Question: “With rinks being closed, and seasons, group training and on-ice activity being canceled for now due to the coronavirus, my son is going stir crazy. I know that players can shoot hundreds of pucks each day to improve, but what can my goalie be doing at home to have fun and improve?”

Answer: This is a very timely question. But it also will be a relevant issue even after this current health crisis passes, because working out and training in creative ways outside of the rink could have longstanding developmental benefits.

First of all, taking a break for a few weeks is not a bad thing. Over-use injuries are a frequent occurrence in this Goalie Dad’s household. Near the end of last season, my daughter had developed a strained thigh muscle from her habit of tending to place weight on her left leg when getting up. So the last few weeks have been a godsend for her to heal that leg. For my son, keeping his hips from getting tight is a constant challenge, so not being on the ice so much this time of year helps him focus on resting, stretching and strengthening.

Which leads me to my next point. Being off the ice presents a great opportunity to stretch and strengthen. Additionally, much like we saw with that now viral (no pun intended) social media video of Sergei Bobrovsky catching balls in his front yard from a pitching machine, goalies can use this unusual time we are living in to work on hand-eye and coordination skills that will have a directly positive benefit on their play when they return to the ice.