Troy Grosenick

Troy Grosenick, born August 27, 1989, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, went more than six years between NHL starts before making the most of his return — stopping 33 shots to backstop the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks in his first start back in the league.

Grosenick stands 6'1" and weighs 181 pounds, catching left. His NHL career spans four games, producing a 2-2 record, a 2.27 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage, and one shutout. He signed with the Kings and appeared on the InGoal Radio Podcast after joining the organization, then again shortly before that Anaheim start after moving back and forth between Edmonton and Los Angeles off waivers ^[1]. He later signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent.

His second start with Los Angeles came in the final game of the 2020-21 regular season against a Colorado Avalanche team playing for the President's Trophy and home-ice advantage in the playoffs. InGoal Magazine has covered Troy Grosenick in two podcast appearances and three Pro Reads.

The Pro Reads sessions, conducted by Kevin Woodley, drew on Grosenick's two starts with the Kings ^[2]. The first session covered a pair of rush chances by Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi from that final game, with Grosenick breaking down his reads on both a solo rush and a 2-on-1. On the 2-on-1, Grosenick explained how his trust in his defensemen shaped his decision-making: "The shooter is my guy. Obviously, you can't 100 percent know the pass isn't going backdoor but if you have enough trust in your D-men you can focus on that puck" ^[2].

A follow-up session examined a play generated from behind the net against the Anaheim Ducks — the same game in which Grosenick made 33 saves — with Grosenick providing nearly eight minutes of analysis on a single sequence, including candid observations about small details he would like to execute differently ^[3]. A third session covered a power-play situation against the Ducks, with Grosenick explaining his approach to angle and rebound control: "I know I don't have to get a ton of outward push. I just have to get on my angle. If you are on your angle from there he's going to have to make a really good shot" ^[4].

Across the sessions, Grosenick has been direct about the distinction between in-game instinct and post-game analysis. "There are so many little things going on in front of you that determine what you do but there's no way for me to actually say all those things in the moment, like that's why I did this," he said. "In the moment, it's just read-and-react instincts. If I was out there in an NHL game thinking about every save that way, I would be in trouble. It would be paralysis by analysis" ^[2]. He has also described the value of watching video away from the ice: "If you really want to get good at it, there's little things you can pick up all the time watching. You don't have to be playing to learn and your mind automatically starts to recognize the patterns even if when you're in the moment you're not thinking about why" ^[2].