Pro-Drills: Luongo uses screens to work on patience, shifting into shots
- Hold your position on the short side until the puck is off the shooter's blade — premature movement creates short-side vulnerability.
- Luongo filmed these screen drills during his first week back on the ice in August 2018, making them directly applicable for goalies returning after a layoff.
- Prioritize the short-side look around screens, a habit Luongo developed early in his career that is reinforced by both statistics and defensive positioning strategy.
- Shifting into the save before puck release — not the screen itself — is the primary mistake to self-diagnose when reviewing screen-situation footage.
- Screen drills are an ideal early-season or return-to-ice exercise because they specifically train the patience and timing that erodes during extended breaks.
Roberto Loungo may be retired but that doesn’t mean he can’t still share a few puck-stopping secrets from a 19-season career while he waits to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
InGoal Magazine spent a week on the ice in Florida with Luongo and Panthers goalie coach Rob Tallas in early August prior to the 2018-19 season, Luongo’s last in the NHL, shooting video of their drills and reviewing some of the footage afterwards. So many of lessons from that week will always apply to good goaltending, and so we’ll continue to roll them out over time, but this warm-up session featuring Luongo using screens to work on patience off the release seems especially prudent as goalies finally get back on the ice after an extended break.
Not that there’s any need to justify Luongo drills; there’s always a chance to learn watching a goalie with the third most wins (489) and second most saves (28,409) in NHL history.
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