All we have to fear ...

"Fear is the highest fence." ~Dudley Nichols

Or, perhaps, fear is a hockey puck. A rock-hard, vulcanized hockey puck, aimed head high. Once you've been tagged a few times, unless you've got a serious kink in your hard-wiring, you're going to have a healthy fear of the hurt a puck can put on you.

Or maybe fear is a bad goal, an embarrassing goal, and the taunts of opponents and teammates alike, and the criticisms of win-at-all-cost coaches and fans who don't always understand and appreciate the singular pressures a goalies must deal with. The proverbial fear of failure can be crippling.

Hi gang. Sorry I've been away for a while, as my "real work" responsibilities have taken me from my "fun work." But this is an important topic, and one that's been driven home lately as we get into the stretch drive of the season. So let's dive in.

There are many fears that can play on the mind of a hockey goalie, and almost all of them need to be conquered if you want to be any good at playing the position. Because fear can paralyze. Fear can cause you to tighten up, and as the old goaltending adage goes, "Tight muscles are slow muscles." If you can't move, you aren't going to stop many pucks.

But the fact is, if you're puck shy, if you let your fears get the better of you, you're going to get hurt, and you're going to give up a lot of bad goals. I guarantee it. Fear is the single biggest hurdle a young goalie must overcome (though that holds true for goalies of any age).

I understand this hardly qualifies as a news flash. All hockey players have to ratchet up their courage in order to play this game, especially those who fling themselves in front of shots without the extra padding goalies enjoy. It's a tough, tough game, which is one of the reasons we love it.

The fear-factor for a goalie, however, is exponential higher compared to the average player. And this is not just a goalie coach blowing smoke. Don't believe me? Just think of all the mistakes that other players can make that go unnoticed over the course of a game. When a goalie makes a mistake, the puck is usually in the back of the net, and the other team is celebrating. That, my friends, is pressure.

So let's start with the fear of physical pain. It's a dilemma for many young netminders, who were initially drawn to the position by all the really cool gear, only to find that the gear has evolved to help prevent serious injury, but not always the painful garden-variety bumps and bruises that come with the position. Pucks can still hurt. The gear, as good as it is, isn't bombproof.

Just the other night, one of my young goalies (a second-year PeeWee) took a shot right above the thigh board. I could tell right away that it stung. And for good reason. My young netminder was wearing regular hockey pants. "Time to invest in some goalie pants," I told his dad.

Another incident, two weeks ago, a Squirt netminder of mine got tagged in the jaw. The shooter, an older kid, immediately apologized (to his credit). And it was obvious that my young goalie was is pain. The tears welled up, and his face went flush. But he shook off the hurt, and got right back into the drill without missing a rotation. I could not have been more proud, because he knew instinctively that if he gave into the pain, and the fear, then it would start to own him. And he wasn't going to give "fear" that satisfaction.

Further, youngsters need to understand that the gear is design to work best when they're playing the position properly. In other words, they have to stay square to the puck, roll their shoulders, keep their stick on the ice and stay compact. If a goalie lifts up on a shot, or turns away from it, the odds of getting hurt increase dramatically, as they often expose unprotected areas (I'm reminded of one puck-shy goalie who, when I asked if he'd ever been hurt from a shot, admitted he got tagged in the calf when he turned away from the play. "That doesn't count," I told him).

So, if your goalie has the yips, try to be patient. Start by tossing tennis balls, soft pucks, and then regulation pucks at them. Let them get comfortable in their equipment, and let them develop a trust that the gear will protect them 95 percent of the time (golfers can appreciate this ... Even your favorite club will desert you on occasion!). Keep them moving, moving, moving, so they don't get stiff (and susceptible to further injury).

But remember, there's no foolproof plan to avoid getting hurt. Pucks can still sting, especially at the higher levels, or when careless coaches are shooting. You should never sugarcoat that reality. It's part of the position that goalies must accept if they're to excel. If they don't, their career between the pipes will be short-lived.

My next post will deal with the "psychological fears," or performance anxiety. Stay tuned.

Best,
-Brion