Goal Tec Saskatoon

Owner/Operator
Roydon Gunn
Former New York Islander

There were nights in Roydon Gunn's backyard when it was just too cold to play hockey. It was even worse for the guys who had to change, because the change room was his unheated garage.

But for Gunn, a goaltender who played in the WHL, the IHL, the Central Hockey League and with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, it was the only option. Renting ice a arenas (more than $100 per hour) was out of the question. Besides, most rinks were booked solid anyway. So the backyard it was. That's where he instructed 'kids' from age five to 45 on how to become a better goaltender.

"There were some pretty brutal nights out there," says Gunn, who signed a contract with the NHL's New York Islanders in 1987, then spent three years kicking around the minor leagues with Springfield, Baltimore, Indianapolis and Memphis before returning to Saskatoon. Here, Gunn enrolled at the U of S and played two years for the Huskies, earning league MVP honors.

In 1996 he opened an indoor hockey operation with an area for goaltenders to improve performance levels. Using a compressor to keep the ice patch frozen, and building a 45 by 45 rink with plastic rink boards at the base. As he discovered, "if you build it, they will come."

Until now, there had been nowhere in the city for goalies to get training, Gunn says. Most coaches don't know how to coach goalies, and while there may be a million books for defencemen and forwards, there are probably less than 10 books aimed at goaltenders. Gunn had been instructing for about half a dozen years and had operated a couple of goalie schools during Christmas break and at the start of the hockey season, but he believed there was a desperate need for one-on-one coaching.

"Now we can do it," he says. "The ice for the goalie is 12x12 and we can shoot from anywhere, either by hand or with a puck machine (that fires pucks at about 90 mph). We videotape what they do and they can watch afterwards."

Gunn believes the most important part is talking with the goalies as they're going through the drills. "We can improve their skill level and performance, but it's also great for conditioning," says Gunn, a feeling echoed by 40 year-old Pat O'Connell, who spent an hour there in a one-on-one session.

"I'm probably 20 games ahead of where I was last year (at this time)," O'Connell says, "I just play pick-up hockey for half a dozen teams that want me, but it helped a lot with my positioning."

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