Goaltending Concepts #1: Shot Preparation

mx42

Hey guys,

This will be the first of a couple articles I am going to write for the forum. Since there seems to be so many posts about gear, I feel we can get some good discussion going about technique.

Just as the topic indicates, this will discuss Shot Preparation.

I mentioned in another post that if you do the math, goalies are only making saves for a small percentage of the game. Let's say you face 30 shots in a 60 minute game. Give about a second for each shot (which is rather generous), you are only making saves for 30/1800 or 1/60th of the game. The rest is spent getting yourself into proper position to make each save.

When I coach, I discuss the three most general ways to position yourself to make a save.

1) Give the shooter no chance (aggressive)
2) Give the shooter a few options (medium)
3) Give the shooter a ton of net (least aggressive)

Now you can imagine that top goaltenders want to make most of their saves at least at point 2, the most desirable being point 1. Patrick Roy made a career out of being at points 1 and 2 consistently before the shot arrived. How did he do this? He was known for a couple innovations when he first broke in:

- An aggressive, percentage-eliminating style.*

- Sharp skates. He was one of the first to use sharp skates, which have now become standard in the goalie world.

- Excellent mobility. He worked every day at his lateral movements, and forced shooters to go 'around' him, rather than 'through' him, with his lateral movements to eliminate the 'around.'

- By doing this, Roy forced many shots either: wide of the net, over the net, or straight into his body.

*You guys will find that I don't like referring to goalie playing styles as 'butterfly,' 'standup,' and 'hybrid' as they are far too general terms.
Every goalie is different as they all play to their own strengths; you can see that the way JS Giguere employs his butterfly is not at all like Patrick Roy's or Marc-Andre Fleury's. Giguere relies on his size, Patrick Roy relied on his athleticism, and Fleury relies on his extraordinary foot quickness and recovery ability.

mx42 · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject:

Theory:

The theory is that you are in transit from Point A to Point B for most of the game. Because of this, there is a need for excellent specialized movement and edge control (shuffles, T-Push, C-Cuts, backside recovery, all that good stuff). If you can control how well you position yourself, you can control your own success in net.

The faster and more efficiently you can get from Point A to Point B, the better your chances of making the save. Adding on to this, the more aggressive you are, you move higher up the ladder from 3 (lots of net) to 2 (some net) to 1 (no net). Obviously you want to make most of your saves in region 1, but that will be dependent on your edge control.

This comes back to two primary factors: depth management (gap control) and angle coverage.

Put in most simple terms, depth management simply means not retreating too far back towards the goal line before or as the shot is released. It is similar to the way defensemen are taught to stand up a guy and not let them break in on you. Perfection is achieved through good practice habits and small adjustments. Be wary of smart shooters who will deliberately slow down and speed up again as they break in on you to catch you off guard.

Angle coverage encompasses three aspects:
1) goaltender squareness to the puck. (head, shoulders, hips square to the puck, stick centered)
2) goaltender squareness to the center of the net. (find the middle of the net, tap off each post to make adjustments, challenge the puck)
3) puck squareness to the net. (the shooter's angle)

An elite goalie manages all 3 aspects effortlessly because of their skating ability, experience, and knowledge of the game.

mx42 · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject:

Tactics:

There are so many situations we face as goalies, it will be impossible to discuss them all. However, I will highlight some of the situations we face the most.

Rebound Control falls into this category as well. If you are giving out huge rebounds, you now have identified another aspect to work on.

First of all, the key is knowing your reach. Know exactly how far you can reach with your stick, gloves, and pads. This way, you will know how to best position yourself to make the save or break up the play.

Any passes within reach of your stick should be broken up. It's easier to disrupt a pass than it is a shot! Watch Brodeur for ideas: he is very active at clearing the slot against passes and loose pucks in front. This falls into the first category of giving the shooter 'no chance.'

Bad Angle Shot:
This is the easiest to handle, and many goalies should be able to handle them at point 1. The key here is to bring your outside leg (if you're on the right post, it will be your left leg) in towards the puck to become 'over-square' and prevent any bad rebounds from bouncing into the slot.

1-on-1, outnumbered offense (1-on-2, 1-on-3, etc.):
Challenge hard here (2 to 5 feet out of the crease is not unheard of), eliminate every bit of net you can and control your rebounds. Your defenseman should be ready to help you out, but rebound control is your priority, not his.

2-on-1 and Outnumbered Attack:
You will have to make adjustments based on your own lateral movement abilities. I suggest starting at about 1 foot on top of the crease and making adjustments based on your ability from there. If you are excellent at lateral movements, you can challenge another 6 to 12 inches. If you are a little weaker, retreat another 6 to 12 to the top of the crease. This is a case by case situation, and you will have to make adjustments on your own. Same with all other outnumbered attacks; as the number of attackers grows, you will neet to retreat another couple inches to the top of your crease. Never play in the blue paint of your crease!
"In the white, in the fight. In the blue, not so cool."

Depending on your abilities, you may want to give them enough net to shoot at to suck the puckcarrier into a shot as the pass is almost never a desired option. Think about this and apply it to your own game.

Breakaway:
Challenge hard and maintain depth control (don't back in too soon!). By challenging hard, you eliminate the shooter's options from 7 (top glove, top blocker, low left, low right, 5 hole, deke left, deke right) to 3 (deke left, deke right, 5 hole). You want him to go for the deke.

Mitch Korn's Y-theory is in full effect here: Draw a straight line from between the hash marks to the top of the crease, then from that point draw 2 imaginary lines going towards each post. This is your "Y." At the minimum, you will want to ride the prongs of the Y the shooter dekes.

Wraparound walkout:
The Vertical-horizontal is my preferred choice here. I get my near-side pad upright against the post with my hand resting to the side, and my far side leg in sort of a half butterfly, but tight to the ankle of my upright pad.

Example. If they are wrapping to the left, I will get my left pad up against the post, my right pad will drop to a horizontal position with the thigh rise tight against my ankle. Stick in front, tight with no holes under my arm. Glove will rest up against the pad.

Tips and deflections:
These are a pain in the butt. I have yet to meet a goalie, pro or otherwise, that could honestly tell me that the great save they just made on a tip or deflection was made by reacting instead of blocking. These are always "hit me" saves, and not "reaction" saves. They key here is to play very conservatively; you might find yourself in the blue in this case, which is okay. If the guy is in front waiting for a tip, you can only come out behind him. If you come out too far, the guy with the puck will deliberately shoot wide (but still within reach of the guy in front) for an easy slam dunk goal.

(work in progress)

mx42 · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:33 pm Post subject:

Equipment Selection:

The only thing I am really picky about is sharp skates. From what I have heard, Kiprusoff uses skates cut at 3/16ths! For comparison, most of the skaters I know use a 3/8ths or 1/2 inch cut. Personally I am at a 5/16ths cut, but will try going with the same hollow, with an offset blade (deliberate misalignment of the blade, with more edge on the inside).

I'm on the RBK cowling, with the replaceable blade (Graf 750 boot). I send my skates out to Bob at NoIcingSports.com in New Hampshire. He's great at sharpening and really knows his stuff!; in our first conversation, he told me to try a 27 degree radius (blade length) with a forward lean, and it has worked perfectly for me.

If you are having trouble sliding and you know it's not your technique, make sure the inside edges of your pads are covered in clarino/Jenpro. These make sliding a lot easier. You'll notice guys like Luongo and Aebischer use nylon on their knee wings - this is because they are so strong, they can use the extra control the nylon offers (the nylon will gather snow and slow you down).

mx42 · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:33 pm Post subject:

Reserved:

Closing Remarks

Finger · Minors Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 152

mx42 · Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:12 pm Post subject:

Pro-fly is a marketing term coined by Vaughn to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack - and they used it to help them sell their Velocity line.

Take a look at Patrick Roy. When he first started, he was very dependent on the butterfly. Then examine his later years - he adapted to become more patient as shooters seemed to 'wisen up' and try to pick the top corners on him. Yet people still labeled him as a butterfly goalie. This is why I dislike the term.

To paraphrase one of the best goalie instructors I have ever read and observed (Steve McKichan of Future Pro (futurepro.com)) - the butterfly save is not a style, but a save maneuver.

There is always a place to put yourself to give the shooter 0% chance, but of course you have other factors to worry about...keep in mind that this is a work in progress, and I have a bit more to write but I will post them up when I'm done.

canadian_man_44 · Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 2:45 am Post subject:

I've just got to weigh in on the "Profly" issue. I would say that although the term Profly was first coined by Vaughn as a marketing ploy, it has become so widely used to describe a style of play that it has been taken out of Vaughns hands and put into the goalie terms list. Personally, I would class myself as a Profly goalie, although I've never used Vaughn pads. To me it's used to describe the butterfly perfected. Over the years since the butterfly style first came about, goalies have worked to tweak it and perfect it into the style that I would refer to as Profly. Just my opinion, but, that's how I see it no matter where the word originated.

BTW, great thread with great topics. Keep them coming mx42.
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number55 · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:05 am Post subject:

I can see what he means because no goalie is 100% of any given "style", but I still think it is ok to label goalies who prefer one technique over the other. It's just easier that way.

Finger · Minors Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 152

This is getting much better. I would still be very careful about making statements like "never play in the blue".

To me, telescoping is a critical part of a goalie's game. It takes constant awareness of everyone on the ice. Since goalie's can't afford to be looking in the wrong direction when the shot comes, we have to steal glances around the ice in fractions of a second. When we glance, we need to see where everyone is, who is and is not covered, and determine where the biggest scoring threat is going to be if there is a pass.

Then we process this information and use it to determine where we need to be on the ice. We are always square to the puck, and between the puck and the net. But along that plane, we can be deep in our net or way out of the crease.

Many factors are included in our decision, but the biggest is our ability to get to the far post in the event of a pass to the back door.

With traffic directly in front of the net, there is no way for me to play outside the blue paint without leaving myself at risk. Someone who may be a little quicker on the slide may be able to leave a little more room. If there is a screen, I get right up against them to limit the danger of a deflected puck.

When there are no opposing players around my net, I can telescope out another stride. As the shooter comes down the wing I have to stay with the puck. A quick glance here is dangerous but necessary because I need to know if a trailer is coming, and if he is covered. If there is, I'll call out to my D to let them know to take the pass.

Then I back into the net slightly to allow myself the opportunity to get into position for the shot if the pass gets through. It does allow a bit more net, but that can't be helped.

I am constantly adjusting my distance from the net, but the optimum place to be is right on the line of the crease, or just outside of the crease. Game situations can push me back into the net, but I don't like being there and will slide back out as soon as possible.

mx42 · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject:

1987 · Minors Joined: 03 Jan 2008 Posts: 172

Good topic & discussion, here...

I would like to add as well that confidence in your defence is a factor to consider. If you have strong, experienced dmen in front of you then take that opportunity to challenge the shot more aggressively as a pass into a scoring position is likely to be broken up.

Also could somebody care to explain to me exactly what "pro-fly" refers... Maybe who exemplifies this style best in the NHL, so I can paint a picture in my mind that differentiates this style others.

Thanks
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GO CANUCKS!

auburn goalie · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:16 pm Post subject:

Does he stil come on? This would be something awesome to continue on for newcomers.
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FutureSuperstar93 · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:59 pm Post subject:

These are the kind of threads we need to be posting.

It can be tough to be at Point 1, sometimes you feel way out of your comfort zone. As I've played more and more, I've worked on it a lot. If a player is coming in past the circles, I'll come 2 or more feet out of the crease if there's no one else to worry about and it feels comfortable to do it.

The best way to go about getting into Point 1 and 2 is movement. The quicker you can get around the net and get sqaure to the puck, the better position you will be in, and the more likely would will be to make the stop. If you can't get from place to place in a timely manner, a lot of times you will get burned up high. Once you get where you need to be, you can set yourself again or just stay in your butterfly to take the shot.

---FutureSuperstar---

Cooper 35