Player Discussion All Purpose Goaltending Thread

[Der Jaeger]

Adding in a thread about goaltending, since it's the hot topic on roster improvements. Please add in comments about the Sabres, Amerks goaltending, prospect thoughts, and just general commentary.

Click to read more...

 

[TheMistyStranger]

Goaltending: it's a good idea

 

[BUCKSHOT]

could we change the title .... 'Goatlending'

 

[Der Jaeger]

For those taking a look at goaltending, please go read about the "royal road." It's the new butterfly pad height. And it's changing the way goaltenders are playing the game.

Back in the 90's and early 2000's, pad height and the butterfly was the rage. If a goalie went into the butterfly, chances are the shooter could not score due to pad height. Some insanely high number of goals were scored from the ice to the top of the pad while a goalie was in the butterfly. So all goalies learned the butterfly.

Mobility is now the new thing. Shooters adjust, and instead of trying to power pucks through a giant goalie with giant pads, they are passing east-west and making goalies move. Hence the 'royal road' idea. Goalies are adjusting but some are re-learning the position. And we are seeing it now.

Eg:

- Wide butterflies don't matter as much as both knees touching. The knees touching gives the goalie the natural ability to widen their stance, as well as get back to their skates.
- Goalie sliding is going out of style. Getting back to skates is the new thing.
- Leaning forward and putting weight on toes is now preferred for mobility.
- Downward tracking with the upper body is now the preferred rebound control method

So, what we are seeing are goalies that can adjust to mobility changes are having success. Those that are not are struggling. UPL is going through this transition right now, as a pro goalie. Levi is a mobile goalie, so when he arrives, he may be able to keep up right away. Portillo may not be the once touted prospect, as he's big but he may not have the ideal mobility to play right away.

Just some thoughts as we watch goalies. It's a very similar time to the 1990s, when smaller goalies like Vernon, Richter, JVB, Joseph, etc. all retired and left the game, and were replaced by Kolzig, Snow, etc. By the time the lockout ends, it's hard to find many young goalies coming into the NHL who were not over six foot tall.

I think we will see a bit of that transition now, where height and size are good, but mobility is going to be more and more important.

 

[Chainshot]

Goat lending has been an issue for many moons.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Some keepers like to move back and forth and try to distract a shooter as they approach the penalty kick. Dominik Livakovic made three huge saves today against Japan by staying still and focusing on the shooter as he made his run up to the ball. He "guessed" correctly three out of four times, but I believe he made good on a few cues from the shooters to dive the proper direction. Massive performance to get Croatia through to the next round.

"All purpose"...sorry couldn't resist.

 

[dortt]

For those taking a look at goaltending, please go read about the "royal road." It's the new butterfly pad height. And it's changing the way goaltenders are playing the game.

Back in the 90's and early 2000's, pad height and the butterfly was the rage. If a goalie went into the butterfly, chances are the shooter could not score due to pad height. Some insanely high number of goals were scored from the ice to the top of the pad while a goalie was in the butterfly. So all goalies learned the butterfly.

Mobility is now the new thing. Shooters adjust, and instead of trying to power pucks through a giant goalie with giant pads, they are passing east-west and making goalies move. Hence the 'royal road' idea. Goalies are adjusting but some are re-learning the position. And we are seeing it now.

Eg:

- Wide butterflies don't matter as much as both knees touching. The knees touching gives the goalie the natural ability to widen their stance, as well as get back to their skates.
- Goalie sliding is going out of style. Getting back to skates is the new thing.
- Leaning forward and putting weight on toes is now preferred for mobility.
- Downward tracking with the upper body is now the preferred rebound control method

So, what we are seeing are goalies that can adjust to mobility changes are having success. Those that are not are struggling. UPL is going through this transition right now, as a pro goalie. Levi is a mobile goalie, so when he arrives, he may be able to keep up right away. Portillo may not be the once touted prospect, as he's big but he may not have the ideal mobility to play right away.

Just some thoughts as we watch goalies. It's a very similar time to the 1990s, when smaller goalies like Vernon, Richter, JVB, Joseph, etc. all retired and left the game, and were replaced by Kolzig, Snow, etc. By the time the lockout ends, it's hard to find many young goalies coming into the NHL who were not over six foot tall.

I think we will see a bit of that transition now, where height and size are good, but mobility is going to be more and more important.

Seems the Hasek/Thomas style may be the preferred style. It has always had the best results, but is the hardest style to perfect

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Some keepers like to move back and forth and try to distract a shooter as they approach the penalty kick. Dominik Livakovic made three huge saves today against Japan by staying still and focusing on the shooter as he made his run up to the ball. He "guessed" correctly three out of four times, but I believe he made good on a few cues from the shooters to dive the proper direction. Massive performance to get Croatia through to the next round.

"All purpose"...sorry couldn't resist.

Off topic .Japans shooters wasn't a shooters but...Very weak shots.

 

[oldgoalie]

For those taking a look at goaltending, please go read about the "royal road." It's the new butterfly pad height. And it's changing the way goaltenders are playing the game.

Back in the 90's and early 2000's, pad height and the butterfly was the rage. If a goalie went into the butterfly, chances are the shooter could not score due to pad height. Some insanely high number of goals were scored from the ice to the top of the pad while a goalie was in the butterfly. So all goalies learned the butterfly.

Mobility is now the new thing. Shooters adjust, and instead of trying to power pucks through a giant goalie with giant pads, they are passing east-west and making goalies move. Hence the 'royal road' idea. Goalies are adjusting but some are re-learning the position. And we are seeing it now.

Eg:

- Wide butterflies don't matter as much as both knees touching. The knees touching gives the goalie the natural ability to widen their stance, as well as get back to their skates.
- Goalie sliding is going out of style. Getting back to skates is the new thing.
- Leaning forward and putting weight on toes is now preferred for mobility.
- Downward tracking with the upper body is now the preferred rebound control method

So, what we are seeing are goalies that can adjust to mobility changes are having success. Those that are not are struggling. UPL is going through this transition right now, as a pro goalie. Levi is a mobile goalie, so when he arrives, he may be able to keep up right away. Portillo may not be the once touted prospect, as he's big but he may not have the ideal mobility to play right away.

Just some thoughts as we watch goalies. It's a very similar time to the 1990s, when smaller goalies like Vernon, Richter, JVB, Joseph, etc. all retired and left the game, and were replaced by Kolzig, Snow, etc. By the time the lockout ends, it's hard to find many young goalies coming into the NHL who were not over six foot tall.

I think we will see a bit of that transition now, where height and size are good, but mobility is going to be more and more important.

Awesome synopsis…thanks for laying it all out.

 

[Der Jaeger]

could we change the title .... 'Goatlending'

Goat lending has been an issue for many moons.

Thanks for completely screwing up my thread about goat lending. The one time I get to start a thread…….

Seems the Hasek/Thomas style may be the preferred style. It has always had the best results, but is the hardest style to perfect

It’s basically impossible to teach.

 

[Chainshot]

Thanks for completely screwing up my thread about goat lending. The one time I get to start a thread…….

It’s basically impossible to teach.

Go back about 4-5 years and I had the Goat Lending thread because I was so very tired of the blind backup.

 

[toddkaz]

Whats the point of adding a goaltender if you are missing 2 NHL defenders?

Fitz and Bryson will destroy them.

 

[Gabrielor]

It needs an answer sooner than Levi.

 

[Irie]

The game is changing and goaltending has never been more of a team stat then it is today.

Watching teams like the Lightning and Avalanche move the puck around and have their shooters in prime shooting lanes with fairly open nets pass on the one-timer to bump the puck into the wheelhouse of a teammate in the high-slot is just not fair for goalies.

The fact of the matter is, when a shooter shoots a puck 80+ MPH from 15 feet out, if the goalie isn't covering the area the puck is targeted for already, he's not going to be able to make the save. So while goalie positioning is key, defending multiple shooter options is what is now required from the team.

Defenders have to have their heads on a swivel and if you are puck watching, the puck is likely already in the back of your net. The Sabres are puck watching. A lot.

With good PK teams, spacing between defenders is key now while recognizing multiple shooting threats. I don't see Buffalo's defensive communication anywhere near the level of the good penalty killing teams. They are loose and they pay way nore attention to the puck and not enough attention to where their teammates are. They need to tighten that up and better work together. Until they do, whomever they bring in as a sacrificial lamb goalie is going to produce the same results, imo.

 

[dortt]

It’s basically impossible to teach.

Or the NHL coaches remain dinosaurs who only teach the usual shit, even when evidence that something better is staring them in the face. Remember, it took 10-15 years for the butterfly to replace the older stand up goalies. It is taking a similarly long time for goalie coaches to understand that mobility is important. Thus, we're seeing a large increase in goal scoring

Even when teams figure out to play the Hasek/Thomas style, I wouldn't expect another dead puck era as that style is so hard to perfect. But I would expect to see a large separation between the best goalies and the average ones again

 

[Ace]

Goaltending: it's a good idea

Your application to the Sabres front office has been denied

 

[Fjordy]

Yes, we need a goalies, and Adams has not solved this problem. You can’t bet only on Levi, who doesn’t know how he will show himself at a high level and when it will be ready.

 

[Jacob582]

Has Craig Anderson played more than intended?

He has already been in 10 games, playing 38% of the total minutes.
I thought they wanted to play him in 20 games, or was that the hope of some fans here?

 

[Club]

I've always wanted Vladar

 

[KiwiGriff]

Goaltending: it's a good idea

could we change the title .... 'Goatlending'

This thread is off to an excellent start.

 

[Fjordy]

I think a guy like Stolarz could be at least a temporary option if Comrie is out for a long time and UPL continues to have the worst save percentage in the NHL. Stolartz had a decent 28-game last season but has been under 90 this season, though when you look at Ducks defense and Eakins-led team in general, it looks pretty bad. Lindholm and Manson are gone, leaving Fowler alone, who can't handle it all alone. Klingberg as we know one of the worst defenseman in the NHL in D zone, Drysdale got injured, Shattenkirk is not very good, Kulikov plays in the first pair. Even with all our injuries, our defense would still probably look better than Ducks.

 

[Jim Bob]

I think a guy like Stolarz could be at least a temporary option if Comrie is out for a long time and UPL continues to have the worst save percentage in the NHL. Stolartz had a decent 28-game last season but has been under 90 this season, though when you look at Ducks defense and Eakins-led team in general, it looks pretty bad. Lindholm and Manson are gone, leaving Fowler alone, who can't handle it all alone. Klingberg as we know one of the worst defenseman in the NHL in D zone, Drysdale got injured, Shattenkirk is not very good, Kulikov plays in the first pair. Even with all our injuries, our defense would still probably look better than Ducks.

Anaheim is giving up a ton of chances from the slot making it one of the worst environments for goalies to play in in the NHL.

Stolarz would be a scratch off lottery ticket that might be an improvement or he might be more of the same for the Sabres.

It all depends on what the Ducks would want back..,

 

[Jim Bob]

Has Craig Anderson played more than intended?

He has already been in 10 games, playing 38% of the total minutes.
I thought they wanted to play him in 20 games, or was that the hope of some fans here?

Given Comrie's injury and the lack of quality play from goalies not named Anderson, it wouldn't shock me if the Sabres are playing him a little more than they had planned to coming into the season.

 

[Chainshot]

Has Craig Anderson played more than intended?

He has already been in 10 games, playing 38% of the total minutes.
I thought they wanted to play him in 20 games, or was that the hope of some fans here?

Those were the comments of the coach, the GM, and the player over the summer.

 

[Fjordy]

Anaheim is giving up a ton of chances from the slot making it one of the worst environments for goalies to play in in the NHL.

Stolarz would be a scratch off lottery ticket that might be an improvement or he might be more of the same for the Sabres.

It all depends on what the Ducks would want back..,

Yes, to some extent a lottery ticket. Perhaps they would like pick maybe.