Back to the basics

Goalies, on your mark, get set ...

Hi gang,

The importance of skating to the position of goaltending was drilled into my head a long, long time ago. Hall of Fame netminder Jacques Plante, in his famous instructional manual, "Goaltending," repeated the time-honored adage that "goalies have to be the best skaters on the ice." And I took particular pride, in high school, in making sure I didn't finish in last place during sprints and suicide drills.

Times have changed in the four decades since I laced up my skates for the Manchester Central Little Green. The skating techniques that goalies need to master today are much, much different than the ones I first learned, and even from those of positional players. Yes, there are still C-cuts, shuffles and T-glides (or drop steps), but there's much more to how a goaltending moves around the crease now.

Yet the emphasis on being a great skater, and becoming proficient in goalie-specific techniques, is more important than ever. Here's a column on the topic, based on my experiences last summer with Stop It Goaltending's summer camps at Merrimack College. Let me know what you think ...

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Back to the basics

Each summer during goalie camp season, I work several sessions that focus strictly on skating and stickhandling. It would be a gross understatement to say that these sessions are typically met with a less-than-enthusiastic response from the campers. After all, they're goaltenders. And goaltenders live for stopping pucks. As our neighbors in Quebec might say, that's a goaltender's "raison d'etre," or reason for being. Making saves is fun. Skating and stickhandling? That's work.

However, it's important work. As a 50-something goalie coach, who has now seen generations of goaltenders come and go, I know just how foundational good skating is. The single most important aspect of good goaltending is getting to the right pace at the right time, in the right position. Do that, and you'll be successful most of the time. But to do that, you've got to be able to skate.

Still, try telling that to a bunch of hyperactive 12-year-olds. I've gotten pretty good with my snake-oil sales pitch, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel like a snake-oil sales pitch. I believe in what I'm selling; I just don't believe that my audience is all that receptive.

Here's a great example. Last month, I had a group of 12-year-old netminders for a 6 p.m. skate session, and a half a sheet to work with. These 10 boys had already been on the ice for two hours earlier in the day, and had done some off-ice training as well. So when I got them, their energy level was still pretty good, but their collective attention span left something to be desired.

Knowing that, I prepared my usual spiel about how even the best goaltenders work on their skating constantly. As in, all the time. I also try to remind my campers that the ability to handle the puck, and pass, is another crucial tool in the goaltending toolbox that far too many netminders, male and female, don't work on enough. And when coaches have two goaltenders who can stop the puck, they'll often go with the one with a more complete toolbox. Blah blah blah. This was going to be a hard sell, and I knew it.

Fortunately for me, I got a last-second assist. There's nothing better having a couple of National Hockey League netminders on hand to drive home the point. On the other half of the ice was Cory Schneider and Scott Darling, pro goaltenders with the New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks, respectively. Darling can even call himself a Stanley Cup champion these days, after he provided some quality performances this spring while backing up starter Corey Crawford. Darling was so effective, in fact, that the Blackhawks signed him to a new two-year deal.

So, in short, both Schneider and Darling have that "street cred" that an old coach like myself can only hope for. Since the two got on the ice a few minutes before my group, all I had to do was get my kids to watch them. Schneider and Darling set up a "four-puck drill," with the pucks forming a small square. The idea is to skate from puck to puck, first in a clockwise direction, and then in reverse. It's a simple drill, at first, but gets more complicated as you add more and more elements.

The pair started with drop steps (or T-pushes), and then began to add shuffles, butterfly slides, butterfly pushes, recoveries, and "momentum continuation" maneuvers (recovering to the next puck without stopping, using the back leg). Then they started adding pivots around each puck (clockwise and counterclockwise), and then literally moving pucks to pucks, working their stickhandling. Each movement was crisp and precise, with a corresponding head snap to find the next puck, while maintaining a quiet upper body. Each movement was also accompanied by the clean, distinct sound of their skate edges carving the ice. Ice shavings flew with each stop.

In 10 short minutes of flawless effort, both Schneider and Darling had worked up a good sweat, and came by the bench for a drink. While my young campers looked on, wide-eyed, I asked Darling how often he did skating exercises. "Every time I'm on the ice," he replied. "No shortcuts."

That's all he had to say. My campers were on the ice in a heartbeat, and we had a great workout. We skated almost non-stop for 40 minutes, concentrating strictly on the basics. The same thing happened the next day, and the day after, for the entire week. Each session, these kids worked their tails off, without a single inspirational speech from me.

By the end of the week, these youngsters were better goaltenders, in part because they bought into the value of hard work, and mastering the basics. All because they saw how important those basics are to goaltenders playing at the very top of the game.

FINIS

Bullying has no place on the ice, or in the locker room

Whether between boys or girls, bullying is wrong. Period.

Hey gang,

Heavy topic today. Bully is a very important topic for me, because it's the antithesis of what team sports should be about. Team sports are meant to build character, not tear it down. They should be an example that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, not a vehicle that allows some players to gain some misguided "advantage" over their teammates.

After my sophomore year in high school, my family moved, from New Jersey to New Hampshire. It was there, during my first season with the Central High hockey team, that I saw bullying in all its ugliness. The seniors wanted to "initiate" me. I wasn't going to let that happen, and I got into a few locker-room brawls because I wouldn't back down. To make things worse (for me), I wouldn't let the seniors initiate the freshmen either, because I wouldn't stand by idly while these 15- and 16-year-olds were bullied. That's not what my parents, and former coaches, taught me.

Of course, my actions had repercussions, and that season was pretty miserable, from a team standpoint (though I did make some great friends who weren't among the seniors). However, three decades later, one of those freshman reached out to me, via Facebook, and told me that he never forgot how I stood up for him. Whatever modest success I had as an athlete, none of it compared to getting that note.

The column below prompted a small firestorm among some readers of the New England Hockey Journal, because they recognized the players and schools involved (although I refrained from using the real names of any player or any school). Those people missed the point. This column is about the deleterious effects of bullying, and why it should never be accepted, at any level. Let me know what you think ...And thanks for reading!

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Bullying has no place on the ice, or locker room

After a half century in the game of hockey, I thought I'd see it all (shades of Barry Melrose, who made the same comment after BU's Matt O'Connor handed Providence the tying goal in the 2015 NCAA final). Wrong.

Until now, I had never, ever, seen a mid-game fight between two high school goalies. Girls. On the same team. On the ice. During the break between periods, as the coach was giving instructions. In a lighthearted spring pick-up league. Crazy.

It was so surreal, that other parents and I thought the two girls were just goofing around. My daughter, who was on the same team as the combatants and on the bench right in front of the goalies, thought the same thing. When she realized that it was a genuine brawl, she stepped on the ice to separate the two, but she wasn't as quick as the coach.

That coach, to her credit, was on the girls in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, the mother of one of the goalies started screaming from the stands, and running toward the rink door.

"I've had enough of this," she hollered menacingly, pointing an accusatory finger directly at the girl who was tussling with her daughter.

It was a scene right out of some Fellini movie, unnerving and uncomfortable. Unless you knew the back-story. I did know part of that back-story, and quickly put the pieces together.

Just by chance, I had an opportunity to talk with the same mother before the game. It wasn't planned (at least not on my part). We had seen each other for the better part of the past two years, but never really had any serious conversation. But this afternoon, we found ourselves sitting together on a lobby bench, and we got to gabbing.

Her daughter, Abigail, was a high school freshman at Holy Name Prep (I'm refraining from using real names – people or schools – since I didn't have a chance to fully investigated the story). I say "was," because she transferred out of Holy Name in February, to another private school. The reasons, according to her mom, that precipitated that move were pretty disturbing.

Again, according to her mom, Abigail came to Holy Name the year before as an 8th grader, and was one of four goaltenders on the team. That's a dicey situation right off the bat. Most girls' high school teams are desperate for one goalie. Two is a luxury. Four is a problem, for obvious reasons. There's only one net, and one goalie plays. That meant Holy Name had three goalies in a back-up role.

During Abigail's 8th grade year, Holy Name had a senior goaltender who was the clear-cut starter. A natural order was established.

But, apparently, Abigail's stable mates – two freshman last year – were looking to the future, a future without the senior goaltender. So, according to Abigail's mother, the two targeted her daughter. The hazing started early, and soon became relentless. It ranged from annoying (a missing glove or other piece of equipment) to tampering (removing the edge from her skates) to physical abuse. Beatings. The mom said she regrets not taking pictures of the bruises that dotted her daughter's back and rib cage.

She said she went to school administrators, who told her she needed to talk to the coach (a male). She said she talked to the coach, but he said she needed to talk to school administrators. Talk about going in circles. Mom confided that it was clear that no one wanted to take responsibility. That's a damn same.

There's usually (but not always) two sides to every story. That's Journalism 101. But I've also learned that sometimes the story is simply the story. When a school, and a coach, stonewalls a parent, it typically raises suspicion. But rather than fight a deck that she felt was stacked against her daughter, the mom decided to enroll Abigail at another school. I told her that I hoped things would work out for her daughter, and went into the rink to watch some hockey.

That's when things went completely sideways. Abigail played the first half, and nothing seemed out of place. But, during the intermission between halves (again, this was springtime practice hockey), Abigail and the other goalie on her team started flailing away at each other.

A third goalie whom I happen to know, and who was skating as a forward in the same game, got off the ice at the same time as the goalies, and followed Abigail into the locker room to console her. When that girl came by the stands, I called her over, and asked if the second girl also went to Holy Name. "Yes," she said. "How did you know?"

Of course, I didn't, at least not until an hour before the game. But once I saw the girls taking swings, it made perfect sense. "Just a hunch," I said.

"Yeah, they've got history," said the girl.

And that was it. The first girl walked straight out of the rink, likely for the last time. Abigail and her parents spoke briefly to the rink manager, before also calling it a day. The game went on, and the little pas de deux between netminders was quickly forgotten. But I walked out of the rink that day with two long-time lessons being reinforced.

The first, of course, is you rarely know the entire story. If I hadn't had that chance conversation with Abigail's mother before the game, I would have cast the entire incident in an entirely different light. Even my daughter, who doesn't know either girl and was still puzzled by the whole incident afterward, said she was taken aback when the other goalie leveled Abigail.

All that said, I'm not buying the story Abigail's mom shared completely, not without getting both sides. But I've been around the game long enough to now that when a parent feels that strongly, there's usually some basis to her concerns.

The second, and equally important, is that bullying can never, ever be tolerated. Ever. I don't buy the "boys will be boys" or "girls will be girls" argument. Not anymore. I've seen this up close, and any coach that dismisses parental concerns out of hand probably ought to be dismissed.

Coaching a high school team goes far beyond X's and O's. Coaches need to accept and embrace the responsibility of how each player on their team behaves. The locker room is the coach's locker room. If they fail to police it adequately, they not only fail the boys and/or girls in that locker room, but also the parents who entrust their children to that particular program. That's especially true for men who coach girls' programs, because they don't have the same locker room access. It's imperative that they create a culture where bullying is not tolerated. At all.

I don't know everything that happened at Holy Name Prep, and what exactly led to Abigail feeling like she had no choice but to transfer to a different school. But I've seen far too many coaches fail in their responsibility to make sure that every child knows the locker room is a safe haven. There is no place for hazing, or bullying. None.

FINIS

Dear Santa – A holiday wish list for goalies young and old

Mom, can I finally upgrade my gear? Please?!

Hi gang

No time for a long-winded intro (for a change!). Just wanted to wish everyone "Happy Holidays!," and hope you and yours enjoy a healthy and prosperous New Year!

All the best,
-Brion

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Dear Santa – A holiday wish list for goalies young and old

In the youth hockey, spring is the "silly season," which starts the second the final whistle blows on the preceding season. That's when select or "elite" programs shift into overdrive, hosting "tryouts" and putting the full-court press on parents to sign up before those poor folks have even had a chance to thaw their rink-induced frozen bones.

But the original "silly season" is the insane shopping spree that begins the moment the Thanksgiving leftovers are packed up (and, in some ultra-greedy retail circles, even before Turkey Day dinner is served). Given the amount of gear that goalies require, and the exorbitant cost of that equipment (can someone explain to me why a single goalie glove costs three times as much as a pair of equivalent player gloves?), Christmas is a great time for parents to address a few Wish List items while simultaneously outfitting their young netminder.

That's a sound financial plan. But, buyer beware. There are definitely items you should NEVER buy for your goaltender without an ironclad promise that you can return them (assuming you want to have the gifts under the tree, as a surprise). Goaltenders – even young ones – are notoriously fussy about their gear. So you take a risk if you get them something that doesn't quite feel right.

For example, don’t buy new goalie skates without your child trying them on, unless you know the store will exchange them or accept returns. Whatever you do, don't have the shop sharpen those skates (most stores offer a free sharpening with purchase) before you gift-wrapped them. That way, you can still return/exchange them afterward for a different make or model.

The same goes for goalie pads, gloves, helmets, chest and arm protectors, and even pants. Different manufacturers use different design patterns, and what might be a great fit for one goaltender might feel all wrong for another. Again, it's best to have your child actually try them on for size and comfort.

So, with that said, here is The Goalie Guru's 2015 Wish List for Santa:

JERSEYS

As a guy with more than his share of jerseys (you can ask my wife), I can vouch for hockey sweaters as a great holiday gift. Just make sure you get a "goalie cut" model. "Regular" jerseys don't account for bulky chest and arm protectors, and the sleeves will typically be cut too narrow. Fortunately, most jersey manufacturers today offer "goalie cut" jerseys in a number of sizes, so your Squirt netminder isn't playing in a jersey that looks like a tent. NHL team jerseys in goalie-cut, much like gloves, are ridiculously expensive. But you can find reasonably priced practice or uncrested jerseys.

ACCESSORIES

There are a number of super goalie accessories, both practical and performance-oriented. Start with a neck "dangler" (a clear or tinted Lexan shield that "dangles" from a goalie mask for added throat protection). There's also the Shock Doctor Shockskin goalie shirt with extra padding in those gaps in a goalie's body armor (like the collarbone, sternum, kidney, and rib area). XH Series Achilles cut-resistant underwear guard against razor-sharp skates (these tights can be used by any player). Kevlar-reinforced socks work as well. A great "gag" gift that will be secretly appreciated, especially for a young man playing with a regular cup, is a sturdy, well-padded goalie cup (Reebok, Bauer, and Vaughn all make nice models).

Another very cool accessory that should be in every goalie's basement (or garage) is a quality drying rack. Wet equipment stinks, literally, and figuratively. Models by Winwell and Wet Gear feature powder-coated metal racks, which ought to last a few seasons. Rocket Sports takes the idea to another level, adding circulated warm air to eliminate dampness. Great concept.

Finally, consider getting your netminder a lateral slide board. These help with traditional skating stride, but can also be used to work on shuffles, drop steps, butterfly slides and butterfly pushes. My one piece of advice is to spend a little extra, because cheap models – usually advertised as aerobic trainers – won't stand up to the abuse of a hockey player. Reebok makes a terrific heavy-duty model.

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

Granted, these aren't the sexiest choices, but they make for great stocking stuffers. A basic skate stone or a more sophisticated tool, such as Sweet Stick, Re-Edger or SkateMate, help keep skates edges sharp. Every goalie should have a helmet/mask repair kit to replace missing screws and clips in their bag. This can be a critical safety issue (I've personally seen far too many youngsters sporting masks with missing screws, which is an accident waiting to happen). Bauer offers The Goalie Hardware Box as the ultimate goalie repair kit, which includes replacement leg straps, buckles, washers, screws and snaps for use on leg pads and helmets, all packed in a handy carrying case.

TRAINING

This sounds self-serving, since I work (part-time) as a goalie coach. That's not my intent. In my travels from rink to rink, I'm still surprised that so many parents aren't aware of goalie-specific training outside their child's hockey program, whether at the youth, middle school, or high school level. Many programs will even help with the cost of private instruction. That helps take the edge off the financial hit. But a 10-pack of lessons (to use a round number) with a reputable goalie coach will pay huge dividends in your child's development.

In the same vein, check out Maria Mountain's GoalieTrainingPro.com site. Mountain, a personal trainer based in London, Ontario, is one of the best in the business for off-ice training. Mountain provides plenty of free advice on her web site, on everything from strength training and flexibility to nutrition, but she also offers full training programs at very reasonable prices.

RESOURCES

For the studious netminder, there are several first-rate instructional books and videos available. These allow netminders to work on their game even when they're enjoying some down time. Here are some favorites:

"Hockey Goaltending," edited by Brian Daccord. Make sure you get the second edition of Daccord's book, which includes an excellent DVD covering the basics of the position. In this edition, Daccord, the owner of Stop It Goaltending, brings together a number of top goaltending coaches to discuss awareness, technique, and physical conditioning.

"The Hockey Goalie's Complete Guide: An Indispensable Development Plan," by Francoise Allaire. Known as the godfather of the butterfly style, Allaire lays out a four-year development plan that includes advice on basic save techniques, skating techniques, on-ice and off-ice training methods, and how to evaluate goalkeepers.

"Modern Goaltending, Modern Game," by Sean Moloney. An instructor at World Pro Goaltending, Moloney covers the technical aspects of the position as well as on- and off-ice drills, the mental aspect of the position, advice for coaches on handling goaltenders, and advice for parents.

"The Power Within: Discovering the Path to Elite Goaltending," by Mike Valley and Justin Goldman. Valley, a Dallas Stars goalie coach, and Goldman, a USA Hockey scout, employ their Three Pillars of Elite Goaltending to elevate your mental game, supported by insights from NHL goaltenders and goalie coaches on a multitude of performance-related topics.

"Goaltending Today: Traditional Values Through New Techniques," by Joe Bertagna. This DVD by the former Bruins and Olympic goaltending coach, along with former NHLer Mike Morrison, provides the latest trends for today's goaltending, highlighting the toughest shots and how to defend them, and advice on knowing when to make blocking saves versus reaction saves.

FINIS

Taking time off won't stunt your child's growth

Mother Nature never intended for kids to play hockey
year round. That's why ice melts in the summer.

Hi gang,

So, it's already late June, and my summer camps schedule starts in earnest next week. It's remarkable to see how big the business of goalie coaching has gotten in the past 10 years. Summer, oddly enough, is my busiest time of the year when it comes to coaching, and my writing often takes a back seat.

So it's with a certain sense of irony that I venture into today's topic. The coach in me knows that the off-season is a great time to take your game to the next level (or for your child to do the same). But it's called the "off-season" for a reason. Don't forget to give yourself, or your child, a break. Here are some thoughts on the topic. Let me know what you think.

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Taking time off won't stunt your child's growth

March and April signal the end of another ridiculously long youth hockey season. And, unfortunately, the beginning of the next. Starting with Labor Day, the season usually runs for more than seven months. Why? Because youth hockey is driven by people who own the rinks, the leagues, and the teams. They want those sheets filled. Let's not sugarcoat this – today's youth hockey landscape, in large part, isn't designed to transform little Johnny into an NHLer or Division I player, or little Jennifer into an Olympian. It's designed to make big bucks for grown-ups.

Now, before I go any further, I need to distinguish between "for-profit" select and/or club programs, and the traditional "non-profit" town programs. On the whole, I'm far more concerned with the select or club teams. They charge more, promise more, and sometimes deliver more. But even non-profit local "town" programs are forced to play this game, because for-profit leagues and rink owners dictate the schedule.

That's why, when the season ends, tryouts start almost immediately. Select or club teams want to get you, and your child, back on the hook. The tryouts themselves can be a shameless money grab, with dozens of kids trying out for a handful of spots, at $20 or more per session. Then there are spring and summer leagues, with requisite practice sessions. All of which cost money. As too many professional athletes say these days, "It's a business." We need rinks, which means rink owners need to make money. I get it. The problem, though, is that this "business" traffics in young boys and girls, and the dreams of parents.

Admittedly, some "select" programs do a better job developing players. But I've seen a seismic shift in select hockey that's akin to an arms race. Youth programs are actively recruiting kids as young as 10. Once one program starts advertising championships or high-profile "alumni," they all do. Then the goal becomes "winning," and "marketing." Somewhere along the line, the ideals of "childhood" and "age-appropriate development" get trampled.

It's time to stop this madness. Or at least scale it back to a "reasonable" level. Playing hockey year-round, whether you're a goaltender or a positional player, isn't automatically going to make you an all-star (especially if you don't have the natural physical gifts). It won't even automatically make you the best player you can be. We've been sold a bill of goods that most experts acknowledge is misguided.

I guarantee you this much – Year-round hockey isn't necessary. Your child won't be banished to some hockey hinterland if he doesn't play all summer. Do you think Bobby Orr played year-round? Gordie Howe? Patrick Roy? Orr, in his recent autobiography, practically begs parents to come to their senses and bring some sanity back to the youth game. Mark Dennehy, the coach of the Merrimack College Warriors, has told me repeatedly that the number of D-I prospects on any "select" team can be counted on one hand. With fingers left over.

Worse, it's far more likely that these programs, while churning out little automatons who "look" good, fail to cultivate any true love for the game. The kids can skate, shoot, and stop the puck, but are they having fun? I honestly fear that that soul of the game is being compromised by this Faustian pact that parents agree to, which essentially states that if they pay top dollar for "top-level" programs, they ensure their offspring a spot on at least a college or major junior roster. Yet anyone who is familiar with the German legend of Faust knows how badly that arrangement ends, with Lucifer hauling the old man off to Hades.

The youth hockey corollary is a child who says, "the heck with it," and simply walks away from the game. No one wins in that scenario.

Here's what I suggest to parents. First, lighten up. A once-a-week program (maybe twice) in the off-season, supplemented by one or two full-week camps, is plenty to keep your child's skills sharp. I'm a big proponent of instructional programs, whether clinics or camps, provided they're done in moderation. I've heard stories of parents lugging their kids from one goalie camp to another over the course of the summer. That's just nuts.

A once-a-week clinic, or occasional camp, can be tailored to a specific need, such as skating, stickhandling, or defensive play. For goaltenders, weekly clinics will maintain their current ability level. A concentrated camp, on the other hand, can correct bad habits that crept into their game over the course of a long season. The repetition of a good week-long camp provides the building blocks that goalies need to improve their game, without going overboard.

Second, encourage your kids to play other sports. Ball and stick sports like basketball, baseball/softball, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, or football. Lifetime sports like hiking, cycling (road and mountain bike), swimming, trail running, or rock climbing. Have them play tag, or hide and seek. Get them outside, and let them have fun. No systems, no drills, no structure. As long as they're active, it's all good.

The best all-around player on my daughter's high school team "dabbles" in hockey in the off-season. She might attend a summer camp, or skate the occasional weekend game in the fall, provided it doesn't conflict with her soccer schedule. But when hockey season starts in November, she is "all in." I firmly believe this impressive young woman played so well because she was hungry for hockey once the season rolled around.

That's what you want; Hungry players, who love hitting the ice. It's the rare player who can maintain that passion throughout the year. Forcing them, under the guise of constant improvement, often has just the opposite result.

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Guru Mailbag

The Letter: Hi. My daughter Ashley is just 15 and a high school freshman. She has been playing hockey for five years. She mostly plays defense, but this year her high school team needed her to play forward. She is a strong skater. She will be teaching with Laura Stamm at our local rink this summer. However, she is strongly considering learning how to play goalie. She plays goalie in field hockey and has been exceptional. I think she has the "goalie mindset." If she is to play goalie next season, she'll need to start training now and over the summer. Can you give us some suggestions for off-season training and summer goalie camp ideas? Thanks.

My Reply: Great questions. First, I think it's great that Ashley is working with Laura Stamm. That will remind her of the importance of skating. Goalie-specific skating, on the other hand, is a very different animal. It is the foundation of everything we do, because getting to the right place at the right time is the key to making saves. But while the skating is different, it's not rocket science, either. If you're an athlete, which Ashley appears to be, the conversion isn't that difficult. What it takes is fairly intense repetition. With new goalies, I recommend a 4- or 5-day summer camp, one that offers at least two hours of on-ice instruction per day. My daughter's high school team had two beginner goalies this season, and I convinced their parents to send both to a local camp in August. The improvement was really impressive, and rewarding. A good goalie camp provides not only repetition, but proper repetition (assuming quality instruction). Also, look for camps that have paid college shooters, not volunteers. Better shooters make better drills, and better goalies. Last, talk to the camp owner, or the director. If you have any questions, ask. Don't assume. This conversation will, at the very least, give you a sense for what the owner's priorities are. If he spends too much time talking about himself, and not about your child and what he or she can expect to learn, that's a red flag. Camps, like hockey programs, should be about development, both in terms of skill, and love of the game. Best, -Brion

FINIS

Camps help solve the auto-body shop approach to coaching

Stop It's Steve Silverthorn with a young netminder.

Hi gang,

There's nothing like watching college playoff hockey to reinforce not only how important the position of goaltender is to a championship team (check out UMass Lowell's Connor Hellebuyck posting back-to-back shutouts to capture the Hockey East tournament), but also the importance of good goalie coaching and training.

One of my ongoing crusades is to educate "regular" coaches on the importance of "goalie-friendly" drills. This doesn't mean "easy" drills ... it means drills designed to help your goaltender improve, while avoiding developing bad habits. Despite how obvious that sounds, it's quite remarkable how often coaches can't "see" the downsides to endless shooting drills. But that crusade is a work in progress. In the meantime, the best option I can suggest to make sure your young netminders develop good habits and proper techniques is to have them attend a good goalie camp. Here are some thoughts on the topic, which originally ran in the New England Hockey Journal ...

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Goalie camps can help solve the auto-body shop approach to coaching

One of the great frustrations that hockey coaches have is when their goalies make the same mistake, time and time again. I appreciate that. In fact, I often tell my students, "You just got beat to the same spot three straight times. You've got to try to figure it out."

The difference is that I have higher expectations of adult coaches than I do of a 12-year-old goalie. Yet it's often the coaches who can't "figure it out." They keep running practices the same way, day after day after day, and somehow expect the goalie to miraculously make the necessary changes to avoid old mistakes, or break bad habits. Here's one of my favorite examples.

In practice, Coach Stan wants continuous action. He yells "Play it, play it," every time the goalie has a chance to cover the puck. The kid is actually being told to bat the puck away, instead of getting the whistle. So in a game, that's what he does, because that's what he's always been told to do, despite the fact that Coach Stan is screaming from the bench, "We need a whistle! Cover the puck!"

What Coach Stan doesn't realize is that covering rebounds, and getting a whistle, is a learned skill. It doesn't just "happen." Most kids will instinctively poke a puck away, instead of covering it up. And when you poke the puck away, it's live. And that means you're not getting the whistle you desperately need.

Here's another. Coach Stan is muttering about how his goalies aren't following shots, and are losing sight of the rebounds. But in practice, Coach Stan has 15 kids lined up, firing pucks at his goalies in rapid-fire succession. So his young goalies don't dare follow each shot, because they know another shot is coming from the next kid (who, in all likelihood, isn't even looking to see if the goalie is ready or not).

Now, does Coach Stan make that connection, and change his practices to reflect "real game" scenarios? Rarely, from what I've seen over the years. Instead, they think the goalies need some sort of special tutoring, and that's when they hire us, the professionals.

I call this the "auto body shop" school of goalie coaching. When you get into a fender-bender, that's the place you look to, right? You bring your prized set of wheels down to the auto body shop, leave it for a few days, and they deliver it back to you, good as new. Essentially, far too many coaches do the same thing with their goalies.

Let's take the analogy a step further. If you're constantly visiting the auto body shop because you're constantly getting into accidents, then you might need to change your driving habits. It's one thing to have your vehicle fixed, it's another to make sure it stays fixed. But young goalies often fall back into bad habits in regular practices because the drills aren't designed for them. The problem is that their coaches don't reinforce any of the lessons taught in private clinics (the auto body shop), because they have no idea what's being taught.

What's the solution? Start by taking ownership. The goalie is part of your team, and you owe in to the goalies, and the team as a whole, to familiarize yourself with the position. The best place to do that is taking in a goalie camp, and the best time to do that is the off-season. Grab an extra jacket, a spot in the stands, and bring a notebook. Consider it a free education.

Look for camps that have a long track record, a solid reputation (ask around), and a dedicated curriculum that starts on a solid foundation. Skating is absolutely essential, and better camps incorporate skating and proper technique during warm-ups. Follow closely, and realize just how different goalie-specific skating technique is compared to positional players, and how different the skating drills are.

Next, keep a close eye on the shooting drills. Try to avoid the "big picture," since most goalie camps will look like a six-ring circus when you first walk in, with two dozen or more goalies and multiple stations running simultaneously. For the uninitiated, it can look like mayhem. It's not. Or at least it's "controlled" mayhem. So rather than trying to understand the entire scene, focus on each individual station.

Notice how each station has a specific purpose. Good camps break down the position, and the game, in order to build the goalie. You should see separate drills that concentrate on different technical aspects, such as steering (with the stick blade, not the paddle), smothers (or body saves), glove and blocker, stickhandling (a vastly under-rated skill), crease movement and angle play, behind-the-net play, rebounds, desperation saves, and even "battle" stations where we can judge how competitive each youngster is.

Watch how good camps make the goaltenders follow every rebound. Every. Single. Time. OK, not every time (there are drills where we introduce multiple pucks, but for a specific reason). But almost always. This has to become almost instinctual. I often find myself yelling "Follow it!" or "Cover it!", explaining to my goalies afterward that that voice eventually has to come from between their own ears.

We want out goalies to train their bodies to follow their eyes, and their eyes need to be primarily focused on the puck before, during, and after the shot. One puck, as former UNH star and NHL goalie coach Cap Raeder likes to say. Stop It Goaltending's Brian Daccord calls this "visual attachment," and it's critical.

Next, good camps have good shooters. Truth is, the better the shooters, the better the camp. I don't mean guys who can snipe top-shelf all day. I'm talking about shooters, regardless of age, who don't have their own agenda, who can follow directions, and who can put the puck where the coaches want it in order to maximize instruction.

Especially with younger campers, we want our goalies to know where the puck is coming, so they can execute the proper save technique, and develop the requisite muscle memory to perform the same save in a "reaction" mode. With older goalies, I'll incorporate what I call the "70 percent rule," where shooters are only required to hit a predetermined spot 70 percent of of the time. That keeps goalies on their toes, and prevents them from playing "to the drill."

These drills will actually help the shooters as well, since they reinforce a level of discipline into their game (something most coaches are looking for in their players) while they learn the shots that goalies have the most trouble with (which is why the player who masters the backhand is so dangerous).

Finally, make sure the kids, and the coaches, are having a good time. Better camps are able to find that all-important balance between hard work and having fun. The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, if a coach can keep the mood light, while asking the goalies to give everything they have, you have the best of both worlds.

That's just what you want in your regular practices. Drills that benefit every player, including the goaltenders, which will benefit the team as a whole. So take in a goalie camp, take good notes, learn a little more about the position, and incorporate those drills into your team's practices next fall. It's a true win/win scenario.

FINIS

The boys and girls of summer

Putting a young goalie in "time out" ...

Hi gang,

Nothing like a little hip-replacement surgery to force me to take some much-needed down time, and get The Goalie Guru current. This is always an interesting time of year for me, as spring represents such a transition time for the hockey player.

The following is a recent Goalie Guru column for the New England Hockey Journal, on the benefits (and myths) regarding summer camps, inspired by my own experiences over the past 10 years. Let me know what you think ...

WHAT A GOALIE CAMP WILL - AND WON'T - DO FOR YOU

Full disclosure. I often feel uncomfortable lobbying for summer hockey camps. It appears self-serving, since I spend a good chunk of my summer working for them. I understand that. However, that fact also keeps me honest, and I always make every effort to give every child my full attention. I've never mailed it in.

But my allegiance to summer camps goes beyond that. The reality is, I'm a fan of good sports camps of any kind, and my daughters are proof. My eldest, Maddi, attended an overnight volleyball camp in my wife's home state, Kansas, and came home with the tools to jump-start a terrific freshman season. My youngest, Brynne, is a 13-year-old hockey player, and she's benefited greatly by the "immersion" that a weeklong summer camp provides, and she'll be going back to a skating and stickhandling camp this summer. That's when she's not at soccer camp.

So, while I work for camps, as a parent I can appreciate the positive impact they can have. As long as kids also get a break. Booking your young goalie for eight weeks of camps over the summer is begging for burnout. On the other hand, the "concentrated dose" that a weeklong camp offers is invaluable, because it provides essential building blocks. Just like a good diet – you need to establish a solid foundation, which supports future development.

Here's another reason I'm a fan of summer goaltending camps. They are all about goalies. Period. Not shooters, not defensive schemes, power plays or penalty kills (though those topics are covered extensively, from a goalie's perspective). This is just the opposite of almost every youth hockey program I've seen, where goalies are treated like some sort of mildly intriguing appendage.

Campers will get plenty of work, likely more than they bargained for. But the workload is designed to make the goalies stronger, quicker, smarter, instead of simply running them into the ground (which, as best I can tell, is the end-product of roughly three-quarters of the shorting drills I see in youth hockey these days).

Still, don't be fooled into thinking all camps are equal. There's a well-known shooting and stickhandling camp (which will remain unnamed, to protect the guilty) that offers free spots for goaltenders. When I inquired, I learned there was no instruction. Absolutely none. Zero. They wouldn't even consider having a goalie coach on the ice. These camps simply wanted targets (and, in reality, should have been paying those poor kids). The lesson? Be sure to ask beforehand.

So, with all that said, here are a few persistent myths about camps I'd like to dispel:

You'll get better by just showing up. OK, there's some truth to this. We will make you a better goaltender. But if you think the ability of Mom and Dad to pay for a camp will miraculous make you an NHL All-Star, you're misinformed. Playing goal takes work. Sweat and exertion. There are no shortcuts.

Nice gear makes a better goaltender. There's an old saying, which I repeat often during my goalie sessions: "A good craftsmen doesn't blame his tools." Mommy and Daddy might be able to afford this camp, and all the really expensive gear that the position requires, but if you don't bring the requisite effort, it will all go for naught. Bank on it.

Camps are to get in shape. Wrong. Anyone showing up to camp "to get in shape" is going to miss half the benefit, because they'll be spending half the time trying to keep lunch down, or trying not to huck a lung. The kids who benefit most from camps are the ones who show up ready to roll on Day One. You are reading this in April (or at least the April issue). You have no excuses. Get in shape now.

We will hold your hand. Hockey is a great game because it not only teaches self-sufficiency, but also because it treats that concept as one of its bedrock principles. We – your councilors and instructors – are not getting between the pipes. You are. So it's our job to make sure you're ready to do your job. If you think you're going to get pampered, think again. That would be a disservice to your folks, your team, and ultimately, to you. Our job is to make sure you get in the pool without drowning. And we'll show you how to get faster. But whether you actually get any better or not is really, at the end of the day, up to you.

We will tie your skates, and put on your pads. See the previous paragraph. Throughout the week at camp, we'll offer advice, particularly when it comes to ill-fitting or inadequate gear. My colleague Kevin Morrison at Bertagna Goaltending loves to remind youngsters to cut the boot straps on their pads to an appropriate length, to avoid tripping on them if they come loose. We talk about proper gear care (don't leave it in your bag; hang it in front of a dehumidifier), and gear fit. But we're not nannies.

We are your parents. Not even close. But we understand that Mom and Dad are laying out a pretty penny for you to attend, and we're going to make sure they get their money's worth. But if you talk back or throw temper tantrums at home, and expect to get away with the same behavior at camp, you're in for a shock. There are, at a minimum, 14 or 15 other campers sharing the ice with you. My experience has been that about 75-80 percent of them will dig deep and work hard. If you don't, simply because you can't adjust your attitude, you'll get left behind.

It's all about competition. The objective of these camps is to improve. But far too many kids treat it like a competition, and as a result default to old, comfortable habits, even if those habits prevent them from getting better (the classic example is a kid who stays on the goal line because he's a afraid of getting caught out of position, even though he's giving up half the goal. The solution is becoming a better skater, not staying deep). I remind my campers that I'm not the one picking their teams, or their team's starting goalie. They don't have to worry about impressing me. I only want them to get better. That means getting out of their comfort zone, and push their limits. To quote Brian Daccord of Stop It Goaltending: "In season, it's about results. In the summer, you're working on improving technique, improving quickness, working on your strategies and your technical game, so you know how you want to play every situation. You want to work on your weaknesses, try new things, try to implement new facets to your game, new techniques."

So bring it, but have fun with it.

FINIS

Pointers for the stretch-run ...

Hi gang,

I can't believe it's already the last day of February ... Man, the season is just flying by. Still, I wanted to get my monthly column from the New England Hockey Journal posted before March arrives, so here goes. A few critical pointers for goalies, coaches, and parents to keep in mind as the season begins to focus on the playoffs ...

ON SKATING, REBOUNDS, AND TEMPERS ...

February is the month where coaches and players (but coaches specifically) start looking to round their teams into playoff form. And, as most any coach will tell you, a goaltender can make or break a team's fortunes in the post-season. Just this past month, Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber exhumed one of the great adages regarding netminders: "Goaltending is 75 percent of your hockey team, unless you don't have it. Then it's 100 percent."

So, in that vein, I felt it was really important to touch on a few topics that coaches (and parents) ought to keep in mind during the stretch run. Some may sound familiar to my regular readers, but they bear repeating.

Skating

"When do I get to stop some shots?"

I've lost count of how many times I've heard this from young goalies. I don't blame them. Stopping shots is what we're all about, and the reason most kids take up the "tools of ignorance" in the first place. You never want to discourage that attitude.

Plus, skating drills are hard work, and they're potentially boring (although there is some room for creativity). Since most younger kids have the attention span of a hyperactive flea, keeping them engaged, without the added incentive of stopping some shots, can be tricky.

On the other hand, no one picks up a guitar and starts playing like Eric Clapton in the first sitting. Or dances like Fred Astaire (or even Beyonce) without putting in the requisite practice. In fact, the greats ones – musicians, dancers, hockey players – keep practicing, all the time. Expertise, or even competence, isn't something that is simply attained, but constantly nurtured and refined. It's the coach's job to teach goalies that their performance is inextricably tied to their skating ability. Here's why:

The first rule of goaltending is getting to the right place at the right time, in the right stance. The game is played at such a fast pace that, if you can't skate, you'll always be chasing the play. That's losing hockey.

For most positional players, the turning point in their development comes when they can skate and stickhandle at the same time. It is the proverbial "walking and chewing gum" moment. And it's easier said than done. The same holds for goaltenders. Until a goalie can get to the right spot without thinking "how" he's going to get there, he's going to be too slow.

Skating is the position's foundation. Unless a goaltender has a sturdy foundation, the rest of his game quickly falls apart. Coaches should make sure that their young netminders work on their goalie-specific skating technique before every practice.

This doesn't mean the skating drills that everyone else is doing. The old maxim "a goalie has to be one of the best skaters on the team" is true, but it's a very different type of skating. Coaches owe it to their team to understand those differences, and learn how to run a few basic goalie-specific skating drills (if you need some ideas, send me an email).

Rebounds

Shooting drills should be designed to allow the goalies to follow the rebound. Every. Single. Time. I'm constantly amazed to see high-end "elite" teams relentlessly running Old School shooting drills – a full-length dash followed by an uncontested shot – where the goalies are literally getting drilled. I call it my "One in 20 Rule." If you've got 20 kids lined up on the boards, for every shot that each kid takes, the goalie sees 20. At the end of "warm-ups," the poor kid has seen enough rubber to start a tire factory.

This makes no sense. Actually, it's borderline abusive. First, you risk frying the very player who you're counting on to come up big between the pipes. Chances are, they're not warmed up – they're worn down.

Second, players (goalie and shooter alike) don't learn to instinctively follow their rebounds. This has to be second nature, both if you want your team to score, and if you want your goaltender to keep the puck out of the net (this doesn't mean just looking at the rebound, but following it). In the shooting drills I run within a team setting, I always stress getting after the rebounds, for every player.

I'm often dumbfounded, when I come into a new coaching situation, by how some players need to actually be told to go for the rebound. That's a sign of myopic coaching. The mindset to get after rebounds is not a light switch that can be flicked on before a game; it has to be ingrained.

Some coaches avoid emphasizing rebounds because it means the second kid in line actually has to look and make sure the first kid has finished. Coaches see this as inefficient. I see it as discipline (another hallmark of good teams). If you insist on running the "One in 20" drill, get a shooter tutor, and let your goalies work on their skating.

Temper, temper

Teams can be fragile organisms. They consist of 12 to 18 individuals that form a bond over the course of the season, and nothing tests the strength of that bond like playoff hockey. Arguably, the single most important link in that chain is your goalie's demeanor.

If the youngster throws a tantrum every time a puck gets by him (or her), your team is going to get nervous. And nervous hockey players make more mistakes. Which leads to more goals. See where I'm going with this?

I've seen too many talented goaltenders let their teams down because they can't get their act together from the neck up. If a goalie melts down, either in practice or a game, it should be addressed immediately and firmly (though quietly in the first few instances). I like my goalies to be competitive, but never want them to confuse competitive fire with being undisciplined.

Instead, they have to learn to channel that energy in a positive manner. Even if they are absolutely raging inside, they must present a calm, confident appearance. That, like almost anything else regarding the position, takes practice (which is why tantrums should never be tolerated, even at practice).

Both parents and coaches need to be cognizant of this tendency. I once had a young student – now a starter for a D-1 program – tell me, after getting completely flustered and quit during one drill, "I don't do that in a game, coach." I had my doubts. Further, even if he didn't, he's already sowed similar seeds of doubt in the minds of his teammates. If teammates think their netminder is a hothead, they're going to be worried about whether that player can keep it together during a high-stakes game.

Again, doubt is a genuine threat to team chemistry. Nip it in the bud early, while helping your goalie to develop that strong outward persona. Your team will be better, and more competitive, for it.

FINIS

It's not my fault!

"How that puck get in the net?" -Patrick Roy

Hey gang,

Happy New Year, everyone. Since we're in the season of well-intentioned resolutions, I decided to focus on one of the key elements of an elite goaltender: Ownership. These days, seems everyone in society (especially greasy lawyers soliciting credit card "victims" and tax cheats) wants to tell you that "it's not your fault." Taking responsibility is getting more and more rare. But that's exactly what you need to do if you want to be a top-flight goalie. Here's my latest column for the New England Hockey Journal. Let me know what you think.

NOT MY FAULT!

Taking responsibility is a big part of a goalie's job

A few weeks back, I was prepping for a Sunday micro-ice coaching session when one 10-year-old netminder popped out of the dressing room, raring to go. Since we had time to spare, I asked him if he'd played any games that weekend.

"Yep, two," he said.

"How did they go?"

"Not so good. We lost both our games."

"How'd you play?" I asked, knowing wins and losses don't always tell the whole story.

"Well, my defense … "

The poor kid never got another word out. "Whoa, whoa," I interrupted. "That's the wrong answer. A good goalie never blames his defense. I asked you how you played, not the rest of the team."

The youngster just stared back at me, wide-eyed. I understand that my young understudy was only 10, but I also saw it as a perfect teaching moment. Hockey players, and especially goaltenders, are never too young to start learning the indispensable tenets of the game. Chief among hockey's bedrock principles is you need to look in the mirror before pointing fingers. If you're a goalie, that means assuming responsibility for keeping the puck out of the net. Full responsibility. Every … single … time.

That's not always easy. Positional players can shrug off mistakes, because they have the goalie to fall back on. The goalie bears the brunt of those blunders, because when the puck winds up in the net, the goalie is usually the last player it goes past. If it's a weak goal, the talk between the players – sometimes whispers, sometimes nothing quite so subtle – starts. It happens all the time, and it drives me nuts. The "blame game" is a popular pastime in far too many locker rooms.

Worse, coaches and parents occasionally do the same thing, sometimes almost without realizing it. There are two important factors in play here. First, coaches (and parents) should never lay fault for an entire game on the goalie – or anyone else, for that matter – in front of other players, particularly at the youth level (this dynamic does change somewhat at the high school and elite levels, but that's a topic for another column).

That type of criticism can crush a kid. ESPN anchor John Buccigross once wrote that the single most important attribute for a hockey player is confidence. That goes double for goaltenders. But confidence needs to be cultivated. Remember, the goalie doesn't have the same safety net as other players. And as any tightrope walker will tell you, performing without a safety net is a whole lot more nerve-wracking.

Badgering a goaltender for a bad goal isn't going to instill confidence. In fact, it will do just the opposite. A much better approach is to take a quick note of the mistakes that happen – was the goalie off angle, or did the goalie fail to cover a rebound – and then create a practice plan that addresses those shortcomings.

Second, coaches can't lose sight of the big picture. They need to understand the breakdowns in the offensive- and defensive-zone play that resulted in goals, or goal-scoring opportunities, and to assess responsibility correctly and fairly. I've watched more videotape than I care to think about, and believe me, the "fault" for a goal isn't always the final shot, or even the final pass. Listen to any quality hockey color analyst (NESN's Andy Brickley is terrific, as is Eddie Olczyk of Versus/NBC), and you'll typically get a thorough account of how a goal-scoring chance developed. More often than not, it's a mistake that happened two, three, or even four touches before the actual shot on net.

Yet, over and over, I hear coaches focusing on that final instant, and placing the blame squarely on the goaltender. Just a few weeks ago, one coach was telling me how his goaltenders were clearly his team's wink link. So I took a quick peek at the standings for his league, and noticed his squad was tied for dead last in scoring. Obviously, goaltending wasn't his only issue.

Of course, I'm not blind, either. I've coached some teams with pretty suspect goaltending. Interestingly enough, the kids often have a better read on just how good, or bad, their goaltenders are. I've seen defenders raise their games in order to keep shots to a minimum, knowing that's their best chance to win. But I've never allowed kids to point fingers.

Instead, coaches must foster cooperation. The bottom line is that this is a team game, and there's no place on a hockey team for prima donnas, whether at forward, on defense, or in goal. These players are like acid, burning through the tightly knit fabric that is so necessary for team success. They might be talented, or they might just think they're talented. If that player plays defense or offense, their commentary regarding the goaltending (legitimate or otherwise) can be a poison. Likewise, the goalie who thinks a goal is always somebody else's fault is also a huge liability. No matter how talented the players are, they're rarely worth the aggravation.

There are, I'll admit, exceptions. My favorite whiner of all time was Patrick Roy. There's no debating Roy's ability and his resume. The guy is a first-ballot NHL Hall of Famer. In my book, he's also a first-ballot inductee to the Whiner Hall of Shame. My most enduring memories of Roy are of Saint Patrick, slumped on the ice with the red light glaring behind him, raising his gloves and eyeballing his defenders as if to announce to anyone watching: "That goal wasn't my fault."

Roy got away with his on-ice antics for one simple reason. He was a tremendous goaltender, probably one of the Top Ten of all time (my own Fab Four includes Glenn Hall, Vladislav Tretiak, Tony Esposito, and Dominik Hasek, in no particular order). Roy was also a "me first" guy of the first order. Unless young goaltenders can play at Roy's level, they shouldn't even think about showing up their teammates. (Roy was still a jerk, but it's hard to argue with his accomplishments. Still, there's a "right way" to win and a "wrong way.")

What's more, it rarely happens in reverse. Think about it – When was the last time you saw a player publicly berate his or her goaltender? It almost never happens. Now, in private, and behind the goalie's back, is another matter entirely. This is when parents and coaches play a critical role in making sure goaltenders aren't singled out. Teams win together, and lose together.

All that said, goalies can't forget that they are the proverbial last line of defense. It's their job to make up for mistakes by other players, and to make sure they stop the puck. And part of the job description is "ownership." The sooner a goalie realizes and accepts this basic truth, the better. The goalie is the safety net. End of story.

For coaches and parents, it's essential to develop that mindset right from the get-go. Excuses are like a virus – give them a warm, welcoming environment, and they'll spread like wildfire. Soon, you'll have a full-blown epidemic on your hands.

Furthermore, excuses can become a crutch, replacing hard work and the drive to improve. Without that drive, a young goalie is going to start giving up more goals, and will need to find even more excuses. That's not a formula for success.

FINIS

Back to basics ...

I'm not sure exactly what Lorne Chabot is doing here, but the man won the Stanley Cup and Vezina Trophy, and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame, so who am I to judge?

Happy Black Friday, gang,

Hope you're all recovering from your Thanksgiving holiday feasts. With everyone's waistbands stretched just a little tighter today, I thought it was the perfect time to post my November column of The Goalie Guru from the New England Hockey Journal. Let me know what you think ...

BACK TO BASICS ...

Goaltending is pretty simple: Get to the right spot, at the right time, in the right position, and you'll make the save more often than not. However, getting to that spot, in the correct stance, can be surprisingly difficult. That's goes double for youngsters new to the position, or new to goalie skates and all that bulky equipment.

Don't think so? Try this little experiment (like I did). Have your youth hockey coaches get together for a goalie-coaching clinic with an experienced goaltending coach. Have the goalie coach demonstrate a very simple goalie-specific skating sequence, including shuffles and drop-steps (we won't even get into stuff like butterfly slides or pushes). Then make the coaches to do the drills.

Nine times out of 10 (if not more), regular hockey players will struggle with these maneuvers. Even guys who are been really good players. I've seen it firsthand, over and over. Why? Because goalie-specific skating is so much different than anything a position player ever has to perform. That point rarely hits home unless you make the coaches do it themselves, so they can see for themselves. And I've got to admit, it's hilarious to watch (most wind up looking like the legendary Lorne Chabot, shown in the accompanying photo -- no disrespect to Mr. Chabot, of course).

Now, the idea isn't to embarrass anyone. Good coaches know that. But it's much like the great lesson my brother Sean taught me a few years back, when I told him my daughters were starting to play lacrosse. "The first thing you have to do is get yourself a girl's lacrosse stick," said Sean, who has coached a number of girls select teams in New Hampshire. "That way, you get to see for yourself how much harder it is, and how frustrating it can be."

Sean was spot on. The idea of having every youth hockey coach at least go through the motions of a goalie-skating drill will help nurture an understanding, to clearly demonstrate that goalies have a much different role, and a much different skill set that comes into play on the ice. Plus, if you have a coach who can get pretty good at it, you'll have someone on staff who can help develop better goalies, and probably save your program a bunch of coin (on full-time goalie instruction) in the process. Goalie coaches will always be an asset, due to the intricacies of the position, but having a volunteer coach who can at least make sure the goalies are doing their warm-up skates properly is a big plus.

So, now that many leagues are already past the parity round and into full swing, I'd like to offer a quick primer, featuring several essential particulars that EVERY hockey coach ought to know about goaltenders. If you're going to have high expectations of your young netminder, then you ought o expect the same of yourself. Let's start with the basics:

Stance. You want your young goalies to look balanced, with a nice bend in their knees, chest up, gloves in front, and stick on the ice, about 10-12 inches away from their toes. Imagine a spotlight in the middle of the goalie's chest. If that spotlight is shining straight down into the ice, there's a good chance he's bending too much at the waist, with straight legs, and is off balance, with nose over toes. That spotlight should be shining out at the puck. Get them to bend their knees! Also, beware of the catch glove that's either scratching the back to the goalie's knee (too low), or ear (too high). You want to see the gloves a few inches in front of the body, so the goalie can comfortably see them in his peripheral vision.

Angles. This is another simple, yet critical, concept. Unless the puck is behind the goal line or at a really sharp angle (say, by the corner), you want to be able to draw a straight line through the puck, the goalie's chest, and the center of the net (not the back of the net, but that plane between the two posts). If they set up on the shooter, the shooter is going to have a ton of net to hit. Remind your goalie that it's the puck that he has to stop, not the shooter.

Skating. This involves movement, stopping, and setting up for the shot. (shuffle, drop-step, butterfly slide, butterfly push). The eyes naturally follow the puck. A good goalie follows his eyes with his hands, and then the rest of his body. Try to make sure your goalie can move while staying compact, if his stance, without opening up too many holes. For example, when a goalie shuffles across the crease, his skates should remain parallel, both pointing at the puck. Too many youngsters open up, like a T-glide, and that's just too slow when the puck is in tight. It also opens holes in his stance. Stopping on a dime is just has important, because if a goalie isn't "set" for the shot, they typically wind up on all fours, or on their backside.

Recovery (correctly). Perhaps the most under-appreciated, but most vital, skill a goalie has to master. Experienced goalies recover so quickly they make it seem effortless. Young goalies can look like they're either nailed to the ice, or flopping around like a beached whale (how often have you head a coach yell "Get up!"). Give your goalies adequate time to recover properly after each shot (unless it's a battle drill, where desperation saves are required). Have them concentrate on good technique; the speed will come as they mature. The rule of thumb? Goaltending is rear-wheel drive. Make sure your goalies recover using the backside leg, so they can drive toward the puck.

Following the rebound. This is another critical component of good goaltending. Most goalies can catch pucks because it's become second nature. Following the rebound has to be done just as quickly. This can only be done through repetition. If you don't allow your goalies time to recover toward the rebound, or don't require them to do it, then it won't become habit, and it won't happen in a game.

Last, some random early-season equipment suggestions for first-time goaltenders:

Leg pad straps. Some kids have their pads strapped on like corsets. That's often the result of a well-intentioned parent who simply doesn't know how to put the pads on. Do yourself a favor. Get involved, and have the sales rep at your local hockey shop show you the correct way to strap on pads. Then teach your kids to do it themselves. If the pads are a newer model, they have to be loose enough to rotate when the child drops into the butterfly. The idea is to land on the knee stacks on the inside of the pads, not the face of the pad. That's why those stacks are called "landing gear."

Knee pads. Get some. These will protect your goalie's lower thigh, below their pants.

Boot straps. If the straps that go underneath the skate are too long, cut them back. Excess strap can only result in one thing, and that's tripping up your goalie (for old goalies like me, that's a torn ACL just waiting to happen).

Catch glove. Break it in. Do this while sitting in front of the tube, watching the Bruins, opening and closing, opening and closing. There's no easy way to do this, but if you don't, you won't catch pucks.

Paddle length. Goalie sticks come in different sizes because goalies come in different sizes. Get a stick that allows you goalie to hold it with his pointer finger on the top part of the paddle while in a comfortable stance, blade on the ice. Paddles that are too short or too long will throw your goalie out of balance.

FINIS

One puck ...

Cap Raeder (left) during his WHA glory days.

'Morning, gang,

With the hockey season in full swing (it is, after all, early October, for crying out loud), I wanted to address to role of goalies in your typical youth hockey practice. The old saw is that the goaltender "is the most important position on the ice." But you'd never know it watching just about any practice session from high school (and some colleges) down to Atoms. During these sessions, goalies are more likely to resemble cannon fodder, taking shot after shot after shot until they're ready to drop.

So this past summer, I asked long-time coach Cap Raeder, who I first watched play between the pipes at the University of New Hampshire in the mid-1970s (the accompanying photo is from Raeder's professional playing days with the New England Whalers of the short-lived World Hockey Association), what he thought of the barrage of shots that a practice goalie has to fend off. The spin-off of that conversation was this Goalie Guru column for the New England Hockey Journal. The column mentions two goalie-specific shooting drills, but there are dozens that both goalies and position players can benefit from. For details, drop me a line.

ONE PUCK

The key to good goalie drills is keeping things realistic

Robert "Cap" Raeder has been around the block. The former University of New Hampshire All-American goaltender (1972-75) from Needham, MA, followed his Wildcat playing days with a five-year professional career, which included a stint with the original New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. He's been an assistant coach and head coach at the collegiate level (notably Clarkson, 1985-89) and an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks, and Tampa Bay Lightning.

So, it's safe to say, Raeder has just about seen it all on an ice sheet. And when it comes to practice plans for goaltenders, he can boil it down to a simple, over-riding philosophy: One puck.

"That's all you need," said Raeder. "And that's how many they play the game with."

Obviously, Raeder is speaking figuratively, but his point is clear, and important. Hockey coaches need to let go of their outdated love affair with having dozens of pucks in play during any one drill (if the drill includes goaltenders). This is especially true during shooting drills, which many youth hockey coaches like to use as part of their warm-up regimen. Somewhere along the line, the idea of goalies seeing a gazillion shots got ingrained in the game's coaching psyche. If 15 shots are good, 50 must be better, right?

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Think of it in terms of simple math. If you have 20 kids lined up on the boards, racing off on a breakaway or a give-and-go shooting drill, the goalie is going to see 20 shots for each kid. If every kid takes five shots (not many, if you ask them), the goalie sees 100 pucks. And that's before the practice is 15 minutes deep.

Here's another favorite – the time-honored 3-shot drill, when three kids supposedly loop around three different cones (at varying distances from the goal) to take three quick shots. That looks great on paper, but it falls apart pretty quickly on the ice. Faster kids catch slower kids and shoot simultaneously, often without even looking up. The result is a goalie who, at best, doesn't know which shot to focus on, and, at worst, risks getting injured by the shot he's not watching.

Again, these drills simply don't reflect hockey the way the game is played. They do have some predictable results, few of which are positive.

Rapid-fire shooting drills are a sure-fire way to produce a shell-shocked netminder. And even if your goalie doesn't develop the yips, he or she is almost certain to develop bad habits. Here's why: Shooting drills like this are exhausting, which translates to young goalies standing like statues in the middle of their crease. They stop moving. They stop telescoping to challenge the shooter, and stop recoiling properly to play the deke. They don't drop on low shots, because dropping into the butterfly means having to get back up again (I challenge almost any youth hockey coach to do that 100 times in less than 10 minutes). And they completely stop thinking about rebounds, because all they're worried about is the next shot (and the next one).

So, in a game, these same goalies aren't as quick to look for a rebound, or follow it, because it hasn't become habitual. They're more likely to stay deep in the net, because that's what they've become accustomed to. They're as likely to recover on the wrong leg as the correct one because, in practice, they consistently rely on their stronger leg. And if they become puck shy from all the rubber they see in practice, that problem becomes magnified in a game, when the pressure is on.

Now, I understand the benefit for the kids taking a ton of shots. That repetition builds critical muscle memory. But they don't need a living, breathing target. Get a shooter tutor. They're cheap, and easy to install. Even better, they don't lie. Instead of a puck slipping through an exhausted Squirt goalie (who then has to watch the ensuing celebration), kids will find that weak shots get stopped. The same way they get snuffed out in a game, when they're facing a goalie who hasn't been run into the ground.

The key is having coaches develop an eye, and some empathy, really, for when a goalie gets tired. You can't just ask them – most youngsters would rather get grounded for a month than admit they're tired. But watch their body language. The legs are usually the first to go, and it's usually pretty obvious. Tired kids simply stop skating.

Even better, think outside the box when it comes to shooting drills. As Raeder says, emphasize drills that focus on one puck at a time, giving the goalies time to follow rebounds, and recover correctly. Here are two favorites that I borrowed from Brian Daccord while working at his Stop It Goaltending camps this past summer.

Two-net drill (any place on the ice along the boards). Set two nets roughly 12 feet apart, facing each other, with a goalie in each. A single player starts between the goalies. Coach (or another player) tosses puck in, and the "player in the middle" can shoot on either goalie. Rebounds are fair game, but bank shots off the boards aren't allowed. If the puck goes in, gets covered up, or goes out of play, coach yells "new puck!" First goalie to give up two goals loses (with a time max of 20-30 seconds). Then players rotate.

High-low drill (using the full offensive zone, or one third of a full sheet). The goalie is in the net, which is set up in the crease. The coach has the pucks at one face-off dot, and the players line up behind the opposite face-off dot. There are two orange cones on the edge of that second face-off circle, about 4 feet to either side of the inside hash marks. The goalie starts by facing the players at one corner of the crease, and initiates the drill by drop-stepping across the crease toward the coach. The coach sends a pass between the cones to the opposite face-off dot, with goalie following the puck. The player receiving the pass must either drive below the lower cone (an in-tight play), or high above the higher cone and across the high slot for a shot. At game speed. The goalie reacts accordingly, protecting the short side on the low drive, and stepping to the top of the crease on the high move. Rebounds are live, and goalies should be encouraged to follow all rebounds, even those that go out of play (Tip: If the player drives high on his backhand, encourage a backhand shot).

These are just for starters. I can't see any reason why coaches wouldn't want to embrace these types of drills, because they're remarkably beneficial to position players as well. They are battle drills, requiring quick hands, quick feet, and quick decision-making. Every one gets a great workout, while developing essential skills. And since the coaches control feeding the pucks, they control the tempo of the drill. Which is a win-win for everyone, including the goaltenders.

FINIS

Welcome home ... !!!

Hi gang,

By and large, Boston sports fans enjoy the reputation of being among the most passionate and most knowledgeable sports fans on the planet. It's a well-deserved reputation for most diehard Hub fans (not those bandwagon-jumping, Johnny-come-lately pink hats that show up every time one of our teams goes deep into the playoffs!). That hard-core fan status was never more evident than one day this past August, during my coaching sessions with Stop It Goaltending at Merrimack College.

Again this summer, I had the chance to work with Cory Schneider, the Marblehead native and former Phillips Andover/Boston College goaltender who now plies his trade for the Vancouver Canucks. Schneider has worked closely over the yeas with Brian Daccord, who owns Stop it Goaltending. This spring, he got some quality minutes during the Stanley Cup playoffs, and acquitted himself well, especially in the finals against the hometown Boston Bruins. No surprise there.

Schneider was and is a tremendous young goaltender, a guy who has continually honed his game throughout his amateur and now professional career. He's patient, which you need to be when playing behind a $6-million goalie like Roberto Luongo. He's also a genuinely good guy -- dedicated, articulate, humble, hard-working, and good-natured. That last trait came in handy one day this summer, during one of our camp's normal end-of-practice "game time" sessions.

Schneider was working out with our older college goalies, sharpening his game after a brief respite that followed a long, long season (making it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals meant Schneider's season lasted well into June). During these afternoon sessions, our Stop It counselors (who are campers themselves, typically older high school or college-age guys) would bring a number of the younger campers to watch the "big boys" play. I love this concept, because it gives these youngsters -- even the most cocky of the bunch -- a chance to see how much better they could be, if they keep at it.

On this particular afternoon, the counselor shepherding the kids was a young guy buy the name of David Cunningham, who played at Belmont Hill and was angling toward a possible Division 1 scholarship. Cunningham is an Arlington kid, competitive as all get out, but with a mischievous sense of humor. As we wrapped up our drills on the ice, Cunningham positioned his fuzzy-cheeked charges in a corner of the Merrimack College stands by one net. Which happened to be the net that Schneider occupied.

Our "game time" is a chance for our shooters -- mostly D-1 guys and young pros -- to stretch their legs a bit after each session. It usually features four nets and four goalies in the offensive zone, and three or four shooters firing at any net, needing to score four goals in 40 seconds to win each "game." If the goalies allow fewer than four goals, they win. Depending on how much time we have left, we usually try to squeeze in a 7-game series.

So for the first game on this particular day, we asked four goalies to jump in the nets. Schneider, showing one of the reasons why he's so good, jumps right up and takes a net by the corner. Next to all the young kids. And how do they show their love for the local guy? By chanting. But not the chant you might expect. The kids in the stands, maybe a couple dozen of them, start serenading Schneider with the classic Boston Garden mantra, "Let's go, Bruins! Let's go, Bruins!"

I started laughing so hard, I just about fell over. In fact, everyone began  howling. When I looked at Schneider, I could see Cory was rolling his eyes, getting a good laugh as well. Schneider might be the local guy, but these kids weren't going to let him forget where their true allegiances were.

To cap it off, the goalies won the "game," shutting down the shooters. As he left his goal, Schneider tapped the glass, letting the kids know that the Bruins might have won the war last spring, but he just won this little skirmish. And they could expect to hear more from him in the years ahead. It was a perfect hockey moment, equal parts competitive and jovial. Just a wonderful snapshot from a great summer on the ice.