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About gatagoalie

Who am i?

I'm Joe Santagata, and my passion is goaltending. I believe it's the best position in the greatest sport. My lifelong pursuit of excellence, both as a player and now as a coach, led me to create GataGoalie. We're dedicated to helping goalies develop their skills, mindset, and love for the game. Learn more about our philosophy and how we can help you reach your full potential.

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Elevate
your game

Name: GataGoalie
Address: 501 South Falkenburg Road, Tampa, FL, 33619, US
Telephone: 631-223-5438

Train with the Best

At GataGoalie, we are dedicated to providing top-notch personalized goaltending training to help you reach your maximum potential on the ice.

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Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events

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Off Ice Training

Enhance skills through specialized workouts at The GataGoalie Garage.

The GataGoalie Garage

Patience is your greatest weapon in the RVH. 🛑🏒

The Breakdown:
It’s easy to react instinctively and drop your paddle to the ice the moment a player threatens from below the goal line. But automatically defaulting to a paddle-down position is a dangerous trap.

In this video, we break down why premature commitment works against you:
1️⃣ Giving Up the Top: Leaning over to drop your paddle immediately takes away your upper-body height, exposing the top shelf to a quick, elevated shot.
2️⃣ Losing Mobility: Getting locked into an early paddle-down position leaves you entirely compromised if you need to push across the crease to catch a lateral play.

The GataGoalie Strategy:
When you seal the post, maintain a disciplined, upright stance and keep your blocker secure in the hole above your pad. Stay patient! Only commit to the paddle-down technique once the shooter officially commits to a wrap-around or a pass through the crease. 🥅
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#GataGoalie #GoalieTraining #HockeyIQ #GoalieDrills #TendyLife

Aggressive depth isn’t always the answer. 🛑🏒

The Breakdown:
When you’re facing a shooter on a sharp, narrow angle, your first instinct might be to challenge way out on the white paint to make yourself look massive. But as Coach Joe explains in this video, overcommitting on your depth here can backfire.

In this video, we look at why you need to dial it back:
1️⃣ The Angle Advantage: At a sharp angle, you already cover most of the net just by standing there. Going too far out doesn’t give you additional coverage.
2️⃣ The Rebound Trap: If you’re too far out when making the save, any rebound out front forces you to cover a massive amount of ice just to get back to the middle of the crease for the second save.

The GataGoalie Strategy:
Keep your heels and hips just slightly ahead of the post. This gives you enough space to drop into a clean butterfly without getting blocked by the pipe, but keeps you close enough to recover quickly if the play shifts across the crease. Save the ultra-aggressive depth for the middle ice where the net is wide open! 🥅
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#GataGoalie #GoalieTraining #HockeyIQ #GoalieDrills #TendyLife

🎅🏻
Ho Ho Ho GataGoalies!
SantaGataGoalie Is Coming To Town!

Excited to show you our 2026 Christmas In July Training Clinic Workout Tanks!

All GataGoalies attending this clinic will be receiving one… well, if they are on the nice list so far this year!

Our Christmas In July Clinic is exactly one week away.
Don’t forget to register. Space is Limited!

To register, email Joe@GataGoalie.com or call/text 631-223-5438. Or you can register online at www.gatagoalie.com/camps.

See you next week!

Don’t slide blindly. 🛑👀

The Breakdown:
A lot of goalies make their lateral movements without setting their target direction first. When you move blindly across the crease, you end up wasting energy on secondary adjustments and leaving yourself completely out of position by the time the shot arrives.

To fix this, Coach Joe breaks down the Head-Hands-Feet sequence in this video:
1️⃣ Head: Identify where the puck is first. Your head initiates the entire rotation.
2️⃣ Hands: Point your glove, blocker, and stick toward the new angle. This will initiate your lower half to follow the rotation.
3️⃣ Feet: Twist your lower half into position, load up, and then execute your slide or T-push.

When you sequence your rotation first, you’ll always land perfectly square to the shooter. 🥅
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#GataGoalie #GoalieTraining #HockeyIQ #GoalieDrills #TendyLife

🐶🐶
Thats a Wrap!
GataGoalie 2026 Summer Camp 2 is in the books!

It was a great week of camp. Our largest to date. With our friends from Arkansas and Wyoming coming to join us this week!

Thank you to all the GataGoalies, parents, and families for attending!

Special Thanks to all of our amazing coaches and rink staff who help put on our camps. None of this is possible without each and every one of you.

Great Job Everyone! Enjoy Your Weekend! You All Earned It!

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GataGoalie Summer Camp 2, Day 4 Photo Dump!

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GataGoalie Summer Camp 2, Day 3 Photo Dump!

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Camp 2, Day 3 Photo Dump!

Featuring The GataGirls at The GataGoalie Garage!💪🏻

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GataGoalie 2026 Summer 2, Day 1 Photo Dump!
Great Job Today Goalies!

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Tino’s Road Grays Have Arrived For GataGoalie Summer Camp #2!

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GataGoalie Summer Camp 2 Tees Are Ready!

Quiet hands make for clean saves. 🛑

The Breakdown:
A major pitfall when goalies build up power in their slides is letting their hands fly wildly in the direction they are pushing.

As Coach Joe emphasizes in this video, dropping or flailing your arms during a slide leads to two big issues:
1️⃣ Uncontrolled Slides: Wild arm movements throw off your center of balance, making it harder stay on angle with good butterfly posture and track the puck into the save.
2️⃣ Vulnerability: If your blocker or glove drops during the slide, you aren’t set up to actually stop the puck and control the rebound.

The GataGoalie Strategy:
Lock your arms in your baseline glove and blocker positions. When you push, make sure your upper body stays disciplined and independent of your lower body power. Your eyes, stick, and gloves should track the target cleanly—unbothered by the slide.
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#GataGoalie #GoalieTraining #HockeyIQ #GoalieDrills #TendyLife

🎅🏻Ho Ho Ho GataGoalies!🎅🏻

I am very excited to announce our first ever SantaGataGoalie Christmas in July Goalie Clinic!

This 3 day clinic will take place on July 8-10 and will include 2 hours of goalie specific off-ice training and 2 hours of goalie specific on-ice training each day.

Off-ice will take place at The GataGoalie Garage and on-ice will be at TGH Ice Plex. Both locations are located conveniently across Falkenburg Rd from one another. Transportation can be provided upon request.

This clinic is open to goaltenders of all ages/levels and each goaltender will receive a GataGoalie Jersey & Tee Shirt, as well as some other GataGoalie goodies.

With our Christmas In July Clinic, we will also be accepting goalie gear donations for our Goalie Gear Drive. So GataGoalies, if you have any old gear you no longer wear, fit in, or want, please come turn it in. We will find a new home for it. It might just even get you on Santa’s nice list this year!

Additionally, we will conclude our clinic with a 30 minute GataGoalie/family skate. So come on down with your parents and siblings. Skates can also be rented at TGH Ice Plex if anyone needs a pair!

To register for this clinic or for additional information,
visit www.gatagoalie.com/camps or contact Coach Joe.
Email: Joe@GataGoalie.com
Phone: 631-223-5438

We Ho Ho Hope to see you there!
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#gatagoalie #thegatagoaliegarage #goalietraining #santagatagoalie #goalieclinic

The easiest trick to reset your stick grip mid-game. 🏒🔄

The Breakdown:
When you’re in the heat of a game, your blocker hand is constantly moving, reacting, and taking impact. Naturally, your grip can start to slide up the shaft of your stick.

If your hand is too high, you are no longer in full control of your stick. Instead of fumbling around trying to adjust it, try this quick trick shown in this video:
1️⃣ Flip it: Turn your stick completely upside down so the knob faces the ice.
2️⃣ Drop it: Let the stick drop smoothly into your blocker hand.

The weight of the stick will slide it perfectly back into place right where it belongs. Quick, efficient, and gets you ready for the next play in seconds. 👌
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#GataGoalie #GoalieTraining #HockeyGoalie #GoalieTips #GoalieLife

Why push out if you’re just going to float back? 🛑🥅

The Breakdown:
It’s a common bad habit among younger goalies: you do all the hard work to challenge a shooter at the top of the crease, but right before the release, you start drifting backward.

As Coach explains in the video, backing up right before the shot defeats the whole purpose of challenging. When you drift:
1️⃣ The Net Grows: Every inch you retreat gives the shooter more open twine to aim at.
2️⃣ Your Feet Aren’t Set: Moving backward makes it incredibly difficult to establish a stable stance and launch into an explosive, controlled save.

The GataGoalie Strategy:
Get out there, challenge the shot and set your feet. When you drop into your butterfly, you should be planted firmly on the edge of the blue/ in the white paint—

Present yourself to the puck and shooter as big as possible and Hold your ground! ❄️

*Important to Note: There are some game situations that require “drift” in your stance. That will be covered in another video. In this video, the drill simulated a shot where the puck had already established zone entry

#GoalieTraining #GoalieDrills #CreasePlay #TendyLife #IceHockey

🐶Thats A Wrap!
GataGoalie 2026 Summer Camp 1 is in the books!

Thank you to all the goalies, parents, and coaches who attended and helped with this week’s camp!

Looking forward to our next camp, June 22-26!
Here’s our Fun Friday Photo Dump!

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GataGoalie 2026 Summer Camp Day 4 Photo Dump!
Great Job Goalies!

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GataGoalie 2026 Summer Camp Day 3 Photo Dump!
Great Job Goalies!

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GataGoalie 2026 Summer Camp Day 2 Photo Dump!
Great Job Goalies!

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GataGoalie 2026 Summer Camp Day 1 Photo Dump!
Great Job Goalies!

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GataGoalie 2026 Summer Camp 1 Jerseys Have Arrived!

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First Look At Our GataGoalie Summer Camp 1 T-Shirts, Featuring Tino!

Listen closely to your pads when you drop. Are they sliding into place, or are they snapping?

In this session, Coach Joe is emphasizing the Butterfly. A lazy drop creates a delayed seal, leaving the five-hole open just long enough for a quick shooter to sneak one through.

Keys to your Butterfly:
1️⃣ Instant Seal: Driving your knees directly down into the ice ensures zero light gets through your legs.
2️⃣ Rebound Control: A fast and efficient butterfly allows you more time to track the shot into your body and control the rebound.
3️⃣ Body Control: Keeping your upper body disciplined while your lower half drives downward will allow for better puck tracking and a stronger base in your butterfly allowing you to move more quickly and efficiently to your next shot position.

Listen for the noise. If you hear that loud pop, you know you’ve sealed the ice. 🥅

Tag a goalie who needs to work on their snap! 👇
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#GoalieTraining #ButterflyDrill #GoalieSave #HockeyGoalie #GoalieDrills

🐶
Tino Summer Camp Stickers Have Arrived!

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Summer Camps are just 2 weeks away and filling up quickly. Be sure to register soon to secure your spot. Space is limited.

To register, visit www.gatagoalie.com/camps or contact Joe@GataGoalie.com
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#gatagoalie #goaliecamps #tampahockey #summercamp #thegatagoaliegarage

It’s not about where the puck starts—it’s about where it’s released. 🏒

The Breakdown: A lot of goalies set their angle based on the player’s body or where the puck is sitting during the wind-up. But as you can see from the “Puck Perspective” lines, a simple 6-inch toe drag completely changes the net coverage.

Why this matters: If you don’t shift with the puck, you’re leaving a massive gap for shooters to exploit. In the video, you can see how Titus stays “on angle” by tracking the puck’s lateral movement and moving with the puck prior to release.

Pro Tip: Treat the puck like it’s on a track. If it moves laterally, you must shift with the puck to keep it in the center of your body so that you’re staying on the angle.
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#GoalieTraining #HockeyIQ #PuckPerspective #GoalieDrills #HockeyGoalie

Don’t sacrifice your size for the paddle. 🛑🏒

A common mistake in the RVH is going “Paddle Down” automatically. While it feels like you’re covering more ice, you’re actually:

1️⃣ Leaning: This pulls your head and shoulders away from the crossbar, leaving the “short side high” wide open.

2️⃣ Getting Small: You lose your net presence and become harder to move out of the post.

The GataGoalie Strategy: Keep that blocker in the hole above the pad and stay upright. Hold your water! Only commit the paddle to the ice once you’ve confirmed the play is a pass or a hard wrap-around.

Patience = Better Reads.

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#GoalieTraining #HockeyGoalie #GoalieIQ #RVH #GoalieDrills

Glove positioning 101 🥅

Your glove pocket needs to face the puck at all times. Sounds simple, but it’s one of the most common mistakes young goalies make.

Why it matters:
✔️ The pocket is where you catch the puck - if it’s not facing the shooter, you can’t make the save
✔️ Proper angles mean the puck comes right into your glove
✔️ Wrong positioning = the puck hits the back of your glove or misses completely

Small adjustment, huge difference in your save percentage 💪

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#GataGoalie #GoalieTraining #HockeyGoalie #GloveSaves #GoalieFundamentals

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Get in Touch with Us

Connect with us to enhance your goaltending skills today!

Joseph Santagata

631-223-5438

Our Location

The GataGoalie Garage

501 S Falkenburg Rd Ste C-23, Tampa, FL 33619

The Gatagoalie garage is now open!

About gatagoalie

Who am i?

Elevate your game

Upcoming Events

Explore Our Expert Services

1 on 1 Training

Camps & Clinics

Off Ice Training

​

Follow us on Instagram

Get in Touch with Us

Our Location

Contact us

Elevate
your game

1 on 1
Training

Camps
& Clinics