Pro Drills with San Jose Sharks
- Evgeni Nabokov developed the step-over shuffle drill, which San Jose Sharks goalie coach Thomas Speer now uses regularly with both NHL and junior goalies.
- Stepping over a stick or line on the ice forces goalies into a narrow stance — if the stance is too wide, completing the step-over becomes physically impossible.
- The drill is highly versatile, progressing from basic shuffles to a variety of edge work patterns using the same lines or sticks as guides.
- NHL goalies James Reimer and Kaapo Kahkonen both trained with these drills during their time with the San Jose Sharks organization.
- Sharks 2022 fourth-round draft pick Mason Beaupit was among the junior goalies working through the drill variations at the NET360 Goalie Camp in Kelowna.
When San Jose Sharks goalie coach Thomas Speer started drawing a series of parallel lines on the ice ahead of his sessions with both the junior and pro goalies at the NET360 Goalie Camp in Kelowna, we knew from past experiences we were in for something new.
Turns out, it was both new and old, or at least a little old school.
Speer walked his pupils through a series of skating and edge work drills as part of warm-ups, using the lines in place of sticks they sometimes lay on the ice as guidelines in the NHL.
“This is a [Evgeni] Nabokov special,” Speer said of the long-time former Sharks goalie who now works as the organization’s director of goaltending and still helps coach. “Nabby taught me this one. I used to chirp it at the beginning of the year, but now I’m practically Russian.”
The work was familiar to James Reimer, who worked with Speer in San Jose last season, and Kappo Kahkonen, who was also there and remains with the Sharks this season. Goalies started by stepping over one line, then shuffling to the next one and stepping over it.
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