Pro Drills with Utah Hockey Club – Karel Vejmelka and Jaxson Stauber
- The Schwabby Slide drill was created by Corey Schwab in 2011 during Alex Stalock's rehab from a severed nerve in his foot that left him unable to push while down.
- Schwab lines up 10 pucks across the slot between the hash marks and shoots low side to side while the goalie slides and gets a stick on each puck.
- Karel Vejmelka uses the drill primarily as a puck-tracking exercise, focusing on keeping his head down through the movement while getting his hands working.
- The drill efficiently targets multiple warm-up goals at once: hand-eye activation, puck tracking, lateral movement patterns, and reading ice conditions.
- No other NHL team observed by InGoal Magazine uses this drill, making it one of the more distinctive goalie warm-up routines in professional hockey.
When you’ve watched NHL goalies warm up for two-plus decades, there’s not a lot that jumps out as new or different, but the Utah Hockey Club has one drill that stands out.
The drill is called the Schwabby Slide.
It’s not new but it is unique.
Utah goalie coach Corey Schwab used this drill for years while he was with the Arizona Coyotes, but InGoal has yet to see anyone else use it. This was also the first chance InGoal had to talk to the goalies about it, and given the number of different areas it targets so quickly, we wanted to share it.
“Started doing it in 2011 with the (San Jose) Sharks when Alex Stalock was going through his rehab coming back from an injury. He got stepped on the back of his leg, below the knee and severed the nerve that controls his foot,” Schwab said in a text message. “It took him a full year to recover. He couldn’t push when down, so we eventually got to that movement pattern. Stuck with it as part of a warm-up routine.”
After running through the usual static shooting to the glove, blocker and belly that most teams use to get their goalie’s hands and eyes warm, Schwab lines up 10 pucks across the slot in between the hash marks and the goalie begins sliding back and forth. Schwab shoots low from one side to the other as well and the goalie has to get a stick on it:
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