Goalies: Goaltending Rules of Thumb

[Bear of Bad News]

Another thing on warmups - at one point a few years back, I subbed (as a skater) for a goaltender friend's team. I'm not the best skater, but I'm defensively responsible, know the game, and hustle.

Anyhow, I was warming her up - trapper, blocker, pad, pad, trapper, blocker, pad, pad, trapper, blocker, pad, pad, et cetera. I was a goalie coach for years, so one thing I know how to do is get goalies warm.

After the warmup, I went over to the bench, and the captain came up to me and said that I had a really good shot but needed to work on my aim because everything was right into the goalie's equipment.

I tell this as a silly story, but there are a lot of players - and a lot of teams - who don't understand that the point of the warmup is to (wait for it) warm up. I've skated with some teams where half of the guys want to show me how hard they can shoot the puck, and the other half want to show me how great their dekes are.

 

[Beezeral]

Another thing on warmups - at one point a few years back, I subbed (as a skater) for a goaltender friend's team. I'm not the best skater, but I'm defensively responsible, know the game, and hustle.

Anyhow, I was warming her up - trapper, blocker, pad, pad, trapper, blocker, pad, pad, trapper, blocker, pad, pad, et cetera. I was a goalie coach for years, so one thing I know how to do it get goalies warm.

After the warmup, I went over to the bench, and the captain came up to me and said that I had a really good shot but needed to work on my aim because everything was right into the goalie's equipment.

I tell this as a silly story, but there are a lot of players - and a lot of teams - who don't understand that the point of the warmup is to (wait for it) warm up. I've skated with some teams where half of the guys want to show me how hard they can shoot the puck, and the other half want to show me how great their dekes are.

was filling in for a team once and during warmups someone took a slapshot from about 10 feet out that dented my facemask. Almost left the ice in frustration.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

was filling in for a team once and during warmups someone took a slapshot from about 10 feet out that dented my facemask. Almost left the ice in frustration.

I was the goalie for the other team during the event that I'm about to describe, but I was friends with the other team's goalie and was able to piece it together after the fact. We played a game where near the end of warmups, the other goalie got hurt (or so we thought) and left the ice. They skated with six skaters the entire game and it sucked.

What really happened - according to the goalie - was that he was filling in at the last minute as a favor, and had played two earlier games at the rink that day so was a bit tired. Anyhow, the team was "warming him up", but about half of the shots were hard shots at head level. He complained to the captain who said that there was nothing he could do about it, and if he didn't like it, he shouldn't have become a goalie.

And the goalie said, "well, then I guess I'm not a goalie", and left the ice.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

I'd say never blame the Dman ever.

If you are making 6 saves in a 20 second span think about if there was a reason your rebounds came back at you/ unable to hold.

If your Dman screws up it is up to you to do everything in your power to bail them out. Just like they'll do for you on a mistake.

I agree 100%. Most of the 5-6 saves situations happen in a very specific way. Usually when my team is short handed.

Save #1 - Point shot with a screen in front. I can barely see whats going on puck is deflected and I make a reactionary save leaving a rebound.

Save #2 - Puck goes near the slot and I slide across making a desperation save as the winger tries to score on the open net leaving another rebound as the puck goes off my pad and is sitting a few feet from the crease

Save #3 - The shooter comes in to clean up his own mess and tries to jam it in. (This is where the mistake by most dmen are made) If the defenseman takes the body then i can easily gain control of the puck. If the defenseman tries to play the puck rather than the man... now there's two sticks whacking away at a puck making it impossible to cover

Save #4+ - Complete chaos hopefully the puck doesn't go it. It usually goes it.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

was filling in for a team once and during warmups someone took a slapshot from about 10 feet out that dented my facemask. Almost left the ice in frustration.

Once filled in for a team. In warmup this guy tries to shoot at the empty portion of the net as I take shots from other teammates. Hit me square in the back twice. Didn't even apologize or anything.

The details after that became fuzzy... i may have emptied some of my water bottle in his face while he was sitting at the bench before the game started.

 

[PerpetualTankYear]

Wait... This guy is playing goalie for the first time... In ACHA??? That's pretty high level hockey...

 

[Wilch]

I usually don't try and shoot the puck hard on pre-game warm ups. I never take slap shots in warm ups either (mostly because my slappers are terrible, but I'd like to tell people I'm a considerate man).

I do try to aim for the five hole and the post right above the pads to see if the goalie is ready.

Usually done from beyond the hash mark to give him a good read.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Wait... This guy is playing goalie for the first time... In ACHA??? That's pretty high level hockey...

ACHA division 3 isn't

 

[Brunomics]

ACHA division 3 isn't

A brand new goalie still is going to get lit up in it.

 

[Beezeral]

ACHA division 3 isn't

DIII of the ACHA has some bad teams, but the ones that qualify for Nationals and to a slightly lesser extent regionals can easily put up 10+ goals on a beginner goalie.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

ACHA division 3 isn't

Curious - which ACHA D-III teams have you watched firsthand, and what's your current level of play?

There are some gong show D-III teams out there, but there are quite a few quality teams there as well.

Just about any of them are going to light up a brand new goaltender.

 

[PerpetualTankYear]

ACHA division 3 isn't

ACHA d3 is still about the same level as AAA/AA hockey.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Well if he's already played as a forward it's safe to assume he can skate quite well and already knows the game so he won't be THAT bad for that level

I don't think it's very surprising, obviously a college team can't just choose any goalie to play, there mustn't be any actual goalies available at that school

 

[Beezeral]

Well if he's already played as a forward it's safe to assume he can skate quite well and already knows the game so he won't be THAT bad for that level

I don't think it's very surprising, obviously a college team can't just choose any goalie to play, there mustn't be any actual goalies available at that school

Skating as a forward/defenseman is completely different than skating as a goalie. It is much easier to convert from goalie to skater than it is from skater to goalie.

 

[Siamese Dream]

Skating as a forward/defenseman is completely different than skating as a goalie. It is much easier to convert from goalie to skater than it is from skater to goalie.

But he'll have a significant head start over your typical brand new goalie who has never played the game

 

[Beezeral]

But he'll have a significant head start over your typical brand new goalie who has never played the game

I guess. Still won't help much considering the quality of competition he will face on most nights

 

[Caeldan]

So... trying to understand... what do people tend to mean when they think you cheat out a lot when playing goalie?

When I have confidence I actually try to play slightly outside my crease since I'm short (just shy of 5'7 in socks) and want to cut off that vertical angle - but I have strong legs and quick, so I can get across crease fast if I have to. I find if I start getting scored on and stay in my crease I get scored on even more because people can pick corners on me then.

Plus that's how I was taught in the few lessons that I took last year when I first started up.

I can't say that I've really given up a goal because I was too far out that would have been prevented if I was more inside my crease (unless maybe those ones where you feel it slip *just* under your pad, or hits the paddle and still goes through the five hole).

So trying to think what they're talking about (except maybe my tendency to play pucks around the faceoff dots to save the defense time in collecting).

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

So... trying to understand... what do people tend to mean when they think you cheat out a lot when playing goalie?

When I have confidence I actually try to play slightly outside my crease since I'm short (just shy of 5'7 in socks) and want to cut off that vertical angle - but I have strong legs and quick, so I can get across crease fast if I have to. I find if I start getting scored on and stay in my crease I get scored on even more because people can pick corners on me then.

Plus that's how I was taught in the few lessons that I took last year when I first started up.

I can't say that I've really given up a goal because I was too far out that would have been prevented if I was more inside my crease (unless maybe those ones where you feel it slip *just* under your pad, or hits the paddle and still goes through the five hole).

So trying to think what they're talking about (except maybe my tendency to play pucks around the faceoff dots to save the defense time in collecting).

Goaltender cheating is when the goalie plays the pass rather than playing the shot.

Watch this video

At 1:50 they go over "common mistakes". These are examples of goaltender cheating.

 

[Caeldan]

Alright, so last weekend... got absolutely lit up at my one pickup game I'm a new goalie for (everything was beating me by a split second... I think I touched every goal that went in), so this week went back and reviewed some tips again.

For glove hand - one video I found suggested to point your middle finger at 1am (or 11pm if you're full right) - helps with both glove positioning and elbow position, which I think seemed to actually help me a lot. I have a feeling that until this weekend I've really been using the trapper like a baseball glove more than I realized.



Also thought this was useful:

 

[Bear of Bad News]

One thing I frequently catch new goaltenders doing...

If I throw a ball at you, you'll reach towards me to catch it, instead of throwing your hand up towards your side to pick it out of the air.

But for a lot of new goaltenders, if I shoot a puck at you, you'll try to "intercept" the puck in a plane parallel to your body (instead of moving your glove towards the puck).

 

[bigwillie]

One thing I frequently catch new goaltenders doing...

If I throw a ball at you, you'll reach towards me to catch it, instead of throwing your hand up towards your side to pick it out of the air.

But for a lot of new goaltenders, if I shoot a puck at you, you'll try to "intercept" the puck in a plane parallel to your body (instead of moving your glove towards the puck).

In high school my glove was one of my weaknesses. Then, my first day of tryouts in college, one of the older goalies game over, had me ready my glove hand, and pulled it out a little in front of me. He said to catch it, not got in front of it.

Had a huge impact immediately and my glove only got better and better over time. Now one of my better strengths.

 

[adaminnj]

The best advice I ever got is to play / position on the puck not the player. if you can draw a line from the center bar in the back of the net to your spine and on to the PUCK you have the position for making the stop. As well unless you are 6'3" + try to not go down like a cheep hooker. and learn to snap over your skates when you do go down. don't just fall to your knees drive your knees down when you do go down. as well you can learn to get up on both sides get off your knees lifting your right foot then do it on your left foot. other than that just have fun with it and blame the D for everything. If the D know that you are first year goalie they should be sweeping rebounds to the boards right away. rebound control will come but for now if you make the first stop you did your job.

 

[Caeldan]

Are there any good drills one can do in warmup to practice keeping your angles when someone comes down on the wing? And is it better to do a lot of little shuffle steps to track with them, or do fewer but larger shuffles to try to keep feet a little more set?

That seems to be the most frustrating goal I let in, the guy comes down the wing and either puts it in either top corner because I ended up either not tracking along enough with him or too much. It's really only an issue most of the time with the former competitive guys skating down and playing rec since they can pick corners relatively simply, but there's the good rec players who get lucky with those shots too...

On the plus side, on centre line breakaways definitely improving my waiting game against those types and actually being relatively successful at stopping.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Are there any good drills one can do in warmup to practice keeping your angles when someone comes down on the wing? And is it better to do a lot of little shuffle steps to track with them, or do fewer but larger shuffles to try to keep feet a little more set?

That seems to be the most frustrating goal I let in, the guy comes down the wing and either puts it in either top corner because I ended up either not tracking along enough with him or too much. It's really only an issue most of the time with the former competitive guys skating down and playing rec since they can pick corners relatively simply, but there's the good rec players who get lucky with those shots too...

On the plus side, on centre line breakaways definitely improving my waiting game against those types and actually being relatively successful at stopping.

You are either...

a) Not positioning your glove properly

b) too deep in your net and leaving too much room for the shooter to beat you glove side or in the top half of the net in general.

c) Not staying square to the shooter. Often if a forward is busting down the wing, a good shooter will slightly cut to the middle changing the angle of the shot. That's one of the reasons when you watch a shootout a skater will swing wide and cut back in towards the middle.

If its a 1 vs 1 you can remedy this by being a little more aggressive and cutting down your angles even further since you don't have to worry about the shooter passing the puck off for an easy goal.

You know you hit the sweet spot when the shot that used to beat you top corner starts going wide or the shooter hangs on to the puck longer or doesn't shoot at all.

 

[Caeldan]

You are either...

a) Not positioning your glove properly

b) too deep in your net and leaving too much room for the shooter to beat you glove side or in the top half of the net in general.

c) Not staying square to the shooter. Often if a forward is busting down the wing, a good shooter will slightly cut to the middle changing the angle of the shot. That's one of the reasons when you watch a shootout a skater will swing wide and cut back in towards the middle.

If its a 1 vs 1 you can remedy this by being a little more aggressive and cutting down your angles even further since you don't have to worry about the shooter passing the puck off for an easy goal.

You know you hit the sweet spot when the shot that used to beat you top corner starts going wide or the shooter hangs on to the puck longer or doesn't shoot at all.

I think it's mostly B, with a dash of C... I try to play aggressive because I'm short (5'7), but I think without realizing it I back into the net as they get closer. And so then I'm probably not following that imaginary line that all the videos talk about from center of the net through you to the puck.

Also, on the shots from the side if it's a 1v1 is it typically better to stay standing or if you're out aggressive enough, go butterfly on the shot? I try my best to read the shot, but the other part maybe I'm just going down too often.