Four years ago, Patrick Quinlan donned a hockey goalie uniform and took up his position in the net on a 20-by-40-inch patch of synthetic ice in Bluebell's basement. Except for the gloves and blockers, he held on to his two controllers and used a virtual reality headset instead of a mask. He was saving puck after puck just like he would on real ice. “If you get hurt, you can stop the puck without having to go on the ice,” he says. “It's a great tool.”
Quinlan, now 16, is the netminder for the U.S. U-17 national team. He is one of a number of talented emerging hockey players who have benefited from the services of the Goalkeeper Doctor, a niche training program based in Aston and run by Matt Tendler and Mitch Harris. Tendler is the owner and lead instructor at Goalie Doctor. He and Harris run most of the camps and clinics at Aston's Iceworks Skate Complex, Malvern's Elite Edge, and West Chester's PNY Sports Arena. Tendler is also the goalie coach at the University of Delaware, and Harris is the goalie coach at Alvernia University in Reading. Mr. Harris' 17-year-old son, Ryan, plays for his Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 18U team.
The Goalkeeper Doctor works with approximately 200 goalkeepers a year of various age groups. Some of the goalies are in their 50s and play in adult leagues. “This is a challenging and ever-changing position,” Tendler said. “No one likes to be the reason their team loses.''
Tendler, who works as an investment manager when he's not on the ice, founded Goalie Doctor in 2012. Three years before that, he was a freshman netminder at Newman University when Newman won his NCAA Division III championship. He returned to his alma mater and coached goalies for three years, taking over as Neumann's head coach before his departure in 2017. His coaching career actually began in 2005, when he worked under coach Vladislav Tretiak at a summer camp in Toronto. He allowed a goal late in the first period that led to the U.S. team's “Miracle on Ice” victory at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Tendler's father, Glenn, worked as a practice goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers during their heyday in the 1970s before moving into selling hockey apparel and equipment. “I pretty much grew up on the spectrum,” Tendler says.
At the secondary level, Tendler and Harris work with students at Hill School in Pottstown and Upland Country Day School in Kennett Square. Quinlan was under their tutelage as a student at Upland Country Day when he was six years old. “Patrick is an excellent student. Right now he has the best ceiling and trajectory,” Tendler says. “But we also have guys who are playing semi-pro and Division I, II and III.”
In August of this year, Quinlan announced he was joining the sport's national development program and looking toward a future that includes playing for a Division I college during the 2025 National Hockey League draft year and realistic goals at the 2030 Olympics. , moved from Kennett Square to Plymouth, Michigan for 24 months. spot. His parents also accompanied him on his journey. “They understand how quickly an athletic career can change, so they want to enjoy it as much as possible,” Tendler said.
Quinlan's typical day begins at 9 a.m. with online school at The Link. Players meet, warm up and practice by late morning. His 90 minutes include 30 minutes of individual skills work, 90 minutes of team session, and afternoon practice. “Quinlan, who turns 17 next month, says the program is quite tiring. “It's everything I expected and it's also a challenge. But that's pretty rare.”
How rare is it? USA Hockey has 24,000 players registered in Quinlan's age group. Probably 2,000 of them are goalkeepers. His elite team has just 24 players, including his three goalkeepers. “These numbers are pretty crazy,” Quinlan said. “I've always kept my head down and never worried about joining this team or that team. I've just focused on the position of my feet and relied on my abilities.”
The Goalkeeper Doctor works with approximately 200 goalkeepers of all ages each year. “This is a challenging and ever-changing position,” Tendler said. “No one likes to be the reason their team loses.''
When he was 14 and 15 years old, Quinlan spent two years at Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, New York. Bishop Kearny High School is a brick-and-mortar hockey academy with enough space to accommodate 80 players, divided into four teams by age group. “This was a step I had to take,” Quinlan says. “You don't get enough exposure in hockey back home. Scouting starts at 13 or 14 years old, so I don't think I would have been here if I hadn't made the decision.”
Tendler's father, Glenn, was a practice goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers during their heyday in the 1970s. “I grew up on that spectrum,” Tendler says.
Quinlan's proudest moment to date came at the AAA Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament in northern London, Ontario. As Bishop Kearney's coach, he posted a five-game shutout streak, including a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Junior Canadiens in the championship game. “It was the best weekend of my hockey career so far,” he says.
Garnet Valley's Sarah Dobrzynski is also a product of Goalie Doctors. She is studying physics in Lawrence University's pre-engineering program, and she is also on the university's Division III women's ice hockey team.
Dobrzynski has been playing since he was 5 years old and was in his first two years on Delaware State's boys team. He then went to the Delco Phantoms Youth Ice Hockey Club, where he met Tendler and Harris. To help her college recruiting prospects, she turned to women's hockey at the under-16 level, playing for the Philadelphia Flyers in her junior year, where she played for three years, and her final year as a national silver medalist. Finished as a medalist. “Coach Matt and Coach Mitch have always supported me,” Dobrzynski said. “They strengthened my confidence in my skills and taught me new methods and techniques.”
Wallingford's Jacob Aranda, a senior at St. Joseph's Preparatory School, is a California transplant and former Anaheim Junior Duck selection. Since coming here in 2015, he has played for the Delco Phantoms, Little Flyers, Hershey Junior Bears Quebec Tournament team, Palmyra Black Knights and Valley Forge Minutemen. He is on the school's varsity team and also plays for the Little Flyers. “Most people don't know that coaching goalkeepers is a separate training,” he says. “Matt was the first goalie coach I found after I moved. I can't imagine finding anyone else first.”
Quinlan agrees. “They shaped me into the goalkeeper I am today,” he says of his longtime mentors. “For now, we just have to keep improving our game.”
As a member of Team USA, Quinlan plays a 25-30 game weekend schedule in the United States Hockey League. Players from the age of 20 belong to Japan's top junior league. He has also competed in international tournaments in places as far away as the Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland. “The secret sauce is to beat the old competition,” Quinlan says. “It feels so surreal when the national anthem plays and I'm wearing a USA jersey. But it's time to go to work.”
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