Pro-Reads: James Reimer – Layered Screen Shot
With James Reimer
James Reimer has tips for dealing with screen shots and how he likes to find the puck.
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We had the opportunity in the summer to sit down with James Reimer after a practice session to go over some saves from his previous season in Florida. Today we look at one of them, a common threat in today’s game which takes an otherwise routine save a goaltender could make 99% of the time if he had a clear line of sight and reduces his chances significantly.
The Layered Screen
Screen shots are difficult to handle on their own but an even more challenging situation develops when that becomes a layered screen where the goaltender has to find sightlines through not just multiple bodies but multiple screens at different depths in a very dynamic situation.
Rather than laying out the entire situation here, take a moment to watch the play up until the screen. We’ll freeze it then and you can take a moment to consider a few things: How would you find a sightline given all the bodies in front? What is happening in the scene; where will the bodies shift next and how might that influence your read and positioning? and finally, what is the most likely threat here and where will it manifest itself in front of Reimer when the puck arrives for him to make a save?
The Save
You have now had a chance to look at what James Reimer had to deal with in this situation. Of course he had to manage with it at NHL game speed on the ice, not from the bird’s eye view we have with the benefit of slow motion and a freeze frame.
Let’s pick it up where we ended the video above and play through to the save. Did he handle the screen the way you would have? Did you imagine the flow of bodies and the shot opportunity playing out as it did?
The Pro-Read
The layered screen is one of the most challenging situations in the game. Indeed, if the shot makes it through and on the net the goaltender does not have a very good chance of making a save – the expected save percentage of a layered screen, according to Clearsight Analytics, is only about 15%.
As we saw above though, how Reimer saw the play developing and how he chose to fight for a line of sight played into his being able to come up with a save. Listen in now as Reimer gives us some excellent insight into how he, along with his then-goaltending coach with Florida, Rob Tallas, choose to play screens like this and how that played into this save.
Watch James Reimer break down the full video for you
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- James Reimer breaks down his save on a layered screen shot from his Florida Panthers season, explaining how he found sightlines through multiple bodies at different depths.
- A layered screen is more dangerous than a standard screen because the goaltender must track sightlines through bodies positioned at varying depths simultaneously, in a rapidly shifting, dynamic situation.
- According to Clearsight Analytics, the expected save percentage on a layered screen shot is only 15%, meaning even elite goaltenders are expected to stop just 1 in 7 of these shots.
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