Goalies, parents, coaches and the concept of "team"

A loser's salute.

Hi gang,

Well, I managed to let the month of February slip by without a single post. My bad. That's what happens when both cars need major repairs, and a faulty pressure release valve on the hot-water heater floods the basement. Fun, fun, fun. But, since there's no crying in hockey (or home and car ownership, for that matter), it's time to move on.

The story featured in this column is now a year old, but I just had a parent remind me that he watches the accompanying video often, if only to remind himself to maintain perspective when it comes to youth and high school hockey, and his own two children (both goaltenders). This particular column, which originally ran in the New England Hockey Journal, also gave me a chance to call on several outstanding goalie coaches, including Brian Daccord, Joe Bertagna, and Darren Hersh, to get their thoughts on what I felt was an act of supreme selfishness. Let me know what you think ...

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Goalies, parents, coaches and the concept of "team"

So what are we to make of Austin Krause?

Don't know the name? Good for you. I'm hesitant to even dignify Krause's name with any additional mention, but it's next to impossible to tell this story without identifying the culprit. Just Google "Austin Krause," along with "goalie" and Farmington," and you'll find tales of how young Mr. Krause, a senior at Farmington High School in Minnesota, managed to disgrace himself while becoming something of an Internet sensation.

Here's the short version of Krause's tale. A disgruntled senior who started nine of Farmington's 23 games, Krause was upset about being demoted to backup to – gasp! – a sophomore. A Tweet from Austin obviously proves he knows better than his coaches: "They played this sophomore goalie for the starter, he was terrible, I would try and talk to the coaches about this and tell them I want playing time but they never really listen to me or gave me a chance to show them that I'm a better goalie."

Krause's numbers were decent (492 minutes, 5-4-1, 2.80 GAA, .877 save percentage), but they weren't as good as the sophomore starting ahead of him (548 minutes, 2.42 GAA, .901 save percentage). But instead of working his tail off, and proving he deserved to start, Krause apparently sat and stewed, and carefully plotted revenge.

On Senior Night, with the sophomore goalie out with an injury, Krause got the start against Chaska High. With three minutes left, and Farmington nursing a 2-1 lead, Krause calmly fielded a dump in, intentionally swept the puck into his own net, removed his blocker and flashed his middle finger toward his coaching staff, then ostensibly saluted his own team, and skated off the ice (with the help of friends, who obviously were waiting to open the door). Chaska, went on to win the game, 3-2.

Crazy, right? Not surprisingly, Krause was called into the principal's office and handed a 10-day suspension. Me? I would have forced him to come to school wearing a Chaska sweater and dunce cap, but that would probably violate the poor kid's civil liberties. And if the school system paid for even a dime of the kid's equipment, I'd withhold his diploma until every cent was repaid.

Even more shocking is the number of people who have come to Krause's defense, seeing something oddly noble in his actions. Take Fox 9 producer Doug Erlien, who wrote: "For those of us who had a problem with their high school coach at some point, what Krause did took courage. In no way am I trying to make him a hero here, but Krause took the 'stand in line and be a good soldier,' turned it around and shoved it right back in the face of the entire hockey world, including his team. Good team guy? Not a chance, but a part of me on the inside is standing and applauding and saying ‘'good for you kid, good for you.'"

It gets better. Erlien replied to comments that it was likely, in this day and age, that a prospective employers might search Krause's name, see the story, and immediately round-file his application. "If I were starting a company I'd want more guys like Krause working for me and I'd hire him in a minute. We need more passionate people who aren't afraid to put themselves out there and stand up for what they believe in popular or not."

Good luck with that, Doug. I can just see the first time Krause disagrees with his boss, loses his cool (because, of course, he's always right), and then makes a public display to embarrass not only himself and his company, but all of his company's clients. Yeah, just the guy I'd want on my staff.

There is something very, very rotten at the core of this story. And it starts and ends with Krause. He's a senior in high school, which means he's either 17 or 18. My girls, both teenagers, have known the difference between right and wrong since they were five, so I'm not going to let an 18-year-old off the hook. On the other hand, he's probably been coddled and told how great he is for a long, long time, and that definitely creates a sense of entitlement. I don't pretend to know all the particulars of Krause's home life, but the fact that his father has been banned from youth hockey games for a year speaks volumes.

"I know a coach who likes to say, 'Kids usually don't grow up to be like the neighbor's parents,'" said Joe Bertagna, former Boston Bruins and USA Olympic goaltending coach who runs Bertagna Goaltending. "What this kid did is wrong in so many ways, and I have to believe he has parents at home who have made him feel like a victim all year."

Exactly, said Brian Robinson, a managing director with Stop It Goaltending. "The kid started nine games out of 23 total, and he says the coach never gave him his chance? I can't stand what is happening to this new era of children who are so babied and pampered and given every single thing they want without ever being told no or being properly disciplined when they are in the wrong. I bet this kids parents gave him a pat on the back when he got out of that rink."

We, as goalie coaches, see this type of parental interference all the time. Sometimes they're right. Coaches do mess up, or play favorites. But how you deal with that hardship defines who you are.

"I think we can all agree we understand the kid's frustration as most of us have been involved in a similar situation in one form or another," said Sean Moloney, author of "Modern Goaltending, Modern Game." "His (desire) in this situation is clear, and understandable. This leaves us with the action. Which no matter how many ways I look at it is deplorable, petty, childish, selfish, and unforgivable."

In reality, some kids are never taught to deal with competition. "One of our issues is that kids play their birth year," said Brian Daccord, owner of Stop It Goaltending and a former Bruins goalie coach. "The whole team moves up each year. Therefore they do not have to compete for their spot like they did when levels consisted of two birth years. They get to high school they go from one birth year to four, with no experience or appreciation for competing to make a team. The old system was the way to go."

At the risk of painting with too broad a brush, it is a problem that's becoming all-too pervasive. "The pure selfishness in youth team sports today should not surprise us when we see this event take place," said Darren Hersh of The Goalie Academy. "I hear parents of players telling kids not to pass to teammates, but to keep the puck and to do it themselves. I've seen goalie partners cheer when their goalie teammate gets scored on."

"The selfishness that it takes, which is also encouraged and fueled by parents, seems to be at an all time high," said Hersh. "Not saying that deep down we all have felt jealousy, anger, and envy for our goalie competitors from time to time, but I've seen these emotions perfectly controlled and never revealed. To express those emotions by putting the puck in your own team's net only to make your own extremely selfish feelings known to the entire hockey world is beyond reprehensible.

"What is really disheartening, as a coach of youth hockey, is that the very important lessons that team sports like hockey can teach kids are the very lessons and values that a select group of parents do not know, understand, live, nor teach. Coaches today have to teach these values to both the kids AND to the parents, which is an exhausting undertaking to say the least."

Perhaps the greatest irony is that Krause wore No. 1. It's abundantly clear that Krause only care about one person, himself. His actions proved he was less than a back-up – he's a quitter.

FINIS

Coaches can't forget the goalies

Working with the youngsters of Agawam Youth Hockey.

Hi gang,

The hockey season, just like "the winter that never was," faded quickly this year. Especially given my work covering college hockey for ESPNBoston, the end of the season is like an overtime game, with all the excitement and adrenaline building to a crescendo. And then ... Nothing.

So, it's in this lull between the season's finale and summer camps that I like to take stock of what I feel are some of the major issues facing young goaltenders. And here's a column on one of those critical topics, originally written for the New England Hockey Journal.

COACHES MUST TAKE OWNERSHIP

Psssst! Hey, coach! Yeah, I'm taking to you. This column is not for players or parents (thought they're welcome to read along). This one is for you, coach, the man or woman who has admirably accepted responsibility of teaching this young group of boys or girls (or both). I commend you to taking on such a huge – and often underappreciated – task. And I'm going to ask you to do more. I'm going to ask to you spend a little more time understanding the role of the goaltender.

Keep in mind, I don't make this request lightly, or without understanding all the pressure you folks already face. I'm a youth hockey coach too, and fully aware of the juggling act that it involves. It's time-consuming, and the on-ice challenges are only the tip of the iceberg. But, at the end of the day, we signed on for this, and if we want our team – not just goaltender, but the entire team – to be successful, we should pay more attention to the kids who get between the pipes.

Because, typically, we don't. Instead, here's what I've found in my two decades of coaching. Most hockey coaches want to hand off the goaltending responsibilities to someone else. Sort of like calling the plumber the second the toilet backs up, instead of getting the plunger yourself.

Now, I realize that, as a goalie coach, I stand to gain from this arrangement. It's not my full-time job, by any means, but I am a professional, and take those responsibilities very seriously. Plus, I love it. And the reality is, the position is so unique that it will always require specific instruction. But that doesn't mean that head coaches can abdicate their own responsibilities in helping develop good goaltenders.

If they do, they risk creating a situation that's like couples in a struggling marriage, when just one spouse goes to counseling. To be effective, both partners need to sign on if they hope to gain any real insights. Likewise, hockey coaches need to design practices that benefit everyone. In short, coaches must do a better job of incorporating goaltenders, which means understanding the unique requirements of the position. That means creating practice plans that feature more realistic drills (and avoiding the dreaded "50 shots in 50 seconds" scenario).

For example, in small-ice scrimmages, allow your goaltenders to tie up the puck. In their lust for non-stop action, coaches are always telling their goalies "Play it! Play it!" Instead, they ought to say "Tie it up." This develops the mindset of gathering the puck (yes, it can be a learned behavior), which will pay dividends in those tight games.

Coaches should also know the basic terminology, and the basic techniques, of goaltending. This would allow them to have goalie-specific warm-ups, instead of having the goalies skating end-to-end with everyone else (which is good for their cardiovascular fitness, but little else). So here's a quick primer:

Getting Square

A huge component to successful goaltending is getting square to the puck. This means facing the puck not just with your eyes and head, but your chest (many coaches refer to having a spotlight on the chest, and shining that light on the puck). When a goalie sets up properly, his shoulders, hips, knees and skates are all equidistant from the puck, presenting the biggest surface area possible.

The Shuffle

This is a surprisingly difficult maneuver to younger, or inexperienced, goaltenders (if you don't believe me, try it yourself). The idea is to move laterally, in your stance, while facing the puck, without opening the hips. The key is keeping the skates (or toes) facing the puck, virtually parallel, and allowing the lead skate (your left, if you're moving to the left) to glide while the trailing leg supplies the power.

The Drop Step

Once known as the T-glide, this move evolved when it proved to be quicker, and more efficient, to drop the leading skate to the heel of the drive skate, forming an "L" before pushing off. So, if a goalie is moving left, the left skate drops back, heel to heel with the right skate, pointing left. This helps open the hips properly, and then the goalie drives off the back, or right, skate toward the left, stopping on the leading skate (not the same skate you pushed off on).

The Butterfly

Often mistaken as a style, the butterfly is really a save technique (i.e. you don't use it all the time). There's a big difference between a well-executed butterfly, and simply flopping to the ice. In the latter, the goalie lets gravity do the work, the arms and butt typically dropping too low, and the stick flying away from the 5-hole. When done correctly, the butterfly is a tight, disciplined move, where the knees are driven to the ice, the butt and hands stay high (allowing the goalie to remain "big"), and the stick stays on the ice, covering the 5-hole. Also, be aware if your young netminder drops too quickly, especially on shots going over the net. The butterfly requires patience (not a strong suit of little 'keepers).

The Butterfly Slide

Another move that proficient goalies make look easy. Youngsters, though, tend to "hop and flop," turning out in a drop-step motion and then jumping to the side. In the butterfly slide, the skates continue to point at the puck, like a shuffle. The lead pad drops to the ice, and the drive legs loads (as in a squat) and pushes off. So, again, if a goalie is moving left, the left knee drops first, the goalie loads the edge of the right skate, and pushes off to the left. When done correctly, the upper body remains quiet, and the stick blade tracks in front, between the skates to cover the space that a goalie must open to push effectively.

The Butterfly Push

In this quick recovery move, the goalie is already down in the butterfly, on his knees. To execute the butterfly push, the goalie lifts the back knee to the chest, setting the edge of the back skate underneath him. This is what he pushes off of. So, if the goalie wants to move to the right, the left knee comes to the chest, the left edge sets underneath, and the goalie pushes off that edge to the right, while keeping the lead pad flush to the ice.

Recovery

A common problem for young goalies is they tend to always recover on the same leg. This is their dominant leg. But as I tell my students, dominant legs are for soccer players, not hockey goalies. The correct recovery leg is predicated by the direction of the puck. And 95 percent of the time, that means recovering on the back leg (which is why I say that goaltending is predominantly rear-wheel drive). If a rebound squirts to the right, the goalie recovers on the left leg, which allows him to push into the direction of the puck. If he recovers on his right leg, all he can do is get straight up, then turn and push. In a game as quick as hockey, that's two moves too many.

The Belfour, or Paddle Down

Perhaps the single most overused maneuver in the game today, and often used incorrectly, the Paddle Down technique was names after Hall of Famer Ed Belfour, who knew how to use it. The concept is sound – when the play is in tight, the paddle down along the ice takes away the bottom of the net. However, far too many goalies use the technique all the time, and usually at the wrong time. In most instances, it's far more preferable keep the stick blade on the ice, in the 5-hole.

Finally, educate yourself. Entire generations, mine included, learned the position almost exclusively via self-taught techniques. I still have my dog-eared copy of Jacques Plante's classic, "Goaltending" (which even featured a chapter with Tony Esposito discussing the radical "V" or "butterfly" style). This tome, though outdated, still is grounded in the bedrock principles that all goalies can benefit from.

Today, though, you've got a slew of web sites (start with USA Hockey) and YouTube clips that can provide the basics and beyond. Other excellent resources include books such as Brian Daccord's "Hockey Goaltending," Francois Allaire's "The Hockey Goalie's Complete Guide," and Jim Corsi's "The Hockey Goalie's Handbook." Daccord and Joe Bertagna, both former goalie coaches for the Boston Bruins, also have top-notch instructional videos that reinforce the fundamentals of the position in easy-to-understand terms.

So hit the books (or the videos), and design a complete practice plan. You owe it to your goaltenders, and your entire team will benefit.

FINIS

Motivation, Part 2 ...

The hockey community is a small one. That goes double for goalie coaches. We're a tight-knit group that epitomizes the classic quote from Frank "Ulcers" McCool: "The only friend a goalie has is the other goalie across the ice. He's the only one who understands."

The lot of the goalie isn't as bad as it was back in McCool's day (the mid-1940s), but it's a given that goalies are a different breed. Same for goalie coaches. If you were to eavesdrop on a bunch of goalie coaches discussing the position, in the most excruciating detail, you'd probably think you'd just stumbled into a geek convention. But that's what the post-practice gab sessions were like at the Prospects Camp I worked at this past summer (attended by such promising young netminders as Cody Reichard of Miami university, shown in the accompanying photo). Run by Brian Daccord of Stop It Goaltending, the camp is a remarkable collection of talented young goaltenders, and talented coaches, from throughout North America and even Europe.

The common denominator is that we care. We care about the game, the position, and the kids who choose to play the position. Provided they care as well. That's all we ask. As an example, here's a cyber-chat I had with my friend Magnus Olsson, a certified goalie instructor from Sweden (there is some debate about the validity of Magnus's "certification," but that's a subject for another post). It gets back to the topic of motivation, and what our role is as coaches. I think it serves as a good illustration of how we don't leave our jobs "at the rink."

MAGNUS: I have a bit of a problem. I tend to see many young goalies (ages 10-12) not being very passionate in practice. They seem to like being on the ice but they don't try very hard. They don't fight for the rebound, go for desperation saves and things like that. SOME of them do, but these guys are rare. I do try to put in some parts of fun stuff and also competition to get the drive and intensity. Still I just find many youngsters not trying hard enough?!

I'm well aware that it's about having fun at this age and that's what we try to do, but at the same time you need to put in some technical parts and serious training ... What are your thoughts on this? Have you seen the same problems where you coach?

BRION: Hey Magnus, This is a great question, because I think at this age, you quickly find out who REALLY wants to play goal, and who is just pretending. Too many young kids like the gear and the look of being a goalie, but when they find out how difficult it is (and how hard the puck is!), they quickly lose their enthusiasm. And that tells me their enthusiasm was misplaced to begin with.

The first question I'd ask is, how often are they playing? If they're on the ice year-round, you might be seeing early signs of burn-out. But if it's in-season, and they're only skating two-three times a week, then they're just not hungry enough. For these kids, I take the "tough love" approach. I always try to keep it fun for kids in this age group, but I really reward effort, and mildly scold them when they mail it in. This works really well in a group dynamic, when I can point out other kids who always give their best. "Those are the kids who will get the ice time," I tell them.

I've had some kids, now 12 and 13, who have never given their best effort, and never gotten close to their potential, even after three years. Eventually, I just let them do what they want, and tell "good luck," because they're not going anywhere. I'm not a parent to these kids ... and I honestly believe that their lack of effort is a reflection of the expectations that their parents have at home.

I find I have limited energy (especially at my age!), and I prefer to give that energy to the kids who really try. That bothered me at first, but I've come to accept it, after more than 15 years of coaching. When a parent asks, I tell them as politely and as straightforward as possible: "Your child doesn't work hard enough. And that starts at home. He doesn't come prepared, or ready to work."

Anyway, Magnus, it's clearly a topic that hits a nerve for me. I think too many kids are too soft today (remember Reggie Lemelin talking about "competing" for a starting spot? Too many kids today don't know what it means to REALLY compete. They just expect to play, because Mommy and Daddy paid for their ice time). Would be happy to discuss further.

MAGNUS: I agree with you, Brion. We share similar stories. I have a few kids from a few years back but it feels like I'm wasting my time with them. I have been trying and trying to make them practice hard and change them. But now I've had enough. I was very relieved when I read about you letting them practice and that but you put your energy to the hard working guys.
Earlier I felt bad for not staying with a "soft" kid but now I realize I kind of have to let them go a little bit. Thanks again for your comments.

BRION: The key, I think, is to cut off your emotional commitment before you get angry with the kid. I love the game, and the position, so much, and had so little formal training when I was young, that I can't stand to see kids who take it for granted. I would have given up my pinky fingers to attend a Prospects Camp, and I played every time there was ice available. And I love the kids who reflect that same passion. But not everyone has it, Magnus. So I allow myself to gravitate to the kids who really want it.

And if other kids are going to just go through the motions, I won't invest my time and emotional capital. Like I said earlier, I just don't have enough of either to waste them on kids who don't care. I know that sounds harsh, but I think kids have to earn your commitment (even though you're getting paid). If they don't, I need to let them slide (for sanity's sake!) ... ;-)

Best,
-Brion