Welcome to BONI GOALIE TRAINERS INC.
We have been designing and building hockey puck shooting machines for the advanced training of goaltenders and players alike. Over the years we have made & sold many different models of these machines, going too many different training facilities. We have produced the best in hockey training equipment for over fifty years and have served thousands of satisfied customers.
Boni Goalie Trainers, Inc.
775 Steeles Ave., Milton, Ontario Canada L9T 5H3
Tel (905) 876-0029 info@boni.com
HISTORY
BONI GOALIE TRAINERS INC., design and build hockey puck shooting machines for the advanced training of goaltenders and players alike. Coaches, instructors and training facility personnel have devised many beneficial and refreshing drills and exercises with this unique equipment.
Boni Goalie Trainers, Inc. has been in production of the BONI PUCK SHOOTING MACHINE since 1973. We first started working on the idea in late 1967 and introduced the first working model in 1972. Orlando Boni, a transplanted Canadian, living in California's San Fernando Valley was playing in an Adult Hockey League, he quickly found out that he needed some help with his goaltending. One evening at the rink he said "What I need is a Puck Shooting Machine", and from that moment he started working to build one. After many different configurations he finally came up with the right combination and in 1972 placed his first ad in "The Hockey News" advertising his new invention.
In September of 1973 he and his family returned to Toronto, Canada, to attend a Hockey Show and at that time decided that maybe Toronto was the best place to start producing and selling this new product. In late 1973, the first production machine was delivered to Noble and Greennough School in Dedham, MA. This first machine was purchased by Warren C. Cook (Thank you Warren, wherever you are.) and from then on, Boni Goalie Trainers, Inc. just kept on going.
The machine pictured to the left, was the first "Boni Puck Shooting Machine" ever produced and it was named "Jumbo". You can see that it is very large and was transported around in a one ton truck. In late 1972 and early 1973 this machine was taken to the Forum in Inglewood, California and shown to the visiting N.H.L. teams at their practice sessions. Most of the time the backup goaltender was in the net to work out with it. It was also taken to the Sports Arena in Los Angeles and shown to the visiting W.H.L. teams at their practice sessions .
HAVE YOU SEEN "JUMBO"? We lost contact with this machine and are looking for any information on its whereabouts. It was last seen stored in Southern California. "Jumbo" was built during the missions to the moon by the many welding and metal working shops who also built race cars. Those were fun days.
The second machine produced was to be the shown at our first appearance at a public event "Hockey Expo '73" and was named Expo in honor of the show it was built for.. This picture was taken at Culver City Arena in California, at the first Goalie School with a Puck Shooting Machine. In this photo is Gary Edwards, he was playing for the Los Angeles Kings at that tim
This machine was used for two weeks in the Goalie School and then taken to Toronto, Ontario for the Hockey Show in September. "Expo" still belongs to us and is sitting in our warehouse along with the tooling for the first machines and various inventions we have produced over the years.
Also pictured with "Expo" is Mr. Boni using the first puck reloading tube with a mechanism for keeping the pucks from falling out one end. The tube was placed over a puck on the ice and pushed into the tube, this kept persons from bending over and reduced back strain. In the photo you can see the white bands around the tube, which held these locks.
This is the first Boni Goalie Trainer that was sold, it was in the fall of 1973. It has been used at Yale University for a number of years. This is the model N P 1 , it held 240 pucks. It had a rotating storage chamber of 8 tubes that held 30 pucks each & it had speeds up to 100 M.P.H. This machine is being used by Universities, Colleges & Goalie Schools across the country. As you can see by the picture this model is quite a bit smaller than the first two that were made. This machine was named by the customer, "Shaibu" we were told means "Puck" in Russian.
This machine weighed 350 lb. and was too wide to go into a regulation size door in the arena. To get it on the ice you had to go through the Zamboni door. The NP1 was the only model that was made until 1975 until the Porta-Puck came out and it was even smaller. The new machine held 40 pucks in a single tube and was small enough that it would go through a standard size door. In time this model replaced the N P 1 altogether because it was smaller, lighter and easier to move around. Best of all it was just as effective as the N P 1 and the higher speeds were not necessary for most age groups.
In 1975 Paul and Jim Palmer, producers for "Hockey Night in Canada" approached us with an idea they had for a competitive game to be aired during the intermission show that would feature the skills of individual NHL players.
The event was called "Showdown '76" and consisted of computerized NP1 puck shooting machines passing a series of pucks to a player who must receive the puck and hit a target that would appear in one of the corners of a goalie net. The players performance was measured by his accuracy and the speed of his shots were recorded as every shot was captured on camera and reviewed by a judge.
The players were ranked by their performance and the results were displayed over the CBC network. This was considered the first public display of a standardized system for measuring the performance of an individual player without the influence of the strength of his team.
Boni Goalie Trainers also fabricates Equipment Testing Machines that are being used by Manufacturers to test Skates, Pads, Sticks & Helmets. The speed of these machines are determined by the requirements of the customer. They are mounted to a work bench and can shoot pucks at any piece of equipment that is mounted on a stand, usually at least 5 Feet away.
WHAT IS GOING ON WITH US NOW
I would like to begin by telling you we are still here, we may not be making new “puck shooting machines” at this time, but we have not left you with an orphan.
We are still servicing machines and selling parts for you that need them. Also from time to time we will have refurbished machines for sale, so if you are looking for one send us an e-mail. We will keep you on file and when one is available we will let you know.
As you can see from our history page we have been in this business for a long time (over 50 years). We started out a young couple with two pre teen kids. We have gone from there to be an old couple with two adult grandchildren.
Our time has come to retire and we find with all the happenings of the last few years it is not always possible to hand a business down or to sell it. Because this was our own invention and our dream and it is not easy to just walk away from it.
Also we don’t want to leave people without any backup if they should need service or parts. So to make Orlando happy we are calling it semi retirement & he can always be available for verbal mechanical assistance or to just talk about his love for goaltending.
I would like to get back to one important thing with regards to the “puck shooting machines”, these machines will run forever (we would like to think) but they do need service once in awhile.
A little bit of a clean up and some greasing on all grease fittings of all mechanical components & oil all frictional moving parts from time to time will help them greatly.
PUCK SHOOTING MACHINE WHEEL IMPORTANCE
The most important thing to remember is the driving wheels that shoot the puck out, they do wear down and need to be rebuilt after much use. So when you notice the speed of the puck slowing down it is probably time to have the wheels rebuilt.
Check the wheels for worn rubber or pieces of rubber torn off & also check to see if the rubber is hard. If you find either of these things wrong with the wheels they need to be rebuilt. So what you do then is get in touch with us and we will help you diagnose this problem. Or best yet send us some photos of the wheels and we probably can tell from that.
When it is determined you need the wheels done we can instruct you how you can remove them and send them back to be rebuilt. At that time we can give you a price on having this service done.
Remember, your puck speed relies on the quality of the wheels. Upon completion of the changing of the wheels, you will be happy with the performance of your machine providing there are no problems with the rest of the machine.
There are machines out as old as 45 years old that are still running, (who is driving a 45 year old car) We are trying to appeal to the owners of some machines that are in garages, storage units and other places that are not being used. THIS HURTS US, if you are the owner of a puck machine in this situation, get it out check it over and let’s get it running again.
From time to time we have available refurbished machines, so if you are looking for a machine get in touch with us and we will let you know when we have one.
We can be reached at 905-876-0029 or info@boni.com