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

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