompson.
If you’re attending this symposium, be sure to send me a message if you want to meet up. This will be my first time back in the Twin Cities since 2014, so I’m looking forward to connecting with as many friends and coaches as possible.
Youth Goalie Survey
Teddy Stanowski, a goalie coach based in Las Vegas, is looking for USA goalies currently playing at the 10U-15U levels to complete a survey for his research:
“The intention is to capture information and understand more about performance anxiety and how we can help young goalies all over become more mentally tough on, and off the ice. The answers of this survey will be kept private and will not be shared, but will be used in the project as a capstone for a USA Hockey Gold Certification.”
SURVEY LINK: https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/PHCOxd
If you know of any goalies in that age range, please send them to the link above. Their feedback is greatly appreciated and supports some emerging research that will help goalie coaches support their athletes more effectively.
2024 GGR: Latest Updates
Preparations for the 2024 Global Goaltending Retreat are now underway.
As shared in the GGR Roundup last month, this year’s retreat will look quite different from the previous ones.
For starters, it’s being held two weeks later than usual (June 12-16), which means we will be enjoying Breckenridge’s summer season for the first time ever. Secondly, we’re hosting a new group design project that will bring everyone closer together, but without sacrificing any of our valuable ice time.
I’m also excited to announce that Warrior Goalie will be attending this year, so Demo Goalies will get a chance to try out their latest equipment. Having a gear rep to share their expertise and get genuine feedback from our crew has been a long time coming, so I’m very excited to have Warrior joining us in Breck.
Lastly, I want to announce that there will not be a 2025 GGR. Similar to what Steve shared above about the NGS, I want to shift gears, keep things fresh, and do something different in 2025. I already have something in the works, and I think it’s an event the entire coaching community will enjoy and appreciate.
I won’t tip my hat any further for now, but I promise to share more as soon as some dates are finalized.
Latest Reads
Since the GGR Roundup in March, the majority of my research and reading has been focused on skill acquisition and practice design (periodization). I’ve also been taking some time to learn more about team systems, defensive zone structure, and head coaching methods.
Lastly, I’m keeping an eye on the current situation with MLB pitchers and the drastic rise in injuries. This conundrum is fascinating, and I think there’s a lot we can learn as goalie coaches about managing reps in practices over the course of a full season.
Yes, it’s a totally different sport and position. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from what is happening and try to be more proactive with goaltending.
+ No Coaches Allowed: Dr. Alex Lascu
+ Rob Gray on the Relevance of Coaching Education Workshops
+ USA Hockey Expands Efforts to Boost American Goalies in NHL
+ Jack Han’s “Hockey Tactics” Newsletter
Looking forward to seeing some of you in Minnesota at the NGS, and then ramping things up for the GGR in mid-June!