Hey America! It’s Zulia here again. Most of us who have been playing goalie for a long time, intuitively and unconsciously know, the basics of an ice hockey goalie’s position. But I want to make it easy for you to think about the fundamental things you need to know when you step into your crease. I believe these are the TEN most important ideas you must remember.

1) Skating

You must be a strong skater. In fact, you the goalie must be the best skater on your team. You must always practice skating, and attend power skating clinics regularly. And you must participate in dry land training including muscle strengthening, agility, speed and cardio of one sort or another daily to continue to keep fit, stay in shape and be alert at all times. This is how you will be able to best move as quickly as possible across the net, following the puck, coming out to meet the player and then backing up into the crease as the offense man opponent approaches.

2) Butterfly

You must be able to do a complete butterfly, and quickly, keeping your pads parallel, together and flat to the ice. This is the most basic goalie save. And then you must learn when to go down, and when not to go down. It is not necessary to go down every time, but it is necessary to know when to go down. Timing the butterfly is actually more crucial than just performing the butterfly save.

3) Positioning

You must always maintain your body position square to the puck when you are in the crease. This is absolutely crucial to saving the puck. If you are always in the right place at the right time AND in the right position, then the puck will never be able to get through you into the net.

4) Glove Placement

You must place and stabilize your glove hands, yes even your stick glove in the right place and the same place at the right time, every and all times. Your gloves will save your life a very large percentage of every game. They are indispensible, even though you might think your stick and your pads are more important. Make your hands work for you.

5) Butterfly Slides and Half Butterfly Slides (the hardest save position)

You must be able to quickly slide across the front of your crease in a stable and strong butterfly or half butterfly position in order to save you lots of time, and give you more time to focus on saving the puck. They must come naturally, too, be part of your upper body, and gracefully, almost like a swan. These are hard, but work on them, for they are essential for an excellent goalie.

6) Rebound Control

You must make the puck rebound where you want it to go, not just let it hit your pad, stick or body and let it go where it wants to go, without direction. This is a bad habit. Any goalie can just save the first shot, but it is what you make the puck do, where you make it go, the direction it takes after the first shot that makes you a good goalie. Remember, most sports are all about angles and deflections (consider pool). And players love the rebound, so do not give it to them. Better yet, be known as the goalie who does not give rebounds.

7) Absorb the Puck

You must learn to absorb the puck into your body. Into your gloves, your chest, your stick and your pads. Why? Then there is no rebound for the opponents to play on you. Stop it, trap it, absorb it, hide it, kill it! Then there is no dispute about if it went into the net. It is in YOU.

8) Cover the Puck

You must always trap the puck, yes, but even more important cover the puck with your glove first, and then your stick to prevent the opponents from picking it out from under you with their sticks, and hurting your gloved hand.

9) Mind Set

You must, before EVERY game, practice and scrimmage, make, prepare and condition your mind to think like a warrior, a soldier, a fighter, a protector, a gladiator, a ninja, a robot, a goalie. You are going into a battle. This is war. You are on your own. Your teammates can not help you. Winning and losing is, literally in your hands, and gloves, and pads, and stick, and body. The crease is yours, no one else’s. No one is allowed in. You must keep them out. No one else will. You control the game. The game depends on you. Be, think, and believe the goalie. Be larger than life. Stand tall. Show your worth to your players and the opponents. You are the only one. You are the best one, the very best goalie anywhere, anytime. And this and every game is the proof, to yourself, your parents, your family, your friends, your coach, the referees, the officials, the fans, the other goalies, the other players, and of course, your own players. (This is something I will talk about it much greater length in a subsequent article).

10) Saving the Puck At All Cost

In the end, this is all that really matters. It is your job. You must do this. This is why you are here. This is what it is all about. This is what you have trained for all these years. This is what sweat is for. It is now up to you, and no one else.

Remember: LIFE
IS
SAVING THE PUCK.
THERE IS NOTHING ELSE!
NO,
Absolutely nothing else.

Zulia

Previous Blogs from Zulia:
12/03/2009
10/19/2009