Imagine sitting down with one of the best goaltenders in the world and having him run a private video session for you. You and Carey Price, for example, breaking down his game footage so he can show you exactly what he was thinking on a given play. Carey showing you what he saw and how he took that into account as he made the save, often preparing for multiple threats, and multiple options for the opposing team.

That’s exactly what Pro-Reads is all about.

Throughout the year InGoal gets a chance to sit down with the pros to talk goaltending. We ask the same kind of questions you’d ask if you could be there with us – which is exactly where we’d love for you to be. Right beside us, learning from the top goaltenders in the game.

That’s what Pro Reads is all about. Bringing you with us to learn from the pros.

This piece is the first in our Pro-Reads series and every week we will bring you a new Pro-Reads save. It’s all part of what we do for our members, here at InGoal.

And now…on to our first save and our first Pro-Read. This week we start with the man many consider to be the best goaltender in the game. He’s a Hart and Vezina Trophy Winner and the Montreal Canadiens all-time winningest goaltender. Each summer we are fortunate to sit down with Carey Price and this past August he began our pro-reads series breaking down several of his saves from the past few seasons.

The Situation

We begin with a brief but common scenario for a goaltender. It’s a shorthanded situation vs. the New York Rangers where two Montreal defenders get caught out of position leaving the Rangers with multiple scoring options.

Let’s take a look at the full play before we hear from Price. See what you can see in the video. Pause it if you’d like and consider what Price had to account for – at NHL game speed without the benefit of a high camera angle, of course.

The Save

Price’s Pro-Read

Now that you have had a chance to see the full play, let’s take the opportunity to listen in as Price tells us how he read and responded to the play for Pro-Reads.

Summary

What are your thoughts on Price’s read? This was just one of a series of reads he shared with us, looking back on previous seasons and not even pausing in his analysis. He remembered very well that his two defenders were caught and the implications for the play. We expect he also hesitated ever so slightly seeing the mid-slot player who also had an option on the play, delaying his rotation ever so slightly – making the back door save even more impressive in this power-play situation.

Let us know in the comments below what you think of the first in our pro-read series, what you thought of Price’s analysis, or whatever might add to the discussion!

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