Episode 12 – Alex Auld and Brian’s G-Netik 4

Intro

Opening week of the Stanley Cup playoffs and InGoal Radio. The podcast is ready to explain an odd year in the blue paint all around this 2019 postseason. Hello, and welcome to episode 12 of InGoal Radio presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports Surrey and thehockeyshop.com. Check it out. Just not right now.

Like, maybe in, like, thirty five minutes or forty Daren Millard playing the role of good backup goalie. What I mean by that is I open the door for Kevin Woodley and David Hutchison, the cofounders of InGoal Magazine. And as the gurus, they pass along their fountain of knowledge and information. Today, Woody tracks down former National Hockey League goaltender Alex Auld. Auld is currently a radio analyst in Vancouver and still at times a goalie coach.

He's had a nice long run around the National Hockey League both as a player and an announcer, but when you listen to him talk about his goalie partners like Hank, Timmy Thomas, Belfour and Price, two things come to mind. One, there's a book in there somewhere and number two, it gets real. Philosophy and goaltending trends are also part of this conversation. Plus, our Gear Segment and Woody Woody, when you head out to Old Surrey and into the basement, what are you talking about today?

Yeah. We're gonna do a little Brian's Gnetik four this week with Cam at the Hockey Shop. I know that's a line that's been out for a while since November when it launched. But we went through all the other ones, all the other big brands, and we figured, you know, it's it's still new gear time for everyone. So even though this isn't necessarily new gear from Brian's, it's their newest, and we had them walk us through that line.

And you know what that means? That means I get a chance to visit the Hockey Shop Source for Sports in Surrey, BC, Check out all the great selection. I'm kinda lucky they're in my backyard, and that's where I've been going for years, whether it's for their world famous sharpening, expert advice on anything InGoal. The beauty is when you go down to that goalie basement, and I put this on Instagram this week. So if you haven't listeners checked it out, go check it out.

I think we've had, like, 20,000 people see the video already. Just a nice little tour of what it's like down there to sort of whet your appetite. All the best brands, huge selection. Really is a goalie's dream come true. And the best part is guys like Cam are down there working.

Guys who play the position, know the position, love the position, all the top brands. I will say if you can't get there, make sure you check out the hockeyshop.com. They'll help you out there. Cam drops the number to call if you got any questions during our segment with him. And last but certainly not least, Hutch, this year coming up fast, guys.

We're gonna this is the first time we're gonna announce the date. May 26, TendyFest four. Talk of maybe even a live podcast, boys. Some big names from the gear industry will be on hand. You'll be able to check out the latest from every brand.

And we had a few listener questions about demo gear. The Hockey Shop, as I mentioned in this segment, they have a full demo program. You can actually try the gear before you buy it. If you live here in the Lower Mainland, you don't have to go shell out two k for new pads without actually having them on the ice, seeing how they slide for you, how they work for your leg, how they fit your style. And you'll be able to do that with all the brands on May 26 at Burnaby 8 Rinks in Vancouver, Suburban Vancouver.

Get out there on the ice and try it before you buy it.

Perfect. Hutch, can you explain what TendyFest is for the uninitiated?

It's a goaliegasm.

Your name's not Hutch.

I was gonna say candy store for goaltenders or something like that. It's an incredible day. I wonder how many people are through the door. Hundreds for sure. Thousands maybe.

They they Burnaby eight rinks has won what used to be a sheet is now covered in astroturf, and that becomes sort of the trade show floor, booth after booth of goalie coaches, various brands represented. So you can come talk to the experts and see everything that's the latest greatest. And when you find something that you're really excited about, you can, take it for a spin on the sheet that's right next door, and they've got shooters lined up to, take you through drills. There's some coaches out there. It's a it's just a great opportunity to try everything and and also talk shop because we're going to be there all day long.

And, there's all sorts of other great people that are going to be there all day long and you and you can just come and talk goaltending with everybody.

And usually some big name guests come in every year pretty much. We've had NHL guys roll through depending on, you know, their playoff status, guys who are from the area. Last year was Martin Jones. We've had Luongo in the past. Shannon Szabados last year for the entire day, meeting and greeting the people, signing autographs, talking about her experiences in the game.

And I know this year already, there's some really big names from the gear designer side that'll be there. So keep your eye on the hockeyshop.com and all their social channels as they start to leak out some of the guests that are coming, some of the specials that'll be on, and demo gear also from last year's like the year prior models all goes on sale as well.

That little tour that you gave us of the Hockey Shop basement, right at the very start there's a set of Vancouver Canuck

classic stuff.

Oh yes.

Like take me through that because I kept looking at it and examining it, just whose is it? What brand? Everything.

That is Bauer of course, and that is probably a really good display of their new digital printing technology, which is gonna be released to the masses this year. No longer just for your, you know, the the local NHL star or CHL goalie or NCAA goalie. Everybody's gonna be able to get in on that. And, you know, with Digiprint, the beautiful thing is you can if you could dream it up, they can pretty much make it happen on the face of a pad. And I thought the Hockey Shop did a real good job sort of representing a golden era of Vancouver Canucks hockey.

Maybe not from a performance standpoint when you look at the history of this team, but that, that sort of spaghetti plate, Halloween style mask or sorry, jerseys that they had here. It's it's it's a gorgeous set of equipment. I'll post some more things.

That's Hirsch's stuff. Right? Like, that would go perfect with Hirsch's Halloween mask.

Yeah. I think Hershey might have even Corey Hirsch might have even sort of postdated some of that. We're we're almost into John Garrett type stuff here. So, yeah, it's it is a pretty set. It is an example of what Bauer is gonna be able to do with DigiPrint for for everyone soon.

That's why they had it made up. And the custom name bar on there, boys, it's got a funny little backstory to it. It might just say number five orange on it. So we'll have to get into that one day and maybe share the story of why the Bauer pads, the custom order Bauer pads say number five orange on the custom stitching department.

Big t's. Big t's. I wonder if we can give a little shout out to Garrett and see if he'll come to TendyFest and slap the gear on and take him for a spin.

Oh, he's an ab He will. He's an absolute beauty. I bet you he would. And and I yeah. That's the Hutch, seed planted there.

That's a good idea.

Okay. Well, you know what? If we all bombard them, then we'll get them. K?

It's just a matter of having pizza and and

Hot dogs.

Well yeah but also ketchup for dipping the pizza in.

Yeah. There you go.

As long as there's no food that you need cutlery for, he's in. That's how it works. We're on it. So the playoffs are an interesting one, Hutch. Price, Lundqvist, Lundqvist, Quick, Gibson, all elite goaltenders and they all missed.

Just a strange year. Are we seeing the changing of the guard or how would you sum up what's going on right now?

Well, that's an interesting thing that you brought up, Daren. Thanks for thanks for pointing that one out. It's I like to you call me the voice of reason, so maybe I'll be the voice of reason. I think if you tie yourself to a long standing franchise goaltender, it's gonna come around. And and these guys have been with the franchises for a very long time.

And eventually, as cycles go, you can't you can't stay at the top of the pack for that many years in the salary cap age. I think we're seeing aging franchises there as well with the exception, I guess, of Montreal who almost made it. So so it's is it changing the guard of the goaltenders or the franchises? I'm not really sure. What do you think?

Jeez, it's gotta be a mix of of the two because for those big names, all big names to miss in the same year, it's just staggering to me that you've got the elite of the elite and and guys that are challenging for goaltending awards and championships, Woody. It's bizarre, it seems too much of a coincidence.

Well, no, mean, I'll give you another number. How about this? So Clear Sight Analytics from our friend Steven Valiquette, the company that he works for and sort of helped found.

Brilliant.

Yeah. And we'll have him on in the coming weeks. He was just a little busy this week with some some visitors actually. I think he would have been good for this. Might even get him in for next week because they have their end of season numbers.

But they released their statistics through the March recently. And if you don't not familiar, clear side analytics measures 34 paint points of data for every shot on goal. And this includes things like screens, multilayered screens, broken plays, passes right before a shot. We all know as goaltenders that if they go cross ice on you before a one t, that's a little bit tougher than a guy walking in a straight line at you from the same spot. And most of the publicly available sort of analytics and data, while adding context, misses those elements.

And so they come up with ratings and basically rank the goaltenders using all this data. You talked about big names that missed the playoffs. How about this? Well, I'm looking one, two, three of the top five in terms of their performance overall this season, the amount of goals they saved their team based on shot quality this season aren't in the playoffs. And four of the top six aren't starting on opening night in the playoffs.

So a bit of a different discussion, but I'll give you the linen. Carey Price, I don't hear his name in Vezina talk. 37 goals saved this year when you account for shot quality. Number one in the NHL, not in the playoffs. Number two, Andrei Vasilevskiy, 36.4 goals saved through the March.

And Vasilevskiy peep yeah. He's in the playoffs. But I don't think people talk about how good he has to be behind that Tampa Bay team enough. John Gibson, you mentioned out of the playoffs in number three. I'm gonna make you guys guess who's in number four.

Pekka Rinne in number five. Obviously, he's there, and this is one that could become controversial depending on how things go in the first round. Jaroslav Halak is sixth in the NHL in his overall performance this year. And when you take away volume, in other words, these numbers add up the more you play, just pure save percentage above expected, Yaroslav Halak is number one in the NHL at a 3% difference between his actual and expected save percentage. Now can you tell me the the guy who is fourth of the top five in the NHL who's not in the playoffs that none of you mentioned in your elite performer list?

I think he might be from Vancouver.

He might be. Jacob Markstrom.

Be Jacob Markstrom.

Yeah. Fourth in the NHL, 30.8 goals saved above average using all this shot quality for context. Why? Why do we have, you know, three of the top five not in the playoffs? Like, at the risk of losing my goalie union card, I think if you lean these guys, basically, they got leaned on the heaviest behind the poorest teams, and goaltending is not enough.

I had a really long conversation recently with, you know, a goalie coach. I I don't wanna cost him his goalie union card, so I'm not gonna give a name, but, you know, one of the top guys in the league. And he said, give me some true serum and asked me whether I I would if I could pick one thing to be set in, would it be defense, goaltending, or or forwards? He's picking defense every time. You can build a goaltender often, but if they don't have support in front of them, they get left exposed.

So I'm just gonna try and paraphrase this. What you're saying about price and and and these player these guys that that came so far this year and and played so well, but just missed the playoffs. It's like losing four three, but you you face 50 shots. Like, you play well, but you you you just lose by a goal.

Yeah. Or or or maybe or maybe you lose 2-1, you face 50 shots, but you don't have a horse because you and, again, I point to defense. You know, we had this problem with Vancouver right now. Everybody's talking about their offense, one of the worst offensive teams in the NHL, the worst in the second half of the season. And it's like, oh, I gotta get more forwards.

No. You have to get defense to get the puck out of your own end, so defense cuts both ways. And so that could be a two one loss, Daren. The bottom line is, if you're leaning that heavily on your goaltender, you're, you're probably not a good team, and you probably don't deserve to be in the playoffs because they're tougher than ever to make.

Once again, he he tries to give up his goalie card, he walks that line up and then sucks up at the end. That's what Woody just did there by taking my 4-3 loss and turning it into a 2-1 loss, Hutch. I'll I'll

jump in with my minor hockey coach's card here too if I can because I love what Kevin said, You know, great goaltending isn't enough. And how often do you see a coach, a team, a parent look at a team and say, you know, if only the goaltending was better, we would have been fine. And I think what Kevin's pointing out is no matter how great it is, it's not enough. We need more. And I'm never one to say that a kid needs to make an excuse.

It's always your job to try and try and make that save. But I love that that in a way that we're seeing that fantastic goaltending isn't enough.

Two comments about everything that was just said, Yaroslav Halak is the reason why the Boston Bruins have home ice advantage because of the first half that he performed. Remember, was Tuukka who actually left the team for a few days, took some personal leave and wasn't having a great start again and Yaroslav Halak was awesome going in there. Number two, when when Valiquette speaks in those intermissions and the post game, what do you think is running through Al Trautwig's mind when he's dropping all that data?

Oh. I don't know Al, but I admit me, I don't know what's running through my mind, it's just like awesome.

I'm just gonna listen.

Is awesome, but there's part of like, I'm not as deep into it as you guys and it's just like some of it is amazing. Other times, I'm having to really, really think about it.

I love watching Steve's stuff even for the His non ability to tie data to how you should play a particular situation outside the crease as well. Like, it's fascinating for I think every coach should be be watching everything he does.

And I will say we've got a Stanley Cup champion right now that is a Stanley Cup champion in part because they base the way they attack on the data that Steve and his company have started to turn over that shows the type of plays, lateral, that actually lead to goals. Like, part of that work is what's gotten us away from pucks on net and passes off pads and all that type of mentality.

Yeah. I I thought his piece that tied data to when you should and shouldn't try to block a shot was was fascinating. And and I don't think enough people have paid attention to that work.

We'll have to look that

one up. My beer league team evidently didn't pay any attention because they don't block any shots.

Well, he was actually suggesting that there are a whole lot of situations you shouldn't try to block a shot. And I thought that was fascinating.

What was the stat about it was a shot right after a pass? How did you phrase that or how is that phrased?

Oh, I think I've talked about, like, it's not just a pass. A lot of people are, it's slot line. So he's divided he used to call it the Royal Road. Now they call it the slot line, which makes a little more sense. Basically, you divide the offensive zone into two.

You split it right down the middle from the goal line to the top of the face off circles. And again, so anything above the top of the face off circles, that's not that doesn't count because as a goaltender, that's far enough away from you. You should have time to still beat that play across based on their data and their research. So so it's not like, you know, pass in the zone that doesn't force you to change your angle as severely as that one. Because right, obviously, if it's across the middle, I gotta go fully left to right.

I have to reset body angle and positioning. Those are the ones, and then it's a shot, whether it's a carry across there or a pass across there, and then a shot. Those are the highest degree of difficulty. It's amazing as I track all, you know, every goal given up by a playoff goaltender this year for my NHL project, the amount of times like, it's 40% the goals that go in are preceded by a slot line play.

When does that article drop? Is that out?

I think that actually by the time people listen to this on Wednesday afternoon, the first five series will all be online. The first three are already. And, yeah, it's it's a fun project, but it might kill me this this week.

You know golfers will be able to relate to the whole analytics part that we were just talking about because there's putts made inside five feet, putts made inside 10 feet but a putt inside 10 feet is not an easy putt if there's two feet of break to it. So it sort of adds that analytics part of it and what you look at, a shot from 20 feet is not an easy shot to stop if it follows a 30 foot pass across the the ice. That's sort of what Valiquette deals with. Jordan Binnington, he has burst onto the scene, he's one of the new goaltenders in the Stanley Cup playoff. You know there's only one guy that's won a Stanley Cup outside of the last three years and that's the Flower.

Feature Interview - Alex Auld

But Jordan Binnington has had this extreme rush to the National Hockey League this year, he's been in the minors and burst onto the scene. But if you want an even more bizarre example, try Alex Auld, he's the former net minder in the National Hockey League, broke in with the Vancouver Canucks and he went from the press box into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just an incredible run. Alex is with Woody in our portable studio in this week's feature interview.

Alright. We're joined today this week for the InGoal Podcast by Alex Auld, who is officially in the Roberto Luongo seat. We're doing this in the front seat of Kevin's car. This is kinda like another episode of Jerry Seinfeld except I'm not nearly as funny. Welcome to the show.

Good thing I am then.

It's good. You can you can I'm

not as funny as Jerry. No.

But you can definitely up the the comic element to our podcast. Listen. It's playoff time, Alex. And goaltending becomes a massive focus in the playoffs. Before we get into what you're doing now, working for Sportsnet 650, you've switched over to an analyst role, done some coaching.

I wanna talk about playing career stuff and your induction. I know you played you played a period in 04 for the Vancouver Canucks.

03. 03. One period, yeah, against Minnesota. Yeah.

But in o four, in the first round, in Calgary, I believe game five and I remember this because game six is the only game I've missed as a journalist in twenty years covering the Canucks because my daughter was born on the night that Dan Cloutier sprained his ankle in game five, and all a sudden Alex Auld was thrown to the wolves. And I've got the details wrong?

Yeah. You do.

It's because I was sleep deprived. So you give me

the details. It was Cloutier got hurt in game three in Calgary. Three versus that's right. And then Hedberg finished that game we won. Hedberg started the next game.

And then I got in and played game five at home. And game six was the triple overtime winner. My only playoff win of my career.

Curse you, Brendan Morrison.

Yes. We won in triple overtime. That it was crazy because, I mean, well, I started the the series as the Black Ace goalie. And it was just a long taxi squad along for the ride, practice goalie, not even on the ice with the with the actual team, just practicing with the Black Aces. And then we're in Calgary.

We're just watching a game in the suite. And, thankfully, I actually remembered my contact lenses that game. I'm sitting up there in my glasses, and all of a sudden, I remember, Clouthier goes down. And then the the, some of the player personnel, people were like, hey, are you you ready to go get dressed? And I'm like, seriously?

Like, I I thought that was something out of the movies. I didn't think it actually happened. But, yeah, I went down and got dressed, and I sat in the hallway behind, like, behind the bench just until they absolutely a 100% knew Cloutier couldn't come back and end up dressing and and sitting on the bench for the third period of of that game, and it was kind of a a whirlwind from there. It was it was crazy to think going from the press box to starting game seven at home for the series, obviously. It was a it was a lot of fun.

I look back on it, and it was great memories, but it's such a swing in pressure. Obviously, going from no pressure sitting in the stands to all of a sudden playing the biggest game of your life.

Now, yeah, now it's all starting to come back. Because by game seven, I had managed to excuse myself from new dad duties, and I was back at the rink to watch. Unfortunately, the end of that playoff run, is it when we talk about all that there may be a lot of focus this year on Jordan Binnington, for example, with the St Louis Blues. This will be his first time in the playoffs and kinda, you know, coming out of nowhere. Although, clearly, if you know him and his story, this is a long work in progress, not as it rarely is an overnight success story.

But can there be a benefit to sort of going in without expectations, going in cold, without all the sort of hype and pressure that comes otherwise with leading into the playoffs?

Well, there is there is a positive to that for sure. Like, you you almost don't know what you're getting into, and you don't know what to expect. So as long as you aren't the type of person that worries about that unknown, I think there is a benefit because you can if you do know everything and you're you're almost over prepared and you're overanalyzing every situation, there's something to be said for just going out and playing and and not really having that pressure. And really, when I look at Saint Louis and I look at Binnington, the pressure is kinda off them, I think, with how they turn their season around. It'll be more pressure next year.

Obviously, they they wanna do well. They're the hottest team in the league. It's unbelievable what they've been able to do. Young young goaltender, I say young, I mean, inexperienced goaltender in in a guy like Binnington. It's it's I'm really curious to see how he responds and how he manages the mental aspect of this given that he doesn't have that experience, given that how is he going to internalize the pressure?

It'll be really interesting to watch because a goalie like that with so many unknowns about him, like, is there is there a big book on him in terms of pre scouting? I mean, there's a there's a lot of factors that go into play.

Now you've you've been a part of a lot of playoff runs since that that first chance getting in with the Canucks. Not all of them are starters. You've watched some greats over the years, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. When you talk about managing that pressure, whether it's a Henrik Lundqvist with the New York Rangers, a Carey Price with the Montreal Canadiens, are there any insights or that you can share that you saw in how those guys dealt with it or any times where they leaned on you or you had correspondence with them in that role, as their playing partner in terms of how they handled it, how they dealt with it?

Well, I think what really stands out to me is how how different everyone handles it. Like, Carey Price, he's notoriously calm and cool. He comes to the bench and, you know, he's chatting when he's having a a drink of water or whatever at the bench and mask up. And then there's a guy like Henrik Lundqvist who you don't even speak to on a game day. You know?

And the year I was with Hank, we we lost out on the last day of the regular season trying to make the playoffs. We lost to Philly in a shootout, and the winner of that game had the the last playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. And Philly actually went all the way to the final before losing to Chicago. So that's always tough too to see the team you lose out to, whether it's in the first round or in that situation, have a deep run. But Lundqvist had that intensity about him.

Carey Price was so calm. And I think that's the key is to be you, like, to be what has made you successful. Don't all of a sudden go change because it's a big game or because it's the playoffs.

Carey Price was so calm. And I think that's the key is to be you, like, to be what has made you successful. Don't all of a sudden go change because it's a big game or because it's the playoffs. Carey Price, that's him. That that is him to a tee, and so he stays that way.

And I imagine even in biggest games he's played, whether it's a gold medal at the world juniors or gold medal at the Olympics, probably very much the same person and very much the same approach. Another guy learned a lot from watching firsthand was Tim Thomas. I got to play with him in Boston, and probably the best set of eyes in the game in terms of always keeping his head on the puck and and watching the puck. Like, I never realized how often he really worked for that even as he was sprawling around on the ice and doing snow angels. He always had a way to find the puck.

But it also with him, it was funny because I remember we went into Montreal, and all of a sudden, he's like in between periods changing, like, cutting her after warm up, he cut the the dangler off his helmet. He's like, can't see my feet. I can't see my feet today. I'm like, man, it's game two of the playoffs, buddy. Like, I think you should have your gear set by now.

But it's just you know, he he was different than Pricer and and, Henrik Lundqvist so different as well. Not in a playoff setting, but I I got to play with a guy like Ed Belfour as well. Like, these guys, their levels of intensity are all different, but their focus, it was all dialed in. It was pretty extraordinary to witness.

Did you ever see anyone go the other way where a guy would be have you seen it over the years where a guy would be laid back casual, and then because it was the playoffs, he felt like, oh, jeez. It's it's it's different now. I gotta be more intense. Or even even a guy moving up from the American League to the NHL, they feel like the the level's different. Sometimes you try harder, and we know that never works with goaltending.

We ever see a guy where he felt like he had to be more intense. He had to be more dialed in, and and it almost took him away from who he was as a goaltender and who he was personality wise.

I I never saw that firsthand, but I'd I'd heard stories of that. Or even more so guys, especially early in their career when they're trying to, I guess, find that identity of what works. Like, do I need to change going from one level to the next? I think that's a that's a great point. Like, a lot of goalies are very successful in the NHL, and then all of a sudden, make it to the National Hockey League and they're like, wow, I need to I need to change this up.

Like, this isn't gonna work here. But one of the biggest things that everybody tells young players, just do what you did to get here. Like, play your game, and that goes into your preparation as well because you can't you can't go away from that. It there's a there's a method to that. There's your preparation, your success, your mindset.

That has to be something you own. And I think it's you you see guys develop that over time and and really sort of identify what it is that that they need to do to be successful. And then that goes into the way they prepare, whether it's for a one game or whether it's for a playoff series.

Now you mentioned Tim Thomas, and you talked about the eyes and seeing. And interestingly enough, he was one of those guys that didn't have a cat eye cage. Right?

He used to talk about having the vertical bars because to him and he had them skinny, thin vertical bars, certain gaps. He had a he had a micrometer that he used to pull out and be able to measure the gaps and relay to the the mass company if they if that changed or had been too different on him. Is is that the most like, was he the most dialed in in his gear? But Ed Belfour was also we heard from in our first episode about Ed Belfour coming to the factory and dialing in his gear. Walk me through the spectrum of guys, and where did you fit on that in terms of knowing your equipment?

Yeah. But Belfour was a Belfour was a guy, obviously, he was very dialed in. I played with him in his last season, so he was pretty pretty set in his ways in a way. But I also remember when he arrived in Florida, he had like all these different sets of gear. He even actually had a set of Mikael Tellqvist's gear that Tellqvist, like, wore, I feel like in the Olympics or there were some vintage leafs gear.

Like, they were kinda like yellowy brown. It was kind of this and he's, like, wanting to try those in training camp. And then he had also then that was the year he switched, I think, and went to well, it was RBK at the time. He was wearing those and then was kind of had his old Leafs like Heatons there as well, and he had a whole bunch of stuff. I remember he lived down the street from me.

His garage was full of equipment. So he was really dialed in with his gear. Absolutely.

That's our kind of guy, by

And the and like and his body, like, I mean, he was 42 that year. I remember he would be the first guy at the rink. We had three forty year olds who had to hire an extra trainer in Florida that year. Had Nieuwendyk, Roberts, Belfour, all guys that and I'm not this isn't disrespectful. All high maintenance though because of the preparation they put in.

And I remember that some I'd get back after a game that Eddie played. I'd be home. It'd be like 11:30 at night. I'm like taking the garbage out because the garbage truck would come early the next morning and it was like midnight now. And all of a sudden, like, Eddie is just like rolling in, and I've been home for like an hour and a half.

And because he's at the rink doing all his like post game stretching and everything, so he was super dialed in with his equipment, but also the preparation it took. Timmy though was funny. Like, he had a lot of different things in Boston. He had sort of a revolving set of knee stacks that he would switch through his pads. And I I found this fascinating.

He had a theory that basically what part of the reason that guy's hips got so damaged and there were so many issues with hips was because you'd get almost caught in the same spot all the time. So he constantly was changing the thickness of his knee stack.

Like, he's a very in-depth guy and a thinker outside of the box. He's always thinking about new and different ways. And he had a theory that basically what part of the reason that guy's hips got so damaged and there were so many issues with hips was because you'd get almost caught in the same spot all the time. So he constantly was changing the thickness of his knee stack. So he never got set in that.

So I I don't know if constantly the hips in in, I guess, a guessing game in a way, and it was I never really got too much into why he thought this way, but it was something I thought was interesting. But you're right about the bars. That was important for him. It was all about being able to see his feet, being able to look down. And the the bars I remember hearing a story from somebody that they asked him about his bars and and like, well, isn't that right in your vision?

Because someone put it on and he's like, well, no, I don't need to see the other goalie. I need to see the ice. Like, I don't need to see straight out. I need to look down. And that was I kinda started to think about what all that meant.

Like, the pucks on the ice. Like, of course, you need to look down. Yet, you just look around, you see kids with their chins up in the air. It's such a different idea. And and where those bars align is so important with your vision so that you can actually see the puck.

Now okay. Since you stopped playing, you did you did some coaching for a few years. You've transitioned now. We gotta get the plug in here. Sportsnet 650 radio, just killing it in Vancouver as an analyst.

It's on my second year. I appreciate that. Yeah. Two years of that. I can't believe how quickly that's gone by.

Talk about the tracking stuff, though. In the coaching aspect, it's interesting because I think we've both been through this. You got exposed to this a little bit. And the one thing that I hear and actually, we didn't really plan on going into this today, but you mentioned it with Timmy, and it's funny because he kinda predates this becoming a hot topic. And yet, you know, people say we hear people say, well, you know, how you look what difference does it make?

Like, if telling a goalie how to look at the puck can make a difference. And yet you played how many years in the league for how many different teams, For how many different goalie coaches, including some of the greats? Allaire, Clark. Did you ever get taught how to look at a puck?

No. We we would we would different coaches, we'd focus on, like, watch it all the way into the glove, for instance, and we do sort of slow, like, stuff to work your hands and yeah. Watch it all the way in and and all the way into your blocker and all the way out kind of thing, but never really how to watch it. And then it's a couple years ago, I was doing a camp with seven or eight pro goalies and and I asked the same question. And of the guys have played in the NHL for years and years and years.

I said, has anyone ever thought about or been taught how to look at the puck? And the answer universally was no. And it almost seems so simple that it's been overlooked in a way.

And I said, has anyone ever thought about or been taught how to look at the puck? And the answer universally was no. And it it almost seems so simple that it's been overlooked in a way. Like, it's like, obviously, at some point, someone has told this guy how to look at the puck. Why do I need to teach it at the highest level of the sport?

It's so fundamental how you address the puck, how you look at it, how you set up. It it affects your stance, affects your movement, and obviously affects your chances of stopping the thing you're trying to like, you look at it. Makes a lot of sense. And and it's I I think it's it's the one common tie through generations that you can look at and see all the greats have always done well. And I mean, it's again, seems so simple.

It seems ridiculous that it's even something you'd bring up because you're trying to stop something. Look at it. It makes a lot of sense. And I I've I can see it all the time where guys that are playing well, they're just they're on it. They're seeing it.

And and I think part of the reason that it's in some ways, it's hard to identify or it hasn't been identified until sort of in the last few years is that it's one of those things where it's it's so it's so simple. And when guys are on, they it makes they make it look so easy. It's not like, oh, there's a new technique out there that is is groundbreaking. It's no. He's just looking at this thing, this black piece of rubber that's coming at him.

It doesn't jump off the page. It actually you notice it more when the player doesn't. And it but it's it's hard to wrap your head around why that would be. Yet, it's it's so fundamental and at the core of everything we do as a goalie, it's it's it's become a real trigger, I believe. Now there have been coaches who've looked at it and and they they come to, I think, the same result from different aspects, and and maybe don't wanna get so caught up in one particular thing that you're gonna focus on.

But for me, it it's what drives everything about the position and it and it's so fundamental at the core.

You had all those different goalie coaches over the years. What what was the transition like for like, what did you enjoy about goalie like, goalie coach? And be honest with you, got to chance to I got a chance to watch you work with guys like Ryan Miller, Eddie Lack. Watch that and kinda thought there was a bright like, that this was gonna be your future endeavor, and yet you switched over to radio. So what was the thought process through those two career transitions after playing?

Well, a couple things. I mean, I I was I was lucky enough to play with have so many great goalie coaches. I played in eight different organizations and and won twice, and even the team I like, I I had two different goalie coaches in my two different stints in Ottawa. So I got to experience extra. And, before Ian Clark came to Vancouver originally, I also had Andy Moog.

So it's like I've had a lot of coaches and that helped me and hurt me. It helped me in my coaching for sure. It helped me understand different ways to say the same thing, which is great for relating to different players and different goalies and different athletes and personalities. But it also hurt because I didn't really have that continuity. Outside of Ian Clark for four years of of my five years with the Canucks organization.

I didn't have the same it's not I didn't leave the season ending meeting and arrive with the same goalie coach the next year like ever outside of those four years, which is really tough because you're not building on anything. You're you're in a way starting from scratch with this foundation you already have, but everyone's got their tweaks and different ways of getting there. So I think that hurt in a way, but it also helped my ability to analyze and coach. And I loved coaching. I I I still am involved coaching at a minor hockey level with my children.

But for me, it I never wanted to get to the position where I was chasing coaching. And what I mean by that is having to be stuck in the travel and the commitments of a full season and traveling with an NHL team or or whatever level it was at. I just that wasn't the right fit for my family or myself. And that grind isn't isn't something that's really been entertained by me. Like, I I don't really see that as a as a future for myself.

And then I got the opportunity with the new radio station in Vancouver Sportsnet 650 to have kind of this scenario where I don't have to travel, like I said, and and I get to watch hockey and talk about hockey, which is very natural for me. It's a little bit different because it's away from the goalie position, but at the same time, I always sort of am the default guy when something goalie related comes up, I get asked about it. And, it's it's been fun, but it's I agree. Like, I could have seen coaching as as a as a path for me if it was this ideal perfect scenario and I could write my terms and and have it be the exact way I wanted, but you're probably not gonna get to that point without having to go through a lot of the the grueling aspects of it as well.

Certainly not the first guy to jump from goaltending to an analysis, whether it's television or radio, and not just the goaltending position, as you said, just being able to speak in general terms. Is that kinda like catchers in baseball? I think I I have a theory as to why so many of them end up in the position. It's because we see everything in front of us in the game. We're sort of integral to everything that goes on, and we're just smarter than everyone else.

No. You have a bunch of defensemen as analysts. Come on. Let's be honest here. Well, why do you think it is?

Why? Like, look around the league, man. Like, of the best analysts, TV, national, like, ex goaltenders.

Lot of goalies doing that. It's a few things. Part of it is the fact you spend so much of the game watching. Whether you're playing or on the bench, like you're when you're on the bench, it's the rare situation where you actually can be just fully watching. Like, you don't even have to be you think about a player when they're not on the ice, they're still they're recovering for their next shift.

They're preparing mentally for their next shift. They're they're constantly looking at it that way from through a very, like, selfish lens, and and that's just the way they need to be in that competitive mindset. But for a goaltender who's not playing, it's I mean, it's it's you're there, you're in it, but you're also you're constantly picking up all this stuff. And then even when you're playing, most of the game is spent watching and watching it unfold and you see you start to pick up the natural rhythms and the patterns of it. The other aspect though is the flip side of it, which is the type of mindset that's probably attracted to the position in the beginning and the serve to survive and make it at the highest level, you have to have that sort of clinical mind of analysis and being able to put that into practice and be able to to use that and not get so caught up in results because results are kind of if you only worry about results, like your career is gonna be over pretty quickly because you have to find a way to build through some tough patches as well.

So you have to build that analytical mind or you that's your sort of initial mindset coming in anyway. So I think it's twofold. You're watching the game all the time, but that also is the mindset that's sort of attracted to the position.

Okay. I wanted to touch a little bit. We're getting tight on time. I wanted to ask you about how you manage all those different voices. I think that is a tough thing for kids.

They go with different teams, minor pros. Yeah. We see it at the juniors. Right? They gotta go to their junior coach.

They got their summer coach, and they get the team Canada coach, things like that. We might have to come like, I think you and I could probably talk goaltending for hours.

[crosstalk] We'll come

back to Sure.

That for another day, but I did wanna give you one I want one last plug here. Yep. The pride of Thunder Bay. Like, we see I just did the breakdown for this year for the playoffs on Matt Murray. Thunder Bay guy who credits you.

I think he got a used set of equipment one

year Brand for new.

Brand new. You don't deal in used. Get them brand new for sort of fueling that passion for him at a young age. Carter Hutton. Mackenzie Blackwood was through town here.

Remember talking to him and how much pride he took in Thunder Bay? You're like the OG of Thunder Bay Goaltending along with goalie coach Colin Zulianello. So we're I don't wanna overstate the role and and make you blush here in the in the Jerry Seinfeld I'll

take it. I'll take it.

Okay. There we go. So how much pride do you take in that? Like, I mean, this is not a big town that has produced a lot of goaltenders, and a lot of them when you talk about it point to you as sort of being one of the leaders that way.

Well, first of all, produced a lot of players. And it's Stall brothers. Yeah. Well, the the Stall a lot of brother combos too. Actually, Stall brothers, Piatt brothers, the Johnson brothers.

I grew up down the street from Ryan and Greg Johnson, and that was and I've told Ryan and Greg both this that, like, watching Greg Johnson pull into our cul de sac in his Corvette convertible back in the early nineties was was to me, it was like, oh, like, oh, someone can make it from here. And I so I don't look at it that I'm like, I think the the fact the goalie made it is what allows opened up some people's eyes, not the fact that a Corvette convertible? No. I didn't. No.

But it was, it was, Escalade. But anyway, it was different time. A different time then. But I think it was just the fact that a goalie from Thunder Bay made it sort of opened the door to a lot of these kids and that, okay, we can we can go play major junior or Carter Hutton took a different path and ended up at college. And, like, those types of things are I think that's part of it as well, but it's a it's a tremendous hockey environment.

Colin Zulianello deserves a lot of credit because he's he I didn't get to work with him as a young guy because he's just a couple years older than me, he was still playing while I was playing. But he's a guy who who's worked with a lot of these guys at younger ages as well and and worked strong in development. He's now

and just so so people know, Colin Zulianello is now the American Hockey League goaltending coach for the Calgary Flames.

That's right. And but the real OG of Thunder Bay goaltending is Johnny Adams. Played for the Boston Bruins way back in the day, and and, you know, we we had so he's that's kind of a name I like to shut out. But I had I had good goalie coaching very young age as well. Rick Barenic was my my hockey coach, but he also ran some goalie schools and then Derek Getty is a couple years older.

I got more constant structure and it wasn't like I was going to massive goalie camps, but it was like ten, fifteen minutes every practice were spent on goalie specific movement. And I pride myself in being a strong skater, not just from a goalie point of view, but just skating in general. And that carried me through a lot of tough patches that I had later on because I was able to skate the game.

And so guys that just I was taught more than I think a lot of kids were at that age, at that time in the in like the early nineties, about the position. I got more constant structure and and it wasn't like I was going to massive goalie camps, but it was like ten, fifteen minutes every practice were spent on goalie specific movement. And I pride myself in being a strong skater, not just from a goalie point of view, but just skating in general. And that carried me through a lot of tough patches that I had later on because I was able to skate the game.

Perfect. Alex, I think I'd like to make this a semi regular segment. Really enjoyed having you on today.

Find a sponsor and we'll do it.

I'm on it. I'm on it. Okay. Alex, thanks a lot

for joining

the InGoal Podcast. And, hey, we did the car thing, but we didn't actually go anywhere. So it's just a little creepy, but that's okay.

Know what's the most bizarre part of that interview is until the very end when you reminded us once again that you were in your car, I forgot that you guys were doing that in a vehicle again. This is becoming a bit of a thing. The sound quality is pretty good there, Woody.

Yeah. That's because we weren't going anywhere. We were in the bowels of Rogers Arena after the Canucks had had their, you know, their annual before the playoffs start, let's clean on our lockers and go home session. It's becoming annual. And so, yeah, if you thought I got the a few strange looks driving through Vancouver, having a conversate passing a mic back and forth with Roberto Luongo, we definitely got a few like, Alex is a big guy and my car's not big.

And just like the two of us sitting there in a parked car for twenty minutes talking back and forth with microphones may have looked a little odd.

Alex Auld should voice our intro. When we get to the point where we have this fancy professional intro, Hutch, lit that voice.

He's so good.

He's a goalie and he's got the great voice with the pipes, I think we hire him on.

He's polished, he's polished. He'd be welcome to be a member of the team anytime.

Yeah and he's got some great stories, we could use him, that's for sure. He's beauty.

I thought it was, it was so great to listen to that because so many of the things that he talked about, the background stories, I I think we all on the periphery knew a little bit about that. We knew who was a great gear geek and so on, but his ability to to go right inside and tell us some details that that certainly we weren't aware of, just fantastic. Felt like I was there. Great

story, Old goalie?

Oh, I yeah. That wasn't how it was intended. I think it was intended as like a more, you know, like a little kinder or original gangster of the Yeah. Of that. Okay.

Yeah. I didn't just call him an old goalie. But like a lot of old goalies, he doesn't play anymore. Gangster part. Yeah.

It's just oh, gee. He's the original. The original.

Okay, okay. The bars on the mask, the fact that Tim Thomas had to see the ice, I thought the straight bars was a safety feature like Hasek wore the straight bars. No. I never thought of it as looking down.

You must have missed that article at ingoalmagazine.com, Daren.

Yeah. I'm new. Okay. I'm new.

Yeah, no, he was Tim was obsessed with that type of stuff. Like vision was real, as Alex said, really important to him And he grew up with, you know, sort of approved vertical bar cages. He felt the sight lines were better, but to make sure the sight lines were right, like the level of detail that he broke it down to, I I I think it was Tony Otney was building the the bars for him, and there was a lot of back and forth about them being like I said, I'm not kidding. He had a micrometer in there to measure them about them being a little too thick or not far apart or, like, he it was, hey. Gotta see the puck to stop the puck.

Tim may have looked like an unmade bed at times from a style perspective, but few times we talked to him over the years, he was one of the greats that get, you know, sort of interacting with us. You understood just how much detail and sort of thought went into the way he made those saves. And by the end when the gear was all mismatched, it wasn't pretty to look at, but one of the most effective guys in history for a couple of his runs there and obviously has the trophies to prove it.

Just I wonder if there's anything actually to it or whether it was just his thing because nobody else has adopted that. What do think, Hutch?

It's great question. Why hasn't somebody? I think the cat eye is obviously a stylistic thing everybody just loves

That's a mirror test, right?

Loves the look and it's still also an unapproved cage that's not quite so widely available. So that's a fascinating question. I wonder if somebody will come along and give it a go after listening to this.

Come on, if you're using that style of cage, let us know why. The unmade bed is a is a good one because as far as a phrase because that's sort of what you get if you go out and you demo gear and you try out gear. Sometimes it doesn't match your sweater or your gloves but you're just trying something out and that's part of this week's theme as we gear up the Brian's Gnetik four on the list for Woody at the most wonderful place a goalie can be.

Gear

Welcome back to The Hockey Shop Source for Sports here in Surrey with Cam Matwiv. We're in the basement again, little slice of hockey heaven. Although I gotta say today, it's busy out front in the store or busier. Normally I get you at weird hours before anyone's here. Little more middle of the day.

It's crazy. So we went into the backroom and our listeners don't get a chance to see this, but if you guys think that the front room with, like, all those walls of pads is cool back here, man, it's like it's just rows and rows floor to ceiling of the coolest gear. And as I peek around the room, I see a corner for demo sets. And that's one of the cool things about Hockey Shop Source for Sports if you live in the area. We've had this question as a listener question from several people.

I hear about the new gear, but I don't get to test it. If you live in this area, you can. These guys do have demo sets. They'll let you take them out on the ice. Try it before you buy it kind of thing, which I love.

I mean, obviously, we're spoiled here at InGoal. We get to try it all. And we and and we we try and facilitate for for goalies that test for us is the same thing. But if you're not one of those lucky people, you can come to the Hockey Shop Source for Sports, and you get to test stuff. And then when it becomes a generation or two old, there's a demo sale.

We haven't announced the date yet, but it's coming. So keep your eyes out on all their social media channels because I'm looking at I'm looking at a pile of really nice gear here that I know is gonna be on sale real soon leading up to their TendyFest, the big day of goaltending festival, at Burnaby 8 Rinks, which is gonna be May 26 this year. So a lot of information I just threw at you. I got Cam with me here in the basement. Welcome back, Cam, and we're gonna shift our focus now from the big picture to the Brian's Gnetik four line.

We've kinda gone through every line. We figured let's keep going. I know this launched in November, but as people make buying decisions for the summer for next year's set of pads, I think it's really important to include this as, you know, again, not brand new, never seen it before, but in some ways, maybe even better because you've actually had some feedback on it, and been able to adjust some of the preferences based on what customers are telling you. So let's just start with the pad. Brian's Gnetik for sorta key differences and who it's for and what the style is.

Yeah. So the Gnetik4, again, having had the chance to have it in front of us, like, we've we've definitely got some real third feedback on the pad. You know, we got our great review up online done by Jono. In terms of, okay, who's this pad for? Brian's is marketing it as that hybrid style of a pad.

So the pad's torsionally flexible. Flexible. It's light on the leg. One of the biggest differences you're gonna find between this and an optic, though, would be the thickness profile of the pad, especially, you know, upper thigh portion. Really important for those, like, you know, those floppy rebounds that you sometimes get in a five fold.

So Brian's has thickened that up. They've also, just for that upper portion as a stock pad from what we have on the wall, have it a bit stiffer than what you would find in an Optic pad in particular. But this is something that's totally customizable to your own preference. One of the other, big kind of callouts, the strapping has changed just a little bit. So this will be different from what you've seen on the optic, is their x strapping.

Here, we just have one large cap strap and basically one knee strap. Simplifies the pad a little bit more, keeps the weight down, really allows for a great rotation.

Designed to fit, is it again, because there's the flex profile and it's a little bit more flexible towards the boot and the bottom. It's kinda that's something that's gone through most of Brian's lines, but seems to fit this one in particular. Designed to be worn tight, designed to be worn loose, one of those pads that tries to be all things.

You can really do kind of all things with it because you can get in here and adjust as usual with a Brian's pad, and you can really pull that. We'll we'll call it their smart strap again very tight, or you can leave it a little bit looser if you like a bit tighter rotation. You know, the ability for preference plays well in any style kind of for this pad for sure. Again, moving forward with it, the the knee cradle has changed up a little bit. They've gone with a lighter gray SBA material for their knee cradle just in terms of for grip and feel wise.

Moving down to the boot, they've changed up their toe strapping. So they've gotten rid of their smart toe that you've seen on the optic and past. So they've evolved a little bit and changed it over to a bungee system. A little closer to what you're seeing on the new two x pad and also with some of the house straps that have been kind of kicking around. So Brian says their own exclusive strap.

Those will also be available aftermarket, which will hop up on the wall.

I like this switch actually. As much as their original smart strap, they're one of the early innovators on on having an elastic strapping system as a toe tie. But one of the feedback we did get was as much as you could tighten it up, a little loose, a little too much play in it almost, and and the ability to kind of you kicked your skate out to almost expose the bottom of your foot because of that looseness below the bottom of the pad. So this looks like it's a you know, along the lines, as you said, where other other companies are going, probably a little more connected at the toe while still having that mobility of the skate to get an easy edge.

Exactly. Exactly. So a great feature and a good complement to the pad. And then one of the final features that are worth calling out, we definitely see the return of OptiSlide. So that's, Brian's primo material on the entire slide surface of the pad.

Great addition. Slide's fantastic. You know, we've already had tons of feedback from the optic line. It's been tested. Definitely something that works great.

Yeah. That was definitely something that in our reviews and with all the testers, like like, right from beer league up to junior guys that tested that pad for us, we've actually got a junior a kid, major junior no. Sorry. Junior a kid in The States right now testing that pad for us, and the sliding is you know, that's that's something that everyone notices right away. So it's nice to see that continue.

Strapping, you mentioned sort of that one strap on the back, but there are options to to add strapping to it, both one down around the lower calf if you really want it snug. And for lack of a better term, a professor style strapping option, again, don't have to have it. But if you want, you can have that type of rotational strap above the calf as well on this pad.

Yeah. They're both removable. And, you know, some of our stop pads didn't have it at first, but we continue to order them actually with all the straps. It's an option on their customizer, to order with both straps, they call it. So if, say, for example, you wanna set and you don't have it, we can always get the straps for you.

Very fairly easy there.

Okay. You touched on the flex profile, but just, you know, for those that know what the Brian's numbers mean, walk us through from sort of the boot break to the break at the knee to the break in the thigh. What how this sets up stock and what kind of changes you've seen guys that do order custom from you want to make.

Yeah. So Brian's has a flex system that runs one through five. So one being no break at all, two being an internal break, three being at both internal and external, four being a softer version of that, and five being the dead softest of them all. Butter soft. Exactly.

Soft like my hands. I don't wanna touch them.

This is what happens when you do no manual labor. I thought I was making a hockey reference, but the truth is I'm just soft. Okay. I interrupted. Go ahead.

But, normally, we don't necessarily recommend going to the five just because it is so soft and and can lead to some premature wear and breakdown. Normally and actually with their stock setup that they have it here, so it's a one above above the thigh, so no break. Three, which is an outer roll break and internal break at, below the knee. And then four for their boot flex. To be honest, I kinda recommend the stock setup for it.

It seems to complement the pad the best. I've had a few guys kinda change it around. They want us a little bit stiffer below the knees, so they take out the outer roll break. I've had some guys that do want a little bit more flex up with the upper thighs. We've gone to that three.

I even had an order for a four. Just again, based on feel from their old previous pads, they just wanted more flex. But that's

a And that's the beauty of Brian. Right? Like like, I wouldn't recommend the four. And a matter of fact, in our early reviews of, like, the Gnetiku00a0two line, that was one thing we worried about. We felt like a four in the thigh got a little too floppy too quick.

Pucks could actually hit and get through the five hole a little bit. But there's no one way to play this position. There's no one preference for gear. Everybody has different sort of unique individual things that they like. And when it comes to Brian's, you want a different, they'll make it for you.

They they definitely cater. I mean, you know, even I had a request a while ago, I want more lively rebounds from the pad. So I've added a thicker piece of HD foam to the front face of the pad for a customer. So, you know, they're flexible. We're flexible.

Tell me what your needs are. We We can make it happen.

Well, and, course, anybody who listened to one of our early episodes of the podcast with, pro rep Chris knows. They went through this with with Robin Lehner who likes the boot of his pad to be buttery soft, and it was a process to get there, but now he's got it dialed in. And what I love is, you know, whether it's stock off the rack with the fact that you can dial this pad into different preferences or ordering custom from Brian's, kind of a best of both worlds is where they've ended up as they've gone through their two different lines. You'll flex in the boot, but not too soft up top. You can have a traditional tight feel, but you've still got that fast sliding with the OptiSlide.

So, a lot of good features on this pad. Okay. Moving on. Gnetiku00a04 glove and Genetic 4 blocker. We'll start with the mitt, which closes beautifully out of the box.

Breaks, angles, options, differences. Walk us through.

See. So basically here, they refined the Gnetiku00a03 glove would be probably the biggest starting point with it. But when Brian set out, they wanted to have the one of the most flexible gloves right off the bat. And to be honest, it's I feel like they've accomplished that for sure. Mean, I you pick this glove up in your hand and it's fresh out of a plastic and you're already sitting there closing it and you feel like you could use it, you know, in a game, no problem.

It's fantastic. You'll see on the backside of the glove that they've continued with their, boa system. So that carries over from the optic series. A great addition for the genetic, really get a nice tight fit in the hand, but you're not gonna sacrifice anything. So a lot of guys when they sit there, they really crank on that wrist strap.

It kinda locks their wrist into the glove almost and kinda holds it here. This because of they have a free floating cuff to it, it it flows really nicely. You know, you don't have that problem for sure.

So And I and, I mean, that floating cuff, jeez, I wanna say it's almost back to the original sub zero. We've reviewed all these lines over the years. I can't remember where the first one is, but it's one of those things when you get it the first time, you're like, wow. I like that. And so it's nice to see all these years later, it hasn't changed because if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And what you what you love or what we've always loved about their floating cuff right through the bowline when we tested the optic last year's, you can crank that hand in tight, but still, like you said, have that wrist mobility so that you can you know, goalies like that so you can present that glove sort of open and square and big at the shooter and take that space away and not feel like you're just locked in a straight line down the wrist and into your hand. It's, you know, like I said, don't it ain't it ain't broke, don't fix it, and it's nice to see them continue with that in the line.

Yeah. Or if you find something that works really well, apply it to your next line, which is definitely what's happened here for sure. Other than that, in terms of for overall feel wise, like, you've used a genetic glove in the past, especially more recent one, like a three, you know, it's not gonna feel too far off. Pocket, lot of pucks.

A deep pocket really sorta from the thumb line down, that angle is steep. Anything that sort of hits thumb down ends up in that pocket. That's it's kind of been one of the things that sets this glove apart right from the I know it's changed since the original genetic, but that's been one of the things that's that's always been sort of a nice feature.

It's a real catcher's glove. That's the best way to call it.

For people who actually catch pucks, novel concept.

Move moving on towards the blocker. For them, for the blocker, in terms of changes, I would say it's a lot less and closer to similarities to the Gnetiku00a03. Balance point for the blocker feels better. You do see the boa system here now, as well-being transferred over. Sidewall, everything, you know, similar to what you've seen in the past.

But that said, just overall feel of the blocker on your hand and balance has improved, like, I would say, drastically. It's a great feeling blocker for what it is. You gotta try it on your hand.

Yeah. It's a lot a lot of risk mobility. Might not be the, like, sort of a beefy board, not the beefiest sideboard like we have. There are other models out there, other options that sort of might have a little thicker, a little less flex in the sideboard. But, hey, there are still goalies that want that to have that sort of softness isn't the right term, but not have as beefed up a sideboard.

And, you know, for those guys, they're gonna like this. Okay. That's a blocker for the Gnetiku00a04. But before we wrap this up, Cam, you handed the glove over to me while you were talking about the blocker, and I realized we forgot to talk about one thing. This glove, when you put it on the ice, it's flat.

It actually there's no gap over, which was one of our pet peeves. Love Brian's, but we called it out in almost every review that we did. Small pet peeve. When the glove was new, it closed great. But when you lay it flat to cover a puck on the ice, there's always a gap at the top of the pocket.

And to the point where if you move the glove, the puck didn't necessarily stay with it. You could actually uncover a puck, and it happened to a few of our testers, and, obviously, we noted it. They fixed it.

Yeah. You can it's a full seal all the way around. Not nothing sliding out. Nothing sliding through. You go to go seal, it's covered.

If I could stay if I could do a golf a proper golf clap right now, like, that was a big one for us. We love the line, but it was always that, you know, you had to have one little pet peeve. And like I said, we mentioned it in every review, and it's nice to see that, that it's no longer an issue. Alright. That's it.

We've wrapped up the Gnetik 4 pads, the glove, the blocker available at The Hockey Shop Source for Sports, thehockeyshop.com. If you've got questions about custom orders, Cam has some ideas on some of the tweaks he'd make to the glove if you were ordering customer in terms

it must have been cool.

Yeah. I know. I mean, it's, like, literally just shelving and, like, it's like a warehouse style thing. And the thing is I know they've got more gear at a separate off, you know, off location warehouse because you can't fit it all in the in the actual store. So what you saw in that Instagram video, the people that saw it with me doing a quick tour of that lower basement, that's just that's just what out what's out on the rack.

I mean, they really do have a crap ton of goalie gear, and I got to just sort of hang out amidst it all. And and it's funny. It's kind of like the NHL guy. Right? Like, NHL guys, do you get sick of getting new gear?

Does it and some of them say, no. It's still pretty cool. I mean, it's not the same. It's not Christmas. It's kind of like that.

That's my Christmas getting new gear and seeing new gear. I I still get geeked by it.

Outro

Why that while that was running, I know that you were doing some digging and just loop us back into the Tim Thomas straight bar.

Well, I hard timed you a little bit about not reading that article. It was actually an article we did with Tim. Timmy was great when he was playing. He used to answer emails from me on you know, as they were getting ready for the flight to take off after a Boston Bruins game. And he's kinda like like the he's like us.

He's like he's like the people this podcast is intended for. He really is into every aspect of the game. And so when we did this article, one of the questions that came in was from Jacob Brown. He says he's an InGoal reader from a goaltender from Edmonton, Alberta. That was a few years back, so I assume assume he's still playing.

And he asked what prompted you to redefine the face mask of goaltendering that you now choose to wear? I'm a huge fan of the change because I could see the benefits it could give a goaltender with extra vision. We also had reader Daniel Hesslop ask about what he called the Voprae cage and the sight lines. And here's Tim's answer. This will this could be our listener question for the week.

As a kid, you grow up using the vertical bars and through college. So I was using vertical bars until age 23. So when I decided to go back and try it, it was an easy adjustment. It felt comfortable right away because I'd already spent eighteen years with the vertical bars. The cat eye obviously straight ahead of you, you got great vision.

But when it gets on its way into your body, I've always found you lose the puck a little bit as it is getting really close to your body. It's only, like, two or three feet out where you lose it, and the puck ends up going into a jumble of bars there. That's the one thing my new cage is better at. And also when the puck falls down into you, with the cat's eye, I always had a hard time even when you go to cover it. Yeah.

I was only half seeing the puck. But with the one I'm wearing now, the vertical bars, I I can really see it. Personal preference, I guess, but I feel good with that. So there's kinda what Alex was talking about, how he really felt he needed to see that puck down low in front of him into his feet. And there's your answer as to why Tim Thomas used vertical bars instead of a traditional cat eye.

Hey. We were talking couple weeks ago about Frederik Andersen having world class vision. And there's Tim Thomas talking about slightly losing the puck in the bars in the last two to three feet as the puck approaches his body. How many of us honestly see the puck that well? That's incredible.

Yeah. Two to three feet. It's going at such a rate. It's I don't know how you'd even quantify that.

It's elite. Well, what qualifies it is, like you said, Hutch, the elite no. Yeah. My eyes are closed half the time I'm freaking out there. But this is also Alex talked about this because he's seen the science behind it when we talk about modern tracking.

There are body mechanics in terms of how we push to the ice and what that does with the way our body moves, whether our head comes down or whether it lifts up with our shoulders because we push with our knees and how that difference is the difference between being able to stay on the puck visually longer or having it get underneath that vision that we cause you to lose it. Whether it's in the past last two or three feet or a lot earlier, frankly, than that for a lot of goalies, where it's really sort of underneath your most effective field of vision, which is kinda right in the center of your socket. So the stuff that Tim not surprisingly, the stuff that Tim was doing was significantly ahead of the curve, and that included the way the way he saw the puck, the way he looked at the puck, and and changing his cage to to to be able to do so better.

Hey. Once you're once you're done tracking every goal scored in the NHL this year inside of about three days, Kevin, maybe you should go back to some old Timmy Thomas video and and see what you think now in retrospect having gone and learned all this about modern tracking because that wasn't something for you back when he was playing.

Yeah. One better. I'm gonna send Timmy an email, see if we can get him on to talk about it.

Wouldn't that be great?

I'm fine with that. Makes your life easier.

One of my favorites.

That that was And it makes this podcast incredible.

Sorry, Daren. What that was one of my toughest moments as a professional writer. Game seven, 2011. Obviously, I cover the stat the Canucks as my local team. You don't cheer for teams when you're in the media as a professional, you're an objective observer, but you can't help but cheer for people and cheer for storylines.

You you tend to it becomes about the people because you're around them on a daily basis. And obviously our first guest on the podcast, one of the first goalies I wrote about for Goalie News Magazine back in the day was Roberto Luongo. And the heartbreak of having to go into that Canucks locker room minutes after they lost game seven and see that raw emotion and ask questions pointed, know, at times about the way it ended for them. And then the juxtaposition of that with going on the ice and the joy and the back and knowing the backstory and having shared the backstory and shared time with him of being on the ice as Tim Thomas lifted the Stanley Cup and celebrated. Like, that that was just heart torn out and then heart lifted with, like, all within minutes of each other well on deadline.

And Tim is I know at the end, wasn't the most popular guy for some people for a lot of reasons, but I have all the time in the world for him as a goaltender. And in my experiences, the way he the way he treated us certainly and and the way he shared the passion, I think, that binds us from PW to pro as goaltenders, the way he shared that those insights with us at InGoal Magazine over the years. So if we can get them on, absolutely. One of my all time favorites.

I think there's a real lesson to be learned from Tim Thomas on the mirror test. He didn't care, he wore the different helmet, he wore the different cage, he mismatched equipment at times, he tried things and I just we get so focused with good reason and our manufacturers are doing an incredible job with developing good, safe and attractive equipment with these graphics, but he didn't care. He just wanted the best stuff that was that was great for him stopping the puck. So there's that part of it. Go ahead.

I was gonna say, I wonder I've been a part of minor hockey evaluations. I stopped doing it because of some of the stupidity I saw, but I know I wonder how often this happens. I know at least one where there was a kid who wasn't the most technically refined. His gear didn't match, so he didn't look like a goalie. And this is this is, like, ten, eleven before before that should really matter, frankly.

This kid has more raw skill and innate ability to read the game than all these other goalie school goalies on the ice combined. But he didn't look like goalie, Daren, and his stuff wasn't matched, and he'd never been a goalie school that was pretty clear. And he was the first one cut in the house, probably never saw a goalie coach the entire year because of it.

And I'm like, this kid has more raw skill and innate ability to read the game than all these other goalie school goalies on the ice combined. But he didn't look like goalie, Daren, and his stuff wasn't matched, and he'd never been a goalie school that was that was pretty clear. And he was the first one cut in the house, probably never saw a goalie coach the entire year because of it. So it's you know, those looks I'm with you a 100, but sometimes they matter to the people that are picking the kids too.

The other part of it is the cage and I'm going get some weird looks from you guys and people that are listening from the podcast will react to it but I played with a guy and when he played Junior, he wore the eye tech and I'm not sure you would want to do that now with the pucks that are firing but I wonder whether we're ever going to get to a stage where guys wear the clear shield so there's no bars in front of you. Oh man. I knew I was going to get that reaction. No, no, I knew I was going to get that reaction from you but do we ever get to the stage where the quality of equipment and protection is reliable enough that you can just have a window in front of you?

I'm actually kind of hoping for just the giant bubble because it gives me more neck coverage when I'm down on my knees. And plus and plus, let's be honest, you guys have heard me talk. My brain needs a giant bubble to protect it. I'm looking for a square footage when I when I when I go to something new.

Well, there there's no rules on helmet sizing. Right? So my son asked if he could get a helmet that's six by four.

He's he's smarter than you. Yeah. He's already he's already smarter than you. What about, the shootout? We we say goodbye to it as we enter the playoffs and some some dispute down the stretch about, pace of the shootout.

Sure. Well, we did have a Kevin said we were only gonna do the one reader question, but let's dive into one more. Dave Livingston, don't know where he's from, didn't say, sent in a question. He said, hey, guys. Love the podcast.

Great to hear commentary specific to goalies. Question for y'all with some of the ridiculously slow skating leading to an easy shootout goal where the goalie really has no chance. Will we ever see a a clock put on on the shootout, perhaps five seconds to release the puck? You know, if I were to jump in there, Daren, I don't think we can ever put a clock on it. God forbid, or we'd be having video reviews to see how long it took before the puck left the the shooter's stick, but but I do think we need to do something about it.

Everybody, those who don't like the shootout complain that it's a skills competition that doesn't mirror the game. And I think those, ridiculously slow, skaters emphasize that and make it more of a gimmick and less of a hockey play. So I would love to see something. You know, the easy solution we were joking about earlier is to have a chaser. Put Connor McDavid on the blue line when there's a shootout against the Oilers and let him chase down the guy who's who's taking the shot.

But, of course, that sadly would look even more gimmicky. So I don't know what the solution is, but I'd love to see something done.

Just give the back official a cattle prod.

Yep. There you go.

You know, a little voltage in there, a little leak. Yep. Hey. If you don't get there fast enough, it's gonna hurt.

Yeah. I mean, look, I was I was at some tryouts this weekend, and instead of penalties, they they called penalty shots, they lined up both teams on the blue line, and they they could chase, and the play was live afterwards. It's a it's a fun way to to play.

Yeah. The only the only problem with that one is every time you play the Oilers, like, like, you'd start at center and you'd be allowed to start chasing when the guy hits the blue line, let's say. McDavid would have him by the top of the circles, lift him the puck, and take him the ticket

the other way. So what so what is the solution? What is the solution? I don't

blame the players. I don't blame the players because No. Goalies have cheated forever and and players are gonna use every excuse or everything to their, availability to try and get an advantage.

Solution is

Until it's illegal. More poke checks. More

poke

Poke yeah but you look so silly. You look so silly. I don't know, a base speed would be great, but again, who's gonna have a rare gun out doing that? Or just play overtime longer.

That's Well, I would love to see three on three go longer. Just added so much excitement to the game. Bring it on.

Not to to pull my goalie union card out here, but I think the the guys wearing the big pads might protest another another five minutes of backdoor tap ins and fully extended plays in a busy 82 game schedule where they're already having trouble managing fatigue. I'm not sure the goalie you knew would be too keen on another five minutes of that fire wagon hockey.

Guys, have a great week. Okay?

We will. You enjoy Winnipeg. It

is playoff time. Who will be the hero in the first round? We're looking for one right now. From the red mile to the white out, the road to glory becomes even more challenging now because April is for spring flowers in Vegas, but also for thunderstorms and lightning in Central Florida. 16 goalies will start, Hutch, Woody, but even more will play as sports ultimate pressure cooker centers its focus on the crease.

Enjoy the action. For Alex Hall, Kevin Woodley, David Hutchison, and The Hockey Shop Source for Sports, I'm Daren Millard. Track puck and play well.