Dylan Garand Pro Drills Part 2 – Skating Drills Are ‘Where You Build Your Foundation’
- Garand's offseason training with Dan De Palma is focused almost exclusively on one thing — and it's not pucks.
- The on-knees c-cut drill Garand uses has a specific in-game application that most goalies overlook.
- There's a precise body position cue Garand says makes or breaks your push quality from the knees — it's explained in the full breakdown.
- Why Garand uses heels for forward c-cuts but switches to toes going backward — and what goes wrong when you don't.
- Dan De Palma coaches both the WHL Kamloops Blazers and Canada's World Junior and U18 programs; here's how his philosophy shapes Garand's summer work.
Our multi-part series with New York Rangers goalie Dylan Garand continues this week as he adds pucks for Part 2 of his hour-long summer skating routine.
Garand made his NHL debut with the Rangers on March 22 and finished his first big-league stint 2-0-1 with a .948 save percentage after that call-up. The 23-year-old impressed with his control, efficiency and edge work, all of which were on display when InGoal Magazine got on the ice with him last summer to capture the routines that have gone into building those strengths, during a visit to his hometown of Kamloops, British Columbia.
Garand said on Episode 320 of the InGoal Radio Podcast, which was recorded during that visit, that his offseason focus with long-time goalie coach Dan De Palma — who coaches the WHL Kamloops Blazers and Canada’s World Junior and under-18 teams — is almost exclusively on skating and movement. We got close to an hour of footage, and just as importantly Garand reviewing it with us, from that session.
It started with some skating and edge work along the blue line, from one side to the other, with drills shared by Dustin Wolf last week, and continues in Part 2 with some pucks on the ice for edge work from the knees.
It started with two pucks and a simple drill commonly seen on social media — Garand even joked he “probably saw on Instagram growing up” while breaking it down:
Garand breaks down exactly what your foot position does to your push quality — and names the one body part most goalies let drift that kills their recovery edge. That cue is in the next section.
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