Wednesday, July 8, 2009

GDI's First Prospect Camp in Sweden


GDI President Dan Blackburn traveled to Skara, Sweden to help new RM Torleif Lundstein and Martin Desner put on their first GDI week-long camp. Germany RM Ben Weichart met up with the fellow Euros to help out and lend his own personal expertise in how to best run the rigorous schedule a GDI camp demands.

Among the attendees were four DEL goalies from Germany and 2 German National team goalies, who helped to make this camp a success. Perhaps, though, the Swedes/Germans were not as devoted to their training in the off-season as they would be ideally, as Blackburn joked they had to take "a spa day" in the middle of the week to recuperate from the intense level of physical activity.

An interesting thing to note is that the Goalie Monkey has a store in Sweden that will soon be featuring GDI gear. You can see the new GDI pads in the picture above, featuring Jimmy Blomqvist, who was certainly the best-equipped goalie in the camp (and we think his choice of fiery red, silver and white was pretty spectacular too!) Additionally, the new gear sizing suite is up on the GDI website. Changes to the previous sizing suite mean that you can customize your EVO2 gear as well as send your order directly to your local dealer via email or fax. Check it out!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Interview with Ryan Cyr


Since posting pictures of the Prairies future satellite center, GDI Hockey Blog wanted to catch up with RM Ryan Cyr and see how things are going in The Peg. Here's what he had to say...

GDI Hockey Blog: Since the pictures we saw a couple weeks ago, how is the construction coming on the training center?

Ryan Cyr: The construction is coming along great. The arena boards are all installed and that sure gives you a sense of completion. Now that you can see the ice sheets size, you can really start to visualize how the lessons will run. We pretty much just have cosmetic stuff to finish up and then its time to make the ice. For those of you in the Winnipeg area, we will be holding an open house on Monday June 22nd and Tuesday June 23rd from 7-9 PM. Come check it out!

GDI: Have you been involved in the construction at all? Gotten your hands dirty?

RC: Well this is a bit of a soft spot for me. For those of you who don’t know me, I am not what you would call a handy man. So I figured in order to get this project off the ground with minimal complications, it would be best if I sat on the side lines and stayed clear. I found out in a hurry I do more harm than good in the construction industry. But Prairies Assistant RM Dan Ferguson had the luxury of getting his hands dirty this afternoon, balancing on a ladder, scraping old paint off the roof..... Let’s just say Mr. Ferguson was in bed mighty early this evening and is looking forward to his role on the ice instructing.

GDI: What are you looking forward to most about having a training center?

RC: For me, the most exciting thing about getting the satellite center up and running is establishing a home for GDI-Prairies and our clientele. Giving us a top notch facility to train in year-round with all the luxuries. I think it is something the Winnipeg area will really benefit from and is well over due. We look forward to our partnership with The Rink and Pro Fitness, as well as giving the athletes in this region a facility where they can get every aspect of training they need to maximize their potential.

GDI: When do you expect the training center to be open to students for lessons?

RC: Right now we are targeting mid-July. As long as there are no major delays in construction, we feel this is a very achievable goal.

GDI: How will your students benefit from the training center?

RC: Well, we are giving our students everything they need to succeed, all under one roof. We will be offering the 1-on-1 private lessons to fine tune and polish their technical game on our 30 by 30 foot goalie sheet. There is also a 110 by 50 foot sheet where there will be opportunities for 3v3 games. Lastly, there is the 4000 square foot weight room and indoor dryland area that was shown in your pictures, where they will have access, to professional trainers to enhance their conditioning, strength and athleticism.

GDI: Will the weight room be open for use when students don't have a lesson scheduled?

RC: Yes, the gym will be available for GDI clients and we will have packages set up for on and off ice training. Continue to check the GDI Prairies site and The Rink site for more information regarding the weight room and dryland facility.

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Special thanks to Ryan Cyr for this interview. And don't worry, Ryan, we won't count on you for any future construction projects. ;)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Long Days and Cold Ice

Summer is here, which means a break from school and a chance to improve your game at one of GDI's summer camps. While nearly all national camp spots are full, GDI is looking to expand its offerings next summer by hosting an exchange student program through their international camps in Europe. That means that next year, you could spend your time training in Germany or Sweden, which is a unique opportunity that GDI is pleased to present to its students. The camps in Europe will be of the same quality and vigor as those in the US and Canada, and GDI President Dan Blackburn is currently in Sweden to oversee the development of those camps and ensure the integrity of the training. We will certainly keep you updated on this and be sure to notify you next year when you should be signing up for those camps to secure your reservation.

Until then, we are wishing you luck during your summer months of training, training and more training. We look forward to receiving all of your workout journals prior to attending camp, and hope that you will give yourself the best chance for significantly improving your game.

Coming up next... Hear what Ryan Cyr has to say about his new training center and how the construction is going!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

GDI Prairies Satellite Center-- Exclusive Pictures

GDI Prairies is in the process of constructing a satellite training center! Prairies RM Ryan Cyr will be basing his training out of this new location, which will provide many benefits to his clients in terms of convenience, complete and thorough workouts, and a consistent place where they can consult with Cyr.

The location and building of the training center already exists, but is undergoing massive construction to make it into an ice arena and high level training facility. Cyr has sent us some great pictures of the beginning stages of construction, which are posted below. Hopefully we will get some progress shots in the near future so we can really see the center develop.

The outside of the building.

This area will be transformed into an ice rink, and goalie-specific training creases have a separate space (not pictured). Hard to imagine, but we promise all the debris will be gone! The weight room will overlook the ice level from the windows on the top of the back wall.

Lastly, this is the lounge area for the goalies to relax before and after a hard work out!

Coming up this week...
GDI President Dan Blackburn will be a guest on TSN's Off the Record with Michael Landsberg on Thursday at 6pm ET.

Monday, June 1, 2009

GDI Minnkota... the Revolution Begins.

As reported in the recent GDI Highlights, GDI Minntoka's coach Matt Millar will be based out of a new ice rink that will serve as a GDI Satellite Training Center. This is a great accomplishment for Millar, who will have access to more ice time and thus freedom in scheduling more private lessons, clinics and camps.

GDI's newest satellite center will be in Minnesota. Here's what he had to say when GDI Hockey Blog asked a few questions...


GDI Hockey Blog: What will you be able to do now that you have a satellite training center that you couldn't do before?

Matt Millar:
I think that the best part of the new training center in Lakeville, MN would have to be the partnership between GDI and the program called the Players Club. This is a program where players can attend certain sessions during the week for skill development. GDI has been allowed to become an addition to this program, which now provides the goaltenders
an opportunity for skill development as well. The hour skate is going to involve individual skill development in the beginning of the practice for the goaltenders, much like a 1-1 training session. After the curriculum is completed, the players and the goalies then join to have a structured time of development in which both the players and the goalies will benefit from mutually challenging drills.

GDI: What's the best part about having a satellite center?

MM: For me, the best part about having a training center would have to be the fact that we partnered with an existing player development company. The Hockey Development Company is like-minded in its approach towards player development as we are towards the development of goaltenders. It's great having conversations on development with similarly minded coaches, even if they happen to be player coaches. This transfers onto the ice as well, when coaching mutually understood as essential for development. So if the players or goaltenders start to cut corners, the coaches are on the same page with discipline and/or praise. The ease and flexibility that comes with having set ice times for 1-1 training, clinics, and the Players Club makes scheduling much easier.

GDI: How will your students benefit from the satellite center?

MM: As I stated earlier, the ease and flexibility that comes with having set ice times for 1-1 training, clinics, and the Players Club makes scheduling much easier. For any goaltender, mite to pro, consistent training is the key for continued development and breaking though training plateaus. It also is nice for the parents to have a plan for what will be happening during the season or summer and can plan for it financially and allow for the proper amount of work or rest for their athlete during the hockey season or the off-season. Events can tend to be overwhelming in the season, with practices, games and other sport conflicts. With the new training center, it will be reassuring to know that no matter what season or how crowded the schedule, there will be consistent training available.

Additionally, Millar recommended a new blog to keep up with, Coming Down The Pipe! This blog is written by GDI goaltender Mike Lee to chronicle his experiences leading up to the Draft as well as during it. Lee is currently ranked #4 in North America for the NHL Draft. Should be an exciting read!

Mike Lee is 6'1 and 185 pounds. He ended last season with 26 wins, a .918 save percentage and 2.40 goals against average in Fargo. He played in the USHL All-Star game and the 2008 WJAC Challenge in Camrose, AB where he represented the United States and backstopped them to a gold medal finish. Lee will attend St. Cloud State University next season.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Dallas Stars and Summer Camps

As previously mentioned, GDI has partnered with the Dallas Stars and is now the Dallas Star's official provider of everything goaltender, and will be hosting a special camp series sponsored by the Stars. If you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, make sure to check out the camp listings, which will be hosted at a Dr. Pepper Stars Center.

For those of you not in the DFW area, make sure you've signed up for a summer camp to take your game to the next level. National camps are almost all full, so reserve your spot now.

Coming up, GDI RM Matt Millar gets his own GDI Satellite Training Center.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Blackburn, Round 2

GDI President Dan Blackburn appeared on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg again this evening. Today, they discussed the Capitals and Penguins in terms of rushing the goalie (Blackburn had an unexpected opinion on this one... be sure to check it out). Sharing the spotlight on the panel were Keith Primeau, Brad Dalgarno and Kerry Goulet.

What do you think of Blackburn on OTR? Do you agree with what he said?