Joe Santagata

 My love for goaltending began with my fascination of the goaltender’s equipment; the different pads, cool colors, and unique masks. I became fixated on the lone man standing between the pipes, but as I watched him more and more, I realized my fascination was actually the art of stopping a hockey puck - How a goalie could stare down 100 MPH slappers without fear…How a goalie could bend his body in ways unimaginable to keep the puck out of the net…How a goalie could single handedly win a game for his team. I was hooked. I wanted to become that. I wanted to look different. I wanted to be the most important guy on the ice. I wanted to hear, “OH WHAT A SAVE BY SANTAGATA!” yelled by Doc Emerick, as I stole a “for-sure” goal away from a shooter, with a sprawling, desperation save.

My obsession with stopping pucks led me to play goaltender in every sport that I played growing up, when hockey wasn’t available. I even picked up the position as catcher in baseball, so I could block the balls in the dirt (and wear the equipment of course). While most skills learned from playing goalie in other sports are not transferable to ice-hockey, I found a way to apply several concepts and takeaways to my hockey game. 

As I grew older, what started off as an attraction, turned into an obsession, and has ultimately become my passion. With my playing days behind me, coaching is how I get to keep my passion for the sport and position alive. What I have learned over the years is that the man who stands there in the crease, who stands out from the rest of the men on the ice, is far more different when you begin to peel back the layers of pads on him. His training, his mindset, and his preparation, to name a few, are all very different from that of a skater. Goaltending has evolved into an “around the clock art”. The days of simply strapping on the pads and stopping the puck are extinct like the dinosaur. There are hundreds of styles, techniques, and theories out there and every one of them is unique to the goaltender.

Over my playing and coaching careers, I’ve had the opportunity to live and travel to many places across the country, allowing me to work with many hockey and goalie coaches. I still work with a lot of them today. Working with so many coaches and organizations over my career, has exposed me to many styles, techniques, and ideologies, as they pertain to the position of goaltender and the sport of hockey. My experiences and my network have helped create my own style of coaching and working together allows us to help every young goaltender work towards reaching  their dreams. 

I was born and raised in Long Island, New York. I moved to Tampa, Florida in October of 2021, where I am currently a Goalie Coach at TGH Ice Plex. Before my move to Tampa, I most recently held the position as Head Goaltending Coach at Westchester Skating Academy, located in Elmsford, New York.