Studying the Game

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!