Sabres Goalie Ryan Miller.6'2" (corrected) 174 pounds. The NHL leader in GAA has been the top netminder in the league this year. Photo Courtesy of Mike Lynaugh, All Rights Reserved.

“What has been the most significant development in goaltending in the past decade?”

Rather than compile a best goalie of the decade (too obvious), or best performances of the decade (too subjective), I wanted to look a bit deeper into goaltending between the 1999-2000 season and today and ask – what has been the most significant development? To add some expertise and interest I reached out to a number of professionals for their opinion on this quesiton. From sportswriters, to coaches, a professional goalie and an Olympic gold medallist we have a number of interesting people in today’s article who responded to what I called it the one question interview.

The answers that our experts have provided are vaired, but all centre around the continued refinement of the position. Patrick Roy and Francois Allaire began the now almost universal move to the butterly in the late 80’s and early 90’s but the first half of the 2000’s has seen the position become highly technical, with refined movements by increasingly large athletes. They are all aided by professional year-round coaching and access to technology. If the 90’s made the butterfly ubiquitous amongst goaltenders, this past decade has been about perfecting it.

Thank you to all the experts who offered an answer to our question – enjoy their responses. When you’re done, please add your two cents in the comments – do you agree? disagree? What will the next ten years bring us?

Naturally, I couldn’t resist adding my own thoughts at the end – I looked at some numbers and found one thing none of our experts mentioned – and for me is was a complete surprise.

Sudashan “Sudsie” Maharaj – New York Islanders Goaltending Consultant

To me the most significant development in goaltending in the past ten years is the focus on skating/movement. Goaltenders now are so nimble on their skates and able to position themselves with such great effectiveness that they are able to execute their various save techniques with greater consistency. The trend towards an almost minimalist approach to movement within the crease and during save execution has made for a very economical and simpler style of net minding.

Sami Jo Small – Three Time Olympian

The most significant development in female goaltending has been the increase in the amount of girls playing the game. When the first world championship was hosted in Canada in 1990 there were only 8000 registered females playing hockey, now there are nearly 90,000. That has huge impact on the game and the skill development not only of the players, but of the goaltenders as well. So many more girls are playing now which means more goaltenders and hence creates better competition, better coaching and more opportunities for girls to pursue their dreams.

www.samijosmall.ca www.cwhl.ca

Twitter: @SamiJoSmall

Damien Cox – Reporter, The Toronto Star and TSN (and proud goalie-dad)

Having a son who is a goalie, I know a little about this. My guess would be – and its always equipment related – that the development of pads specifically for the the butterfly style has made it easier for modern-day practioners than it ever was for Patrick Roy. The way the pads are built now provides a padded “landing area” for the knees when a goalie goes down, and the pads are built so as to naturally rotate to form a vertical “wall” effect. It sounds like a little thing, but it has helped goalies close the five-hole even with the abolition of knee boards, and stopped the pads from being angled on the ice, thereby giving the shooter less to shoot at.

In short, before, goalies had to work with equipment designed for one style of goaltending to make it work for the butterfly. Now, even the youngest kids can use butterfly-ready gear.

TheStar.ca or Damien’s Blog The Spin on Sports

Twitter: @DamoSpin

Mike McKenna – NHL / AHL Goaltender (Lowell Devils)

The biggest change has been the influx of quality, goaltending-specific coaching at nearly every level played.  Growing up, goaltending camps existed, but most occurred during the summer and were only a week or two long.  Today, kids are getting quality coaching through private instruction from the time they first strap on the pads.  In addition, nearly every high-level hockey club has a dedicated goalie coach nowadays.  From Junior A to the NHL, teams have finally figured out that goalies need just as much -if not more- detailed instruction in order to find success.

All of this has occurred in the past 5-10 years.  During juniors, college, and my first two years pro in the ECHL, I never had a goalie coach to work with during the season.  My development was directly related to my own study of the position and the occasional week with Mitch Korn or Chris Economou during the summer.  This forced me to develop my own drills and philosophies.

Today’s youth are lucky.  They have a world of resources at their disposal as the field of coaching continues to expand.  More and more ex-goalies are opening up schools and the benefits are obvious.  The only downfall is that we are all starting to play extremely similar and the individuality of the game is rapidly disappearing.  10 years from now you won’t see anyone playing like Marty Brodeur or Tim Thomas.  The development of the butterfly and associated movements has proven too effective for goaltenders (and their coaches) to ignore it.

Twitter: @MikeMcKenna56

Check out Mike’s coach Chris Economou on YouTube

Steve McKichan – Future Pro Goalie School, Former NHL Goaltender and Coach

In the last decade, we have seen goalies excel to levels never seen in the game’s history. In fact the goalies have been so good the NHL has been forced to attempt to mitigate their success by shrinking the gear and legislating more scoring chances.

They have failed to extinguish the quenchless quest to push the goaltending art. Even with the new changes goaltending continues to frustrate the shooters and will likely do so going forward.

One of the greatest innovations that goes hand and hand with this improvement, has been the invention of the “pro-fly” pads.

This pad design allows even mediocre goalies to get their pads vertical in the butterfly and allows them to have a flare width increase because of the knee lifts.

Future Pro Goalie School

Pasco Valana Professional Goaltending Coach & Chief of Athlete Services for Olympic Ice Hockey 2010

The 2 most significant developments in goaltending in the past 10 years have been:

1. Individual Customization for Goaltenders: high performance goaltenders right through to the professional ranks have changed their focus to work exclusively with strategic goaltending specialists to elevate their game and master consistency. Positional Adjustments, Defensive Zone Dissection, Timing Mechanisms and Mental Training Techniques have been the secret ingredients to top level goaltenders around the world. Not to be mistaken with generic one on one training,  but specialists who are fluent in all goaltending languages who take the best elements of each style for the client and design a process that breeds consistency.
2. Use of Video: The movement from VHS, to DVD, to On-line live Video Coaching has gained significant ground over the past decade. Having the ability to review video immediately after the game or practices with an athlete increases development, adjusts skills, improves strategies and makes immediate improvements in their overall game. Other benefits are increased preparation, reduction in “mental noise”, and increased consistency.

www.elitesportsmanagement.ca www.elitegoalies.com

Twitter: @goaliecoach

Risto Pakarinen Writer, The Hockey News

I think the most signifcant development is actually the same as with the skaters. The goalies are so much bigger than before, and so much more athletic that they can move faster, and do things goalies of the past couldn’t even dream of. And let’s not even get into a debate about the size of the equipment.

Visit Risto’s Web Site

Twitter: @finnjewel

Joe Messina – Bandits Goaltending School Head Instructor

Over the past decade, goaltending has evolved due to the emphases on positioning and refining technique. Goaltenders have developed a more simplified style of game play.  Whether it’s aggressive lateral movement, patience in the white ice or making controlled saves, goaltenders have become more athletic and have a better ability to read and react to plays. The overall goaltender as an athlete has become much quicker, stronger and educated, making them a greater threat to opposing players in the start of this new decade!

www.banditsgoaltending.com

Twitter: @banditsgoalie

David Hutchison – inGoal Magazine Editor

The New Wave: Bruins Rookie Goalie Tuukka Rask is 6'3" 169 pounds. He leads the NHL in save % and GAA. In 1999-2000 there was only one Finnish goalie in the NHL Today, Rask can't even make the Finnish Olympic Team. Photo by Scott Slingsby.

After reading all the contributions that were submitted by our experts and being a bit of a numbers guy, I wanted to look at some stats. To say what was the most significant development in the past decade, I needed to see for myself what had changed.

Look back to the NHL goaltending statistics in 1999-2000 and you might say that nothing has changed. Martin Brodeur led the league with 43 wins and as I write this he sits atop the league again. The league leader in GAA was Rookie Brian Boucher at 1.91 – today it is Rookie Tuuka Rask at 1.92.

But of course much has changed. In 1999-2000 the league leaders in save % were Belfour/Theodore/Hasek at 0.919. Ten years ago that was a great number – today it’ll only put you 20th in the league, well behind leaders Rask and Miller at 0.934.

It’s a very rough look obviously but either the shooters are taking more low percentage shots or the goaltending is better today- and yes, the equipment shrunk somewhere along the way as well.

Lots of great goalies were there – the man credited with popularizing the butterfly (Roy), Theodore was strong technically and only a few years from his Vezina win but as many of our experts have suggested there were not nearly the number of polished technicians that you see today.

It’s not just about the technique though. Look at the names: Vanbiesbrouck, Rhodes, Healy, Vernon, Braithwaite. More smaller guys than we see now. Many Legace is taller than all of them! The numbers confirm it. In 1999-2000 the average NHL goalie was 6 feet tall and 192 pounds. Today they average 6′3″ and 196 pounds. 75% of them are taller than the average goalie in 1999-2000. Goaltenders are taller today and leaner (2.654 pounds per inch 10 years ago, 2.600 today – a 2% difference). Our experts said it – they are bigger and it would seem, more athletic.

For me the real shocker – and it has to be the most significant development – was the arrival of the European goalies. I would have assumed in such a small window of time the demographic makeup of the league would be the same, but not at all.

Ten years ago 71% of NL goalies were Canadian and 14% American. Only one Finn, one Swede, and one Russian! I have the names – maybe we’ll make it a trivia question and you can answer in the comments – who were they?

Today we sit at 49% Canadian, still 14% American, but 7 Finns have played this year, 5 Swedes, 4 Czechs and 3 Russians. Those aren’t just any European goalies either – they are amongst the elite in the league. Kipper, Nabby, Rask, King Henrik, Backstrom. They have arrived bigger than before (every Finnish goalie in the NHL today, for example, is taller than the NHL average goalie in 1999-2000), and they are technically sound thanks to highly structured and professional coaching. Yes, in Canada coaching has come a very long way but as Steve McKichan once mentioned to me, the Finns have a national curriculum for goaltending. Add to that the comment of their national junior coach that every young Finn wants to be a goalie and we can see what a powerful influence they, and their European bretheren have been on goaltending.

What do you think?

We’d love to hear your opinions – just hit the comment link and add to the conversation. Did we get it right? What did we miss? What will the landscape look like in 2020?

The breakaway is one of the most exciting plays in hockey but can be the most stressful on both the player and the goaltender. This lesson is designed to provide a confident strategy to goaltenders and a strong teaching tool for all coaches.
First of all, it is absolutely crucial that in all lessons that I share here that you focus on the “zones” which act as entrance ways or lanes to the net. Each of these lanes leads to an opening in the net called “net-space.” The goal of the player is to increase or create additional net-space by attacking the vertical angle (ice to crossbar) or horizontal angle (post to post).

Stage One

The player has received the puck and has begun an in-line attack in a selected zone. For simplicity, full value and appreciation for the successful breakaway theory we will use Zone 3 as the identified lane.
The player will likely have the puck in front of their body and making their way to the net. In most cases they will save their lateral movement until they have reached the decision point in fear that the opposition players in pursuit will catch up to them (the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line).

The goaltender should attack to Zone 3 positioning and use micro-moves (small lateral shuffles) to ensure that:

• the puck is directly between their skates
• in-line with their head
• between their gloves
• on their navel
• between the knees and
• in-line with their goalie stick

Stage Two

The goaltender should learn to “capture the shooter’s rhythm.” This technique is designed to eliminate the guesswork from the goaltender’s game by literally stick handling with the same rhythm that the player uses on you, only the shooter’s motions are a lot bigger and much more noticeable. While a player stickhandles, the goaltender uses only their blocker-side wrist in small movements (wrist rotation) to open and close their blade ever so slightly. This is completed all the way through to the shot execution.

Stage Three

The goaltender will wait for the player to reach the hash-mark closest to the goaltender and begin backing up at the exact same speed as the player. If the goaltender begins backing up sooner than that the net-space will open up and the player will shoot to the open corners. This is extremely important to remember as the highest scoring area on the ice begins at the hash-marks to three-feet closer to the crease. If the goaltender’s skates are in the blue paint at that stage, he is in trouble.

Stage Four

If you have played this correctly, the player will have made a decision to move to your left or right side. This move alone rapidly reduces the player’s opportunity to score because of the shrinking net-space. When the player makes their move, explode to the side that the player goes to and position yourself in a solid body blocking butterfly. Be sure to use your body to block the puck versus attempting to make a reactionary save.

Stage Five

The Post Save Recovery

After the save is made it is important to either cover the rebound, or recover from the attack back into a position of defending the net. Defending the net in a breakaway situation requires you to focus on the puck, position yourself for success and force the shooter to make decisions that place them in the worst situations to score.

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

Today we are excited to introduce you to Professional Goalie Coach Pasco Valana of Elite Sports Management who has offered to put together a few technique pieces as a contributor to inGoal Magazine. Pasco will also be serving as Chief of Athlete Services for Hockey at the 2010 Olympic Winder Games in Vancouver – so we’ll also look forward to an interesting perspective on the games in a few months. Welcome to the team Pasco!

Pasco Valana, is a professional goaltending coach and consultant based in Vancouver Canada. He started coaching goaltenders in 1994 and in the process developed 41 NCAA scholarship goaltenders, 3 Hobey Baker Finalists,  2 National team members and 10 NHL draft choices. In 2009, Pasco’s clients won national championships at the Junior A Level, NCAA and Professional levels.  Pasco has joined forces with Dallas Stars goaltending coach Mike Valley in the development of Elite Goalies Canada, a Professional Development Camp designed to bring professional services to amateur athletes.

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

Professional Positioning Strategies

Think of your body divided into 4 main sections, 2 in the top and 2 on the bottom. The lines below represent the 4 main areas as described in this article.

The goaltender should have strong Visual Attachment on the puck, locked on to every movement that it makes. The puck should be directly in line with your head, evenly between your gloves and your stick and small Micro Moves should be used to maintain
squareness to the puck.

On the shot, the goalie should immediately recognize the angle that the puck is traveling otherwise known as the Puck Trajectory. This movement will enable the goaltender to react to its Vertical or Horizontal Angles.

It is important for the goaltender to not only become proficient in using the glove, blocker, glove and stick, but include your main body frame as well. The goaltender will use the Point of Decision Making to position his/her body to eliminate the shot.

Key Points to Remember

• The Vertical Angle is located slightly above the waist of most goaltenders where the gloves are to be in position. On the shot, release the position of the player’s stick at the point of impact will begin to show how and when the puck will rise.
• The same goes with the Horizontal Angle.
• Gloves should always be in front of the goaltender’s body in the peripheral range of vision. This is one of the single biggest mistakes that goaltenders make causing massive problems with balance, puck and rebound control, squareness, and positioning.
• The Gloves represent the high posts and elbow of the net. Each skate represents either Horizontal Posts.
• As the goalie begins to cut down the angle, the Net Space reduces and the shot eliminations become very economical.

• It is very important to remember that each of the 5 Zones create lanes to your net, and drastically affect the Net Space.
• The shapes range from Narrow and Tall in Zone 1, Wider and Tall in Zone 2, and Wider and Shorter in Zone 3
• The red blocks to the right of the ice surface document displays the shapes of the Netspace when the puck is occupying the assigned area.

• Your body should be positioned to cover the appropriate net space. In order to ensure that you gain and maintain proper net space coverage here are some general skate positioning areas (please keep in mind, customization may be required):

Zone 1 Toes of your skates, Zone 2 Heals on edge of crease, Zone 3, 1 Stick Blade Length on top of the crease.

If these guidelines are followed and become apart of the subconscious mind of the goaltender employing these tactics, increased save percentage and consistency will be the reward.

YAAAHHOO! Man, is this fun or what? (thanks to rubyswoon for the image)

Since the playoffs began, Pittsburgh Penguins’ goalie Marc Andre Fleury has had no shortage of opportunities to display his Cirque du Soleil acrobatics against the likes of Richards and Carter, Ovechkin and Semin, Staal and Jokinen. However, what few of us ever see, or hear, are the screams and cheers that follow the saves. Not the ones from the fans; rather the ones from Fleury himself! Under that bizarre mask (apparently it’s a venus fly trap, not what looks like a slimy jellyfish on the side), the Pens’ star is known as one who likes to let loose when he flashes the leather against an enemy shooter.

Even before Alex Ovechkin took to flying through the air and body checking the glass after a goal, Gretzky already had his ballerinesque routine (running on tip-toes into the arms of an ecstatic Messier or Kurri) and Mike Foligno had perfected “the dance” (throwing his gloves in the air and jumping repeatedly as high as he could, knees raised and arms flapping like a mad albatross). If high emotion is in fact the lifeblood of the sport, why then have we almost no record of goalies performing some celebratory act after a heart-stopping, game changing save?

Granted, there is one famous black and white clip of Jacques Plante, whipping off his mask and thrusting it proudly skyward (perhaps in vindication to the bewildered home fans and still skeptical coach Toe Blake). The interim 50 years, however, show the prevailing image to be one of a stoic, expressionless, «never-let-em-see-you-sweat» kinda guy whose job is to stop the puck but never betray that a hockey game is anything less than 60 minutes of purgatory before the final buzzer.

Frank « Ulcers » McCool drank a quart of milk before games, and even then was known to return to the dressing room in the middle of a period to calm his quaking innards. Glenn Hall made a career of secretly throwing up before his games. Ken Dryden’s defining pose of leaning on his goalie stick, arms crossed in a show of indifference, stands out as one of the classic hallmarks of the dreary trade. Even today our goalie archetypes are emotional flatliners, with names like « the Bulin Wall » and « the Dominator » (à la « the Terminator », a passionless and monosyllabic icon if ever there was).

Fleury, on the other hand, is nothing like these sticks-in-the-mud. In a recent interview he talks about his habit of getting loud and proud when making a big save, something he has been called on to perform profusely since the playoffs began. « I’ve had this habit for a long time », he explains. « I’ve always liked having fun when I make a nice save. It’s fun for me and anyways, when a player scores he isn’t shy about yelling, so I am just doing the same ».

I had the opportunity to meet Fleury at a private practice in his hometown Sorel before the 2007-08 season. An empty hockey arena in balmy late August might seem like the last place to have any fun, but even in that sedate setting, Fleury displayed an amazing intensity and eagerness, all the while a grin fixed on his boyish face. One has to wonder whether 30 minutes of butterfly pushes and 30 more of 3 vs. 0 rebound drills could be considered fun, but whatever the case, the Pens goalie was a whirling dervish, sliding, pushing, diving and cussing like it was the 7th game of the Stanley Cup finals. And this was in August, go figure. After the practice he was relaxed and open to chatting with me, the star-struck garage league 40-something goalie who could hardly get a sentence straight without babbling, in awe of this young man who exuded so much grace, poise and charm.

The point is, with all of the money and hype that surrounds and even chokes the sport of hockey, it was gratifying to see someone at the highest level still firmly attached to the real reason to play the game. Just because it’s fun. Fleury has been known to be a rather « aw shucks » type of guy in an interview. My own experience suggests that maybe this is not a disguise, but rather a hint at what really makes the athlete tick. He thrives on the game and simply happens to have the talent to get paid for what he has loved all along.

If Fleury can make a death defying circus grab on Ovechkin’s baddest breakaway shot, then come away laughing and screaming « that was fun ! », perhaps we can all take note : forget the money, the pressure we put on our kids, the need for titles and trophies. Just play the game and enjoy. However, if you do bust a move making that save, feel free to let out a whoop…

Today we post the first of what we hope will be several articles by former Leafs goalie coach Steve McKichan. Steve brings years of experience coaching goalies at all levels to inGoal Magazine. 

For more about Steve and his coaching please visit his site futurepro.com and have a listen to our interview with Steve.

Short Handed Save %

A goaltender with a save percentage over .900 while shorthanded is money in the bank. Power play goals are such a strong predictor of winning in the NHL that how the tender does in this situation is vital. If a team earns two power play goals in any NHL game they overwhelming end up with a win. So the true worth of a goaltender is revealed while shorthanded.

Bounce Back Win percentage

Every goalie gets pulled or has a poor outing. That is not the issue for me. The true issue is the winning percentage a goalie has the NEXT game after they lay an egg. The best goaltenders with the highest degree of mental toughness will win an inordinately high percentage of their bounce back games. Over his career you could bet your house on Ed Belfour’s bounce back win percentage.

Puck Handling Efficiency (PHE%) 

Every time a goaltender touches a puck in a puck handling environement one of two things happen:

A) his team maintains puck possession
or
B) they don’t

As an NHL Goaltending Coach, I tracked this area in a meticulous way. At the the conclusion of every game I knew the PHE % for both goalies. Over the years I worked with Eddie his PHE% averaged 94%!

editors note: Steve told me that as of 05-06 Turco was 84%, Brodeur 82%, luongo 78%

Why is this so important?

NEWS FLASH The other team can’t score if your team has the puck…

Don’t get preoccupied with the obvious everyday goalie stats. If you want to get a better sense of your worth try to chart these three stats.

photos thanks to Graham Freeman, Paul Hoch, Clydorama

Why does nobody copy Brodeur’s technique?

There is a very good article by Damien Cox in the Toronto Star this morning on Brodeurs’s style. Damien is well worth listening too as he literally wrote the book on Brodeur. His “Beyond the Crease” is a great read on Marty’s career – although it will need a chapter or two added soon!

Cox’s publisher has arranged for us to do an interview with him soon. I am just awaiting final arrangements from Mr. Cox.

From today’s article:

“It is a question that should perplex the hockey industry.

Given that Patrick Roy is given credit for spawning a generation – perhaps two – of butterfly goaltenders who try to play the game just as he did, why has no one tried to copy Martin Brodeur?”

read the full article here.

Don Cherry also brought this up on the weekend, in his own unique way, also wondering why not all goalies wear tiny pads as well.

I’m not sure that this perplexes me at all, really. I would think that we don’t teach the Brodeur style for the very same reason that nobody teaches the Hasek style. How do you teach unpredictability and improvisation? Teachers go for the most basic approach that helps the most students. That a few people have mastered the position using a different approach does not mean that we should all adopt a new way of doing things. Study them, yes. Learn pieces of what they do, of course. But a wholesale adoption of the Brodeur way would not necessarily be in order.

What do you think?

Guest post by Nik Vassilev

Do you fully understand the game of hockey? If you answered yes, then I think that you couldn’t be further from the truth. Hockey is a game that is forever changing and evolving into something new, therefore how can you completely understand it all? The problem is that many goalies seem to have this attitude towards hockey and seem to spend absolutely no time studying the game. Can you imagine going to school and listening to what the teacher saying, but once he hands out the homework not actually doing it? That is what is happening: goalies go to a goalie coach, he gives them some advice and they either accept it without much thought or they change it for the rest of the session and then forget about it all together. Without doing some homework from school, can you truly expect to get good grades and likewise with hockey, can you expect to elevate your game just by seeing a goalie coach and not using your own brain to develop your style/game?

Goalie coaches are like the equipment you use: you decide what/ who you are going to go with, but in the end you are the one that controls what you do with that. You could go to the wisest goalie coach in the world and he can give you the best advice in the world, but unless you understand why you are doing what he instructs you to do: you won’t be nearly as effective. Asking questions is always a good idea and if your goalie coach tells you to do something differently, but you don’t understand why, then ask him “why?” You’ll be surprised that the good goalie coaches that actually care about their students will take the time to explain to you why they are teaching you what they are teaching, meanwhile the “hero” (bad) goalie coaches will either say “because I said so” or will tell you that they train some pro and that’s how they do it. When learning about goaltending (which we are all doing) you should keep an open mind and if you ever don’t understand something speak up, you will be surprised to see that goalie coaches are just as open to doing something differently as you hopefully are.

One of the easiest ways to learn about goaltending is simply turn on an NHL game, take a pen and paper and write down some notes on what the goalies did when they made a save and what cost them goals. There is a reason why they are in the top professional league in the world; even the worst of NHL goalies have some good habits which have lead them into the NHL. Even if you spend a period a week watching NHL hockey and taking some notes, you’d be surprised with the amount of knowledge you’d compound in a month. The very best NHL goalies spend hours studying film of themselves and writing notes about what they could improve and these guys are at the TOP! The very least you could do is write down some good and bad things they do in the span of a period. You will never know absolutely everything about goaltending, but if you continually strive to learn more and more you will get vastly improve your game.

Another way that you can really learn about goaltending is if you have the means, go out, get a camera and film yourself during games and practices. You may believe that you are in fact doing something one way when you clearly are doing it very differently from what you previously thought. Most of the ways that I have listed above can cost you money, but if you are looking for something free, I would suggest going and looking at online forums (you would be surprised the amount of high caliber goalie/goalie coaches that post on there). Also if you are ever at an arena where a private lesson is going on, then just sit down and watch what the goalie coach says to the student as this is another free way to pickup some knowledge. The knowledge is out there for you to take in; all you have to do is seek it!

Many goalies and their parents believe that if they are having success that they should be loyal to that goalie coach and not attend any other goalie coaches or schools, while this is true to some extent, it stunts the goaltenders growth. The problem with sticking with the same goalie coach is that you will encounter the same drills and same philosophy again and again. However attending a new goalie school can help mix things up as the goalie will see new drills and that goalie coach will see things from a new angle. I’m not saying up and leave your goalie coach, but mixing it up and trying to be a sponge and gain knowledge from different sources is a great thing! I have spent over 30 hours with 4 different goalie coaches and I can truly say that it has made me a better goaltender simply due to the fact that I was being shown the game from different perspectives and doing different drills.

There is an infinite amount of ways to learn about goaltending and this article is just the tip of the iceberg. If you spend time reading about goalies, taking notes, watching game footage, asking questions on ice, watching NHL goalies and training with different goalie coaches I will guarantee that you will see a better performance. The game will continue to change and evolve and it is your responsibility to keep up with it and know the current trends. Thinking that training on ice and not spending any time studying the game is foolish and will only downgrade your game, however if you truly work hard on ice and do some work off ice, you will see that the results will get better and better!

Thanks to McGuire Goaltending for the great pictures!

Guest Post by Nik Vassilev

As I stated in my previous article, in today’s game a good butterfly slide is a great tool when used correctly. Therefore it is very important that your mechanics in the butterfly slide are very good in order to make your saves easier. Most people today believe that in your butterfly slide, your gloves should be right on top of your pad, and while this is true for some situations, it can lead to goals which would otherwise be easy saves. If you wind up in a situation where you slid, when maybe you should’ve T-Pushed or shuffled over and the player has lots of time to shoot, it is important to lift your glove off your pad in a ready to catch position. Every goalie makes mistakes, but it is the ability to recover from them that separates the average from the good.

The closer in the play/situation, the tighter you want to be. If there is a player at the top of your crease, he shoots it and it goes in between your elbows, then in my books that’s a bad goal. In situations such as this you want to make yourself as big as possible by keeping your gloves close to your body and your elbows tucked in. The chart should be a guideline of where the player is and if he is in there, you want to get as tight and big as possible. You never want a puck to go through you and this applies even more the closer the play is to you, as most good shooters will realize there isn’t a lot of room and this try to shoot five hole or through your elbows. The problem with being so tight is that if the player has a good amount of time to shoot and a decent shot they will put it right over your glove or blocker with a fair amount of ease.

Although I just said to keep your arms in tight, this isn’t the golden rule for all situations where you choose to go into a butterfly slide. In a situation where the shooter is outside of the previous chart and has time to shoot, it would be most effective to slightly raise your glove or blocker (depending which way you are going) about 5-10 inches depending where the player is (the closer in the lower). The reason you want to do this is because you are now in a ready to catch position and if you are playing in a high level league the players will be trying to pick top shelf. Also in your previous position (glove on top of pad), if the puck is going top shelf you will have to raise your glove another 10 to 20 inches, but if it is already raised then you will only have to get it to cover a little bit more area. The key is to find the perfect amount that works best for you and it will make a great difference. It might sound like it won’t make much of a difference, but goaltending is a game of inches and these few inches will help elevate your game.

You might be asking yourself, who is this guy to tell me how to butterfly slide? Well I speak from experience as I used to butterfly slide everywhere in a tight butterfly slide, however recently one of my goalie coaches (Jamie McGuire) taught me to get my gloves off my pad and it has made all the difference. I train with him twice a week (shooters are AAA, College Players) and if I ever have abused a butterfly slide with my gloves up, the results were much better due to the ability to seal the lower part of the net with my pads and the upper with my gloves, thus leaving the shooter with a difficult shot. The timing to both techniques (gloves tight or up and out) is very key to making them work at their most effective level. The best way to make sure that this works almost every time is to locate the puck right away as it is coming off the blade, watch it all the way in!

I love to write these articles, but they are only meant as a guideline or just to give you an idea. I am in no way trying to create a system because in the end it is all about just stopping the puck. This article will hopefully make your butterfly slide saves much easier and more effective. I love to talk goaltending and if you have any comments or suggestion, I’d love to hear them. Hopefully this is some food for thought and will create some discussion with you and your goalie buddies. I will attempt to write these every week, so keep checking the site and thanks for reading!

Examples of Proper Use of Technique

Basically this whole video is an example of if you keep your gloves up in a butterfly slide on a shot from some length away it will make the save much easier.

Improper Use of Technique

0:25 First goal was directly because Conklin didn’t get tight on the shot from in close.
2:30 Conklin has his glove right on his pad, even though the shot is from well out.

Thanks to Performance Goaltending for the awesome videos! Also thanks to Jamie McGuire for the great pictures! Finally thanks to sabesweetie71!

I would like to introduce you today to Nik Vassilev, a junior goaltender from Toronto. Nik sent me a note asking if he could write a few articles to be published on the site. Of course I was happy to have him (and any of you!) contribute. When Nik sent me a draft with an article on technique I was pleased to see it, but warned that any technique articles are sure to create a good deal of debate – everyone has an opinion! But that is also exactly what I hope happens. A Blog is so much better if the readers interact in the comments section.

So, here is Nik’s first article. I’m sure he would love to hear from you. Please click the link at the bottom of the article to add your comments. Do you agree? Do you disagree? All opinions are valid.

Overuse of the Butterfly Slide

by Nik Vassilev

In today’s game the butterfly slide is a great tool and when used correctly and it can lead to momentum turning saves, however a new trend is emerging. The trend that is causing unnecessary goals and very bad habits: The overuse of the butterfly slide. Most goalies are beginning to think that the butterfly slide is an effective way of moving around the net to get to almost anywhere, I’ve even seen goaltenders butterfly slide from a pass from the hash marks back to the point. This isn’t the way it used to be and arguably the greatest goaltender to ever play Martin Brodeur hardly executes this move. There is a teaching that states to stay on your feet as long as you possibly can before committing yourself, unfortunately in many cases today’s goalies are being taught to go into butterfly slides almost to the point that they are eliminating T-Pushes and Shuffles.

My main concern with it is that it seems this generation’s goalies today use it to get to everywhere and anywhere. Today I was doing a private lesson with one of my goalie coaches and we had a drill that was T Push to top of left side of crease parallel to the player (player is standing at circle dot), as he makes the pass you are suppose to T Push to the other player (standing at other circle dot), however this goalie (95 birth year) was simply butterfly sliding. The problem with this is: any decent shooter will put the puck over your shoulders for an extremely easy goal. If the shooter ever has that much time to think and shoot and see’s you go into a butterfly slide you are essentially done. It’s like playing poker and revealing one of your cards, you are giving the other players an edge and by going into a butterfly slide early you are doing the same by revealing the top part of the net too early. Knowing when and where to go into a Butterfly Slide relative to the shooter is a necessity to a good game.

This article might sound like I’m against the butterfly slide and that T-Pushes and Shuffles should be used instead, but that isn’t the case at all. There are many NHL goalies that use the Butterfly Slide just about every game with great success (Fleury, Price and Lundqvist just to name a few). I think that when executed properly a Butterfly Slide is extremely effective. That is why I have developed a system of an appropriate area of where the shooter is when a Butterfly Slide should be utilized. Of course this is in no way meant to dictate how or when you should go into a butterfly slide, just an area of where the shooter is that I feel the Butterfly slide would be a good choice. I think that if the shooter is outside of that area you are making the save a lot harder on yourself. Goaltending is a game of decisions and hopefully this chart will make your butterfly slide decisions a little bit easier.

I’ll give you 2 examples of where a butterfly slide has cost a goal

Shot is blocked, goaltender goes into a butterfly slide when he should’ve got up and ends up killing all his glove side lateral momentum.

:20 in Roloson executes a Butterfly Slide that ends up putting his team behind 10 seconds into the game. They end up getting spanked 10-2

Here are 3 examples of properly executed Butterfly Slides

 1:50 Unreal save by Fleury, very well timed and great explosion into the butterfly Slide

2:48 Ty Conklin makes a great read and stays right with it.
3:41 Thomas with some great speed and snares it out of the air.

The key to deciding whether or not to butterfly slide is making a correct read in the speed/accuracy of the pass relative to where the shooter is standing. The examples show when and when not to go into a butterfly slide and this is decision making is imperative as you advance into higher and higher levels of play. The butterfly slide is a great tool for any goalie to have in his/her arsenal; however as you can see it is one when abused can lead to problematic situations. Hopefully this article has given you a guideline of how and when to properly execute a Butterfly Slide in order for you to use it when it is most effective. Thanks for reading and if you have any thoughts or comments please leave them on the bottom!

Thanks to NHLVideo and hockeyenforcer24 for their videos. Also thanks to McGuire goaltending for the first picture.

 

Carolina Goalie Coach Tom Barasso

There is a great story over at NHL.com today on NHL Goalie Coaches. They discuss the emergence of the role of goalie coach and their various responsibilities within the organization.

“We go over video every day, I make a report on the opponent’s goalie so I watch their film and I prepare my practice going 30 minutes before with my goalies, and sometimes after practice we do more or watch video,” said Allaire. “The responsibility is to give and teach the goaltender to play up to their level most of the time. For that, we have to provide advice and offer some quality information to the goalie to make sure he is getting close to his potential.”

I hope we’ll be albe to connect with a few for interviews here before too long. Especially with the older coaches who come from the stand-up era, I’d like to hear about their experiences from a technical point of view working with today’s butterfly goalies. I have no doubt they can do it, but it must have been an adjustment.