player tips

A friend in Minnesota, the Great State of Hockey, loves fishing during the summer months. While early season fish are abundant, when the calendar turns to mid-July and August – the dog days of summer – fishing slows down. But these are the summer months when he gets the most excited!

Why? Because it’s the time of year when skill wins.

Many fisherman during these months don’t put in the time to try new presentations to catch fish. They are sort of stuck in the same old way of doing things, and the result is very few fish finding their way into the frying pan. However, if time is invested in skill development and in this case, exploring new ways to catch fish, the results speak for themselves.

For hockey players, this fish story is no different than the hockey season. There will be the ‘grind’, when you are physically and mentally tired. You have already played a lot of games and you still have a lot to go, plus playoffs!

The question is, what are you doing now, during the off-season, to prepare for the grind, or the dog days of the season. Are you preparing yourself so that when the team needs you most, you can answer the call and score that big goal.

Players who prepare now, trying new moves, perfecting their stride, shooting pucks on a regular basis, they are the players who will outperform the opponents during the season. It takes dedication and commitment during the off-season to not just hit the ice this fall in great shape, but perhaps more importantly, to carry your team through the tough stretches of the season.

Work hard this summer, train with a purpose and you will be ready for the mid-season grind when, like many fishermen, many hockey players go through a slump. Train hard and be ready to take advantage of the opportunity, because when everyone else slows down, the best players speed up.

Good luck and we look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!

Click here for a full list of our remaining summer hockey schools.

Our summer 2025 hockey schools are underway! As we are already heading into the 4th of July holiday, it’s a great time to look back on the past 30 days and forecast the rest of the summer.

Clear Skies & Sunny. June was full of action, energy and talent. From Alaska to Illinois, Vermont, New Jersey and Massachusetts, skills were on display at every level.

We are excited to hit the ice in July in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Virginia, among many great locations. If the talent we’ve seen on display so far this summer is any indication of what’s to come in July and August, the forecast has never been brighter.

Hockey is a a high energy, high skill game. The best players have the best skills: skating, shooting, stickhandling and best of all, scoring. We love teaching fundamental skills and helping players take their game to the next level.

So what is the forecast for your summer? Sunny days are ahead and we encourage you to take advantage of every opportunity to make the most of it, and take your own game to the next level . . . to let the sunshine, shine!

Thanks for reading and if you are still looking for a summer hockey training program, we do have limited space still available at select locations. Check out dates and availability here. We look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!

The 2025 NHL Playoffs have been nothing short of a big shot of inspiration to aspiring hockey players. Action, intensity and incredible talent.

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 summer begins and the NHL season winds down with the Stanley Cup on the line, 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 2025 Greg Carter European Summer Hockey Schools and will be training youth hockey players all summer long across 13 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.

Thanks for reading and see you at the rink!

Youth hockey players always start the summer with the best of intentions when it comes to off-season training. Developing a better shot, a better stride and a better all-around game might be on your list. But how can you make sure that when the sun sets this Labor Day that you will have better skills than Memorial Day?

Make a plan. And make a list. Think back to last season and the areas of your game that you needed to improve on. Prioritize the skills that you are going to focus on and then commit to a regular schedule. Post your plan and your list in an area that you will see it every day, and let it be a motivator to get started, and more importantly, to keep going!

Fun Factor. Summer should be about having fun, and there is no reason that your training can’t be fun – along with some sweat and hard work. Turn on some music, dump out a bucket of pucks and start stick handling and shooting. Before you know it, 10 songs will have gone by and your shot will be better for it!

Try Something Different.

At our hockey camp we like to talk about training the CARTER Method: C=Control, A=Agility, R=Reflex, T=Technique, E=Edge, R=Retention. Including a new routine or training method into your schedule will help keep things fresh and motivating.

Everyone loves winter hockey, but here at Greg Carter Hockey Schools we especially love summer hockey and all of the training and growth opportunities that come with it. We have watched so many young athletes blossom over the summer months as they push and challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zone and take their game to the next level.

We invite you to take advantage of the outstanding high performance training opportunities we have available this summer of 2025! For more than three decades our experienced team of coaches has been focused on player development and summer hockey training. We hope to see you at one of our camps and look forward to helping you reach your goals!