Goalies: Goaltending Rules of Thumb

Fixed to Ruin

Come wit it now!
Feb 28, 2007
23,521
25,080
Grande Prairie, AB
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.

I'm 5'8 so yeah i tend to me more aggressive. One trick I learned by watching Martin Brodeur on long shots is this...

h042373a.jpg


http://www.thebreakaway.net/photoplog/images/10522/1_Martin_BRODEUR.jpg



So basically you go one knee down to cover your 5-hole and stay square to the shooter. I Love this technique because when you go full butterfly it takes you twice as long to get back up after the save and its way more effort on your body to make the save.

With this technique you are practically standing. Whatever rebound you give up or if the shooter missed the net, you can quickly get up and move into position for the next save. The other benefit is that this requires almost no physical effort. If you play drop in hockey like me for 2 hours making tons of full butterfly saves is really demanding on ones body. Its impossible to do 100 full butterfly saves in a few hours and not have back or knee pain the next day. (this is why i have a theory why full butterfly goalies are done in the NHL by 35 Giguere, Theodore while Hybrid/Standup goalies can play well into their 40s Brodeur, Hasek.)

Also because you are more mobile you can be more aggressive on the first shot. That should solve your problem if you get beat high on a regular basis.

My rule of thumb: if the Shooter is above the faceoff dots then i will stand in the white paint square to the shooter and make a save like Brodeur and try to direct the puck into the corners or absorb it in my body. Below the faceoff dots - closer to the blue paint and go full butterfly.
 
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Caeldan

Whippet Whisperer
Jun 21, 2008
15,459
1,046
I tried to pick up that Martin Brodeur style... but hasn't quite worked out for me. Keep trying it out in practice where I can though. I think I'm ending up playing more like a cross between Hiller and Quick :laugh:

Moved up a division in my local league for the spring session... my GAA is wretched :laugh: Granted the GF for the team isn't great either (we've been shut out a few times), but I do feel like I've lost us a couple games anyway. Managed to have one game where I stole the game and got a shutout, but I need to find a way to get consistency.

I did recently updated some gear plus switched to a smaller paddle but I think that's actually helped me a lot. Now using a wooden 25" paddle, rather than a foamcore 26.5" -- goals I'm getting beat on now are more I think just me having to learn to read the shooter better, rather than just a consistent top corner shot or blowing it through the five hole low.

I'd say 9/10 times I'm getting a piece of the puck that's going through me, so I'm at least nearly in position.
 

jameswrjobe53

Registered User
Jul 11, 2010
2,060
0
ODU, Norfolk, VA
docs.google.com
The team I play on ****ing sucks. We have 2 lines / 3D. I got my first start after our junior-level goalie became ineligible, one of our defensemen who played Junior C as a goalie got injured, and a former travel goalie, who also played defense this year, turned out to be worse than me. I went 13/16 in the first period (which for our team is good--I kept the team in the game)--we allowed 14 to the team previously. Unfortunatly I got lit up really bad to start the second period. I lost all my confidence and let in 19 goals (on not that many shots). I was the only goalie dressed so they didn't have a choice but to keep me in.

How do I improve my confidence after I start letting in a couple quick goals? And I know that is not an easy thing to ask.

With regards to how bad our team is: When we had 4 lines and 6 defensemen, we gave up 75 shots a game on a good day, I probably faced about 45 this game against a team who lost 19-1 to different team.
 
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Caeldan

Whippet Whisperer
Jun 21, 2008
15,459
1,046
The team I play on ****ing sucks. We have 2 lines / 3D. I got my first start after our junior-level goalie became ineligible, one of our defensemen who played Junior C as a goalie got injured, and a former travel goalie, who also played defense this year, turned out to be worse than me. I went 13/16 in the first period (which for our team is good--I kept the team in the game)--we allowed 14 to the team previously. Unfortunatly I got lit up really bad to start the second period. I lost all my confidence and let in 19 goals (on not that many shots). I was the only goalie dressed so they didn't have a choice but to keep me in.

How do I improve my confidence after I start letting in a couple quick goals? And I know that is not an easy thing to ask.

With regards to how bad our team is: When we had 4 lines and 6 defensemen, we gave up 75 shots a game on a good day, I probably faced about 45 this game against a team who lost 19-1 to different team.

Best thing you can do is break the game down into smaller segments. When I start getting shaken up I pretty much just try to focus on the next 5 minutes. Helps most of the time. I find in a 30-40 minute game, I'm probably a terrible goalie for about 5 minutes of that now and the rest of the time I can manage to put it behind me and look like I belong in the league.
 

Circulartheory

Registered User
Apr 22, 2006
6,714
685
Hong Kong
The team I play on ****ing sucks. We have 2 lines / 3D. I got my first start after our junior-level goalie became ineligible, one of our defensemen who played Junior C as a goalie got injured, and a former travel goalie, who also played defense this year, turned out to be worse than me. I went 13/16 in the first period (which for our team is good--I kept the team in the game)--we allowed 14 to the team previously. Unfortunatly I got lit up really bad to start the second period. I lost all my confidence and let in 19 goals (on not that many shots). I was the only goalie dressed so they didn't have a choice but to keep me in.

How do I improve my confidence after I start letting in a couple quick goals? And I know that is not an easy thing to ask.

With regards to how bad our team is: When we had 4 lines and 6 defensemen, we gave up 75 shots a game on a good day, I probably faced about 45 this game against a team who lost 19-1 to different team.

There really isn't a magic solution for confidence as it is a mind game thing. The best thing you can do is develop a proper pre-game routine and know your strengths and manage your expectations.

If you know your team is bad and you will be going to go against a good team, just EXPECT some bad things will happen. You will try your best but just by knowing this is normal, it will not shake your confidence as much.

Not sure if you managed to figure out your positioning from your OP but here is a tip that I have always used and it works like a charm: stand right against the goal with your arms outstretched. If you glove and blocker can touch each side, it often means your fairly in the middle.

Once the play starts to develop past the center line and towards you, move your head FIRST. Once you are looking at the play, rotate your body to align where your head is looking. THEN, you move out of the net.

By doing so, you start in the middle, you head tells you where to go, you rotate your body, and move out, meaning you are still blocking the line of sight in the middle. You moved DIRECTLY FROM the middle of the net.

Stretch arms. Head rotate. Body rotate. Move out to cut the angle. Rinse and repeat.

Always the head first, the body follows up. When you get used to this, it becomes one smooth motion.

You can practice this in warmups.
Start from the net. Look at the LEFT faceoff hashmarks, rotate body, move out. Drop down. Get up.
Shuffle back to center of the goal. Touch posts. Look at far LEFT side of the blueline, rotate body, move out. Drop. Up
Center of goal. Touch posts. Look at center dot. Move out. Drop. Up.
Goal. Posts. RIGHT side of blueline. Move out. Drop. Up.
Goal. Posts. RIGHT faceoff hashmarks. Out. Drop. Up.
Goal. Posts

You can switch it up to challenge yourself a bit more.
 
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