To add credence to my recommendation, I will mention that I am not only a former goaltender, but I was the Senior Instructor at The McGratten School of Goaltending from the late seventies until the mid-eighties. To our knowledge, it was the first goalies only school in the world. Several of our students went on to play at the Professional, Collegiate and OHA/OHL level. In addition to our weekly sessions in Scarborough and London, we ran programs at York University in conjunction with the OHA and worked with several minor hockey associations. My daughter Donelle was a goaltender in the WGHA. In her younger years, from Novice on, I volunteered to be the goalie coach for the teams that she played on. Her Bantam goaltending partner had worked with Sandy in the past. They had asked if he could come out to a practice. I agreed, but as someone who has seen things being taught that I disagreed with, I asked if I could go on the ice and observe. Sandy welcomed me. Within about ten minutes, I left the ice, essentially handing the goalie coaching over to him. While I was very familiar with the old style of goaltending, it was clear that Sandy had a complete understanding of the new style. More importantly, he knew how to convey it to the girls. Donelle has continued to work with Sandy to this day, so I have had a chance to see his work for about six years. Sandy has a tremendous ability to teach the technique required to play goal at the highest level. He really connects with each individual that he works with, finding ways to get the very best out of them. His instruction goes well beyond simple puckstopping. The save choices that he presents to them are often not just about making the first save, but being in position to make, or avoid having to make a next save. He incorporates puckhandling into his regimen. He is able to encourage goalies to work on their weaknesses so that they have a balanced game. As important as technique is, the mental aspect of goaltending is what separates the good goalies from the great ones. Sandy’s ability to teach situational strategy, i.e. when to commit to a move, when to be patient, how to assess and prepare for plays as they develop etc., allows his goaltenders to play with the absolute confidence that is required of top goaltender. Over the years I have seen Sandy take good goalies and make them into exceptional goalies. While he also works with boys, I feel that he is especially suited to working with girls as he treats them the same way that he would treat boys. His saying “Not Girlie, Just Goalie” is more than just a slogan, it is his belief and one that he transfers to his students. Sandy is also a consummate student of the position. He is constantly studying goalies and other goalie teachers and their methods and will incorporate new techniques into his program if he feels that they have merit. His on ice sessions are structured, intense, creative and with purpose. He is able to work with coaches to maximize the goaltender’s involvement and development within the framework of a team’s practice time. I could go on with my praise of Sandy, but I will finish by saying that I firmly believe that his work with my daughter is a main reason that she is now on an NCAA Division one hockey team. I feel that Sandy is one of the best goaltending coaches in the game, period. I cannot state strongly enough how beneficial it would be to have Sandy overseeing the development of your goaltenders.
Steve Latimer
Our daughter Kassidy made the move to women’s hockey following a successful career playing boys hockey. Her last season playing boys hockey was at the minor midget AAA level where her team won the OMHA championship. In 2012, she joined a PWHL team and following a successful start in women’s hockey which included being selected to play on the National U18 team for a summer series against the USA and in the fall making Ontario Team Red, everything started going wrong. The game and style that she played that allowed her to be successful was no longer working for her. Kassidy went through a very difficult period where she was questioning her capability and wondered if she would ever be successful playing women’s hockey. She was extremely frustrated and although she continued to work hard, the results were not there. As parents, we were also deeply concerned as we had never experienced anything like this with Kassidy before. We were at a loss to explain or figure out what was happening. Kassidy worked for many years with a terrific coach whose experience was working with boys and as much as we believed that he was instrumental in our daughter’s previous success, we felt a change was needed. During this challenging period, we did our homework, talked to many people with deep experience in women’s hockey and Sandy Sampson’s name came up quite often as “the guy to see” if your goalie needs fixing. We were also told by many that Kassidy had to work with a coach who works primarily with girls if she was to be successful in women’s hockey. In December of 2012, we scheduled Kassidy’s first session with Sandy. Following the 60 minute session, Sandy came to us and said give me a month and she will be fine. Looking back, I cannot describe how reassuring those words were. She was on the ice with Sandy once or twice a week for a 3-4 week period and we also took advantage of the Christmas break to have her on the ice once again with Sandy during one of his goalie camps. In a short period of time, the change in her game was remarkable and when January rolled around, things started falling into place for Kassidy. She worked hard, applied what she was taught and proceeded to go on quite a roll. During her last 10 games of the season, she went 9 and 1 with a GAA of under 1, a save percentage of over .955 and 4 shutouts. She finished her season on a very positive note and felt that she was now back on track. Kassidy continues to work with Sandy to this day and has not looked back. We know that there will be ups and downs along the way however we believe that success will find you if work hard, work smart, are dedicated to your sport and have the right people surround you. Sandy is now part of Kassidy’s inner circle and like her former coach, is largely responsible for her renewed success. Not only is Sandy a great coach on ice but it doesn’t end there. He is in constant communication with his students and has a knack to elevate the goalie’s mental game as well which is as important as what happens on the ice. He is as dedicated to his students as they are to him. That says it all.
Dan, Tammy and Kassidy Sauve
My daughter has been training with Sandy for over 6 years and has had continuous improvement over that time. The best compliment is that she looks forward to her sessions with Sandy, even though she knows that she has to work hard. She would not be playing top level hockey if it was not for Sandy.
Jacques Albert
Goalie coaches for girls hockey was almost non-existent 10 years ago, many of the goalie coaches mixed the female goalies with boys and did not understand the female game let alone cared about the up and coming female goalie. I noticed Sandy running a practice session with all female goalies at the arena so I talked to a few of the parents. “Best Goalie Coach”, “My daughter would not be playing University Hockey if it was not for Sandy” “He knows his stuff”, “My daughter loves coming out to these sessions”.
So I introduced myself and my 11 year old daughter Taylor to Sandy, he intern interviewed her not me, then asked her to watch another session, again interviewed my daughter, then asked her on the ice……almost 10 years later, with many tournament win’s a Provincial Silver Medal to her credit and a scholarship to an American University. My daughter’s dream came true….this can be wrapped up in one word “Thanks” Sandy Sampson!
Chris Watson