Pro Tips with Chris Driedger
- Raise your battle level in practice: Driedger credits fighting for every rebound and making sprawling practice saves as a key factor in his rise from the ECHL to NHL starter.
- Practice habits directly translate to game performance — Driedger believes the desperation-save instincts he sharpened in practice enabled his viral paddle-down stop for the Florida Panthers.
- Coaches notice effort in practice: Driedger points out that teams actively watch for goalies who compete on every shot, and that visibility can accelerate a goalie's path to a higher level.
- Don't concede easy goals in practice: Allowing backdoor passes or giving up on scramble situations in practice reinforces bad habits that will show up in games.
- Career turnaround is possible: Driedger went from being released by Ottawa after 2017-18 to posting a top-three NHL save percentage, driven largely by a change in practice mentality.
Chris Driedger made what might just be the save of season for the Florida Panthers this week, a reach-back paddle stop on the goal line that made highlight reels all over the world.
While it might sometimes be tempting to dismiss desperation saves – and NHL goalies will be the first to say they’d prefer to stay off highlight reels because it usually means they’re making up for an earlier mistake or bad read – there are important lessons in this one for Driedger.
They go well beyond the save itself. For Driedger, saves like that start with practice habits, and changing his in a way that allows him to make more of those stops was one of the keys to going from the ECHL two years ago to third in the NHL with a .927 save percentage now.
Unlock the rest of this premium breakdown
Join thousands of goalies, parents, and coaches who train smarter with InGoal.
15+ years as the #1 goaltending resource
Already a member? Log in