Ever notice that a lot of goalies who wear a lexan throat protector, NHL’ers included, tend to tie the side strings through the cage itself rather than through the ear holes? The throat protector was made to pivot up and down, but attaching it this way causes it to balloon out in front of the goalie’s face during play action, effectively blocking one’s view (especially the newer coloured or opaque ones).   By the way, ever notice that when you buy one of these things, there are no instructions given as to how to attach it?  I coach some kids whose dads have it tied on in so loosely that it is more of a sternum protector than anything else.  Really lives up to its French language namesake: “bavette” or bib (i.e. like the Fisher Price plastic bib I used to put on my kids when they were babies, with the big scoop at the bottom for all the guck that missed their mouths or got spit up…)

Tying the side strings through the ear holes draws the protector closer to the chin so that it stays out of the way. Moreover, drilling a hole in the BOTTOM of the protector and passing the middle string INSIDE the mask, between the mask and the chin cup, ensures that the throat protector cannot ever come up in front of one’s field of vision, even when the goalie’s head is facing down (as is the case whenever the puck is close to the goal). Compare photo 1 to photo 2 and decide for yourself.

here's the dangler tied on through the ear holes and with the string in the bottom of the chin

here's what happens when it is tied on through the ear holes and through the hole in the top of the chin (at your nose)

simply drilling a hole and passing the string inside the mask keeps the dangler from coming up too far

Personally, it drives me nuts to see so many young goalies (and old ones too) whose vision must be blocked about 50% of the time. When the puck is close to your body, down on the ice it is often impossible to see because of the way the dangler is attached!
Look at the accompanying picture of Marc Andre Fleury (photo by Jonathan Newton, Washington Post).  While the red shading is by no means exact science, it is pretty easy to imagine how the area close to his body (where the puck happens to be) is obstructed by the throat protector swinging out.

don't get me wrong; Fleury is still my son's hero- and one of mine too...

‘Tenders Tips #9

photo thanks to wwarby

You want to be the best goalie that you can be.

It takes hard work to get there, sometimes it seems like more work than you can ever hope to take on.

But the old cliche is true – a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Once you are on that journey there might be a lot of steps – but they are all small and manageable.

Do you have something that you want to do to improve your game? Crunches or other exercise to improve your core strength? Lunges or other leg work to improve your strength? Juggling to improve your hand-eye coordination?

You can make huge strides by simply making a commitment to regular practice no matter how brief. In fact, regular training will do far more for your goaltending than irregular but very intense training. 30 min a day for 7 days beats 3 and a half hours in one shot no matter how you look at it. 10 minutes a day for a month beats five one hour sessions in a month hands down.

So – set yourself a goal today. Write it down. Make a commitment. Stick to it.

“I will do ten lunges on each leg every single day without fail.”

Or

“I will practice juggling for 5 minutes every single day, without fail.”

Or

“I will work on my shot – 20 shots every day without fail.”

Those are all very easy goals if you think about it. But in the end what do you get?

3650 lunges per leg in a year.
Over 30 hours of juggling!
7300 shots.

How good a juggler would you be with 30 hours of practice? How much harder would your shot be after 7300 practice shots?

How good will you be if you do nothing?

‘Tenders Tips #8 – Without going on the ice you can improve your goaltending

Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala grabs a little practice between whistles

I took a break from goaltending after university and was away from the ice for more than ten years. When I stopped playing we were still in a world of skate saves and Patrick Roy had not yet begun his now historic career. Today, without any coaching, I now play a butterfly game, and by most accounts I do a decent job of it. Shots along the ice, once a weakness, are now a strength.  I have confidence that I can take away the pass on a two-on-one with a butterfly slide. Guys parked on the backdoor look like opportunities, not obstacles.

I’m not writing this to suggest my goaltending is anything special – it’s definitely not. But somewhere along the line in the last twelve years I have transformed myself with no coaching – and did I mention no practices – into a butterfly goaltender. How did that happen?

I have a few thoughts on that but one of the strongest ideas is mental rehearsal. I can’t claim that I have a special program for this, but I’m a visual person. I watch a good deal of hockey and I think about how particular moves are made. Over time, somewhat with intention, and somewhat without, I have incorporated all kinds of techniques into my game just by thinking about them.

So if you want an extra edge to your training, or if you just don’t get enough practice time, think about a technique and rehearse–in your mind. Imagine a play and how you will execute to make the save. Repeat several times.

Maybe your inspiration comes from something you have learned in practice or with a goalie coach. Maybe you have a great DVD on goaltending. Or maybe you’ve just seen Marc-Andre Fleury make a lights-out save. Either way, you can think your way to a better game.

You can lie down on the couch today and get up a better goalie. Think about it.

‘Tenders Tips #7 – “Fitness goals” make all the difference

Break out your running shoes and get fit to stop more shots.

No, not goals to improve your fitness – but we’ll get there. I often think about the goals I let in and many of them I classify as “fitness goals.” These are the ones that I just couldn’t get into position for but I knew, if I were fresh, I would grab every time. It might be the third or fourth shot in a scramble, it might be late in a very busy game, and yes, it might come when my fitness isn’t what it should be. Perhaps I didn’t have the energy to move quickly enough, or the lack of fitness made my technique suffer. Either way, more goals than I care to admit are fitness goals that I simply wouldn’t let in if I were in better shape.

We can’t train to be big. Lots of us don’t have the experience or the coaching to refine your technique like a pro. Not everone can afford the latest, greatest gear. But every one of us can improve our fitness. And it doesn’t need to cost a penny.

It’s not enough just to play the game if you want to be the best. Get fit. We’ll talk more about it in the future but for now – schedule 45 minutes of aerobic exercise into your life three times per week. Running, Cycling, Swimming, just get out there and get moving.

It’s free. It’s good for you. It makes you a better goalie. Guaranteed.

If you don’t agree, I’ll give you your money back!

‘Tenders Tips #6

Carolina Hurricanes Goalie Coach Tom Barasso is successful because he has a complete understanding of the game and is a powerful communicator

There’s an old saying amongst teachers that you don’t really understand something until you can teach it. That can apply to your goaltending every bit as much as an academic subject.

If you want to be the best that you can be you need to really understand the position. Believe me, you might think you understand, but until you have tried to put it into words, to pull out the essential elements and to communicate it to someone else you do not completely understand. At very least the process of preparing to teach someone else will help you really sort out what you think about goaltending.

If you were going to work with a young goalie – where would you begin? What are the most important elements to communicate?  What might someone say after you teach a lesson – are you ready for the hard questions? 

I guarantee that sitting down and making some notes as if you were going to teach someone will help you become a better goalie yourself.

Better yet, why don’t you volunteer some time with a minor hockey team and help some kids out while you are learning yourself. Even if you’re still playing minor hockey there could well be a team with younger goalies who could use a hand.

‘Tenders Tips #4

You’d never know it to see me but I was once a triathlete. Which is to say that for a few summers I started and finished in the bottom half of the list at a number of local triathlons. It was a great way to enjoy a challenge when I wasn’t playing hockey. One of the best triathletes at the time, perhaps ever, was six-time Ironman World Champion Mark Allen. Like most professional triathletes, Allen had a work ethic that few of us could ever dream of matching. 

I still remember seeing a story about Mark when he was asked how he could work so hard. It was a bit of an odd response that he gave – he finishes every workout no matter how hard by telling himself that he could always take it easy the next day. 

I’m not sure exactly what he meant, but I found it empowering. One thing that holds people back is fear. Knowing that tomorrow you can take it easy, leaves you free to let it all loose in that day’s workout. At the same time you need to take advantage of what few opportunities you have to improve.  So I always saw Allen’s words as a note to make the most of what today is giving you.

So the next time you are straining to finish a training session – don’t quit and don’t back off. Like Mark Allen you can always take it easy tomorrow.

Of course he never did. That’s why he was the best.

‘Tenders Tips #3

Some of the best goalies are said to play with “ice water in their veins” meaning they are cool under pressure and nothing rattles them. You can be this way too – all you need to do is start with a mental plan.

What’s a mental plan? For elite athletes in some sports it’s a detailed understanding of how they will approach every aspect of a big competition and various possible situations. I’m going to suggest that you take a tip from these athletes – but begin with a simple approach. Like all skills in your game you need to improve gradually over time – small improvements can get you a very long way if you stick to it. 

Begin by making a plan for how you will react in one situation that you don’t perform well in during your next game. One common situation of course is getting scored on. The cool cat in net acts like nothing happened and the next goal may never come. A more common reaction from amateurs is to swear, or slam a stick, or shake their head like the goal wasn’t their fault or never should have happened. The cool goalie gives his team confidence. The angry goalie can suck the life out of a team – and more importantly himself. 

The old adage “practice makes perfect” applies to your mental state. So have a plan before the game for what you will do if you are scored on – then enact that plan. Make it as much of a ritual as a golfers pre-shot routine that never varies. Holding your head high, grabbing a drink and shouting some encouragement to your team, for example, might be hard when you are feeling angry – but before long that ritual will become habit and you will look like a confident, cool goalie who inspires his team.

You can build on that over time so that all those situations that might rattle other goalies become second nature for you to deal with. Before long you’ll look – and feel – like you are one of the few guys who is so cool that he looks like he has ice water in his veins!

‘Tenders Tips #1

Nobody trains harder than Roberto Luongo

 
OK, so you want to play in the NHL. Everyone does. The question is – are you willing to work for it?

Two things come to mind:

Before game 3 of the Canucks-Chicago series only one Canuck player dressing that night showed up for the optional practice in the morning – Goalie Roberto Luongo. One of, if not the best in the business never takes a day off. ’nuff said.

From another sport – I have a background coaching rowing. Rowers are well-known for being some of the hardest working, most inspiring athletes around (the Canucks invited Canada’s Olympic Gold Medal Men’s Eight to give the team a pre-game pep talk for this very reason). The Canadian men’s coach, Mike Spraklen, I’m told will often tell an athlete who complains of being tired or wanting to end a workout because of bad weather: “OK, that’s fine. But do you think the German’s are ending their workout early today?” 

If you want to be the best that you can be, it’s not enough to just want it. 

The next time you go to pick up the remote control or your Nintendo DS ask yourself: “Is there another goalie somewhere going out for a run while I sit on the couch?”

photo thanks to Philip "PiscesDreamer" via Flickr

Today we are introducing a new section for readers – ‘Tenders Tips. Each day we will present a short tip for goaltenders. They will be one idea posts that will give you something to think about to improve your game. Some will be technical, others psychological, some gear related and some fitness related. The idea is to give you a quick way to try and pick up your game – or as I like to think of it “leave no stone unturned” in finding ways to improve. It’s the little things that add up to big improvements in your game.

I hope that all readers will feel free to weigh in on the tips – leave a comment or send us your own tips.