Casco Bay Hockey is excited to announce a first-of-its-kind partnership with Mike Buckley's GDS Elite goalie training program.  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 2023-24 season by "Opting In" to the program.  Here's how:

-Each goalie can "Opt In" to GDS at a cost of $800.

-GDS training will include 20+ weeks of coaching from early October to the end of February.

-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.

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

-The CB/GDS program will also include access to an online site for parents, goalies, and Casco Bay coaches that will be critical in furthering the development of each CB/GDS netminder.  Parents will learn more about the position, goalies will be able to focus on mental and physical development, and CB coaches will be able to see what they goalies are learning and doing through GDS.

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 (75% of full tuition for single goalie teams, 60% for two-goalie teams).  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 some on-ice goalie training from our group of Casco Bay (not GDS) goalie coaches during "Skills" nights and normal team practices.

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, 2023 Goaltending Update

The 2022-23 season is in full swing with all of our teams competing in MEAHA, the NEGHL, and the Boston Hockey League.  Here are some important updates for our Casco Bay Goalies.

GDS COMES TO MAINE AGAIN: Casco Bay Hockey proudly partnered with Mike Buckley's GDS Elite coaches for another free clinic on February 10th at Troubh Arena in Portland. Mike Buckley and his coaches were on the ice with 25 of our Casco Bay goalies ranging in age from 6 to 16.  It was a great night of intensive instruction, high-quality drills, and equal amounts of smiles and sweat.  

Mike Buckley's GDS is one of the elite goalie training programs  in the country and they work with professional, college, prep school, high school, and club team hockey goalies from the mid-Atlantic to Maine.  Mike is the former Head Goalie Coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a two-time winner of the Stanley Cup with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017.  

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 mid-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

Mike Buckley's GDS Elite goalie staff ventured back up to Portland to run another free clinic for our Casco Bay goalies on Friday, February 10th.  It was another great night of instruction and fun for 25 of our goalies.  Thank you Coach Buckley, Coach Mastalerz, and Coach Marshall!

Our First Casco Bay Goaltending Clinic of 2022-23

Mike Buckley's GDS Elite coaches traveled up to Portland to run our first "Casco Bay Coast Guard" clinic of the year.  The session was free to all Casco Bay goalies, and took place at Troubh Arena on Friday, November 18th.

28 Casco Bay goalies (over half the goalies in our CBH program!) took to the ice for a full hour of skating, fundamental movements, drills, competition, fun, and learning.  Check out the photos and videos below.  Ages ranged from 6 to 16 and every program in Casco was represented.

Leading the way on the ice was Alec Marshall out of the Exeter Rinks GDS who played at Southern New Hampshire and has been a long-time GDS student and coach.  Steve Mastalerz (former UMass Amherst netminder, and goaltending coach in the LA Kings organization) set up the stations and ran a variety of quality drills. 

It was also great to see student coaches Zach Ericson and Brandon White helping Alec and Steve coach and work the various stations.  Zach is a former Casco Bay goalie from Yarmouth who now skates with the Seacoast Spartans SPA program and coaches at GDS in Exeter with Alec.  Brandon is a sophomore at Falmouth High who serves as one of our Casco Bay Goaltending "Apprentice Coaches," working with many of our 12u and 10u goalies.

Rounding out our on-ice crew were Jillian Flynn and David Argereow, who are integral parts of our Casco Bay "Coast Guard" family of goaltending coaches.   

Thank you Mike, Alec, Steve, Zach, Brandon, Jillian, and David - it was a great night for Casco Bay Goaltending!

FREE GOALIE CLINICS

Our CB Goalie Clinics will be scheduled on a monthly basis during the 2022-23 season.  I will send out an email to all CB Goalie families a few days before the clinic to gauge interest, so I know how many goalie coaches and shooters to schedule.

TUITION REMINDER, NEW FOR 2022-23

With much gratitude towards the Casco Bay Board, a goaltender tuition change for the 2022-23 season has been approved. If your child is the only goalie on a team next year, they will pay 75% of the full tuition. If your child is one of two goalies on a team, they will pay 60% tuition.

The CB Board recognizes that being a goalie presents a multitude of unique issues including the cost of equipment, playing time challenges, and the need for one-on-one instruction. We want to make sure that Casco Bay Hockey is growing a community of well-coached and dedicated goaltenders, and this is a move in the right direction for our goalie families.

CASCO BAY GOALTENDING WEBSITE

Please take a moment to look at the images, videos and written content of this page below this note.  I will be putting up information about summer camps soon, and I also plan to provide some information about finding affordable equipment for your ever-growing children.

As always, feel free to email me (Marc Halsted) with any questions or concerns you have or if you'd like to be added to our goalie family email list.

Please take care, stay healthy, and I look forward to seeing you all around a rink soon.

Best,
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 2022-23 season.

Our goal is to build off of the success of our first few seasons by again offering the "Casco Bay Coast Guard" fall goalie camp and our free goalie sessions once a month to any registered CBH goaltender. 

We are also working hard to get our goalies direct one-on-one coaching during "Skills Sessions" and on-ice practices from our stable of goalie coaches.   We've already been scheduling goalie coaches for our Spartans and Mariners programs, and will look to do the same once our House Programs start in late-November. 

As we try to get through the 2022-23 season, I hope this webpage will be a positive way for Casco Bay goalies, goalie parents, and coaches to view important content, watch instructional videos, keep up with CBH goalie news, and celebrate the growth and development of our goalies.  Monthly emails will also go out to all goalie families from August to March to keep us connected and informed.

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

We hosted our final "Casco Bay Coast Guard Goalie Clinic" on Friday, February 25th at NYA.  Once again, we saw over a dozen CB goalies on the ice and worked through a variety of stations that included warm-up, proper footwork, crease movements, and goalie-centered shooting drills.

On Friday night, January 28th NYA a total of 23 Casco Bay goalies strapped on the pads and hit the ice with a dozen coaches and shooters.  Our goalies ranged in age from 7 to 14 and included 8u "Mites," 14u "Bantams," experienced travel goalies, and players brand new to the position.

A huge thanks to Jeff Haley and David Argereow who took the lead for this clinic. I was off-ice but enjoyed watching Coach Haley and Coach Argereow run a good warm-up and put the goalies into five quality stations.  We also had help from Neil McQuarrie, a Casco Bay goalie and the current starter for the Yarmouth/Cheverus varsity hockey team. Overall, it was another positive night of instruction, repetition, and quality coaching from a variety of experienced voices. It is great to see the Casco Bay Coast Guard goaltending culture continue to evolve and grow.

As to our first CBCG clinic back in December, a special thanks to Fred Quistgard, the head Goaltending Coach with the Maine Mariners, who brought his 44 years of experience coaching at the pro, college, Olympic, prep school, and USA youth hockey levels.  Coach Quistgard worked with each group of goalies and spent a little extra time with our 8u kids who are just learning the position.  

In the future, I will email each of the 50+ Casco Bay goalie families within five days of each session to provide a reminder and to try and gauge interest (so I know how many coaches and "shooters" to provide).  If you want to make sure you receive those direct emails, please email me at marc_halsted@yarmouthschools.org and I will add you to the email list.  

Summer, 2023 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.

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.  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.

Once again we are fortunate to have some fantastic goalie coaches working with our young netminders.  Maine Mariners Head Goaltending Coach Fred Quistgard (above) and former UMaine goalie Jillian Flynn (below) worked with (among others) CB goalies Chloe Scott (14u), Grady Argereow (2010 Spartans), Isaac Gibel (16u), Marty Novick (12u), and both Max Jagoutz and Patrick McGibbon from our 10u Mariners teams.

The third annual Casco Bay Coast Guard Fall Goalie Clinic wrapped up in mid-October after providing four sessions of direct instruction to a group of Spartan and Mariner travel goalies.

Below is a video view of our final ice time in 2020.  We will add videos from our current clinics in the coming weeks. 

Thanks to all the goalies, coaches, shooters, and parents who help make this clinic possible.  We will be announcing our schedule of free goalie winter ice times in the coming weeks  as we continue to work to "Guard the Coast of Casco Bay."  

If you check the Navigation Bar above-left you'll see a sub-page that will bring you to instructional videos and video content for our Casco Bay goalies. Once there, you will see multiple links to Gold in the Net videos and you will eventually see some of the USA Hockey Goaltending "Drills of the Month" that are professional, instructive, and relevant for all goalies, from Mite cross-ice to Midget T2 travel. 

In the future we also hope to use this sub-page to post progressive videos of our Casco Bay goalies at practices and during games as they grow and evolve throughout the year.  Additionally, we hope to offer an opportunity for our own goalies to contribute appropriate, fun, engaging, and instructive video content that can contribute to the development of other CB goalies.

Once again, we want to create new opportunities and online content that helps our goalies "Guard the Coast" of Casco Bay.

Check out some pictures form our 2019-20 Casco Bay Goalie Clinics!