It’s revenge of the goalies Tuesday nights at the Horse Palace, where every week this winter a flock of aspiring netminders have taken over the rink at the Ray Martin Goalie Clinic.
The free clinic started up for its sixth year at the Horse Palace in December, welcoming 15 to 20 aspiring goalies each week, along with numerous volunteer shooters and instructors.
During ice time, paid for by Walkerton Minor Hockey, goalies are split into groups and rotate through stations focused on different aspects of the game.
“I work on the young goaltenders’ style and stance, and cutting down angles,” lead instructor Randi DelGuidice said.
Steve Schaus, vice president of Walkerton Minor Hockey, is another instructor at the clinic.
“Steve works on reflexes with the puck machine, and accuracy with gloves and the upper body,” DelGuidice explained.
Schaus formerly ran a dry land clinic for goalies, and is responsible for donating the puck machine that is used each week at the Horse Palace.
“The machine can shoot up to 100 miles per hour, but right now I’ve got it set at 70,” Schaus said, steadily firing a sleeve of 40 pucks towards a future Martin Brodeur poised at the top of the crease.
“The other stations focus on different exercises like stacking the pads and butterfly,” said DelGuidice, “It’s like a musician practicing scales all the time. The more they repeat this, and develop good technique, as they get older, they’ll get better.”
James Wilton, who began as a student at the clinics, now instructs a new generation of netminders on the fundamentals.
“He’s learning you’ve got to squat down talk to the kids face-to-face,” DelGuidice said, “It’s a learning experience, but he’s picked it up really quick. When he first came you could hardly hear him, now he knows you’ve gotta talk loud.”
DelGuidice began holding goalie clinics in Orillia in 1990.
“I was working along with a fellow from my hometown of Schumacher. He came up with the idea to hold the instruction in four stations,” said DelGuidice, “He retired after five years, then I took over. I haven’t looked back.”
When DelGuidice came to Walkerton, a number of individual minor hockey teams began asking him to set up clinics.
“People were asking me to do it individually, so I said why don’t we do this. It was very small at first,” he said, “We started with only three or four goalies coming out and it grew from there.”
The late Ray Martin, for whom the clinic is named, was responsible for helping DelGuidice organize them.
“Ray helped me set it up with minor hockey. We had become close friends so I asked minor hockey if we could name it after him in his memory,” said DelGuidice.
“It costs an awful lot to dress a goalie these days. Every little bit helps,” he said. “Even though I’m the face, it takes a lot of people — with the shooters and everyone else — and we couldn’t do it without them.”
For the past six years the clinic has started up around the beginning of December, whenever the ice pad at the Horse Palace is ready.
“We usually get 10 or 11 practices on it,” DelGuidice said.
The final clinic of the season takes place on Feb. 16, running from 5:30-6:50 p.m.
“We stop around this time of year because soon a lot of them will be in playoffs,” said DelGuidice, “They’ve honed their skills by now.”