Danny Vitale

- Director of Goaltending Development
Primary 3

Experience

Coach Danny was raised on hockey “I had five a.m. practices in New York snowstorms, glued to the TV watching NHL games, driving all over New England on the way to the next tournament. I would put on my goalie pads whenever (and wherever) I could. I started with learn-to-skate classes, then played in-house, travel, juniors, and finally NCAA at Amherst College in Massachusetts, where I tended goal for four years; we won two NESCAC championships and made two Frozen Four appearances. I’m forever grateful for the opportunities that hockey has given me. As the California Heat Director of Goaltending, I hope to help give similar opportunities to our young goalies.”

“I moved to Los Angeles in 2016 and started coaching goalies for the Heat. Discovering my love for coaching motivated me to reach as many passionate, hard-working goalies as possible; I founded Goalie University to coach clinics and camps in a fun, supportive, and competitive environment. As Director of Goaltending for the Heat, my goal is to help our goalies become better players and people, on and off the ice. I want our goalies to feel, first and foremost, like teammates, and treat all players and coaches with respect, while working hard, having fun, and loving hockey. (Also, lots of skating drills… It’s the best way to get better at stopping pucks!)”