Casco Bay Hockey is excited to announce our first-of-its-kind partnership with Mike Buckley's GDS Elite goalie training program will continue in 2024-25.  GDS works with goalies currently playing at the NHL, college, Prep, Junior, and youth travel levels of hockey and is recognized as a leader in the goalie training world. 

All Casco Bay goalies from 10u to 19u (Tier 1 to House) will have the opportunity to take advantage of weekly GDS training for the 2024-25 season by "Opting In" to the program.  Here's how:

-Each goalie can "Opt In" to GDS (the cost will be announced soon)

-GDS training will include 22+ weeks of coaching from early October to early March.

-Our new "Casco Bay GDS" goalies will have the opportunity to train at the GDS micro-ice facility at The Rinks in Exeter, New Hampshire twice per month in small groups of 1 to 3 goalies.  (I've included videos of the micro-ice training  with GDS below)

-GDS will travel up to a Casco Bay arena  to train all our CB/GDS goalies twice per month.  (We used Troubh Arena in Portland on Friday nights at 7:30 for the 2023-24 season)

-Training will include individual coaching, one-on-one on-ice attention, group drill work, and video analysis. 

This is truly optional, but we hope a lot of our Casco Bay goalies "Opt In" to GDS.  As we announced in March of 2022, we have reduced the tuition for all Casco Bay goalies (U14 & below the reduction equals the cost of GDS).  We sincerely hope that this adjustment will make signing up for GDS financially possible for many of our goalie families. 

For the Casco Bay goalies that don't "Opt In" to CB/GDS, we will still provide on-ice goalie training from our group of Casco Bay (not GDS) goalie coaches during "Skills" nights and normal team practices.  Our goal is to provide on-ice coaching for every goalie during the winter season from 10u to 14u at least twice per month.

If you have questions, please contact Marc Halsted (Casco Bay Goaltending Director) at marc_halsted@yarmouthschools.org.

Thank you GDS, for helping a new generation CB goalies "Guard the Coast" of Casco Bay!

February, 2024 Goaltending Update

GOALIE COACHING: We have worked hard to get CB Goalie Coaches to practices and Skills nights this winter.  We will continue to try and get coaches on the ice with your son/daughter at least twice each month.

TRAVEL TRYOUTS for Mariners and Spartans teams are set for early-March.  If you are interested, you can go to the CB website to register.  If you have any questions about the process or travel hockey, please feel free to reach out to me for more information. 

EQUIPMENT UPGRADES: If you are struggling to find new goalie gear - or to get properly sized - you can go straight to Play It Again Sports in Portland, Goalie Monkey, or Pure Hockey in Portsmouth (or any of their locations).  Additionally, please feel free reach out to me and I'll happily help you out, or point you in the right direction.  Goalie gear is expensive and the sizing process can be complex.

PRIVATE COACHING and SUMMER CAMPS: Each year I update this website with links and contact info for private coaches and summer camp opportunities.  But if you'd also like personal advice, feel free to email me or ask any of our goalie coaches questions when you see us around the rinks.

Thank you all, good luck with the rest of the season, and let's continue to "Guard the Coast" of Casco Bay!

-Coach Halsted

In the summer of 2019 Casco Bay Hockey announced an enhanced focus on goaltending for the 2019-20 season by establishing the "Goaltending Director" position and supporting a series of clinics and more on-ice instruction.  Thanks to the support of CBH President Matt Lambert and the CBH Board, we will continue to try and grow our Casco Bay goaltending program during the 2024-25 season.

Our goal is to build off of the success of our first few seasons by again offering our "Opt In" to GDS Elite goalie training during the season, an 8-week GDS Elite summer camp at Travis Roy Arena, and continued on-ice Goalie coaching from our strong group of dedicated local Casco Bay goalie coaches.

Thank you for being a part of Casco Bay Hockey and this new platform for our goalies as we work to "Guard the Coast" of Casco Bay!

All the Best,
Marc Halsted
Casco Bay Goaltending Director
marc_halsted@yarmouthschools.org

Summer, 2024 will be here before we know and many goaltending families have already reached out to me to learn more about summer clinics and individual instruction.

Within Casco Bay we will be offering our second summer of GDS Elite Camp with GDS President Mike Buckley (the L.A. Kings Goalie Coach) and his professional training staff, led by Alec Marshall and Steve Mastalerz.  We will post registration information for the 2024 GDS camp in by March.

For individual instruction, I highly recommend reaching out to people like Fred Quistgard (quistgardgoaltending@myfairpoint.net), the head goaltending coach for the Maine Mariners, and Jillian Flynn (jflygoalies@gmail.com), former UMaine goalie and lead instructor for our Casco Bay Spartans program.  Hannu Toivonen, the goaltending coach for the Toronto Marlies and a former lead coach for our Casco Bay travel teams, will be around for a few weeks this summer and might also take on some clients.

Additionally, Mike Buckley and GDS Elite run some great programs in the spring and summer throughout New England.  Check them out at gdsgoalies.com

Here are some clinics for the spring and summer of 2023:

Hannu Toivonen at https://www.htgoaltending.com/

Mike Fellows and Liz Bergstrom with Goalie World at https://www.goalieworldhc.com/coaches

Own the Crease with Ray Jean at https://www.ownthecrease.com/

Navrat Performance with Pavel Navrat at https://navratperformance.com/index.html

Rousseau's Hockey Clinic at http://www.rousseaushockeyclinic.com/

Black Bear Hockey Camp at https://www.blackbearhockey.com/

I will continue to research other clinics and add them to the list above as I learn more about them. But for now this is a good list to start with because these are established clinics run by quality coaches like Hannu, Ray Jean (Maine's USA Hockey goaltending rep.), and Pavel Navrat.  It should be noted that Rousseau's, which runs throughout the spring and summer, also offers a lot of quality ice time and some goaltending instruction.

Do not hesitate to reach out to me personally to talk about summer clinics and coaching opportunities. Feel free to email me or stop me at a rink to have a conversation. I want to make sure that Casco Bay supports its goaltenders as they look for high quality instructional opportunities in the spring and summer.