Goalies: Describe your style

[Beezeral]

So I figured we could start this goaltending prefix thing off with a description of how you play the position.

Please stay away from calling yourself a clone of NHL goalie X. You can use a comparison to a NHL goalie to describe how you handle a certain aspect of the game. ex: Playing the puck: I am similar to Luongo where I stay in my net as much as humanly possible.

About me:

Height 5'9" (on skates)
Highest level of play:
Ice: Midget AAA
Roller: College Hockey

Style:Hybrid

I am a smaller guy, so playing a straight up butterfly style leaves a lot of open net. To make up for my smaller size, I play about 6 inches above the crease at all times. While I am sound positionally and at cutting off angles. I would say my movement in the crease is average compared to other goalies in my leagues. I rely on athleticism and body contortion similar to Hasek to make saves rather than technique and latteral movement. Movement while in the butterfly is probably the weakest aspect of my game. I again rely on athleticism and flexibility to make those saves. My go to recovery save is rolling my pads over my head to quickly get my pads from one post to the other. While not technically sound, it allows me to cover the top of the net for a brief second and get over quickly. It leads to some great highlight reel saves and covers a lot of net.

Glove:
Have a very quick glove, it is very rare I get beat glove side by shots that don't pick the corner.

Stick:

Like many goalies, I am susceptible to shots that are low on the blocker side. Quick enough to get to most shots but I tend to cheat a half step to my stick side to discourage shots to my weaker side.

Breakaways:

I challenge on every breakaway. I am too small to sit in the crease and let the shooter come to me. It leaves me open to the shooter picking a corner and making my job much harder. I'd much rather force a deke and if I get faked out I fall back on my barrel role and sometimes come up with the save. If I see a guy too focused on prepping his deke, I will kamikaze and dive at his feet.

Pokecheck:

I rarely use the pokecheck. I'm just too small to use it in anything but the obvious scenarios. Ive been caught to many times reaching forward and just don't take up enough net to still get hit by the puck.

Playing the puck:

Break glass in case of emergency. I am just flat out terrible at it and avoid playing the puck unless its absolutely necessary. The only time I am ever actively playing the puck is on the power play and late in games when down by a goal.

Click to read more...

 

[Michael Farkas]

I don't want to disrupt the pattern of the thread so soon, but who'd you play college roller hockey for if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Beezeral]

I don't want to disrupt the pattern of the thread so soon, but who'd you play college roller hockey for if you don't mind me asking?

Pm sent

 

[Hank4Hart]

Sorry to ruin your thread, I play like Ilya Bryzgalov, usually give up more goals when there are bears in the crowd

 

[Michael Farkas]

Pm sent

Ah, I gotcha. Thought our paths might have crossed. I was up in the northeast, up in the ECRHA for Rutgers. Don't think we ever played you guys though, at least not in my time.

 

[nightfighter]

I like this thread. Used your post as a template.

About me:

Height 5'10" (6'0" on skates)
Highest level of play:
Ice: scrub league
Roller: B-division leagues

Style: Hybrid, leaning mostly to butterfly

I'm not the biggest guy so I can't rely totally on a blocking style, but the strongest parts of my game is my depth and angle management predicated on quick and efficient movements in the crease. Use to rely more on reflexes but as age has set in and the level of play has increased, I've had to bring in more fundamentals and technique in order to compete with larger goalies who can cover more net. In roller I used to rarely use butterfly techniques (backside recoveries, lateral butterfly slides) and relied on desperation dives to cover ground, but this season I've incorporated slippery tape onto my pads so now I can do those more technical moves and arrive at the shot in good, sound position; ready to react and make a secondary save. For anyone that hasn't tried it, slippery tape will totally change your game.


Glove:
Have a decent glove. I wouldn't say it's impenetrable but I have good glove positioning in my ready stance so shots more often than not hit my glove whether I'm totally ready for it or not. Still have trouble with pop outs in roller sometimes, but may be because of the ball shape

Stick:

Stick side is decent. Again, nothing overly special but not particularly weak either. Can still work more on proper stick discipline and always keeping it on the ice in front of my fivehole. Sometimes it wanders to the right when my arm gets tired.

Breakaways:

One of the best parts of my game. I'm able to stay patient and wait out the shooter for the first move. The only times I'm beaten on a breakaway/shootout is when I get fancy/impatient and try to force the shooter (with a pokecheck, elaborated in next section, or by challenging too much) which doesn't happen too often.

Pokecheck:

I never really use the pokecheck. Everytime I do, it burns me. I'm active with my stick in breaking up centering passes, but against shooters on breakaways and such I've found that faking a pokecheck works more often (for me anyways) than an actual pokecheck.

Playing the puck:

I'll stop up the puck behind the net but beyond that I prefer the safety of my crease

 

[ganave]

Stealing the formatting too.

About me:

Height 6'1" (on skates)
Highest level of play:
Ice: Instructional League

Style: Butterfly (work-in-progress)

I'm getting better at not cheating on shots and going down too early. My thought process is get to where you need to go in one movement and execute the save or following the pass.

Glove:
My greatest strength. Having played a bunch of baseball makes it come really naturally to me, I love shots to my glove side. However the better shooters in practice abuse me on the blocker side now

Stick:

I have a lot of work to do with the stick and blocker. As above, shooters given a choice will go my blocker side. I hate it when I drop into a butterfly and I get a little floater that's just out of reach. I tend to come out of the net a bit more on the blocker side if I can to cut down the angle. I've stopped at least a dozen pucks with the end of my stick... which isn't good. I think I'm getting caught out of position when it happens.

Breakaways:

I stick in the crease and wait as long as I can, I'm working on strong C-cuts to move backwards and keep up with the speed of play. It's kinda tough because a lot of people wind up crashing into the net at the instructional level

Pokecheck:

Not in my tool box yet. I do like the "slowly push someone out of the top of the crease with your blocker move".

Playing the puck:

I don't play the puck yet. I figure it's easier for someone to else to nab it. I try to steer the rebounds in the corners or smother it though. I don't take my eye off the puck and try to keep square to it.

 

[Aucoin11*]

When the puck is directed near me I stop it.

 

[ganave]

When the puck is directed near me I stop it.

Ha, honest answer!

I'm curious, is the difficulty of stopping shots up high on the blocker side more problematic for other goalies too?

 

[Siamese Dream]

I stand at 5'11"
Despite my size I'm a pure butterfly goalie.
I rely a lot on skating and technique - butterfly slides, and I also often make use of the Nabokov knee shuffle

 

[Aucoin11*]

Ha, honest answer!

I'm curious, is the difficulty of stopping shots up high on the blocker side more problematic for other goalies too?

mid blocker is harder.

 

[Hank4Hart]

mid blocker is harder.

For me its always five hole and blocker side up high. Nothing gets by my glove side.

I am ordering +2 pads to try to close up that damn five hole!

 

[Siamese Dream]

mid blocker is harder.

This, I rarely get scored on high blocker, for some reason it always hits the butt end of my stick

 

[JoelWarlord]

About me:

Height 5'10", around 6' on skates
Highest level of play: I played AE (C league town) in peewee, played house league every other year and now I'm in beer leagues/rec intramurals at university. Never played roller, think I'd play as a forward if I ever did.

Style:Hybrid

I do butterfly quite a bit, and I'm working on getting into better position. I get burned a lot because I'm not out far enough, I'm used to seeing goalies standing on the top of the crease but for me that's just not far enough. I do rely a lot on athleticism and flexibility for desperation saves. I dive cross crease and stack the pads more than NHL goalies do, I can get away with it at a lower level and I'm simply not good enough to butterfly as much as them. I cover the puck a lot with my blocker hand, and I often use a half butterfly when sliding cross-crease instead of a full one. I'm really in pretty bad shape, the only thing saving me is that I'm still very young (18 years old), but I need to get in shape and lose some weight. If I were to drop 60 pounds I'd see a drastic improvement simply because I'd have so much more energy and I could recover faster (and move faster backwards on breakaways).

Glove:
My glove hand is good, I played a lot of baseball when I was younger and my hand-eye coordination with my glove hand is quite good. I don't often get beat glove side unless my position is bad.

Stick:

Low blocker side kills me. As far as actually using my stick to make saves, I'm very good at that (directing the puck out of play etc).

Breakaways:

I scull out a foot or two outside the crease, and then back in at an equal pace to the shooter. If I see the shooter is staring at their feet I'll jump out and stack the pads into the puck (don't do this often), otherwise I try to stay out far and force a deke to my glove side.

Pokecheck:

I pokecheck a lot, I use it when shooters are either trying to do a silly deke (ram the stick hard into the puck/skates), or coming in to deke from the side. I have a lot of success with it in shootout or penalty shots. In game breakaways lead to me getting burned a bit on the poke check (because the shooter is just focusing on scoring and not some silly Datsyuk move they suck at). In shootouts or penalty shots, the shooter tries to be a pretty boy and I just poke check.

Playing the puck:

Got very good at this the last season of midget. I played 4 on 4 as a skater (split between forward and D pretty evenly), and realized I have seriously good vision when it comes to passing. Started applying this to goaltending and I've never looked back. Last year of midget especially, I was a better first pass than any of the defensemen on my team hahaha. This year my intramural team has a far better D group, but I still grab the odd dump in and fire it to our best forward on the other blue line.

 

[x Tame Impala]

You ain't got no style motha ****a

 

[Hounsy]

Full out blocker in the Giggy style. Would like to be more athletic b-fly like you see in the new wave of young pros, but for me brains, instinct, and making people earn their goals(nothing through me) is what works.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

I'm stealing your format.

About me:

Height 6'3" (off skates)
Highest level of play:
Ice: Juvenile CC


Style:Butterfly

I'm a bigger goalie that uses my size to my advantage. I play aggressively, always at the top of my crease. I'm also quick for a big guy. My side to side movement has frustrated many players who have told me after games that they can't believe how fast I moved. I also have what players think is a "big 5-hole". My stance is wider then the average goalie's stance, which give is the appearance of a large 5-hole when in fact its a deception on my part. So many players try to go 5-hole on me only for me to close up at the last second.

Glove:
I have a decent glove. Normally nothing goes in glove side. Of course there are a few just really good shots that do manage to find a way through.

Stick:

Not so great blocker side. This is the one area I really need to work on. I'm not awful but it is my weakest side.

Breakaways:

I challenge hard on breakaways. I don't want to give the shooter anything to shoot at. I like to force the shooter to try and beat me with speed which won't allow him to roof one accurately if he's going full speed on me.

Pokecheck:

Either I don't use it very much or I just don't get the opportunity to use it. When I do use it I rarely miss.

Playing the puck:

Decision making with the puck could use some work but other then that I can shoot/pass it hard. I can bank it off the glass effectively. From the hash marks in my own zone I managed to float a pass right on the stick of one of my players on the other teams blue line without him having to move. In my last year of minor hockey, my coach created a breakout plan with me starting it off with a pass.

 

[Thepandamancan]

About me: 5'5" (off skates...on a good day); Highest level of play on ice is Division 4. I am mostly a roller goalie and play intermediate, but have filled in on occasion for the advance levels. I've been playing now for 1.5 years or so coming from a terrible run of being a skater.

Style: "Athletic Butterfly"

Which is just a fancy term for hybrid that I heard used for Jonathan Quick. Being a Kings fan in LA, I've tried to emulate a lot of the things he does and have managed to do things here and there...but the more and more I think of how I play, I look a lot like Bryzgalov out there. Very flared, wide butterfly...5 hole exposed. Despite my lack of technique and size, I use my quickness and reactions to make up for it.

Glove: Decent glove side. I rarely make glove saves...just never get that many shot at me I guess. If I do get beat it's cause it's top corner and generally it's just a good shot...not really cause my height.

Stick: Decent/Poor lately. My blocker is beat up and its bounces are unpredictable which can lead to some interesting saves and goals. I think I've made more sticks with the shaft/handle of my stick than my glove.

Breakaways: For being a small goalie, I don't challenge as aggressively as I should. I usually just take a step outside of the crease and try to look big. My ability to slide side to side is my big advantage and most of the players I play with (especially on roller) don't think I can do that.

Pokecheck: I used to be more aggressive with them, but I've relied more on position and looking tall in the butterfly. I'd rather let them shoot it into me now and control the rebound than rely on pokechecking and maybe missing or having the puck go into a completely unpredictable position. If it's an obvious one, of course I'll go for it.

Playing the puck: Given my failed attempts at being a skater...I just don't. On a dump in or a wrap around, I'll sometimes skate out and stop the puck for a defenseman but I usually just hope the ref calls the icing and stay in the crease. I can pass the puck pretty well now, but I rarely do. Can't lift it or pass it very far though.

 

[Vipers31]

Interesting read! Thought I'd get in line.


About me:
Height 6'2" (without skates)
Level of play: Not that anyone can really make something out of that, but it's about 4th tier in Germany. I don't actually play that league, but a couple goalie-friends of mine do, and it's pretty level-headed. I'm playing with a rec team consisting mostly of older guys (35-50), of which most guys played 2nd to 4th tier in the past. I started out very late, and playing with this group has been a great help in developing. The biggest inspiration probably has been Pekka Rinne and Henrik Lundqvist, but I think stylistically Nabokov is in there, as well.

Style: Butterfly
Using the butterfly as a solid basis, even though it's probably not the most technically refined at this point. I'm not on the small side, but am rather flexible and pretty quick with my legs. Having started as late as I have, my skating sometimes isn't up to what I want to make happen. When I lose focus, I feel like I have the tendency to fall back a little deep, and not play my size as well.

Glove:
Pretty fast. As a result of that and playing with the same group very often, I sometimes feel I'm not really getting tested on there in weeks, as the guys are looking at different ways to score for the biggest part.

Stick:
Probably not as fast as the glove.

Breakaways:
Usually one of my strong suits. Playing them pretty aggressively and, when things are going well, patiently.

Pokecheck:
Just yesterday was reminded I don't use it nearly enough.

Playing the puck:
Used to be very bad, but I always wanted to impact the game positively in every way I could, so I forced myself behind the net as much as I could, and I think I've come a pretty respectable place. Not a fantastic puck handler by any means, but I'm active whenever the odds allow it and I tend to make good decisions with it reading the attackers correctly most times.