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USA Hockey Launches New Goaltending Development Program Ahead of 2019-2020 Season

By USA Hockey, 05/13/19, 11:00AM MDT

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Season programming to kick off with combined World Junior and Women's National Team Goaltending Camp

USA Hockey announced today its restructured approach for goaltending development and education designed to help American goaltenders reach their maximum potential and achieve success on the international stage. 

The new approach is four-pronged and includes a combined national junior and women's national team goaltending camp each May at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan; the Warren Strelow boys goaltending camp for 15-year-old players each summer; and separate sessions specifically for goaltenders at National Select Festivals for boys and girls each summer.

"We're excited to roll out this new program, which we feel takes a more streamlined and targeted approach to goaltending development in the offseason," said Thomas Speer, USA Hockey national goalie coach. "With our main goal of sustaining high performance on the international stage at the forefront, we've identified efficiencies and areas for growth in our planning to create new programming that will be more effective for identifying and developing talent, while providing athletes with world-class resources to improve their game." 

The new program will commence Thursday (May 16) at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich., where the top collegiate and postgraduate female goaltenders, and the top junior male goaltenders in the nation will come together for four days of specialized training and mentoring to support their long-term development as elite athletes. 


ABOUT THE WOMEN'S CAMP

Among the 12 female attendees are 2018 Olympic champions Nicole Hensley (Lakewood, Colo./Buffalo Beauts), Alex Rigsby (Delafield, Wis./Calgary Inferno) and Maddie Rooney (Andover, Minn./University of Minnesota Duluth), as well as Emma Polusny (Mound, Minn./St. Cloud State University), member of the IIHF Women's World Championship gold medal-winning 2019 U.S. Women's National Team

The women's camp will be led by camp coaches Bob Corkum, head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team; Steve Thompson, goaltending coach for the U.S. Women's National Team; and Alli Altman, goaltending coach for the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team. The trio will work alongside Laura Bellamy, Larry Clemens, and two-time Olympic silver medalist Bri McLaughlin.

ABOUT THE MEN'S CAMP

The men's side will feature nine attendees, including the duo of Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn./USA Hockey NTDP) and Cameron Rowe (Wilmette, Ill./USA Hockey NTDP) that backstopped the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team to a bronze medal at the 2019 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship. A total of five attendees have skated in a USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game, including 2017 participant Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich./Michigan State) and 2018 players Knight, Rowe, Isaiah Saville (Anchorage, Alaska/Tri-City Storm) and Dustin Wolf (Tustin, Calif./Everett Silvertips). 

Speer will lead a staff for the men's camp that includes David Lassonde, associate head coach for the Dartmouth College men's ice hockey team and assistant coach for the 2020 U.S. National Junior Team; Phil Osaer, goaltending scout for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning; Dave Rogalski, development coach for the NHL's St. Louis Blues; Jeff Salajko, goaltending coach for the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and Jared Waimon, goaltending coach for Quinnipiac University.


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