Archive for Technique

Editors Note: Today we welcome Tomas Herz as a new contributing author to inGoal Magazine. Tomas has experience as a goaltender and coach at many levels of hockey and a passion for the position and writing about it. He’ll have a number of articles in the coming weeks appearing on Wednesdays.

Ice hockey is a game of situations. These situations repeat themselves again, and again, at all levels of competition. The 2-on-1 or 2-on-0 cut back deke is one of several options available to the attackers in these tactical situations. Let us examine this one option in some detail.

When either a 2-on-1 or 2-on-0 develop there are only so many possible options available to the oncoming attackers. The only difference between them is that things at least should be somewhat more difficult in the presence of a defenceman. Let us assume there are no high trailers for triangulation and the goaltender’s mates are back-checking appropriately. Here are the possibilities:

1. puck carrier shoots directly on net
2. puck carrier passes to teammate who shoots
3. puck carrier shoots on net for rebound with hard net drive by teammate
4. pass and return pass (2-on-0 with wide gap between attackers and goaltender) with shot on net by original puck carrier and finally…
5. pass with cut back (against the grain) deke to far side of the net

photo by Scott Slingsby

Let’s use the example of a right-handed and left-handed shot skating down their natural wings. As soon the odd man rush unfolds the insightful goaltender recognizes the situation and possible tactical options. He/she then establishes appropriate depth and then sculls backward slightly to generate some backwards momentum. As the pass occurs on either 2v1 or 2v0 the goaltender commonly performs a dynamic lateral butterfly slide. This is done to both seal the ice and maintain some vertical coverage against a quick release shot. This situation was usually approached by performing a two-pad slide (i.e. stacking the pads) in days gone by. There is really only one goalie in the world left who does this and that is Martin Brodeur. The problem with the two pad slide is of course the lack of vertical net coverage if you are not right out against the puck and time to recover for 2nd and 3rd shot attempts.

When the goalie begins the modern lateral slide the smart goal-scorer understands that inertia is taking the goalie in one direction and therefore cutting back to the other side makes it difficult for the goaltender to change directions. However, today’s goalie has very sharp skate edges and an excellent ‘down game’ (i.e. great mobility on the knees). Hence, when the attacker cuts back to the weak side of the net, the goalie quickly attempts to dig in the skate edge and push in the opposite direction. If the attacker is quick and has good reach with his twig the goalie will often lose this battle.

As recently as the 2010 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships I witnessed two of the possible five options on a 2-on-one. In Team Canada’s game vs. Latvia a touch saucer pass from Hall to Kadri resulted in a quick release shot right under the crossbar (option #1). In the New Year’s Eve game between Team Canada and Team USA what began as a 2-on-2 became a 2-on-one with Eberle performing the cutback deke and scoring on the American goaltender Campbell.

What options are available to the goaltender?

1. If you anticipate the cutback early enough you can fake or minimize the butterfly slide in an effort to make the attacker believe that you have fallen for the direct shot and then you will get him going the other way. However, this is NOT necessarily a high percentage option and should be practiced many times when doing 2v1, 2v0 and 3v0s in practice. If he doesn’t fall for your fake he/she will shoot directly and surely score.
2. You can play it pure with a lateral slide and hope for the best as you cut back on your edge and maybe stick out your leg and get him.
3. A full length or partial poke check may be an option but the margin for error is minimal. I sincerely believe that the stick option only works best when two criteria are met. (1) the attacker is coming from the goalie’s trapper to blocker side allowing the goalie to use the backhand part of the stick blade in a position of power and (2) the attack angle is more horizontal ( similar to a net drive) than vertical in nature.
4. Use the two pad slide and essentially chop-block the attacker’s legs out from under him. However, if he has great hand-eye coordination and stick reach it could become a highlight clip with the attacker flying through the air if his stick and the puck have gotten around the goalie’s pads.

As noted, hockey is a game of situations and truly elite goaltending is far more than just great technical ability. Although it takes years to see situations unfold in your mind even before they develop in front of you (just like chess) the goaltenders who learn these scenarios the fastest and minimize errors and poor outcomes are the ones who move on to the proverbial next level. The rest just fade away. Remember this situation, practice all the outcomes and sooner or later you will make an incredible save and achieve hero status!

This is s guest post by KenDiOrio of Stoppers Goaltending –  www.stoppersgoaltending.com.

If you are interested in contributing to inGoal Magazine, please contact us: david@inGoalMag.com

When most of us started playing goal, we tried to emulate those goalies we admired. Sometimes, however, most goalies we watched do things due to their own evolution of their personal goaltending style. This translates into possible bad habits for amateur goaltenders. This article will talk a little about our basic stance, and what I feel will help a lot of goaltenders avoid basic mistakes and help with the most use of their body.

The basic elements of an effective stance all include the same foundations as with most “ready stances” in athletics. Most important of all, the knee bend. The knee bend creates the power for everything we need to do: balance, movement, save execution, etc. These are all started with a proper knee bend. In addition to the knee bend your upper body plays a big role in an effective stance. I see a lot of goaltenders who bend quite a bit at the waist taking away a lot of coverage from the top corner. Sometimes, bending at the waist may seem more logical to get low to the puck; however, this is counter productive. With the bend at the waist we lose power from the knee for pushes to get to different angles we need covered.

Some people will ask how far apart you should keep your feet. One school of thought is that in today’s game of butterfly saves and butterfly slides, it is harder to execute these saves with your feet closer together in a stance similar to Nabokov. I am not here to tell you whether to keep you feet closer together or further apart like Khabibulin. I know what works for me and I suggest trying different foot stances to find what is most comfortable for you. I use a foot stance quite similar to Nikolai Khabibulin. I find it keeps my feet just outside of shoulder width apart and it still allows me to keep my chest up and I am still able to keep movement strong and crisp.

Gloves are another thing I see a huge variation in from goaltender to goaltender. We see goaltenders like Roberto Luongo using a Quebec influenced glove position, and Kipper with the Finnish style of glove positioning.

photo by David Hutchison

photo by Scott Slingsby

Whatever glove positioning you have, you should ask yourself some questions before deciding on your final stance. We’ll start with the catcher. Do you find it easier to bring your glove up for those shots to the top corners? If you prefer only knowing that you would ultimately bring your glove up to make those saves, then a Luongo-esque catch glove positioning would work for you.  You can also start out with your catcher in the “fingers up” positioning like Kipper. With this style you already have the top corner covered. This also helps you to use your reaction to bring the glove down to make saves. Personally, I’d rather bring my glove down instead of up due to the simple factor of gravity. It’s a lot easier to bring the glove down than up, based on physics.

Now let’s look at the blocker hand. There are some variances to the positioning of the blocker hand, but not nearly as much as the catcher. There is one major reason for that. The goalie stick. We need to keep that stick on the ice so we ultimately will be handcuffed to the paddle height for stick positioning. I will use Roberto Luongo as another example, who keeps both hands in tight to his body in an effort to keep all holes closed, yet he is still able to keep that stick on the ice. One thing I try to coach my goalies is to keep their hands in front of their bodies. Obviously this has been taught to goaltenders for ages. One thing I don’t think goaltenders understand is that it also affects the aerial angle of the net available that the puck sees vs. what the shooter sees. See illustration for further explanation.

Green: Saves made behind the body
Gray: Actual body positioning
Blue: Saves made in front of the body.

As you can see here, from my terrible Microsoft Paint illustration… while keeping your hands in front of the body, you are able to make a save more efficiently, and if a rebound pops out your able to track it a lot easier off the body.

Some things that we always have to consider when working with our stance are:

1. Comfort. How comfortable are you in your stance? Now we can’t be standing there in the nets like we’re leaning against a wall. We need to have a comfortable knee bend. Our backs shouldn’t be hunched over, this may seem like it is comfortable to some but over time it will most definitely cause back pain/problems.
2. Net coverage. Some people like to keep their hands in different areas to fill the net as presented above. This, however, is only filling up net in the shooter’s eye and we really cannot worry about him. We have to worry about the puck’s eye. What open net does the puck see? Keeping your hands out to the side fills up net the shooter sees but also leaves your vulnerable to “squeekers” going between the arms and body. Another element of proper net coverage includes the chest and upper body. As mentioned before, keeping that chest tall with a good knee bend allows for powerful pushes from the legs, while also covering those high angles.
3. Last but certainly not least… knee bend. No matter how deep your crouch, or how wide or how narrow you keep your legs in a stance, the angle at which you keep your knees in your stance, plays a crucial role in the aerial angles that you cover. This can also play an important part in the time it takes to get your knees to hit the ice in a butterfly. Bigger knee bend = quicker time getting your knees down.

In closing, one of the most important tools for finding a good stance is to use one of the oldest tools for goaltenders… we’ve all seen the goalie coach have a string attached to the post and the blade of the stick. Have the string measure out to about the high slot, attach the 2 ends of the string to the high corners of the post. This will give you a good idea of what is covered in the most dangerous shooting spots on the ice, and thus help make your already difficult and highly stressfull job, even easier.

Controlling the rebounds is one of the most sought after skills by today’s goaltenders. It is the difference between winning and losing hockey games while in the tightest playoff races.

Once a goaltender learns to execute the basic skills (reading and reacting to the puck and positioning) the goaltender must acquire the ability to quickly identify low traffic areas on the ice while the puck is being set up for the shot on goal. The best way to describe this would be a “2 camera approach.”

Camera 1/ Your Eyes: The goaltender has strong visual attachment on the puck and constantly positions and repositions his/ her body to prepare to stop the puck.

Camera 2/ Your Mind’s Eyes: The goaltender uses peripheral vision to identify higher traffic areas, then sees the flow of the play moving through his / her mind to identify low risk areas. Once the shot is taken, the goaltender uses a skill set that favours the save (if unable to smother), and places his body in the position to the redirect the puck to a low risk area.

Stop and Block (in a butterfly position)
A goaltender that uses only the stop or block method will stop the puck (1st shot) and that’s where it ends. If the shot is taken straight on, the rebound will most likely end up in either corners.

When the same approach is used with the shot coming from the left or right side points, the inside shot will end up in a high threat area. This example shows the inside rebound ending up in the exact opposite side in the furthest point away from the goaltender leaving the team vulnerable.

The sign of a stronger and more mature goaltender will be the goaltender who not only stops but directs or steers the puck into areas that alleviate the pressures for their team. In the photo below, you will see that Marty Turco is angling his body to redirect the puck into the appropriate corner. He is guarded and not over rotating, his eyes are on the puck and is protecting the net nicely. This rebound will end up on his strong side where little movement is required to set up for the next attack from the opposition.

Pasco’s contact information is goaliecoach@gmail.com and www.elitesportsmanagement.ca

Guest article by Sean Moloney

Loading the post (also called the One Knee Down, or the VH Position.) is a very effective modern technique that is very useful in today’s game. It is a very versitile, efficient technique that has become a very important tool in many Goaltenders games, helping them be more successful in certain game situations. Recently, However, I have seen too many Goaltenders, including at the NHL level, Giving up goals because of misuse of the technique, or technical errors in the fundamentals of the move. Even worse, it is the same mistakes I see repeated over and over. In order for you to avoid these mistakes, I will address the most common problems we see.

First, and this is the one we see most often, is Understanding when to use the Load. I know it sounds simple, but we see more goals because a Goaltender uses the technique in a situation where it simply will not be effective. Our Philosophy at my Goalie school is NEVER LOAD ON ANYTHING HIGHER THAN THE BOTTOM OF THE CIRCLE. I have seen several NHL Goaltenders recently give up goals on shots from the face-off dot or higher where they tried to execute a load as save selection. The Load, in general, is a Shot Preparation technique and it’s effectiveness as such has led it to be misused and overused. The main benefit of Loading is coverage, and maintaining that coverage in a tight, lateral push situation. But in the Load position you must remember that there is a point on the ice where that coverage, especially vertically, is lost because of the distance of the puck from the net. Also, the body position of the Goaltender in the Load is one that does not maximize net coverage if the puck is not at a proper situational distance to utilize the technique. Therefore, to use the Load on anything other than a tight, sharp angle shot as save selection is certainly not advised. Loading is only beneficial on anything lower than the bottom of the circles, including behind the goalline for potential passout situations. Never on anything higher.

Second is compactness. Coverage is the foundation of the Modern game, and Loading the Post is no exception. Just as with a good Butterfly, Compactness is essential to good execution of the technique. In the NCAA Championship game, the Goaltender from Miami, OH, gave up a goal in a Load position that allowed Boston University to comeback from 2 goals down and win the game in OT. He failed to achieve compactness in his Load position, and the puck squeezed through the hole. The announcers incorrectly came down hard on him for Loading, but his decision was correct, and it was a situation where the Load should have been very effective and produced an easy save on a good chance. It is very important that when you load, you keep the elbows in tight to the torso, the post leg firmly against the post, and the on-ice leg on the ice and the knee in tight to the post leg pad. Having this compactness will not only prevent any pucks finding a way through you, but it will also allow explosiveness in the event of a pass or player carrying across. It’s also very important to note that you should never Load the Post without actually being ON the post. Martin Biron of the Philadelphia Flyers  gave up a goal in OT of the Playoffs last season to Bill Guerin of the Penguins when he attempted to load without any integration of the post, and Guerin slid the puck short side. Obviously if you post leg in the load isn’t on the post, there is no coverage short side between the post and the pad.

Loading the post is a vital technique in the modern Goaltender’s game. And like all other fundamentals, it needs to be executed properly and at the right time. If you do that consistently, you will stop more pucks, and win more games because of it.

Sean is the Goaltending Coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (ACHA DI Hockey) www.iuphockey.com and the Director of Building Blocks Goaltending www.buildingblocksgoaltending.com

This guest post is by John Alexander of Alexander Goaltending in Moncton, NB. To learn more about working with John visit www.alexandergoaltending.com.

Manchester goalie Jonathan Bernier goes paddle-down against Springfield. Photo by Scott Slingsby

Although the common, “paddle down” position can be extremely effective tool for the goaltender, in many cases it is misused or used at inappropriate times. For the most part, what goaltenders fail to appreciate is that “paddle down” is, in fact, a position or a maneuver and not a “save movement.”

As such, to be truly effective, the goaltender should attempt to be in a “paddle down” position prior to the shot and not be moving into the position as the shot approaches. Otherwise, there is potential for the puck to go through the goaltender as he/she moves the paddle down to the ice surface or, to mishandle rebounds off the shot leaving them in a vulnerable position.

Because “paddle down” position exposes the top portion of the net more than any other, there are just a few situations where this position is effective. And, only where the play is tight to the net. However, as a bonus, “paddle down” does offer compactness and width of coverage

Generally “paddle down” will be most effective when:

a. there will be little or no time to respond or react to the impending shot or deflection

b. it will be impossible to “read” the trajectory of the shot

So, now, from the information above, we can determine that “paddle down” is best used in the following game situations:

1. scrambles or “scrums” which occur in close proximity to the crease

2. in-tight deflection situations

3. on certain point shots into near screens where there is absolutely no puck visibility.

In the case of the point shot with a near screen, I suggest “paddle down” as a last resort and strongly suggest it only be used when there will be absolutely no opportunity to find the puck through the screen. The alternate course of action here is to attempt to track the release of the puck and use a butterfly position to gain as much net coverage as possible.

One excellent example of effective “paddle down” usage in today’s game is in anticipation of a wraparound to the blocker side. Here, the goaltender will move laterally as the puck is carried behind the net, and, while integrating the blocker side leg to the post on that side, effectively sealing off low access to the net, he drops his blocker and stick outside the post and squares the stick to the puck release.

Finally, remember, the “paddle down” position restricts and slows mobility; use it wisely!

Editors Note:

I sent John a few questions as a follow up to this article – things that I have wondered personally or expect others might want to know. Here they are with his responses:

inGoal: What advantage does paddle-down offer over a standard butterfly which seems to have width, and with modern pads that easily close the 5-hole – a very good seal on the lower part of the net, while of course providing better coverage of the upper art of the net?

JA: The primary advantage is that pucks just don’t rebound as far off the paddle, as they do with the stick blade or pads. Basically, they stay within easy reach and coverage distance.

inGoal: You note “uncertain trajectory” but given how paddle down diminishes coverage of the upper half of the net, does this not make it effective only on very close in shots – say from within a few feet?

JA: Absolutely….paddle down is most effective when the point of release, the screen or deflection is very tight to the crease.

Kipper working his pre-game routines.

inGoal: It does seem effective on the wraparound – why select this position vs. the currently in vogue hybrid position of post leg up and non-post leg along the goal line?

JA: We don’t see the VH (vertical/horizontal) or leg up/leg down position on that side because it is simply too difficult to move into with any degree of speed on the blocker side and speed is of the essence on an accelerated wraparound.  Most times, the blocker and stick get in the way.  In fact, I now see, few goaltenders use it at all on the blocker side.   Even on the glove side, it is difficult to set up with good compact coverage.   That particular maneuver was never intended to be used for wraparounds.  Its primary purpose was to deal with attacks along/below the goal line from about 15’ and closer to the post.