Part of that interview appeared in the bi-weekly Unmasked goalie column on NHL.com but as we have in the past, InGoal wanted to dig a little deeper into the topic for our audience. So instead of a traditional Pro Reads breaking down one specific play, this week we present seven NHL goalies explaining what they look for from shooters.

We’ll start with that conversation with Montembault himself.

That reminded us of retired NHL goalie Devan Dubnyk, who could recall any goal he’d given up in detail.

Montembault said his similarly impressive visual memory of stick blades serves as an identifier, allowing him to know who is shooting with a quick look at puck.

“Pretty much,” he said. “You can tell too with different tape jobs, like some guys leave the toes or have an extra little tape. We’re so focused on the puck and on that player’s blade with their tape there, so it’s easy for me to remember and identify somebody with the stick and tape.”

Which left us with two questions for other goalies: 1. How rare is this? And 2. Does it help?

Seattle goalies Joey Daccord, Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray each figured it was common for NHL veterans to know the handedness and tape jobs of most shooters.

(You can hear the full audio from all three Kraken goalies on the latest episode of the InGoal Radio Podcast)

“How I know players is what their stick looks like when they’re shooting,” Murray added. “The way a goalie knows a player usually is by the picture of his blade, I would say. You can tell a guy’s curve, if he’s got a big toe curve, you can see it when he’s shooting at you, whether he keeps it in tight versus out away from him, when he likes to shoot it, the lie, or the way it sits.”

Not all goalies have the same level of recall, however. Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes, who has only played 23 NHL games, envied his Montreal playing partner’s recall ability.

“I know (Edmonton Oilers forward Leon) Draisaitl has a big blade but there’s a lot of players in this League and they change constantly so I don’t know if I’ll be as good as Monty,” Dobes said.

The biggest surprise was Jonathan Quick, who is in his 19th NHL season, admitting he might struggle just identify some of his New York Rangers teammates by their blade and tape.

“I know a lot of guys can do that,” Quick said. “They know if everyone is a right shot, white tape, this, that and the other. I feel like I’m in the minority, where I don’t.”

Which brings us to the second question: what information really matters to an NHL goalie?

“A lot of it has to do with their feet and where the pucks is in relationship to the feet,” Quick said. “I have a lot of things that help me narrow down where they’re putting it, but where the puck is in the relationship to the feet is one of the bigger things that I focus on.”

Whether a player is a left- or right-handed shot is obviously an important factor. As so many goalies have explained in Pro Reads breakdowns here over the years, knowing whether the player on the receiving end of a lateral pass has a one-timer option or not can affects how much time you have to get across, and often whether to slide, shuffle or t-push across. It also affects how far that pass will travel before it hits the shooter’s stick — shorter if they are on their one-timer side, further if not and it has to travel across their body to get to the blade.

“I don’t look at the tape. I just look at if he’s a lefty or a righty,” Dobes said. “It’s important because you’ve got to know if you have to push further or push less further.”

Murray agreed that knowing where all the right and left shots are on the ice is key.

“Handedness changes the way you approach the game, especially on the power play, whether it’s going from forehand to forehand through a seam, or from forehand to one-timer, whether they’re coming downhill or opening up for a one timer,” he said, “So I think most guys know.”

“Is it a one-timer or not,” Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin said, “And what kind of player is it? Some players love to make a pass; some players love to make a shot.”

Knowing those tendencies are also a huge part of the anticipation process.

“We get the most information out of the blade of a guy and the body language they shoot the puck with,” Grubauer said. “For the modern goalie, it’s not looking down at the puck. I think it’s seeing the bigger picture, what the release is. I’ve played long enough where you know certain guys, how they shoot and what situations they might shoot. With technology and sticks now, there’s a uniqueness to how some of them shoot. Everybody has a skills coach now and they work on shooting, releasing the puck quick, pushing or pulling it, so those are all things we kind of look for. But you play certain guys long enough, you know what their tape job is, what their stick is. I think most goalies in the League know.”

“Every release is so different. It’s really hard to describe to somebody who hasn’t been a goalie,” Murray said. “Some players, the shot comes with a little bit of arc to it, some players it comes on a straight line, some are very spinny, some are more knuckly, some flip. (Alex) Ovechkin is a guy who is really knuckly and flippy, and that’s why he scores so much because you can’t really read where it’s going. It doesn’t come in a straight line. It’s like a curve ball from a pitcher. So with him you just try to get big and hope it hits you because your brain, as a human being, you don’t have enough time to process the information.”

Like the Ovechkin shot, knowing how they shoot lets you choose save selections.

“How it will come off the stick and how you need to react to it,” Murray continued. “Some guys, if they shoot in a straight line, you can get a really good read on it and maybe you can be a little bit more active and a little bit more like intentional about your movements on your saves. Some guys, if you move too much, it can affect you negatively. You can move too much, and Ovechkin is a really good example of that.”

Grubauer agreed.

“Vegas just came up on the on the screen (behind our conversation) and you look at (Jack) Eichel and the way he shoots the puck is kind of unique,” Grubauer said. “Or (Mark) Stone, they have such a long stick and long reach, they can pull it, they can shoot from different situations, they can get the puck off quickly, they drag it. So, there are a couple guys who you’ve actually got to watch out for and then it just depends on the team.”

For Daccord, the pre-shot reads are more about those team tendencies.

“What teams are looking for,” he said. “Do they love to go low to high and pound it? Do they look to make plays? Do they like to look for seam plays? Do they look to create off the rush? There are teams that will shoot every puck. There are teams that will pass up shots. I think as you play more and you go through the League as a starter more and more, and you play teams, you kind of know where guys like to shoot, you kind of know guys moves, you know ‘like, I’ve seen this power play 40 times the last three years, what do they like to do?’ I think once you start to play teams a lot, you notice tendencies that way.”

You also know when shooters switch it up, which can catch a goalie off guard.

“You can tell when a guy’s fighting it, maybe hasn’t scored in a while, sometimes they’ll switch tape and I’ll notice it right away,” Murray said. “I’ll be like, ‘that looks different, who’s that?’ And you take a look, and you’re like, ‘Oh, he switched his tape.’”

Further proof that most, if not all, goalies in the NHL can tell a shooter by his blade.

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