Scott Murray on new definition of tracking and applying it in the NHL

Our six-part series on modern tracking with Washington Capitals goaltending coach Scott Murray continues this week with a drill designed to promote the proper mechanics without over-coaching or talking too much about them. In other words, let these movements become instinctual.

Murray already shared three drills he used with Braden Holtby in Part 1 of this series, which highlighted a situational application of tracking designed to help the Vezina Trophy winner improve a specific aspect of his game — in that case a lack of success on lateral plays — on the path to winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, including a look at before-and-after video and statistics and some of the drills involved. Part 2 took a deeper look at a more foundational approach with Pheonix Copley last week, and the series will eventually conclude with a developmental application of these new tracking mechanics used with Ilya Samsonov.

First, though, we wanted to share Murray’s walk through of three different types of drills he used with all three Capitals goalies. They include drills designed for lateral movement, post play and recovery, but we’ll start with a series of release drills he used to start their goalie sessions each day. As you’ll hear Murray talk about, the key was getting the focus on vision and tracking early each day, starting with stationary shots, then adding movement before the release, first with simple side-to-side skating but then also with less typical flow back and forth: