We are beyond excited for our 29th year of summer hockey school and we invite you to train the CARTER method with us!

With pitchers and catchers recently reporting for spring training and the start of baseball season, we thought we’d weave in a little baseball talk as we ramp up for what is sure to be a great summer of skating.

Training the CARTER method has been a home run for players attending our hockey school. What exactly is the CARTER method?

C=Control. Our hockey camps educate students on the importance of body control. We have designed a sequence of drills to help them understand and enhance body movements to improve their overall balance and body posture.

A = Agility. Our unique training methods focus on quick lateral movements and foot work. With proper body control and weigh distribution, students will develop evasive techniques, making them more effective hockey players.

R = Reflex. Hockey is a read and react game. Reflexes and split second decisions affect the game. Increasing your hockey skills helps improve all aspects of the game. Through the CARTER METHOD we raise the level of play and quicken your reflexes.

T = Technique. We teach and improve hockey techniques under controlled situations and through repetition. We then incorporate speed once the proper techniques have been mastered.

E = Edge. Edges are challenged and enhanced throughout the week using control and overspeed drills. Edges are incorporated into the skating stride through Power Skating and Dynamic Skating.

R = Retention. Individual Skill Development. All of the Greg Carter Schools work on total skill development through the use of European training equipment, parallel bars and carousels.

It’s time to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park! We invite you to train with us at one of our 2023 youth hockey camps located in 12 states! Many camps are nearly sold out! For dates, details and more information, CLICK HERE.

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!

Do you ever wonder why some of the same teams always seem to find themselves in the championship game and even winning the title?

In recent articles we’ve talked about Winning Being A Habit and that To Be The Best, You Need To Set Goals Like The Best. When it comes to winning, it’s pretty obvious that the best teams have players who are doing all the little things that add up to the big things! But why is it that certain teams and programs always seem to produce winners?

It starts with skill, talent, work ethic and all of the ingredients that you would expect in a successful recipe. However there is something that I’ve noticed in recent years, especially at the youth levels that great teams share.

Selflessness. (Related Articles: “Are You A Me or We Player” & “That You Do Is More Important Than Who”)

As I watch teams, from the good to great, I’m always intrigued by the top players. I watch their skill sets, their style and how they interact with their teammates. From an individual standpoint, this is important because much of the time as the top players go, so goes the team. More specifically, if the team relies on the top player for everything, other teams can usually contain the threat. But if that top player (or players) relies on themselves for everything, and tries to do everything either out of selfishness or not trusting that teammates can get the job done, well this is separation between good teams and championship teams.

What I mean is this: How bad does a top player, or any player for that matter, want to score themselves vs. making sure that the team wins. I’ve seen players in game changing moments shoot from bad angles for example, rather than sliding the puck to a teammate for an easy tap in goal. I’ve seen players that want the notoriety of scoring in the big game or scoring a big goal seemingly more than an assist on a teammates goal. These things don’t happen on championship teams.

The teams that are playing for the championship are the teams that operate like teams! The players, all the players, want the team win more than the individual stats. Championship teams make good hockey decisions, they make good hockey plays, they are unselfish and we is always more important than me.

As you head into the the playoffs we wish you the best of luck at your Mass Hockey USA Hockey or local tournament! We hope that your team comes together and plays like a team and when that final buzzer sounds, you are celebrating a well-deserved championship!

Thanks for reading and as you set goals for next season, please accept our invitation to join us at any of our hockey schools in 12 states this summer!

We hope you are having a great youth hockey season and that you are finding the back of the net, winning more than losing and most of all, having fun!

The next month of the youth hockey season, or any hockey season, can be a grind. Depending on which part of the country you are in, teams have most often been together for several months, experienced the highs and lows of a hockey season, maybe had a few bumps and bruises along the way, and are looking forward to playoffs.

It’s always at this time of year that an old coach used to ask an important question: How bad do you want it?

Whether it was at another tough late season practice, an off-ice dry land training session or between periods of a big game, ‘how bad do you want it’ was a rallying cry of sorts and gut check for the team.

Asking the team ‘how bad do you want it’ was a challenge to every player to rise to the occasion and give their best, regardless of bumps and bruises or the fact it was the 53rd practice of the season.

As you approach the end of your season and we approach our 29th year of summer hockey school, the question of how bad do you want it rings more true than it did all those years ago.

Why? Because when we see all of the talent possessed by youth hockey players today we know that there are plenty of kids who ‘want it’ and are willing to work harder and harder to get it.

We know that the youth hockey players who end up in the playoffs and ultimately playing for a trophy are the players that work the hardest. These are the players that possess some of the top skills and put the team above self. These are the players that want it and are willing to work for it!

As you approach the end of your season we challenge you to ask yourself how bad do you want it? We challenge you to give it everything that you have in each and every practice and game. We challenge you to be the best teammate and the best line mate. We challenge you to never quit until the final buzzer sounds!

Thanks for reading and we would once again invite you to train with us this summer at one of our summer hockey camps located across the U.S. For dates, details and availability, check out our Summer Hockey Schools page!

We hope your season is off to a great start and before you get too far into it, we have a big score to help you reach your goal!

The season is off to a buzzing start from the peewees to the pros. The Bruins are the hottest team in the NHL, Ovi gets closer and closer to breaking a once-thought untouchable record and there are no shortages of highlight reel goals.

As you enter into the busy part of your schedule we’d like to offer you a breakaway, of sorts. We are excited for our 28th season of summer hockey school and invite you to take advantage of the best scoring opportunity that we offer!

For the remaining days of January we are offering our Early Bird Special on all registrations for each of our camps across the country. Summer hockey schools for 2023 include:
• Alaska
• Connecticut
• Illinois
• Massachussetts
• Michigan
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Virginia

To take advantage of this special opportunity simply log on to our website by clicking here.

Thanks for reading and we hope to see you at the rink soon!

When it comes to taking your game to the next level, here are 3 great ways this year to become a better player!

Do The Little Things. All great goal scorers have shot the puck in the driveway thousands of times and scored the winning goal in their head over and over. And over. All great skaters have focused to exhaustion on the fundamentals of power skating. All great passers have developed exceptional hand eye coordination after practicing tens of thousands of hours. It’s always doing the little things that add up to the big things.

Listen To Your Coaches. Some of the best tips and tricks players will receive are from the people standing behind the bench. Experience and expertise are two things that young hockey players don’t have and when a coach – many who have ‘been there’ and ‘done that’ – is willing to help accelerate your development by not making the same mistakes that they did, or by passing on knowledge that a coach gave them to be successful, soak it up!

Have Fun & Be Creative. While it’s hard to watch a youth hockey player make a mistake, development includes making, and learning from mistakes, particularly when they are born out of creativeness. Be willing to try to make that extra deke or dangle. Be willing to have fun while winning. Be willing to take a chance at being great!

From our team to yours, Happy New Year and we wish you the very best this season! Our Summer 2023 Hockey Schools are filling faster than ever, and for a limited time you can take advantage of our Early Bird Discount. For details and dates, click here.

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink!

Picking out the perfect summer hockey camp can be as fun as picking out the perfect gift!

Our summer 2023 hockey camps are located in 12 states and include the skill development training that youth hockey players need to take their game to the next level. What is the right summer hockey school, and perhaps the right gift for the holiday season? Here is a brief overview of our summer hockey camps for 2023:

Summer Hockey Camps in Alaska

We absolutely love our summer hockey camps in Alaska at the McDonald Center in Eagle River and the UAA Seawolf Sports Complex in Anchorage. These camps have multiple options in June and July and in addition to providing excellent on-ice instruction, has provided some memorable off-ice experiences with bear encounters and more! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey Camps in Connecticut

Summer Hockey School in August at South Windsor Ice Arena in South Windsor, CT is one of our most popular camps! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey Camps in Illinois

We have three summer hockey schools in Illinois including Addison Arena in Addison, North Shore Ice Arena in Northbrook, and Canlan Ice Sports in Romeoville, Illinois. For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey Camps in Massachusetts

Our home state! We have something for everyone when it comes to summer hockey in Massachusetts, including: Ed Burns ice Arena in Arlington, NESV in Attleboro, Raymond Bourque Arena in Beverly, Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton, Canton Ice House in Canton, Valley Sports Arena in Concord, Valley Forum Haverhill in Haverhill, Pilgrim Skating Center in Hingham, Hyannis Community Center in Hyannis, The Bog Ice Arena in Kingston, New England Sports Center in Marlboro, Essex Sports Center in Middleton, Chase Arena in Natick, Charles Moore Arena in Orleans, Rockland Ice Arena in Rockland, Hockeytown USA in Saugus, Somerville Veterans Memorial Rink in Somerville, Roche Arena in West Roxbury and O’Brien Arena in Woburn! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey School in Michigan

New this summer is a June summer hockey camp in Michigan! We’ll be at the Lakeshore Sports Centre in Muskegon June 19-23! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey School in New Hampshire

The Tri-Town Ice Arena in Hooksett and the Keene Ice Arena in Keene are the awesome hosts for our summer hockey camps in New Hampshire in July! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey School in New Jersey

We have a great option for summer hockey camp in New Jersey at the Jersey Shore Arena in Wall Township, NJ! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey School in New York

Bill Gray’s Ice Arena in Rochester, New York is home to our 2023 summer hockey camp in New York! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey Camp in Pennsylvania

We have two options for training and summer hockey school in Pennsylvania including Hatfield Ice in Colmar and the Steel Ice Center in Bethlehem. For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey School in Rhode Island

Boss Ice Arena in Kingston is the host for youth hockey players looking to take their game to the next level at summer hockey camp in Rhode Island! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey School in Vermont

We love our camps in Vermont at both Cairns Arena in South Burlington and Union Arena in Woodstock! For more information click here. 

Summer Hockey Camp in Virginia

The Chilled Ponds Arena in Chesapeake is home to our summer hockey school in Virginia! For more information click here. 

Thanks for reading! We invite you to train with us at one of our summer hockey camps in 2023 and through the holiday season, we are offering a 10% Early Bird discount! Have a safe and happy Holiday Season!

Development is a marathon, not a sprint. When the season begins there is an appetite for immediate satisfaction in the way of goals, wins and championships.

It’s true everyone wants to win each and every game, but winning the last game is more important that winning the first game. Great coaches enter the season focused on development. Developing individual skills for each player, as well as developing team play and the chemistry that it takes to win championships. This development is what leads to goals, wins and championships.

If the players and team are performing at the same level and the end of the season as they did at the start, the results are not going to be favorable.

This season don’t be in a hurry for mediocrity. There are decisions being made by coaches that have the long term success of the team in mind, versus short term satisfaction. Yes, coaches want to win every game, but with the development of the players and team at the forefront.

We had a team with an amazing first power play. It would be easy to always put that first unit on each and every power play, regardless of time of year or score of game. However in order to develop more players, the second power play unit was used throughout the season.

When playoff time came, the top scorer and leader of the top power play got injured. It was fortunate that other players with a season worth of experience were able to step up. The coaches were never rushing development and sacrificing long term development for short term gain!

We hope your season is off to a great start, and for those just finishing a season, we hope it ended with a win!

Be sure to check out our website for 2023 Summer Hockey School dates and locations, registration is now open! Thanks for reading!

We hope your season is off to a great start! New beginnings – and new seasons – are special and important. Great players rely on their past experiences and build on them for future successes. They also realize that the past is just that, the past.

An NHL coach recently commented about a slow start to the season, and the sluggish play of some on the team, by commenting that nobody cares how good you were last year. The message was clear: it’s a new season, and new opportunity…to prove you deserve to play, or for others to prove they deserve to play, regardless of your past points or production.

Whether you scored 50 goals last season, assisted on dozens more or made more saves than Mr. Zero himself, this youth hockey season is another opportunity to do it again!

When our pro staff talks about youth hockey development in our Player Tips section of our website, we often remind players and parents that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Great players keep developing over a period of time, they keep setting goals and reaching higher. They don’t quit and rest on their laurels.

Regardless of past success or failures, learn from them, build on them and work harder than ever to make this your best season ever!

Thanks for reading and check back soon for the announcement of our summer hockey school dates and locations. Until then, we look forward to seeing you at the rink!

This is another great post written by our Pro Staff for our Player Tips Archive. To view the full content library click here.

Here’s how I’m going to beat you. I’m going to outwork you. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. – Pat Summitt

I saw this quote recently and it made me stop and think. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t work hard, you aren’t going to be successful. Who is Pat Summitt you might ask?  Summitt was the head coach of the Tennessee women’s basketball team and at the time of her retirement had 1,098 wins, which was the most in college basketball history. As a player she won a sliver medal at the 1976 Olympics and later coached the US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team to a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. She knew a thing or two about winning.

Good coaches are good coaches regardless of sport, and it’s interesting as a hockey coach to learn from others.  And the thing about Summitt’s quote about winning, especially winning consistently, in the big games and in the playoffs is this: you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don’t work hard, someone else, regardless of talent level is going to want it more, work harder and win the game. Will over skill is much more than a simple motivator or cliche.

At our summer hockey schools we focus heavily on skill. Specifically, the CARTER Method focuses on Control, Agility, Reflex, Technique, Edge and Retention. We challenge players to reach their full potential in each of these key areas and also teach of the fundamentals of skating, stickhandling, and shooting, and we teach in a way that builds confidence and leads to continuous improvement.

While we strive to instill not only these fundamental skills, we also stress the importance of hard word. A great quote from the best of all time is;

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say
that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.
-Wayne Gretzky

The Great One finished his career with a 1.921 points per game average. Think of that, nearly two points per game in the NHL and what he wants to be remembered for is that he worked hard every day and ‘never dog it.’

Players who want to be successful in hockey need to continually work on skill development, but must also ask themselves if they ‘dog it’. One of the greatest and most fun part of being a coach is being a part of a team that not only has a ton of talent, but also three lines of players who all want to be at the rink and all want to work hard every practice, every game, every period and every shift.

This season have fun, become a better hockey player and make it the season that you focus on hard work. Good luck, thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink very soon!

Note: A similar version of this article ran several years back and with only some simple modifications, it still (fortunately or unfortunately) applies in 2022!

With Election Day just around the corner there is plenty of consideration – and consternation – among voters. Leading up to this election candidates on both a local and national level have displayed their character and aptitude through both action and words. At this point all that remains is the final decision of voters on who is best positioned to be a leader.

The definition of a leader is “the power or ability to lead other people”. Characteristics of a leader are similar, whether in sport, business or politics. A leader is someone who inspires and motivates. They are humble, intuitive, dedicated and solution oriented.

When hockey teams vote on who deserves the honor of wearing the “C” on their sweater, teammates and coaches make their decision based on many of the same considerations voters use to elect politicians, namely, the ability to lead. This should not be a popularity contest or an honor simply given to the best player on the team.

So what does it really mean to be a team captain?
A captain and leader:

* Is respectful of teammates as well as the game of hockey. 

* Has a deep desire to win, to work hard and to inspire others to work just as hard.

* Is honest and trustworthy.

* Sets good examples in the good times, and well as during the challenging moments of the season.  

During this election season we have seen plenty of examples of what defines leaders and captains, as well as unfortunate situations that do not define leadership.

For youth hockey players and captains, it’s important to remember that captaincy is a special honor, and one to be taken seriously on behalf of both teammates and coaches who look to their captain for leadership. Remember that the role of the captain and leader also extends beyond the ice, into the locker room and into daily life.

The following is one of our favorite quotes regarding leadership: “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”

We hope you are have a great start to the season and that you elect a great captain – and leader – for your team!

Thanks for reading and we hope to see you at the rink soon!