When Your Goalie’s Save Doesn’t Count as a Shot (Parents, Ep. 371)
In the Parent Playbook, presented by Stop it Goaltending U the App, Hutch talks about the stress of the shot clock, when your goalie makes a real save that doesn’t count as a shot, and has a plan for coping with a frustration every goalie parent faces.
- Not every real save your goalie makes will be counted as an official shot on goal — this is a known, common frustration in youth hockey.
- The shot clock does not fully reflect a goalie's workload or performance, so parents should avoid using it as the sole measure of their child's game.
- David Hutchison offers a concrete coping plan specifically designed to help goalie parents manage shot-clock stress.
- Recognizing that this frustration is universal — experienced by goalie parents at every level — can reduce the emotional weight it carries.
- Reframe how you evaluate your young goalie's performance beyond official statistics to get a more accurate picture of their effort and skill.
Episode Transcript
Oh, that makes sense. I'll never get to the car. Life sometimes throws curveballs at you. Hutch, we got the Stop It Goaltending U, the app parent segment brought to us by Stop It Goaltending.
Do you wanna have twenty five years of NHL goalie coaching experience at your fingertips? You wanna tap into the goalie parenting expertise that helped Joey Daccord reach the NHL? That's what you get with a subscription to Stop It Goaltending U, the app. All the knowledge from Brian Daccord has been an NHL goalie coach, scout and director, as well as all the insights and expertise from his staff at Stop It, including a long list of veteran NCAA coaches. All delivered in easy to digest chunks, including five short daily primers, weekly style analysis and breakdown videos, and drills you can take onto the ice with your team and coach.
Plus, you get an InGoal subscription included. Check it out now at the App Store or Google Play and get the best of both worlds with a subscription to Stop It Goaltending U the app and an included subscription to InGoalmag. Hutch, we're not happy
Thanks, Daren. Thanks, Kevin. Sorry I can't be there with you this week. Honestly, I'm not thrilled that the two of you get to hang out in person while I'm stuck recording on my own. Now, let me clear up something first.
When I said I wanted to talk about Kevin Lankinen and Stolen Assist, I mean the three of us should argue about it at some point. I did not intend it to be a parent segment but the more I thought about it and honestly, with an assist to my wife Jill for coming up with this plan, the more I realized there is a parent segment in there. So here it is, the shot clock. Goalie parents, you know the feeling. Your kid makes a save, a real save, and it doesn't make the shot clock.
I think I've got some good advice on this and guess what? It still bugs me. It bugs me even though I know the rules. In the NHL, if you catch a puck or stop one that was gonna miss the net, it isn't a shot. It only counts if it would have gone in with no goalie there.
So I know that over a season, our scorekeepers are probably giving my kids shots that wouldn't count in the NHL. It still bugs me even though I know the misses and the extras probably even out over a season. And it bugs me even though I know the person doing the job is probably a volunteer sitting in the penalty box with a bad angle. My view from the stands or on the stream is often better than theirs. Nope.
It still bothers me. So I think goalie parents need a plan for this just like our kids have a plan for a bad goal. Expect it. Walk into the rink knowing it's going to happen probably more than once. Breathe.
When it happens, take a breath before you react. Then remind yourself it's okay. I promise you a missed shot on the score sheet is not gonna affect your kid's draft stock or their college scholarship chances. And if you really need a better number, keep your own count. I'm not a big fan of save percentage and I'm saying that as a guy who built an app to track it.
It's called Save Tracker. Check it out. Yes. I see the irony. So back to Lankinen.
I know it can feel like the whole world is conspiring against your kids with those shot counts. Now imagine you're Kevin Lankinen. Couple of nights ago, he made an amazing save, pushing a blocker save out, passed the four checkers, straight to an odd man rush and a goal. No assist. The NHL said he didn't intend to pass the puck.
Intent? How many goals and assists have been awarded off pucks that went off a guy's butt or his shin pad? We've even seen them going off heads. None of them were intentional and I know assists happen exactly the same way. We even track goals at InGoal on our Goalie Goals page which is now up to 240 across leagues and we sort the NHL ones by whether the goal was actually shot in or not.
News flash, every one of those ones that weren't shot in was not intentional. They're still goals. Sometimes, it kind of feels like former player at NHL headquarters is making these rulings because they're scared a goalie might pass them in the career scoring race. Igor Shesterkin and his two game point streak, just saying. So what do the Lankinen ruling and your kid's shot count have in common?
Well, ask any mindset coach and they'll tell you the same thing, control the controllables. Kevin Lankinen can't control strange rulings at the NHL head office. We can't control the shot clock at the rink. So sit back, try to relax and enjoy the game and help your kid learn to judge their performance by how they played, not by wins, losses or shots on goal.
Comments
Let's talk goaltending!
We welcome your contribution to the comments on this and all articles at InGoal. We ask that you keep it positive and appropriate for all — this is a community of goaltenders and we're here for each other! See our comment policy for more information.
You must be logged in to view and post comments.