In simplest terms, if you need to get up from the butterfly and move left, you get up with your right leg, which gives you the fastest access to the skate and edge you need to use in order to push in that direction. And if you need to move right, you get up with your left leg first.
It doesn’t seem long ago goalies didn’t grow up with that principle. I remember NHL goalies getting up with the same leg regardless of the direction they needed to move when I started writing about the position in 2003-04 and many of those same goalies remarking how much better young kids at the time did it when they watched summer camps. Those kids are now in their mid- to late-20s — their NHL prime, if you will — and that movement concept is a staple.
Need to move left? Get up with right leg. Rebound go to the right? Get up with the left.
But what about those times when you don’t necessarily need to go either direction?
What about those times when a loose puck or rebound pops straight out in front of you?
What about when you’re just getting up because there is time to get up?
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This is something I’ve been thinking about a few times in the net myself actually. See now, I’m a standard left-catching goalie, but when just “getting up to get up” I’ve always inclined to use my left leg, although I believe that my right leg might be a little bit stronger. It just feels right getting up with the left one, I never knew why – once I get back on the ice I’ll think about the stick part and how it may be affecting my preferences! Anyway, once I noticed that I could get up with my left leg in the blink of an eye but the right leg was kind of a stranger to the same task, I’ve been forcing myself to use it at least as much when I have enough time to not worry about any immediate action, just for practice purposes to get that leg used to doing the stuff the other one had already been very familiar with.
This definitely makes sense, I’m going to have to start working on this!