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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Boston, MA Competition - What a Great Success THANK YOU!!!

IGC would like to thank everyone that showed up for the 2012 Boston, MA INTERNATIONAL GOALTENDING COMPETITION!!! What a wonderful day and a great turnout.

Congradulations to the 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winners, we will see you in Orlando, Fla. July 28th - 29th.

Thank you to everyone else who competed and we hope to see you next year.

Pictures taken by George Ross's DIGITAL Photo concept are now available.

To view and purchase pictures - Please click here

Thank You
IGC

Where are the future hockey goaltenders?

By Chaz Scoggins, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Updated: 02/03/2012 06:39:04 AM EST

With predawn practices in unheated rinks, hockey has always been a cruel sport.

It's even more cruel when you're a goaltender.

"It's a position built on a negative," says Ed Walsh, the long-time goaltender coach at UMass Lowell and Dartmouth who has helped send five goalies to the NHL, including the River Hawks' 1994 All-American and Hobey Baker Finalist, Dwayne Roloson. "The puck goes into the net, you're the last guy it went by, so you're to blame.

"You can't win a hockey game as a goalie. You're not the kid scoring the winning goal. You can only keep your team in the game."

Walsh believes that those negatives, along with the expense of buying equipment for goalies in a tough economy, have led to a goaltending crisis that reaches down to the lowest amateur levels of organized hockey. If the crisis isn't addressed quickly, in a few years the entire sport could be crippled.

"I've been training goaltenders seven days a week from September to April, even when I was coaching at Lowell," says Walsh, who has also mentored current River Hawk Doug Carr, the top-ranked goalie in Hockey East, since he was 12 years old. "Sometimes we coaches get caught in our own little world where we're not looking outside the box all the time and seeing what's happening.

"I work with 11 towns and associations in this area, and last year I had a bunch of towns and associations -- some of which I wasn't even working with -- calling me and saying: 'Walshie, can you help us? We don't have a mite goalie. We don't have a PeeWee goalie.' I even saw advertisements in the papers for goalies.

Read more: future hockey goaltenders

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE”

IGC Founder Ed Walsh Launches International Goaltending Competition, LLC

For the first time ever there will be a competition just for hockey goaltenders. The goaltenders will compete head to head in 8 separate events, showcasing their puck stopping ability as well as their athletic talents.

Regional competitions will be held in the following major cities Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, St Paul - Minneapolis, Boston, and Philadelphia. The gold, silver and bronze medal winners from each age group/division will advance to the International Championships in Orlando, Florida from July 28 – 29, 2012.

The International Goaltender Competition will be a true celebration of hockey goaltending for friends and family alike. Not only will it have an 8 event competition but also a host of other events, such as an outdoor festival with things like a bouncy house, shooting competition, food pavilion and more. Vendors like Reebok will be there showing and sizing goaltenders with the latest and greatest goaltending gear. Also custom helmet art renderings by Pro-Masque and much, much more.

Contact: Carl Dipaolo – President IGC
Office: 603 474 1694

WHAT IS IGC ALL ABOUT...

Over the last few years I have seen a rapid decline in the number of hockey players playing the goaltending position in youth hockey throughout America. It has become so bad in the Northeast, that many towns and associations are advertising in newspapers in an attempt to attract goaltenders to their programs. Although there are many reasons for the decline, I am not hearing of any solutions to the problem. Therefore I have come up with a way to demonstrate how the position can be exciting and fun in an effort to attract players to goaltending.

My concept is called the International Goaltending Competition. For the first time ever, goaltenders will battle against each other in a competition strictly for Goaltenders. The competition will contain 8 separate events which will be used to determine the top goaltender in that particular region. The events include five shooting events and three skating events.