Can Goalies Get Better Picking Up Pucks After Practice?
- Puck pickup after practice can double as a legitimate eye-hand coordination and puck-tracking drill for goalies of all ages and skill levels.
- Position the goalie in butterfly with a puck bag in front and shoot varying shot types — hard, soft, flips, cross-body — to keep the drill unpredictable and engaging.
- Add a pre-shot movement before each catch to increase difficulty and simulate real game tracking demands.
- Gamify the drill by penalizing dropped pucks: the missed puck stays out of the bag and two additional pucks are removed, creating competitive pressure.
- The drill originated with Calgary Flames director of goaltending Jordan Sigalet and was developed further by Zulianello across multiple seasons with both kids and professional prospects.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds playoff practice had been over for a while, and goalie coach Colin Zulianello had already run through extra drills with Seattle Kraken prospects Ales Stezka and Victor Ostman long after every forward and defenseman was gone.
The only thing left to do was pick up the pucks before the Zamboni came on the ice, but that doesn’t mean the development opportunity and skill-building was over.
InGoal Magazine had already packed up our main camera after the final drill ended but had to pull out the phone to capture what turned out to be a gamified puck gathering exercise that included elements of puck tracking and eye-hand coordination:
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