Winnipeg Jets Goaltender Chris Mason extends further, and faster, than he could otherwise by employing the “snow-angel” technique. Ken DeNardo photo

Benoit Allaire says, “If you focus on technique and your technique is perfect, you will have success.” I definitely believe in developing proper technique and I believe in the comment by Allaire; however, there are times when proper form is of little value and I just want the goaltender to battle and make the save regardless of how it is done. It is with this in mind that I wish to discuss the situation of an off-square rebound and the use of the “snow-angel” technique as a desperation save.

In a perfect world a goaltender would not create any rebounds subsequent to a shot. This is however not realistic and hence we teach our students how to both minimize and deal with these rebounds in the appropriate fashion. One common situation encountered is a point shot with net front traffic. In this situation a goaltender commonly assumes a butterfly position to prevent cheap goals along the ice in case visual attachment and tracking is impossible, or difficult at best. A shot is taken and a pad save is made often with the creation of a rebound to the side of the goalie. Depending on your team’s defensive strategy in front of the net, an opponent may be left unchecked with a great scoring opportunity off this rebound.

The ideal manner with which to address this situation (a post-save response) would involve several technical components including the following: (1) The goaltender would put his head-on-a-swivel to regain visual attachment to the puck immediately (2) A pivot of the shoulders, torso, hips and pads would place goaltender back on a square line of attack to the puck albeit off angle and (3) a dynamic butterfly slide (power slide) would be performed to get back on angle making a blocking type save in tight zone play possible. By doing all this, the goalie stays upright, which provides maximum vertical net coverage. It also allows him to stay in control and potentially battle with further scoring opportunities with a solid down game. This however is predicated on the fact that enough time is available for said goaltender to perform all the biomechanical elements prior to the release of the second shot by the opportunistic attacker at the side of the net!

Often criticized for employing the "snow-angel," Roberto Luongo has been taught, and practices, this technique to extend his backward reach along the ice in desperation situations. David Hutchison photo.

The ‘snow-angel’ is a reactionary desperation save when the goaltender decides there is insufficient time to perform the above noted sequence. The goaltender plays the odds of sealing the ice by dropping prone on the stomach and flaring the pads out as far as necessary, or as allowed based on flexibility and anatomical restrictions, and hopes that time and space limitations prevent anything more than a quick one-timer along the ice. If the snow-angel is performed to the goaltender’s trapper side the glove should be kept open, somewhat off the ice and out in front of the body. This sometimes allows the goaltender to make a great glove save which always becomes a highlight reel favourite! Although more difficult on the blocker side, the arm can be slightly raised with the posterior surface of the paddle facing outward and occasionally knocking down a low shot. It is true that choosing the “snow-angel” save basically leaves the goaltender down and out for further play (something I have always referred to as the “floppy fish” position) but you can only ask so much of your goalie. Hopefully teammates arrive after the second save and knock the opponent down hard.

Danny Taylor of the Abbottsford Heat taught a simple drill to me a couple of years ago for this situation. Ask the goaltender to assume a butterfly position in the middle of the blue paint and slightly off centre to one side. Only one puck is required! Upon giving the command “go” the goalie drops into the prone snow-angel formation with as much flare as possible maintaining the pads flush with the ice. The instructor takes a quick shot along the ice a short distance from the goalie. The purpose is not to score but to practice the mechanics. Once proficient, the instructor may add a second shot to the drill. This could be either a chest or pad save from a shooter in front of the goalie following by the off-square shot mimicking the rebound. This should only be done when the goalie is comfortable with mechanics and technique in the initial basic drill.

In conclusion, being a technically sound goaltender is an important element in trying to succeed in ice hockey. There are however some goaltenders who rely too much on technique and become robotic in their movements. The only thing that matters is stopping the black projectile and sometimes you can throw technique out the window. The “snow-angel” is a reactionary desperation save. We have all seen it be used with success in elite play and it can work for you as well.

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Tim Thomas is one of the game's best skating goalies, but often remains on his knees when the play is behind the net. (Scott Slingsby photo)

Despite that, the Boston Bruins’ No.1 goaltender often stays on his knees when the play moves behind the net, an attack tactic that has increased since the lockout, and one most expect to see more and more of if the shape of the net is changed to create more room back there. Not only does Thomas typically stay down once the puck moves below the goal line, he often gets down as soon as the play moves down there, not waiting until it is brought to the net before he drops to his knees.

Just watch Thomas as this play moves back and forth behind the net against the Capitals in the first round:

Thomas was back on his knees to make this outstanding save later in the series, but this time it was originally in response to a wraparound. He then popped off that blocker side post with his pad to deny the ensuing opportunity in the slot:

Thomas isn’t the only NHL goalie going down early and staying there. Mike Smith uses a similar approach in Phoenix, though the much bigger Smith takes up most of the net from his knees, and pops back up more often if the play moves back across and out.

The philosophy is to simplify things when the play moves behind the net, and reduce the possibility of getting caught in the transition from up to down and vice versa. Former Ottawa Senators goalie coach Eli Wilson broke it all down in the April Edition of InGoal Magazine, explaining why his summer students like Thomas and Carey Price are often be seen playing on their knees longer than most other pros. Read the article and learn how to include this tactic in your game today.

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The 2012 Summer Camp edition of InGoal Magazine is here, with 84 pages designed to make you a better goaltender. (Click here to go straight to it).

There are too many highlights to list them, but each is designed to improve your game.

They include:

FEATURES

- Detroit All Star Jimmy Howard explains how parenthood helped his mental game.

- Dallas Stars goalie Richard Bachman’s drills to improve vision and puck tracking.

- Canadiens star Carey Price’s secret stick tweaking tips for better puck handling.

Equipment Reviews

- Bauer’s TotalONE changing game with pads that can adjust on the fly to your style.

- Warrior Ritual for Youth and Kids an impressive chip off the pro gear block.

- Reebok’s new P4 chest-and-arm provides mass-or-mobility alternatives.

INSTRUCTION

- Dallas Stars Goalie Coach Mike Valley on the importance of good visual habits are key.

- Rochester Americans Goalie Coach Bob Janosz simplifies the puck-playing process.

- Bandits Goalie School director Stan Matwijiw outlines positioning in one simple diagram.

- Former Senators goalie coach on staying down to simplify when attack moves behind net.

- Former Bruins goalie coach Brian Daccord offers 10 main keys to goaltending success.

- Maria Mountain of Revolution Conditioning helps prepare a proper summer training plan.

Be sure to check it out cover to cover and then come back and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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“Position is 9/10^th of the law. If you are in the right position they come to you.” – Chris Pronger

Fronting and net-side positioning are two different defensive tactics used by defensemen to support their goaltender in front of the crease. I will briefly discuss the merits of each technique. I believe this topic needs to be addressed between the head coach and goaltending coach so that everyone is on the same page.

Net side positioning example. David Hutchison photo.

Net-side positioning involves the defenseman being positioned between the goaltender and the opponent. The opponent is trying to establish himself for the purposes of a screen, deflection or different types of rebounds. The main benefit of net-side positioning is that your defenseman is in a position where he hopefully can move the attacker left, right or knock him down. He should also be able to prevent the attacker from moving in to the blue paint. These options should hopefully re-establish clearer shooting lanes through which the goalie may track the puck! Net-side positioning also should allow your defence to maintain most, if not all, threats within their field of vision. A disadvantage may be in worsening the degree of screen by your defenseman or allowing secondary scoring chances by not tying up the opponent’s stick.

Defensive Fronting. David Hutchison photo.

Fronting involves your defenseman establishing a position in front of the opponent. The principle advantage is to get out in the shooting lane and block the shot. It allows your defensemen to more quickly side-to-side and north – south to engage attackers in the slot or to the sides of the net. The disadvantage is that you are leaving an opponent unchecked right in front of the crease. If a rebound were to occur, then you are really not in a position to help your goaltender much.

I have no problem with fronting if your defensive zone approach is consistently to get in the shooting lanes and block shots or pressure the puck carrier; however, what I frequently see in minor hockey is fronting without complete commitment to closing down shooting lanes. If this does not occur, the goaltender is faced with the challenge of superb rebound control since the opponent is left unchecked for anything that comes off the chest or, more likely, the pads. I often see fronting with a shot getting through to the net with a resultant off-square rebound. The defenseman is often knocks the attacker into my goaltender since he can’t really grab him around the chest and pull him away from the crease. My goalie gets knocked down and is not in position to make another save, if necessary. Clearly no infraction will be called if our defenseman knocks an opponent into our goalie! If the fronting is too far from the blue paint, I also see opponents moving in down low to either side of the net with my defensemen not necessarily being aware of this; however, I would say it is incumbent on my goalie to verbal communicate this to a team-mate. The half effort to get into the shooting lane has also been mentioned repeatedly by Don Cherry on HNIC. If you are not going to block the shot then get out of the way!! Placing your stick in the shooting lane, or doing the flamingo, only leads to tips that make things worse for a goaltender that would otherwise have made a standard save.

Another thing to consider is using both techniques at different times based on your own personnel and that of your opponents (For example, if your have a 150 Lbs. 5’ 9” defenseman playing against a 200 Lbs. 6’2” forward, net-side positioning may quite likely not be effective due to gross differences in height and mass. This is likely an un-winnable battle and the defenseman may be more effective fronting, keeping his feet moving, closing lanes with his stick and having his head-on-a-swivel).

In conclusion, I generally prefer net-side positioning. Just remember to discuss both of these individual defensive tactics with you head coach and come to a consensus. Communication is vital and they both have their merits!

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Alex Auld. Scott Slingsby Photo.

InGoal Magazine cleaned out the tape recorder for this week’s Ask a Pro, going back to find previously un-transcribed conversations with Ottawa’s Alex Auld and Chicago’s Ray Emery, who both answered questions from readers earlier this season.

We’ll start with Auld, a veteran who has always been a true student of the position.

The Senators’ backup started with a question from InGoal reader Tony, who asked: We have middle school goalies who have trouble with shots from players who use the outside go-around the defenseman on an angle. Usually the goalies are just too deep and get scored on as the player beats the defenseman. The forward typically does not deke around the goalie because they see some net as they beat the defenseman, but it’s hard to tell from the bench. Do you have any tips?

Auld broke it down into three possibilities, depending on how deep in the zone the attacking player is before he gets around the defenseman, and whether or not his path to the net then became clean, or if there remained some defensive pressure in the middle.

The first was if the attacking player got cleanly around the defender down below the face-off circle, close to the goal line.

Alex Auld: “The biggest thing is if you play like a knee down on the post, if you play that style then you will have a spot on the ice that is kind of your release point, if you know what I mean – somewhere that if he gets into that area that is your play.”

Things change if the defenseman gets beat higher up the ice, but still maintains some pressure from the inside.

Alex Auld: “And if it’s higher up, you want to maintain good depth and I don’t think you want to back up too far, especially if the D is not beat clean you can play the fact the attacking player maybe can’t cut back into the middle, so use it to your advantage that the D can kind of cut him off from cutting back across the net and stay more aggressive.”

The last situation is when the defenseman is beat cleanly and the attacking player is around him from above the face-off dot.

Alex Auld. Scott Slingsby Photo.

Alex Auld: “Then I think you have to play it like it’s almost a mini breakway, you need some momentum backwards. It’s hard to put into words, it’s more a of a feel, but if he’s beat clean, you want some momentum back and maintain your patience.”

~ InGoal reader Larry Footlick asks: What is the best way that you have found to break in a goalie glove?

Alex Auld: “Just catch with it. It’s amazing guys at the pro level, how much time they spend catching pucks. My whole pro ceareer I love having guys line up top of the circle and just shoot pucks and just catch it and just track it with your eyes. And that gets you really comfortable with it and tracking the puck into it and catching it automatically in games and practices. The biggest thing is repetition. And for pro guys the best way to break in a glove is to not let it get too old, because then it’s not that different when you get a new one, but I know that’s not the reality for a lot of people. That’s probably why it’s so hard for them. Most people wear stuff so long it gets so comfortable and anything new feels so foreign to them. That’s a big thing, just the repetition and then it helps you in your game too just being able to catch pucks more regularly. I know some people tape them closed or whatever but I’ve never found I needed that. I just use it.”

~ InGoal reader Mike Chase asks: What part of the skate blade do you use for a butterfly push/slide?
(Editor’s note: Martin Biron recently said on twitter that he uses the heel of his skate)

Ray Emery: “The toe.”

Alex Auld: “I try to use my whole blade. The key is you want to have enogh mobility in your hips that you can get a good plant. I know with different guys if you don’t have enough flexion in your skate, if your blade doesn’t get planted deep enough, then it’s hard to get planted perpendicular to the way you want move, but that’s the biggest thing. To me it’s a T-push from down on your knees and I’d never T-push with my toe if I was just standing up. So I think you want to get as much of the blade down the ice as possible and try to repeat that. That’s not to say once in a while you are not just going to get your toe or heel or whatever, but if you want to go straight, get the rotation first and make a good hard, strong, straight push.”

~ InGoal reader Samuel Kalmkoff asks: I am goalie that plays Bantam AA Tier 1 in Regina, Saskatchewan and would like to ask what advice he would have for a young goalie who aspires to one day make it to the NHL?

Ray Emery. Ken DeNardo photo.

Ray Emery: “Make sure you enjoy the game. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. You go through different phases in your life, different aspects that can sometimes get to be like a job, but I’ve always enjoyed playing the game.”

~ InGoal reader Jaz Johnson asks: I’m in 6th grade. I’m a HUGE fan of the Blackhawks and I tend goal for 2 Rolling Meadows Renegades teams. This double teaming is hard, but my coaches think I’m good enough to play with both. So here is my question. I would like to know if your parents (when you were younger) threatened to take you out of hockey because of grades. This is happening to me and hockey is my life. They believe that I am involved with to many things. I play the flute, volleyball, and I’m going to try out for poms or basketball next year. Do you think this is a wise decision? Or should I quit Band so i can get more time for Hockey?

Ray Emery: “If I had any advice for a kid I wouldn’t play hockey year round and I definitely wouldn’t make it the only thing that I’m interested in. When it comes down to 16, 17, 18 year old kids, more often than not it’s the guy that it is still fresh for and exciting for that’s going to have that energy and that drive, rather than a kid who has been going to every goalie school and playing year round. That kid might be getting kind of sick of it and might want to see other things, but the kid that had a good variety of things in his life is going to have that extra drive to really dedicate himself when the time comes.”

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Whether its his gear or his game, Carey Price continues to evolve.

Carey Price’s season in Montreal may have ended prematurely with a recent concussion, but the Canadiens’ star is always looking to evolve.

Price talked about many of the changes in his game and gear during an excellent Ask a Pro with InGoal last, but there were a few extra tidbits saved for later. They include the unique modifications he makes to his stick in order to improve his puck handling, which will be featured in the upcoming April edition of InGoal Magazine, but they don’t end there.

In addition to taking a slightly more aggressive initial position outside the blue ice – something former Canadiens’ goaltending coach Roland Melanson was against – and putting a little backward flow back into his game, Price has subtly altered his glove positioning. As a result, it’s no longer considered a weakness by the many pointed critics of the Canadiens.

Price, who was quick to point to Melanson as the reason he looks so smooth moving around his crease, whether on his skates of his knees, resisted his former coach’s desire to raise his glove the way Roberto Luongo has under Melanson’s guidance this season. But Price has moved it forward in his stance, getting it out in front of his left pad, and noticed an improvement.

It makes sense when you consider the importance of visual attachment, and the fact Price often used the catch the puck behind the plane of his body, where it’s almost impossible to follow its path all the way into the glove.

Still, it’s not an easy change to make – just ask Luongo, who struggled mightily the first month after making it.

“It’s just so natural to have it wherever it lies, you really have to think about it,” Price said. “I’m pretty stubborn in my ways. I used to have it a lot back like that, so just having it forward a little bit allows you to free it up.”

Price even recalled a story about Jose Theodore having his glove held up by a bungee chord. He now uses a high glove position.

“I remember Rollie talking about working with Theo and he had to have a bungee chord around his arm so he’d hold it up,” Price said.

As hard as it can be to change, Price has noticed the benefits beyond improved puck tracking and vision.

“You can go into an elbow save from there too,” he said, demonstrating how much easier it is to get the elbow up when the glove is forward rather than tucked into the waist. “Ryan Miller is probably the best at that, using his elbows, he’s unbelievable at it.”

For a more detailed look at the benefits of forward gloves – and Luongo’s adjustment to it – including how it can actually also improve lateral mobility, check out the article from coach Sean Murray in the February issue of InGoal Magazine.

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Carey Price took the time to talk to InGoal about everything from equipment to movement drills during a recent visit. Scott Slingsby Photo

Carey Price was having a tough practice at the end of an admittedly frustrating season.

The Montreal Canadiens’ star stopper had already made kindling of two sticks across the top of his cross bar. So much for the notion Price doesn’t care enough.

As practice came to an end, however, Price was not among the first to bail for the locker room. Instead he sought out goaltending coach Pierre Groulx for some extra situation-specific work after practice. So much for the theories he doesn’t work hard enough.

Price even stuck it out after cutting one of his toe ties during the drill, stopping several times to try and get the loose lace tied back on at least enough to continue working.

As for what he was working on, a still-steaming Price dismissed the inquiring minds of the media scrum after a couple of pointed, poorly timed post-practice questions about the frustration of a lost season, but then graciously took 15 minutes for some one-on-one time with InGoal to go over the things he was working on, and take a handful of Ask a Pro questions from our readers.

It started with a review of his late-practice session with Groulx (InGoal has some video highlights below), which Price said was based on giving up a goal to Calgary captain Jarome Iginla earlier in the week (NHL.com video also below) on a bit of a broken play after a blocked shot left Price over-committed and unable to get across for a wraparound after Iginla cut behind the net.

So Price worked on his movements out of VH, or one-pad down, with Groulx.

“It’s the minor adjustments that are important, things you don’t really think about doing in a game but that’s why you practice, so you don’t have to think about it,” Price told InGoal after the extra session. “Like a small adjustment like that. I got beat from the side of the net by Iginla in Calgary so then you come back and go over the things you should have done correctly and try to drill it into you so you don’t have to think about it when it comes to game time.”

Here is the video of the goal:

… and here is the video from Price’s response while working with Groulx:

That’s also the perfect place to start this week’s Ask a Pro with Price, since his silky smooth crease movements, especially on the knees, was a favourite subject – along with questions about his new Reebok equipment – for the InGoal inquisitors:

~ InGoal reader David Alexander asks: Carey seems to be a guy who tends to get his body in front of pucks in tight, especially on rebounds. In particular he tends to make some tremendous saves on rebounds in tight, but makes them look so easy. Could he talk about what he does to get his body in front of so many pucks in tight as opposed to opening up in a desperation format. Obviously his power pushes are outstanding, but are there any other keys he uses. And Marc Bidder adds: Carey always seems so square to the puck and his angles are always on, without being too far outside the paint. What does he do to practice this and what can we do to improve our positioning/angles/anticipation?

Carey Price moves as smoothly and efficiently on his knees as anyone in the game (Kevin Woodley photo)

Carey Price: “I think that’s credited to Rollie (Melanson, the former Canadiens’ and current Canucks’ goalie coach) actually. My first four years, that’s all we did was movement drills, especially down. The move while I was down was always my strength and being able to cover the bottom of the net has been a strength since working with Rollie.”

~ InGoal follow up: are we seeing some more pop-up recoveries in the mix these days too?

Carey Price: “Yeah, I mix it up. I’ve been a lot more just reacting and I know Tim (Thomas) is a big believer in just doing whatever it takes, so I kind of mix it up more now.”

~ InGoal Facebook fan Cody Osborne asks: Any crease movement drills – mainly butterfly slides/recovery – you can recommend?

Carey Price: “Yeah, one of the movement drills we do a lot is start on the post and go out towards the far dot, squaring up to the far dot, and then back to the short-side post and back across. We do that one a lot, and then mix it up going to the short-side dot first and then back across to far post. Those are the basic warm up drills we do, just mimicking movements in the game.”

The precision and power of Price's in-crease movements and adjustments on the knees can be seen by the snow blowing off his left skate after sliding off the right post then squaring up and moving out to challenge a point shot here. (Kevin Woodley photo)

~ InGoal reader Scott Forbes asks: He always has such a calm and cool swagger when he plays. When things are not going well how does he maintain that swagger?

Carey Price: “I think it’s a bit of both experience and personality. It’s just about being confident and enjoying what you are doing. You get frustrated obviously at times, obviously, just from being a competitive person, and I think I just have a blend of competitiveness and cockiness and attitude I guess.”

~ InGoal Facebook fan Tristan Helik asks: Playing as a goaltender is all about focus. Is it difficult to focus and play in a city like Montreal? How does he react to the pressure? Jason Wakeley adds: When a lot of people wrote you off as a starter what did you do to prepare yourself mentally to overcome that obstacle? And InGoal wonders about the frustration of hearing how calm and composed he looks when the Canadiens are winning, but that it is interpreted as being too casual or not trying when they are losing?

Carey Price: “I’ve learned not to listen. You grow thick skin when you play in a hockey market, any guy will tell you that, whether it’s Loungo here in Vancouver or (James) Riemer or (Jonas) Gustavsson in Toronto. It’s just the nature of the position and markets and if it hasn’t changed in the last 100 years it’s not going to change in the next 100.”

~ InGoal reader Nicholas Giroux asks: Got any tips for playing the puck?

Carey Price: “I think the key to puckhandling is being aware of the forecheck. We do a lot of scouting of other teams forechecks so we kind of know what they are going to be bringing. So being prepared for a 2-1-2, or a 1-2-2, you have to know what is coming at you, and that makes a really big difference when you are going out of the crease to play the puck.”

Price says good puck handling starts with being prepared for the forecheck and getting an early read on it behind the net. (Kevin Woodley photo)

~ InGoal Facebook fan Daryle Gessner asks: Have you read “The Game” and if so what point from the book really rang true? Also, what are your go-to music pre- and post-game? And Tyler Wenande wonders: How do you get in “the zone” before every game?

Carey Price: “The Game, no I haven’t read it yet, and I don’t really have any specific music. I just listen to whatever is blaring on the stereo in the room. This year there is more country music, though (Price participates in rodeo during the summer months). I think I pull a little bit more weight in the room. When I first came here I wouldn’t have been able to get a country song on the stereo to save my life but now, even this morning, that’s all we played was country, so that’s changed a little. But I’m pretty normal in my preparation. I just do some stretching and whatnot. I get dressed really early. I start getting dressed about half an hour before warm ups. A lot of guys will start getting dressed like 10 minutes before warm up, but I am usually in my gear like 15 minutes before I get on the ice for warm up. I do a lot of just thinking about what we talked about in our morning meetings, about their power play set ups, or their forechecking for instance. I think about a lot of things like that.”

~ InGoal reader B. Hill writes: Ask him why he switched to the the Reebok P4′s and I heard he spent a lot of time tinkering and modifying his new P4′s? What kind of things has he done to these pads?

Price said his Reebok pads have evolved this season, with a pre curve and single break now allowing the overlap seen here in front of him. (Kevin Woodley photo)

~ InGoal follow up: We can see you’ve also removed the knee cradle, putting only the thin piece back on top of the knee stack itself to maintain the overall thickness of the area you land on, but keeping the rest wide open to allow the pads to rotate even more easily around your kneepads. Have you changed anything else around the knee area?

Carey Price: “I actually use the IIHF kneestack, I don’t use the NHL regulation one, so it’s actually smaller. It’s shorter (width wise). Just because when I was trying to bring my knees together, the corners of the stack would come together and leave a space between my knees above it. If they were a bit too long I couldn’t get everything else closed above them, so I found shortening that up allowed my kneepads to come together.”

Price had a few more answers for InGoal, including about the changes he’s made in both his initial depth and glove positioning in the NHL, and a great response to custom stick questions from Dec Ryan and Joe Pippel. But we are going to save those for the next edition of the InGoal Digital Magazine, including a how-to tip based on the stick response that can help your puck handling!

So stay tuned, and in the meantime a big thank you to Carey for taking the time to talk to InGoal Magazine, and be sure to check out the photos below for more shots of how his gear is working for him:

A look at the new Reebok leg channel option inspired by Price

The side of Price's pads show the strapping option from the knee stack down to the outer calf wrap, and the new leg channel colour options, from Reebok

This photo demonstrates how well Price's pads rotate around his custom knee pads, with the already redesigned knee cradle removed (and the thin white layer maintaining the kneestack thickness) to create even more room for easy transitions to the ice.

Another look at the changes Price has made in the knee area.

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Even pros like Roberto Luongo break down complex saves into a series of simpler movements in practice

The creation of progressively more difficult drills is one of the fun and important responsibilities of a goaltending coach. There are many ways to practice and develop the same techniques and skills and learning how to read the play. The value in new drills comes from keeping things fresh and interesting for both coach and athlete. This article will discuss three techniques a goalie must master. I will discuss how a coach puts these techniques together into ever more difficult drills. By doing this, one can ultimately create, and practice, the tactical situation described below.

The goaltending techniques to be used are the following: (1) shuffling (2) vertical-horizontal post integration and (3) a dynamic butterfly slide. Each of these techniques should be practiced in isolation as basic building blocks for more advanced play.

One of the most fundamental skating techniques in goaltending is shuffling. As a coach I frequently stand behind the net watching my goaltenders shuffling from post to post. It requires proper post integration techniques, power, agility and balance.

The VH position is difficult to learn and requires a lot of practice before it should be used in competition. As an isolation drill, you can ask your goalie to hug one goalpost.  Thereafter, the goaltender repeatedly drops into the VH position to develop comfort and muscle memory.

Once the goaltender can shuffle with control, power and can perform the VH technique, you can progress and put these skills together. You now ask your goalie to hug one post, shuffle across the goal line and dynamically take a VH position as they arrive at the opposite post. The horizontal leg is dropping to the ice as the goalie has taken the final shuffle and is getting close to the opposite goalpost.

The next technique to practice in isolation is a cross-crease butterfly slide. I ask my goaltender to assume a VH position against the post. I then ask them to push off their inside edge through the crease towards the opposite face-off dot. I fully acknowledge that the angle of the slide may vary with the position of the puck. Different angles can be practiced at different times!

Once all of these fundamental skills are in place I can put them together in a more complicated drill. The goalie begins at one goalpost. A shuffle is performed and VH post integration is achieved in a dynamic fashion. Thereafter a dynamic slide is performed without hesitation.

The goaltender and coach have now arrived to a point where shots may be added to the drill. As the slide is being performed, the coach should be ready to release a shot into the chest of the goaltender. The technique of body cradling for rebound control has now been added to the scenario.

Ultimately you arrive to the point where the value of isolation work is revealed in a tactical scenario. Let us say that a two-man cycle is occurring down low near the goal line to one side of the goaltender. The goaltender is hugging the post. The puck carrier skates behind the net while the other opponent moves towards the lower part of the circle. The puck carrier then makes a cross-crease pass to his teammate who releases a shot. The goaltender is moving through the sequence of isolated skills discussed above. The goalie is shuffling from post to post while the attacker is skating behind the net. Suspecting a possible wrap-around, the goalie dynamically moves into VH position while shuffling across the goal line. The pass is made requiring the goalie to perform a slide to the other side of the crease where a shot is taken. The goalie gets there in time and cradles the puck against the chest. A nice save is made revealing the benefit of all the work done in isolation.

This drill can also be performed using a standard pad down paddle technique for a wrap around with a “Toe Box Push” across the crease. I think a goaltender should be able to do it both ways!

The coaching principle of adding one fundamental building block to another is referred to as CHAINING. The goaltender must learn these techniques in isolation and thereafter be able to put them together. This is the only way you can move away from technical development towards actually learning how to read plays and compete. The chain links must be worked on in isolation through the agony of repetition. Do you remember “The Karate Kid” and wax on, wax off?  His Sensei made him do a lot of boring stuff. It was only when he partook in combat that he understood the reason behind the methods.

The second coaching principle discussed here is that of the WHOLE-PART-WHOLE method. If the goaltender is executing the majority of the sequence well but is struggling with one part, it is your responsibility to focus on the problematic area. For example, if the goalie has problems dynamically achieving VH post integration then you practice this until the issue is resolved. There are both techniques and scenarios that become problematic for goaltenders. It is the responsibility of the coach to break things down into manageable pieces for their students.

Drills can also be made more difficult by taking one drill and just adding a more difficult element to it. This does not have to involve the aforementioned coaching principles. Let’s look at the previously described drill.

During a game, a two-man cycle with a pass-out commonly occurs. The difficulty for the goaltender may lie in controlling the rebound after the first shot. A common result may be a save with an off-square rebound. By adding a second shooter releasing a second shot from a pre-determined location, the goalie is required to rotate the hips, perform a dynamic power (butterfly) slide and make another save. A beginner would not be able to handle the added element since they may not even be able to perform a slide. You would challenge an intermediate level goalie with this scenario when pre-requisite skills are present. The advanced goaltender is comfortable with this drill, understands its practical application, has encountered it in competition and can repeatedly obtain a favourable outcome for the team.

Drills are great but have limited application. They will never create the same degree of chaos encountered during a game. Nevertheless, you can get closer to chaos by adding a more challenging element to a drill.

In conclusion, goaltending coaches must frequently apply the CHAINING and WHOLE-PART-WHOLE training principles when developing drills and teaching. Adding more challenging elements to simple drills can leave you with a large number of drills.  A lot of athletes also question their coaches as to why they are doing something that doesn’t seem to have immediate practical application. A good coach must be able to explain the drill, the main elements to be learned, the desired outcome, proper execution, potential problems and how to correct them. Good luck!

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There's a lot that goes into the development of a young athlete. The Long Term Athletic Development model was created to help young goalies like this develop into the best athlete they can - while enjoying the experience of playing the game that we love.

In part one of this article the seven stages of the LTAD Model were presented along with their respective elements. In part two, the ten influencing factors that affect what, how and when to train certain features of athletic performance will be discussed.  The influencing factors are:

1. The “ten year” or “10,000 hour” rule
2. Fundamentals
3. Specialization
4. Growth, Development and Maturation
5. Trainability “Window”
6. Mental, Cognitive and Emotional Development
7. Periodization and Training Principles
8. System Alignment and Integration
9. System of Competition
10. Continuous Improvement

The 10 year or 10,000 hour rule is straightforward.  It relates to the duration or number of hours required for a technique to become a learned skill. Ten thousand hours is a tremendous amount of ice time! This would appear to contradict my previous statement that more is not always better; however, a significant amount of training is required before reaching the ‘Training to win’ stage. Appropriate muscle memory must be established and refined to the point that goaltender-specific movements occur without conscious thought. If you take 1,000 hours of skill training per calendar year, that averages out to close to three hours of ice time daily. Is this feasible? I would say yes but it realistically leaves little time for academic work or to be a kid. Also, can a nine-year-old child learn and perform effectively for three hours of instruction and have quality development? The answer is yes, (as an 11-year-old Patrick Kane was on the ice 350 days, played 300 games and went to nine weeks of summer hockey school)(1) but it depends on the kid!

Part of this article conveyed that a foundation of skills must be established by age 11 (girls) or 12 (boys) to establish a skill foundation for further progression. It is called physical literacy and is the sum total of basic motor skills, and fundamental sport skills. This includes agility, balance and coordination but also traits such as speed, dexterity, reaction time and time-space orientation. The wide range of athletic attributes required to excel is the reason the multi-sport approach is an integral part of the LTAD model. Many coaches and parents don’t view multi-sport participation as being advantageous to becoming an elite hockey player and choose to focus solely on hockey.

This leads to the idea of sport specialization. Certain sports, like gymnastics, require the athlete to have single-minded focus from an early age. Hockey is defined as a “late” development sport.

Research indicates that early specialization in a late specialization sport results in: (1) an increased number of injuries (2) an increased rate of “burnout” (e.g., Bantam aged hockey players) and (3) really only results in age-specific group performers. What does this mean? It means that those players focusing solely on hockey will initially move up the developmental curve faster but are also more likely to peak and level off before reaching the ‘Training to Win’ stage.

Three other observations: (1) the best athletes begin sports between the ages of seven and eight and focus initially on general development. (2) Athletes begin to excel after 5 to 8 years of specific training and (3) systematic training and specialization should occur between the ages of 15 and 18. The bottom line in simple terms is therefore athlete first, and goaltender second.

Steve McKichan supports this approach and frequently uses the term “Cookie Cutter” goalies. This is meant, in part, to describe too much focus on technique and insufficient athleticism in young goaltender development. In an article in Goalies’ World Magazine

McKichan wrote, “ One of the things that NHL scouts look for are multi-disciplined athletes. If an athlete can learn and excel in other sports requiring different skill sets and physiological requirements, then it bodes well for his or her ability to play the current sport at a higher, professional level. An argument can be made that multi-disciplined athletes have a far greater chance of success at the pro level than those who lack this skill.” (2)

The current goaltenders for the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League are both examples of the athlete first process. Both Malcolm Subban and John Chartrand (whom I know personally) only began to play goal at the age of 12. In the case of Subban, he quickly moved from house league to the ‘AAA’ level. He is presently the number one North American ranked goaltender by Central Scouting for the 2012 NHL entry draft.

Yet another consideration is the four to five year potential difference between chronological and developmental age in some athletes. Research suggests that despite a child being placed in a certain age group based on birth year, the physical, cognitive and behavioral maturity must be considered when dealing with one athlete or an entire team. This brings us back to the debate whether it is fair to have first and fourth quarter births trying out and competing against each other? If fourth quarter births are physically smaller is there a bias against them at try-out time? (Editor’s Note: InGoal looked at NHL goaltender’s birth dates two years ago – then roughly 65% were born in the first half of the year) This suggests that the potential “late bloomers”, by not getting selected, will not receive access to the best coaching, training or competition. In fact, they may not bloom at all!  I will provide some interesting data to that effect in a future article titled “From Minor Hockey to the Ontario Hockey League: A 10-year Retrospective Analysis.”

The LTAD model repeatedly makes reference to “training windows” and trainability.  These windows are opportunistic periods during which any athlete is more sensitive to certain types of appropriate training. There is more progress during these time periods and hence it is referred to as accelerated adaptation. The factors that may be improved are referred to as the 5 S’s of sport performance. They include: (1) Stamina (endurance), (2) Strength, (3) Speed, (4) Skill and (5) Suppleness (Flexibility). (3) These factors can all be improved throughout an individual’s life but improvements decrease with advancing age! These sensitive periods vary in males and females and from one individual to another. They are related to an individual’s PHV (Peak Height Velocity), the onset of menarche (females), chronological and developmental age. Training priorities are generally based on PHV. PHV is the period of maximal vertical growth in both sexes.  As a parent of a goalie, you can chart and monitor for these changes and then seize the chance to accelerate your child’s training efforts when appropriate. There is more to the topic than monitoring for PHV but interested readers can learn by pursuing references provided in part one of this article.

The physical, mental, cognitive and emotional development of an athlete is extremely important and often ignored in minor hockey. This likely affects the goaltender more than anyone else. A head coach generally does not talk a lot to the goalie during practice. The coach may scream something generic like “stand up”, “come out” or  “your angle is off!” Another problem may be the coaches not getting to know their players on a personal level or asking parents about what makes their child motivated and learn best? Does the coach know how things are at home or whether things are well at school? Are the coach and parents working together or, more often than not, are the coach’s efforts being sabotaged by parent coaching at home or from the stands? Is the coach teaching the team to deal with distractions? Does the coach communicate according to the age of the players or just bring an old school approach to the bench? If an association provides two practices per week, is it realistic for the coach to know your child well when they only see them a few hours per week? I would say absolutely not. Does all this affect how quickly a coach may give up on some players and categorize them as not coachable? I say definitely! I don’t see a good solution to this issue in the current system, but clearly developmental opportunities are not being maximized

Periodization is an organized approach coaches use to help their athletes. It is defined as the “ideal sequencing and integration of training, competition and recovery activities” during different periods (pre-season, competitive season, post-season), phases and cycles (macrocycles and mesocycles) of a 52-week program. The entire process is geared towards having your goalie in top form for all the major competitions. In minor hockey, this includes tournaments, an important league game or the play-offs. As a goaltending coach, you have to have a plan in place for different parts of the season. The bigger problem however is coordinating with, and getting the cooperation of, the head coach.

Integration is simply putting all the athletic parameters together over time and seeing progressive improvement within the context of a periodized program. There is clearly overlap between general training and sport-specific training. This should eventually lead to better performances over the course of the athlete’s growth and development. (4)

Competitive calendar planning is the responsibility of the head coach; however, there should be a coordinated effort between head coach, goalie coach and other members of the staff. Since hockey is a team game this does not relate solely to the needs of the goaltender.

In conclusion, the Long Term Athletic Development Model is an excellent science-based framework for developing elite athletes. It has been adopted by Hockey Canada. The purpose of my article was to inform unknowing coaches, goalies and their parents that there is a systematic and progressive ways to move through minor hockey and develop.   As a goalie parent, I have never relied on my son’s head coach or the association in which he plays to help develop his skills. It is sad to say, but this would have been developmental suicide. Always ask questions, read as much as you can, accumulate resources from wherever you can, and do not assume everyone is an expert despite what they may say. Goaltending is an expensive endeavor and you only get one shot to help your child and do it correctly. Enjoy the journey with your child!

References:

1. Campbell, K. The Two Hundred Thousand Dollar Question; The Hockey News, September 2, 2008, pp. 20-25
2. McKichan, S. Be an athlete first. Be a goalie, second: Goalies’ World Magazine, Issue 80, P. 36, 2011
3. Dick, F. From Senior to Super star: Ottawa: CAC, SPORTS, May 1985
4. Bompa, T.O., Total Training for Young Athletes: Proven Conditioning Programs for Athletes Ages 6 to 18: Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. , 2000

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Marty Turco, seen here with the Dallas Star before signing in Chicago last season, revolutionized goaltending by turning his glove hand over top of the stick to pass the puck. (InGoal Magazine file photo)

Last weekend’s scary-looking injury to Tuukka Rask in Boston opened an unexpected door for Marty Turco for the rest of this season, returning the game’s greatest puck handling goaltender to an NHL he changed forever with his puckhandling.

Turco, whose play this season is limited to a stint in Austria, still has to clear waivers, and the veteran stopper won’t be eligible for the playoffs because he signed the contract – reportedly a pro-rated one year, $600,000 deal – after the trade deadline. But he should be able to help the Bruins properly rest No.1 Tim Thomas down the stretch while Rask heals a lower abdomen and groin injury, a recovery pegged by Boston at between four to six weeks.

Whether Turco, who added some improved structure last season with the Blackhawks to the more flowing, read-and-react style used during his career in Dallas, can show enough for the Bruins to earn another shot in the NHL next season remains to be seen. But there’s no denying the 36-year-old three-time All Star has had a last impact on the way goalies play the game.

With Turco’s incredible stick handling back in the league, InGoal dug into the archives for this feature look at how Ron Hextall inspired him to play the puck more, and how an experiment in college created a new way to do so – for all goalies:

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Marty Turco prefers the feel of the older, two-piece cuff glove, especially when handling pucks (Scott Slingsby photo)

Ron Hextall was a trailblazer when it comes to goalies handling the puck, inspiring a young Martin Brodeur to play it as often as he stops it.

Hextall has also been widely celebrated as the first goalie to actually shoot a puck into an opponent’s net. But it was a pen – not a stick – that the former Philadelphia great used to inspire another of today’s puck-moving legends. And Marty Turco used that inspiration to completely change how the next generation of goaltenders handles the puck.

“We had a class project to write to someone famous, and Ron was on top of his game – went to the finals, scored goals, won a Vezina – so for me he was just the guy,” Turco once told InGoal Magazine. “So I wrote and he wrote back. It was a pretty cool deal. I wish I still had that 3×5 card with the signature and the little note he wrote. It was pretty cool and now it’s more something that I don’t forget with my fan mail. I realize that we were all young once.”

Except today’s young goalies don’t just look up to Turco and hope to be like him in the general sense. When it comes to puck handling, they are copying him exactly, taught from a young age to turn over their glove hand as they grip the lower part of the stick, a change in philosophy that started with Turco tinkering in college and led to him revolutionizing the way goaltenders everywhere play the puck.

There’s a reason it’s called the Turco Grip.

Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith credits former Stars teammate Marty Turco for improving his puck handling. (Photo courtesy of Dinur Blum).

“He has evolved the game into something it couldn’t have been without his idea,” said Lightning goalie Mike Smith, who credits his time with Turco in Dallas for his current status as one of the league’s better puck-moving goaltenders (so too does Tampa Bay’s Dan Ellis, also an ex-Stars prospect). “It’s funny because you see all the kids doing it now.”

The effects extend far beyond youth leagues: Countless NHL goalies changed their grips mid-career. And to think it all started with Turco tinkering at the University of Michigan.

“In my senior year in college I tried it, but I really worked on it in my first year pro in the minors,” Turco recalled. “The reason I started doing it is I was getting choked about not stopping hard rims on my backhand when I had my hand underneath and you just don’t have much power on your backhand. Coming in on you forehand side you are leaning into it, but on the backhand side it would just push the stick away. I didn’t have the leverage, so this was more just turning my hand over, jamming my stick square into the end boards and then stop it, and at first I’d even then turn my hand back over and under to play it. Then all of a sudden you are playing around with it and you need to do it quick so you shovel it along the ice that way and figure out, ‘hey I can actually saucer it pretty good this way’ and then all of a sudden it’s ‘while, hey I got a way better backhand then I do the other way so now I have two options.’”

And that, in a nutshell, changed how goalies handle the puck.

“We used to always say ‘the goalies going to put it on his forehand side, forehand side: He can only shoot it one-way’ and that happened for years,” said Turco. “But now you don’t hear that as often because guys will flip their hand over and have the ability to push it with conviction to their backside or their weak side. That was a real breakthrough for me to have that option and to even get it off the ice on that side. It was one thing just to push it along the boards, but if you got a guy on the forecheck sealing the wall you’ve got to get it up and over the blade and the sticks and even put it on the glass. It took a long time to have some fire on it, to saucer it and have it land flat so you could actually make passes and not just have grenades blowing up in front of your wingers or having them get pounded by D-men. So that’s how it all started. And I knew it was a pretty good idea when I saw Patrick (Roy) try it later on.”

For Turco, handling the puck comes naturally, but his ability to do it with authority didn’t start to develop until he was in college.

“I was just always big on playing hockey, whether it was road hockey or a tennis ball in my basement, I always had a ball around and was just playing, but I really wasn’t big enough or strong enough to even have any impact on the game or do what I wanted with a puck,” he said. “It wasn’t until I was in college and got some strength and got some confidence and just worked at it, you know, it was practice. I wasn’t one of those guys that could fire it at 13 years old off the glass. It was a constant work in progress and it still is, but for my job it’s a high priority.”

It’s a skill he practices as often as he can, whether after practice starts, or just before. Like the time InGoal Magazine witnessed Turco trading barbs playfully with the trainers. As Turco was skating away backwards, he flipped up a puck that landed perfectly on the dasher board and started to roll towards the coffee cup one of them had placed on the edge.

“He does stuff that you have to think ‘is this guy serious, is he really doing this kind of stuff?’” Smith laughed. “It’s mind boggling sometimes.”

For Turco it’s all part of getting more comfortable with the puck.

Few goalies fire the puck as hard or as accurately as Chicago's Marty Turco (InGoal file photo)

“Shooting it, aiming it, making games out of it, you can play post-post-crossbar with forwards,” Turco said. “That’s a great conditioning drill to have someone dump pucks in and to stop them and play them. More than half the battle for me is stopping the puck, getting it in the right position, and knowing what you are going to do with it before you do it. I think if everybody did that they can get it to the spot, it’s just a matter of corralling the puck, having good jumps and good reads on dump ins – never cheating, but being on your toes at all times. And then having it incorporated into your game plan in practice was a big factor because that’s where you get a lot of your experience. You don’t just want to be cold turkey and think you can start playing pucks. You’ve got to learn if you can win races to pucks, what your defensemen are going to expect out of you, how they are going to turn, you have to remember if they are right handed or left handed to put it in the best possible positions for them. There is a lot that goes into it mentally.”

Special thanks to Dinur Blum for the Mike Smith photo, please check out more of his pictures.

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