Pro Drills with Canucks Demko, Martin and Silovs
- Personalized Tracking is a Vancouver Canucks drill designed to help goalies manage pucks behind the net and in trapezoid situations based on each goalie's individual strengths.
- The drill requires goalies to maintain eye contact with the puck while simultaneously organizing their positioning on the post — a key multi-tasking challenge at all levels.
- Thatcher Demko, Spencer Martin, and Arturs Silovs each approach the drill differently, reflecting the coaching philosophy that no single technique fits every goaltender.
- Coaches Ian Clark and Curtis Sanford tailor the drill variations to each goalie, with Sanford having worked extensively with Martin and Silovs in the AHL.
- Arturs Silovs posted a .952 save percentage for Latvia at the World Championships, making his technique in this drill especially relevant to study.
With so many teams attacking from behind the net and below the goal line more often at all levels right up to the NHL, it’s important to have a plan to manage these moments.
Of course, not every goalie is going to handle it the same way, which is why this multi-tasking drill used by the Vancouver Canucks goaltending coaches is called “Personalized Tracking.”
It’s also why we wanted to share examples of Thatcher Demko, Spencer Martin and Arturs Silovs working on it with Canucks goaltending coach Ian Clark and goaltending development coach Curtis Sanford, who worked with the latter two in the American Hockey League.
“Each goalie’s assets and abilities are different, so they need to tailor a way to track the puck behind the net, or trapezoid moments, that suit their own game,” Sanford explained.
“This is just a drill where we can put them into those situations.”
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