How come right handed glove goalies are nearly nonexistent in the NHL?

[Shootica]

Actually, there is an advantage. When a left shot goes in on left catch goalie, a the player's stick side lines up with the goalie's stick side. In this situation, the stick side is easier to shoot on than the glove side and is the tougher save because the left shot player can create better angles.

In addition, players naturally expect to face left catch goalies. When they face a right catch goalie, it throws them off. All their instincts about how the goalie is positioned, where their stick and glove are, will be wrong.

Goalies line up to the puck, not the body. There shouldn't be better angles on one side than the other if you're positioned correctly.

That second part may have some effect though.

 

[JoVel]

 

[stepdad gaary]

They are weeded out at a young age by goalie equipment scarcity.

Whoops. See directly above me. I responded from the first page

 

[puckpilot]

Goalies line up
to the puck, not the body. There shouldn't be better angles on one side than the other if you're positioned correctly.

That second part may have some effect though.

You're right about lining up with the puck, but I said it's about being able to create more angles on that side. It's about being able to move the puck into a more advantageous angle on that side before the goalie can square up. In my no-talent opinion, a left shot on a left catch goalie has more options on the stick side.

First glove hand moves faster than blocker, because the blocker hand has to move the stick too. In addition, the goalie covers their five hole using their stick. If you get the goalie to think you're shooting far blocker side, they'll open up the five hole. The reverse is true too. If you get them thinking five hole, they'll open up the far blocker side.

With the glove side, it's slightly different. The goalie can cover the five hole with the stick and still extend the glove to where it's needed. When a goalie closes up into the butterfly the blocker hand points inward, but the glove hand points outward covering slightly more space than the blocker. Add that to the catcher hand being quicker, and in my eyes, it adds up to being the less desirable option.

 

[biturbo19]

You're right about lining up with the puck, but I said it's about being able to create more angles on that side. It's about being able to move the puck into a more advantageous angle on that side before the goalie can square up. In my no-talent opinion, a left shot on a left catch goalie has more options on the stick side.

First glove hand moves faster than blocker, because the blocker hand has to move the stick too. In addition, the goalie covers their five hole using their stick. If you get the goalie to think you're shooting far blocker side, they'll open up the five hole. The reverse is true too. If you get them thinking five hole, they'll open up the far blocker side.

With the glove side, it's slightly different. The goalie can cover the five hole with the stick and still extend the glove to where it's needed. When a goalie closes up into the butterfly the blocker hand points inward, but the glove hand points outward covering slightly more space than the blocker. Add that to the catcher hand being quicker, and in my eyes, it adds up to being the less desirable option.

Still not really sure what you're getting at here. LH shooters don't exclusively shoot from any particular side, or area on the ice. It's not table hockey. The advantage in shooting angles is typically more a product of skaters attacking in off-wing situations, or moving the puck to the interior more than anything else.

You may see some marginal advantage in more static situations like the powerplay, where an unusual number of PP setups tend to be RH Shot centric as the primary "triggerman" options. But in that instance, you're talking about extremely high percentage cross-crease one-timer scoring opportunities mostly (and conversely, extremely low percentage save opportunities) where even a marginal advantage is still more likely to result in a non-save. Don't think that really moves the needle on southpaw goaltenders advantage at all.

 

[puckpilot]

Still not really sure what you're getting at here. LH shooters don't exclusively shoot from any particular side, or area on the ice. It's not table hockey.

In broad terms, going in on a left catch goalie one-on-one from the front, like during a shoot-out or breakaway, the left shot has more agility and quickness towards their left and can extend out with greater range of motion, and thus produce more angles to shoot from on that side as compared to their right.

Couple that with the blocker hand being slower to move, and broadly speaking, it's more advantageous to face a left catch goalie one-on-one when you're a left shot.

That's the theory of it. If it's no sale then it's no sale, and I guess, I've failed to make my point. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[biturbo19]

In broad terms, going in on a left catch goalie one-on-one from the front, like during a shoot-out or breakaway, the left shot has more agility and quickness towards their left and can extend out with greater range of motion, and thus produce more angles to shoot from on that side as compared to their right.

Couple that with the blocker hand being slower to move, and broadly speaking, it's more advantageous to face a left catch goalie one-on-one when you're a left shot.

That's the theory of it. If it's no sale then it's no sale, and I guess, I've failed to make my point. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah. I'm gonna go with no sale. Even in a completely neutral shootout attempt, skaters are free to choose their own approach to the net...and in angling for a shot, are probably going to be more inclined to shade to their off-wing to open up better shooting angles (to either side) anyway. It's more about that action, and moving the puck toward the middle of the ice to open up more advantageous shooting angles, than about what hand the goaltender catches with.

I do get what you're saying and i guess it's an interesting thought. I'm just not buying it at all.

 

[thepuckmonster]

can goalies wear two catching gloves instead of one catching/one blocking?

The closest I can think of is Dan Blackburn wearing two blockers

 

[lfunk]

Yeah. I'm gonna go with no sale. Even in a completely neutral shootout attempt, skaters are free to choose their own approach to the net...and in angling for a shot, are probably going to be more inclined to shade to their off-wing to open up better shooting angles (to either side) anyway. It's more about that action, and moving the puck toward the middle of the ice to open up more advantageous shooting angles, than about what hand the goaltender catches with.

I do get what you're saying and i guess it's an interesting thought. I'm just not buying it at all.

I can't disagree with you nor Puckpilot. You are right about goalie coaches trying to teach how to line up with the puck and not the player, but I never see goalies adjust their angle when a player shifts from backhand to forehand at game speed. Their center of gravity just follows the general movement of the puck and usually late.
I remember a conversation in the 80's that was the inverse of this one. Why are there so many great left handed goal scorers in NHL? At the time before the butterfly, the easiest place to score was low blocker. A goalie cannot make that save without going down. Low glove side is protected by the stick for a standup goalie who would compensate to the blocker side. Since most goalies were left handed (catcher,) it was thought that the lefty shooters had an advantage.
Like you say, it probably doesn't matter which side a goalie catches in the age of the butterfly save.

 

[Bone Breaker]

Jose Theodore and Tomas Vokoun caught right. Both left and right-handed people can shoot right. But only left-handed people catch right.

thanks to this thread and specially to this response, a light flashed in my mind and, only years after the guy retired, I finally comprehend why I always liked Theodore and thought he was 'cool' for apparently no reason, even when he had some bad games with the Avs.

 

[JD1]

same for me. im right handed shoot right handed and when i play goalie i catch left handed.

i think its because goalies only have one hand on the stick 99%of the time while skaters have two hands on their stick 90% of the time. i could catch with either hand equally well but control my stick one handed significantly better with my right, so if im only gonna have 1 hand on the stick im using my right hand. i would think most right handed goalies feel the same.

it is definitely directly related to one hand on the stick.

I am left handed if you define handedness by which hand you write with

I was a catcher in ball for about 15 years. glove on left hand.

As a goalie, stick in left hand and glove on right.

 

[DJB]

So I'm left handed.

I bat, shoot a puck , golf right handed.

When I play catch with a ball I throw right catch left.

When I play goalie I catch right and it has everything to do with the comfort of holding my stick.

My young son is right handed, shoots right handed, bats right handed and plays catch with his left while throwing with his right.

But when he plays goal he catches with his right and he says it has to do with holding his stick

 

[DJB]

Dose anyone have the current list of right handed catching goalies currently playing ?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Dose anyone have the current list of right handed catching goalies currently playing ?

If I'm reading NHL.com correctly, no current starters.

Mike McKenna
Michael Hutchinson
Louis Domingue
Cal Petersen

 

[Brodeur]

It's something Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider talked at some point about as a significant cause of their hilarious puckhandling ineptitude. They both obviously catch "left", but as a players, are more naturally RH shooters. So every time they bumble out of their net to play the puck, it's like doing it not only with all the extra goaltending paraphernalia, but with a wrong-handed stick. Catastrophe typically ensues.

Maybe I'm mixing it up with Alex Burrows, but I could have sworn I've seen a photo of Luongo playing in a ball hockey tournament as a forward with his brother. If I recall correctly, Luongo shot left handed. But that wouldn't invalidate your point. A few goalies I play with catch left and shoot right when they play out as well.

--------------------

As a beer league goalie, I think part of it also depends on the stiffness of your glove with is personal preference. I vaguely recall reading that Martin Biron preferred a super stiff glove which would make it difficult to to grip a stick.

And just to echo what others pointed out, finding a right handed youth catching glove can be a challenge. I just checked my usual goalie equipment site and of the the six models of youth gloves they offer, only one is available in full right. For junior gloves, 6 of 18 models were available in full right. But for a typical hometown shop, I can't imagine many would stock full right gear.

 

[RedMenace]

I started playing around age 6, and have always shot right. Started playing goal as an adult, and even though I normally catch with my left hand, I couldn't handle the puck at. all. Swapped to full right, catch just as well with my right hand, and can handle the puck as well. Yay.

 

[biturbo19]

Maybe I'm mixing it up with Alex Burrows, but I could have sworn I've seen a photo of Luongo playing in a ball hockey tournament as a forward with his brother. If I recall correctly, Luongo shot left handed. But that wouldn't invalidate your point. A few goalies I play with catch left and shoot right when they play out as well.

--------------------

As a beer league goalie, I think part of it also depends on the stiffness of your glove with is personal preference. I vaguely recall reading that Martin Biron preferred a super stiff glove which would make it difficult to to grip a stick.

And just to echo what others pointed out, finding a right handed youth catching glove can be a challenge. I just checked my usual goalie equipment site and of the the six models of youth gloves they offer, only one is available in full right. For junior gloves, 6 of 18 models were available in full right. But for a typical hometown shop, I can't imagine many would stock full right gear.

I think you must be mixing it up with Burrows. They've both very deliberately talked about how they're RH shots.

Not exactly definitive "proof"...but about as close as you're going to get:

 

[Zarathustra]

Jose Theodore and Tomas Vokoun caught right. Both left and right-handed people can shoot right. But only left-handed people catch right.

Wasn't Steve Mason right handed but caught right?

 

[DJB]

Maybe I'm mixing it up with Alex Burrows, but I could have sworn I've seen a photo of Luongo playing in a ball hockey tournament as a forward with his brother. If I recall correctly, Luongo shot left handed. But that wouldn't invalidate your point. A few goalies I play with catch left and shoot right when they play out as well.

--------------------

As a beer league goalie, I think part of it also depends on the stiffness of your glove with is personal preference. I vaguely recall reading that Martin Biron preferred a super stiff glove which would make it difficult to to grip a stick.

And just to echo what others pointed out, finding a right handed youth catching glove can be a challenge. I just checked my usual goalie equipment site and of the the six models of youth gloves they offer, only one is available in full right. For junior gloves, 6 of 18 models were available in full right. But for a typical hometown shop, I can't imagine many would stock full right gear.

Hey what site do you use? Im looking for youth R goalie glove.

 

[Doctor No]

Here's a visualization I did at the start of the current season:



Over the history of the league, about 11% of minutes have been played by right catch goaltenders. We're in a low point at the moment.

 

[Brodeur]

Hey what site do you use? Im looking for youth R goalie glove.

Youth Goalie Catch Gloves Goalie catchers Hockey Goalie Gloves Goalie Equipment Vaughn Reebok Goalie Equipment

This was the model that was available in full right: CCM YFlex Youth Goalie Glove Youth Goalie Catch Gloves Gloves Equipment

I took up goaltending as an adult, so I'm not sure what the variance in sizing between youth and junior models would be.

 

[GreatSaveLuongo]

The goalie stick I always thought it was mostly for poke check so the goalie doesnt have to hold it all the time; he can just leave it on the ice. Hence I would have thought mote goalies wear their glove hand in thheir dominant hand.

 

[Doctor No]

The goalie stick I always thought it was mostly for poke check so the goalie doesnt have to hold it all the time; he can just leave it on the ice.

I'm not sure how you came to this conclusion, but it can be watching any NHL game (or really any other league) and noticing that the goaltender *does* hold their stick 100% of the time (except for brief periods where it gets dislodged).

The goaltender stick has many uses, not the least of which is that it stops a surprising number of shots (you can also confirm this by watching an NHL game carefully).

Suggesting that a goalie stick is "mostly for poke checks" is akin to saying that a goalie mask is "mostly for fashion".

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Here's a visualization I did at the start of the current season:



Over the history of the league, about 11% of minutes have been played by right catch goaltenders. We're in a low point at the moment.

Really interesting and wonder if it at all correlates with the cost of equipment? Like, total assumption on my part, but adjusted for inflation, is goalie gear more expensive now than ever (particularly when someone full right may have to custom order)?

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Loosely related to the topic, and something I've always wondered: how much is goalie puckhandling ability tied to preferred shooting handedness?

Example: I catch right like nearly all goalies, and also shoot right as a skater. Therefore I was forced to learn how to shoot left handed as a goalie. Not surprisingly, I was a terrible puckhandler when I played.

I'm going to guess the guys like Brodeur and Price are guys who would shoot left as skaters, while the guys like Hellebuyck and Lundqvist (ie. poor puckhandlers) are probably natural righty shots. At least that's my theory.