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B ET W E E N T H E P I P ES P R E S E N T E D B Y PHOTOS COURTESY OF Craig Terranova; Images On Ice; Getty Images Like many people who have moved to Georgia, Craig Terranova didn't know much about hockey in the Peach State before he arrived 11 years ago. "I know there are people out there who stereotype and say 'what does a person from Georgia know about hockey?' And to be honest, I probably had the same thoughts when I moved down here," said the New Jersey native. "But there's some good talent in this area." And Terranova is doing his part to improve the talent pool, especially when it comes to goaltending. As the USA Hockey goaltending developer for the state, Terranova knows that starts with changing coaches' mindsets. "When we do our classes, we ask coaches, 'who here is a goaltending coach?' and no one raises their hand," he said. "We tell them, 'you have a goalie on your team, so you are all goalie coaches whether you like it or not.'" To help foster a deeper understanding of the position, Terranova is teaming up with his local rink, The Ice in Cumming, to conduct a bronze-level course in early November to give local coaches a better understanding of the fundamentals of the position and provide them with best practices for drill design and game management. Many of the skills coaches will learn are the same ones Terranova has used to help local goalies develop the necessary skills to succeed. He does this by setting up station-based practices that incorporate a central theme, and then each station focuses on specific elements of that skill. Terranova likes to keep each practice limited to no more than 20 goalies so he can provide hands-on instruction to each of his students. He also keeps the cost down by working closely with local rinks, who have been a great partner in opening the game to new players, especially goalies. As Terranova likes to say, "It's all about goaltending development." GOALIE TERMS THAT COUNT k When a goalie challenges a shooter, that shooter is considered the "front door." The goalie must learn to balance the tradeoff between the "front door" and "back door" through reading the situation. By Harry Thompson k Steve Thompson will add to his expanding goaltending resume when he joins the coaching staff of the U.S. Women's Olympic Team. He joins assistant coaches Courtney Kennedy and Brian Pothier on a staff led by head coach Joel Johnson. The Anchorage, Alaska, native made his international coaching debut as a member of the U.S. Women's National Team staff that helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship, and the 2018 Four Nations Cup championship. He also served as the goaltending coach for the 2021 U17 Men's Select Team that took home the Five Nations Tournament title. Thompson joined the USA Hockey staff in June 2019 as the ADM manager of goaltending, where he is responsible for the development and man- agement of the American goaltending efforts. THOMPSON BRINGS EXPERIENCE TO OLYMPIC STAFF F r o n t D o o r OLYMPICS Goalie Growth Going Just Peachy In Georgia 26 // NOV/DEC 2021 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM