The EGDP

The EGDP was born out of a gap I saw in local goalie coaching. There are strong local coaches working with goaltenders at a fundamental level, and that work is important—it keeps the position healthy and growing. What I felt was missing, however, was development beyond simply learning how to stop a puck. There was a clear need to train goalies to become better athletes overall.

Drawing from my background in bike racing, I began to see crossover areas that translate directly to elite goaltending performance. It may sound unconventional at first, but one of the biggest pieces missing in most traditional goalie coaching is true endurance development.

Endurance can be trained on a treadmill or stationary bike, but those methods don’t replicate the movement patterns or activate the same muscle groups used on the ice. That’s why every EGDP on-ice session begins with endurance skating. We focus on explosive movement followed by controlled rest periods—training the body to efficiently clear lactic acid, recover faster, and continue producing power under game-like demands.

This approach doesn’t just build stamina. It creates goalies who can maintain speed, strength, and focus deep into games and throughout long, demanding seasons.

That was the first major shortcoming I identified. The next was that many goalies had very little exposure to proper stretching and mobility work. Some had basic routines, but there was little structure, intent, or understanding behind what they were doing—they were often just mimicking what they saw professional goalies do without knowing why.

To address this, I designed a structured stretching and mobility routine that we complete prior to every on-ice session and that can be easily replicated after the program ends. Stretching plays a critical role in improving blood flow, developing strength at the outer ranges of motion, increasing overall mobility, and—most importantly—reducing the risk of injury.

This ensures goalies aren’t just preparing for today’s ice session, but are building habits that support long-term performance and durability.

Next, I went back to the textbooks and research to design off-ice, gym-based training programs that follow an athlete through every phase of the year—in-season, postseason, offseason, and preseason—before cycling back into competition. These workouts are built specifically for goaltenders and are provided to every goalie in the program to be used year-round, creating continuity and sustainable development rather than short-term gains.

Finally, I brought in some of the best shooters in the area to execute the on-ice drills exactly as they are designed. These shooters come from local Junior and AAA programs, as well as USHL, ACHA, NCAA, and professional levels. They are not on the ice simply to fire pucks with no purpose—they understand their role within each drill and execute with intention. Their ability to control pace, read the drill, and create realistic game situations is critical to developing better, more prepared goaltenders.

I’ve also partnered with Vizual Edge to provide every participant access to this powerful visual training tool. Vizual Edge measures and develops core visual processing skills essential to elite goaltending, including depth perception, puck tracking and eye-movement control, convergence and divergence, visual recognition speed, and more.

This visual component adds another layer to the EGDP, ensuring goalies are not only physically prepared, but visually sharp and able to process the game faster as plays break down in real time.

Together, these elements create a complete development environment—one that prepares goalies not just for their next game, but for the demands of an entire season and beyond.