Our summer hockey schools were as exciting and successful as we’ve ever seen in our 28 years of running hockey camps! Why? Because this year each and every week our camps were packed with superstars.

We started the summer in Eagle River, Alaska where the wildlife outside the rink was just as exciting as the action on the ice. Camps in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Rhode Island all were packed with talent, energy and excitement.

So who were these summer superstars you ask?

Players

We owe the success of all of our camps to the players. Each and every day we saw players show up who wanted to learn, work hard and improve their skills. And wow, the talent level this summer was off the charts! Thank you to all of the players who attended our 2022 summer hockey camps, it was a joy to coach you!

Pro Staff

We are fortunate at our summer hockey camp to employ some of the most talented and dedicated staff you will find anywhere. Having a great ‘Hockey IQ’ is important to us. But so is being a great mentor, coach and communicator. We couldn’t be more proud of our Pro Staff that brought their ‘A Game’ each and every session to make sure players were soaking up as much instruction as they possibly could!

Parents

Of course none of the success would be possible without the commitment from the parents of these great players. One of the best parts of each week of camp is when we receive compliments from parents about how we run our camps. From emails, phone calls and social media posts, we appreciate the acknowledgement of the hard work of our staff and more importantly, the players!

From our entire summer hockey camp to your hockey household, we thank you for a great summer. We wish you the best of luck with the start of your USA Hockey season and invite you to stay in touch with us, sharing your season successes!

Thanks for reading and check out the Pro Staff section of our website for frequent player tips and updates! We hope to see you at the rink soon!

As the summer begins to set and excitement for another season begins, it’s time to ask some important questions! 

We hope you have had a great summer both relaxing and also working on your hockey skills. It’s been another awesome year training hockey players across the U.S. and we are looking forward to the remaining weeks of camp!

Based on the skill level of players we have witnessed this year, summer hockey skill development is more important than ever for youth hockey players. While time away from the rink is beneficial for players, so too is a focus you put on the areas of your game that need improvement.

In past articles we have talked about the importance of setting goals after a season. These goals should be a big part of your focus over the summer. What specific skills did you set out to improve? Did you train in those defined areas and see improvement? These are just a couple of the important questions players need to ask of themselves.

Yet another youth hockey season is within sight and the biggest question is if you are prepared to be the best hockey player possible.

Every player wants to be the captain.

Every player wants to skate on the power play and penalty kill.

Every player wants to be on the first line and score the winning goal.

However, only the players that are truly prepared for the season can realize their goals. 

As you enjoy the final weeks of summer and anticipate the start of the season, continue working on your skill development. We still have limited availability in select camps this summer and invite you to train with us! Check our website for dates and locations. In the meantime, enjoy the hot summer sun and we look forward to seeing you in a chilly rink soon!

Thomas Edison once said: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent inspiration.” While Thomas Edison was not a hockey player, he was indeed a brilliant man and his philosophy can easily be translated to sports.

As we look back over the 2022 NHL Playoffs there have been many awesome games where teams battled incredibly hard, scored some amazing goals and fought like warriors until the final buzzer. Plenty of both inspiration and perspiration!

As summer begins and the NHL season winds down with the best of seven series to take home hockey’s most coveted trophy, youth hockey players will be watching and dreaming of one day playing on such a grand stage.

There is that old saying that dreams are just dreams without goals. The best hockey players set goals for their summer hockey training, defining areas of their game that need improvement, and then they go out and make it happen.

This is where perspiration meets inspiration. 

We hope that you do dream big and more importantly, we hope that you do something about it. There are many great skills, drills and even thrills that can be accomplished during the summer months. If you are still undecided about how to align your inspiration with perspiration, we invite you to train with us this summer!

We dropped the puck on our 2022 Greg Carter European Summer Hockey Schools and will be training youth hockey players all summer long across 11 states. While many of our camps are sold out with waiting lists, we do have limited space in select camps. Please check out our website for details by clicking here.

We hope you enjoy the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs and thank you for reading!

When it comes to training for youth hockey players, it’s important to choose the right training method. We invite you to train the CARTER method this summer! 

What exactly is the CARTER method?

Control

Our hockey camps educate all 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. 

Agility

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

Reflex

Hockey is a read and react game. Reflexes and split second decisions affect the game. Increasing your hockey skills (skating, stick handling, shooting, checking and edge control) helps to improve all aspects of the game. Through the CARTER METHOD we raise the level of play and quicken your reflexes.

Technique

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

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.

Retention

Individual Skill Development. All of Greg Carter’s European Hockey School Training Camps work on total skill development through the use of European training equipment, parallel bars, and carousels. 

Thank you for reading! Although many of our summer 2022 hockey camps are sold out, we have limited space left at select locations. To check on dates and locations CLICK HERE.

Our staff gets asked the same questions by parents every year, including how will my player develop and who will they meet at summer hockey school?

One of the many great things about hockey camp is the people you meet. Players, coaches, trainers and families from all over the country come together for this special week and it’s nothing short of an awesome experience to skate, talk and learn from others. So who will you meet at hockey camp this summer? Here are 5 people you are sure to have fun with and create lasting memories.

The Coach. We all have a coach who makes an impression on us, and some of the best coaches are those who teach you new things, in a way you have never been instructed. Each summer at camp our students create a bond with a coach that extends long after the week of camp is over. Many keep in touch throughout the season, and we are very proud of our knowledgeable and personable coaching staff.

The New Buddy. Going to a hockey camp can be intimidating, especially when doing it for the first time or going alone. Over the years we have watched kids show up the first day and hardly say a word to anyone, and end up being the kid we can’t keep quiet by the end of the week. Everyone finds a buddy at hockey camp and like the coach, those relationships often last beyond the last day of camp.

The Skillmaster. This one is kind of difficult to explain, but think the top scorer, mixed with a gift of gab and a healthy dose of confidence. Every camp has the player that has worked their tail off and has become just a step faster and a goal better than everyone else. We like these kids at camp because they motivate and inspire – one way or another- for the rest of the players to be just as good as they are.

The Most Improved. The first day at camp is always exciting for everyone, including the staff. We really enjoy getting to know the kids, assessing their talents and identifying their areas for improvements. What we really look forward to on the last day of camp is deciding which player has worked the hardest and developed the most during camp. We have a motto at camp: “get better every day”.  And we push players to do just that.

The Class Clown. This is the kid everyone at camp instantly connects with, keeps the group bonding and always has something funny to say. Oftentimes the class clown is also the hardest worker and most respectful. But one thing is for certain, he/she is always funny.

There are no shortages of stories, lessons and learning that takes place at hockey camp, and we hope you choose to improve your game and make your memories at our hockey camps this summer. Space is filling up fast so claim your spot in the starting lineup before it’s gone! For a complete list of dates & locations click HERE.

With the youth hockey season winding down, it’s time to start planning a super summer!

Summer hockey will be here faster than a NHL’ers slapshot. The question being asked around hockey rinks everywhere is, where and when are you going to train this summer?

In past Player Tips articles we have talked about the fact that to be the best, hockey players need to set goals like the best. Based on the success – and failures – this hockey season, what are your goals for training this summer? How committed are you to taking your game to the next level.

In a recent article a top player was being asked about their incredible shot and ability to score goals with pinpoint accuracy. This players response was simple: “I shoot more pucks than anyone that I know.”

An old coach used to say that for everyone one great hockey player, I’ll show you 100 that had the same ability, but didn’t work on fundamental skill development and do what it takes during the summer to become a better hockey player.

Summer Training

If you are ready to shape up for a super summer and take your game to the next level, we invite you to train with us at one of our hockey camps located across 11 states. We have summer hockey camps in Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Rhode Island. 

Our summer hockey school is designed to build your fundamental skills. Our camps include Total Skill Development Camps, Skating/Edge/Stickhandling Camps, Defenseman/Shooting and more. 

All of the Greg Carter European Hockey Training Camps focus on individual skill development to help students become more complete players. Through our unique drills, students will improve their control, agility, reflex, technique, edge, and muscle retention skills. Our approach enables our students to learn each skill in a controlled environment and then apply speed and game situations to complete the lessons.

Good Luck!

We wish you the best of luck with the rest of your season and thank you for reading. Please reach out with any questions and we hope to see you at the rink soon!

As we enter Super Bowl weekend, we also start down the youth hockey path to the playoffs, which for these young hockey players, is the Super Bowl of Youth Hockey!

There is no feeling quite like competing for a league, region, state or if you are lucky enough, a national championship. And for youth hockey players everywhere, that journey is beginning!

As one of the biggest spectacles in sports happens this weekend on Super Bowl Sunday, we are reminded of the anticipation, excitement and preparation that goes into a life-changing game like the Super Bowl. It’s no different for young hockey players, albeit on a much smaller scale, when they have a chance to hoist a championship trophy!

Leading into that championship game there are the same butterflies with youth hockey players. There is the same anticipation of hearing their name called during introductions, the same dream of scoring the winner and the same thoughts of preparation. 

And for these big games, preparation is one of the huge keys to success. And when it comes to preparation and the game plan, you will hear coaches and players throw out every sports cliché ever known. 

“We have to play our game.”

“We need to stay within ourselves.”

“We can’t let ourselves be bigger than the moment.”

While many of these ring true, the winners of the big games are most often simply the team with the most talent. Those teams in hockey are the ones that rely on their fundamental skills to put them in a game-winning moment. Skating, conditioning, speed, stickhandling, shooting are all skills that win the biggest hockey games.

As you watch the big game on Sunday we hope it inspires you to work even harder to make your season end with a big win your very own championship game.

Your very own Super Bowl of Youth Hockey!

Thanks for reading and we invite you to train with us this summer at one of our camps located in 11 states. Check dates and locations by clicking here. 

It’s ok, admit it, this song from Miley Cyrus, The Climb, is a guilty pleasure.  Well, maybe not. But even if not, this stretch of the season can be a grind. Or in this case, the climb!

As we approach the final few weeks before the stretch run to the playoffs, teams and players are challenged with injuries, fatigue, some lethargic play and more. That’s why hockey players and coaches often refer to this time as the ‘grind’ of the season, at all levels of hockey. 

These couple of weeks are when players need to dig deep, rely on their passion for the game of hockey as well as their fundamentals skills. Being mentally tough is equally important during this stretch of time. Keep your eye on the ball, as they say in golf.

Coaches call this the grind. It’s actually the climb. 

It’s the climb up towards the top of the standings as you rely on strengths to be better than the teams suffering from the grind. 

It’s the climb towards the pinnacle of the season, which of course is a championship! 

We’ve talked in past articles about the importance of relying on fundamental skills during tough competition and when games are on the line. We’ve also talked about how the little things make a big difference. We hope that your skill helps you with the climb and that you reach that summit of the season!

This is also the time of year when we start to think about improving those important fundamental skills. Our Spring Hockey and Summer Hockey are both wide open for registrations and we invite you to continue your skill development ‘climb’ with us this spring and summer. Click here to check out the best dates and locations. 

Thanks for reading and good luck with the rest of your season, and your climb!  

When you think about choosing the right summer hockey camp this summer, think about this bit of this sage advice given by Rip at the Dutton Ranch to the young boy Carter. What does it have to do with youth hockey? Actually, quite a bit.

The best hockey teams have talent, they are selfless and play as a team, they have a burning desire to win and above all, they possess a super strong work ethic.

Several of our Pro Tips articles have focused on Doing The Little Things that end up making a big difference. To Beat You I’m Going To Out Work You is great advice about staying focused and to never quit learning, developing skills and working hard. Said another way, the best players aren’t ever satisfied and always have an appetite for more. 

Whether hitting the ice for the first practice after making the team or scoring a big goal to get to the championship game, the best players understand that once ‘they have arrived’ that is when the work really begins. Great players don’t think they deserve anything. Great players are never satisfied. Nothing is given and everything is earned.

Some of the best players that I have coached over the years are also the players that are the most excited when they make the team. And not just because they made the team, but more importantly, because they are one step closer to becoming a better player. These are the players that show up everyday, work hard on skill development and never take their position on the team for granted.

Perhaps it is said best by these two recent quotes from great hockey players:

Jack LaFontaine, a goalie playing NCAA hockey this season, recently signed a rare, mid-season contract to leave the college ranks to play professionally. “I just got a ticket to the dance, so now it’s time to come work even harder.“

When NHL’er Nate Prosser announced his retirement recently, he said of playing in the top league in the world “Every day was a tryout.”

Just like Rip told Carter, if you want to last, don’t think you ever deserve it.

Thanks for reading and we invite you to train with us this summer at one of our summer hockey school’s located in 11 states. Our Pro Staff will provide instruction using The CARTER Method to help players reach their full potential. If you are a player that is never satisfied and always looking to get better, we’ve got a great training program for you!