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Espoo 21.3.2009
Goaliepro will be running a focus group program again this coming summer for selected goaltenders. Part of this program over the past years has been the development of new training methods and techniques in cooperation with these goalies. Once the methods have been developed and tested Goaliepro will roll them out via its camps and clinics to wider audience.
This summer the development focus is on 2 areas. 1) On the ice we will focus on controlled movements that will allow optimum “save readiness” at all times combined with best possible positioning and timing of various moves/saves. 2) This summer our advanced dryland training is going to have focus on applied training, which basically means new methods that include a lot of core training, off-balance drills etc that are all designed to better service the goalies physical needs to perform better on the ice. During the summer and before next season we will publish 2-4 separate articles from this summer’s program explaining some of the new methods we will be developing / using.
Focus group consist 5 goalies that will be working with us and 4 is the maximum number we will take on the ice at any sessions this summer. Since Lukas Flüeler will only be in Finland for the part of the program that allowed us also to take Bernd Brückler to the group. 4 goalies will be working with 2 Goaliepro coaches on the ice so that we run the same drills at both ends for 2 goalies per net. Group consists the following goalies:
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Ari Sulander, ZSC Lions
Our amazing veteran goalie is already 40 years old, but certainly not slowing down. 2007-08 he was the MVP of the Swiss league playoff’s and Swiss champion and this season he earned the MVP title of the new Champions Hockey League while helping his team to win the first CHL title.
Ari is extremely hard worker who has been able to extend his career through smart and hard training. Every year he fine-tunes and modernizes his style with his coach Jukka Ropponen and this helps him not only to play better, but also stay mentally sharp throughout the numerous ice practices before and during the season. With Ari every season brings something new. |
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Niklas Bäckström, Minnesota Wild
Nikke is part of the program for his 4th year as he started to work with coach Ropponen right after signing his first NHL contract in summer 2006. Over the past years his style has been changed a lot and this -78 born goalie has demonstrated well how goalie can develop his game and make major style changes even after the early years in career. Nikke is a different looking goalie now compared to how he played at the age of 28 in the Finnish Elite League. In the recent interview with Finnish Veikkaaja magazine Nikke told how motivating it is for him to work with veteran Sulander and see how Sulo is playing the best hockey of his career at the age of 40.
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Lukas Flüeler, ZSC Lions
Goaltender with very bright future ahead of him. Lukas has all the needed tools and possibilities to make his career a real success story. This big young goalie (-88) had a stellar season last year in the Swiss league where he saw playing time in 24 regular season games and 2 playoff games. On top of that he also got selected to Swiss national team for the first time and actually started his national team career with 1-0 win over Slovakia while making 39 saves. Now Lukas has to step it up and work harder than ever and more than ever to raise his game to next level.
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Jan Ropponen, RIT Tigers
Another young goalie (-88) who is playing college hockey at U.S.. Jan is entering his junior year and now has the possibility to see his playing time increased, but he has to earn it through extremely hard work. This summer could be the most important in his career so far and Jan will be working on his physical abilities as well as making some carefully designed changes to his game to be able to take it to the next level as the season 09-10 starts.
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Bernd Brückler, Espoo Blues
Brücks is the first goalie that carried Espoo to the finals in the Finnish league and also won them their first medals (silver 2008). In his first season at Finland 05-06 he posted outstanding numbers of GAA 1.22 and 95,9% save percentage. His numbers were also impressive during the 07-08 silver season with GAA 1.97 and 92,3% saves.
This season he has not seen much playing time after ZSC Lions ousted them at the CHL semifinals and Brücks is looking to regain his game and find a new home for next season. Espoo Blues did not allow him to work with coach Ropponen during the last couple of seasons, but he is looking forward to get reunited with Jukka and start improving his game again as the focus group starts its workouts. |
Program consists 2 camps. First one at Switzerland May 15-17 and second one as part of the ZSC Lions annual preseson camp early August at Zurich. The goalies for the first camp are Sulander, Flueler and Ropponen and for the 2nd one Bäckström will replace Ropponen.
The rest of the training sessions will be held at Espoo, Finland. Lukas Flüeler will fly over to Finland for the last week of July to join the group. His spot on the ice will be taken by Bernd Brückler (Espoo Blues) as the group starts working out already this spring after the season is over.
From this group Jan Ropponen and Bernd Brückler will also be coaching at Goaliepro’s annual summer camp. Sulander and Bäckström will arrive to Finland later in June and before that they are working with their own personal programs at Zürich and Minnesota.
All programs will be designed by Jukka Ropponen who will also run all training sessions along with goalie coach Ale Jääskeläinen.
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Minnesota's Nikke Bäckström talks about his summer training