
Troy Grosenick went more than six years between NHL starts but as the 31-year-old Wisconsin native showed while making 33 saves in his first start with the Los Angeles Kings this season to backstop a 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks, all he needed was another opportunity.
Grosenick, who appeared on the InGoal Radio Podcast after signing with the Kings last summer and again shortly before that start after bouncing back and forth between Edmonton and Los Angeles off waivers, made the most of it in that first start back with Los Angeles. He got another start in the final game of the season against a loaded Colorado Avalanche team that needed a win to clinch the Presidentās Trophy and home-ice advantage in the playoffs, and while that one didnāt end well (the overmatched Kings lost 5-1), it was loaded with great Grosenick saves.
Those two starts provided more than enough saves and reads to make Grosenick, who finished them with a .922 save percentage, a perfect candidate for Pro Reads. It also helps that he thinks the game well, and is so open about the evolution of both his game and reads, as well as how he might like to do things differently even on plays where he makes the save.
Before we get to his first video breakdowns — and we have two separate rush chances mixed into his first Pro Reads — itās interesting to hear him explain how different it is in real time.
āThere are so many little things going on in front of you that determine what you do but thereās no way for me to actually say all those things in the moment, like thatās why I did this,ā said Grosenick. āIn the moment, itās just read-and-react instincts. If I was out there in an NHL game thinking about every save that way, I would be in trouble. It would be paralysis by analysis. When weāre breaking down the video itās like āthis is what I saw,ā but in that moment, you canāt break it down like that. Itās literally this is what I see and this is what feels right and this is what Iām doing. I donāt know if itās like that for every goalie but for me thatās just how it is.ā
Just because Grosenick isnāt consciously thinking through every aspect in real time doesnāt mean all those ālittle things going on in frontā arenāt worth thinking about, of course. If anything, it emphasizes the importance of video work, and adds to the relevance of these Pro Reads sessions because it allows you to identify the keys so they become instinctual once you are on the ice. Grosenick still finds new details worth noting while watching the playoffs.
āIf you really want to get good at it, thereās little things you can pick up all the time watching,ā he said. āYou donāt have to be playing to learn and your mind automatically starts to recognize the patterns even if when youāre in the moment youāre not thinking about why.ā
With that in mind, letās get sharing some of the little things Grosenick picks up.
SCENARIO NO. 1
Weāre going to share a couple of rush chances by Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi in that final game of the season. Weāll consider them separately because they were different types of rushes, but wanted to group then together because there were also similarities in how Grosenick managed the chances, especially when it came to patience and glove positioning, and he gets into that more after the second one. But for now, weāll start with this solo rush:

As Donskoi breaks through a pair of Kings defenders above faceoff circle to face Grosenick, are there any clues you can see that might provide a hint as the whether heās shooting or could continue to make his way to the net? Does Donskoi being a right-handed shot matter at all? If so, how? Any thoughts on Grosenickās positioning? Anything youād do different?
THE SAVE
There isnāt a lot to this quick chance on the surface, so weāll cut straight to the video:
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Love the way Troy breaks down these glove saves.