Club goalie development is terrible. They all advertise it. It doesn't exist. If it does, it doesn't compare to player skill dollars. Makes sense if running a business for the masses. My advice, forget goalie skills put on by clubs. Hook up with an outside shop. Highly recommend mass crease in Norwell. Good luck. Not cheap developing goalies.

Club player development is terrible, not just goalies. Parents with kids that truly want to play post-HS go outside for skills. It's just not possible to develop individual players when you have one coach that knows what he's doing - hopefully - and 20 to 40 kids on the ice.

Not a goalie dad, but I've heard good things about Stop It Goaltending on the north shre. Io have met Brian, he's a good guy.

My son loves GDS in North Andover. We do not participate in club goalie skills. He goes on his own one on one and has progressed nicely. Be prepared, not cheap having a goalie. Lots of time and money spent supporting them. But if they love it, it's worth it

My kid is in the fed so I can only speak for the fed teams but I think they all offer some sort of goalie development. It's getting a little better than when my son first started when very few teams offered it. Organizations are starting to understand that goalies need to be developed as well and are at least providing skills for them. That being said, the reality is is that if you want your goalie to improve you have to do skills outside the organization because some organizations only offer skills twice a month. We have been lucky enough over the years to find coaches who have been working with my son on a one on one basis and it has improved his game over the years. My son has also done stop it and Masscrease, both pretty good. Club hockey in general is expensive and if your kid is really passionate about hockey and wants to improve his game it can be really expensive. Good luck out there.

The best direction to go , is to get your own outside goalie coach and private lessons . Most teams will now offer some skills but usually it is in a group setting and there is nothing personalized for your child . It is not nearly as good as getting your own lessons privately .

SSK include goalie skills. Our goalie and his parents seem to like it

Most organizations now seem to have it. My kid gets it through the club but it is a different goalie school he goes to outside of the team. So he goes to skills (offered every other week) but the majority of the development comes outside of the team/club. Depending on what your goalie's ambitions are you will need to find the school he is comfortable with and invest a ton of additional money.

Thanks everyone for all your input. Its an eye opener. Didn't realize clubs don't really offer much guidance/training for goalies, it's such a disappointment. I have an 05 goalie, any clubs/ teams at that age level you would advise that are better for goalies? Don't really care if it's fed, e9, or any of the other acronyms, I don't really understand the system yet. Just looking for a step up from town. Any clubs to avoid? Thanks again.

Look at Shamrocks out of Wilmington....Good Program...decent group goalie skills with Geragoshian (BU Goalie Coach)...good organization and good coaches...don't always play at the highest levels but better then town....good first step into the club world of hockey

are you looking for north or south of the border?

I only can speak of south and would highly recommend MassCrease. BE is the current BU goalie coach, prior year Harvard coach and has played in the NHL. Not only that but he is a great guy and will be honest with you. As for clubs you have the Terriers, Breakers and Bandits on the south shore. I don't know who the Terriers are using, BSB uses StopIt Goaltending, Bandits use MassCrease. But it will depend what level your goalie is at and he should skate with multiple teams to find out where he fits best.

Where are you looking ? As in location ?

We are in central south east mass. I don't mind travel, so anywhere from Boston and south to RI, inside of 95 would be ideal.

RI hockey Academy is up and coming for Goalie Skills. Guy there runs a max 4 group at a time in Warwick and also runs the Blue Chip Goalie clinic in the spring /summer. He does a good job teaching the kids and making it fun as well.

In my experience and in talking to other goalie parents on other teams there isn't one organization that is better than another at developing goalies because the organizations use the same goalie schools for their skills. I know Masscrease and Stop it do skills for quite a few teams so they are doing the same drills with all the kids and not giving that one on one time with individual kids. What you should be looking for is a coach who in practice knows how to use the goalies for more than target practice. You'll have to do research and call around and observe a few practices of different teams but finding a good fit for your kid is key. Organizations seem to only do the bare minimum when it comes to skills so finding a good coach and doing skills outside the organization will help your kid improve his game in the long run.

if you know such a coach please let me know. I have yet to see one. I keep banging on about it - for goalies the team is for the games and development happens with your goalie coach.

Chedder Bob

Lovell offers independent goalie coaching during regular team practice. They use:http://www.gdsgoalies.com.

Elite skills out of hockey town offers the best goalie development, hands down.

Invite only

measured how?

Measured by how the sieve kid covers the puck in the crease....hands down.

Oh Saturday night stick time?