A spin-off from our usual Coaches Blog comes Coach Avery’s maiden voyage – “Understanding Threats”. Grab a beverage and have a look…!
Understanding Threats and where they come from.
You ever wake up and catch the highlights of the previous night’s hockey game, you see all the typical stuff. A couple breakaways, the goal scorers, a big hit, maybe even a couple of great saves. The thing you don’t see is the three on two breakdown that turns into an odd man rush and ends with a goalie taking a puck dead centre in the chest. It gets chalked up as an easy save but in reality how the save is made and what leads up to it separates good goalies from great ones.
Knowing who’s on the ice
Regardless of the level of hockey you play whether its u11 B or u18 AAA, every team has their skill players, their role players and some players who end up somewhere in the middle. Knowing who these players are and when they are on the ice is a very important piece to understanding where an offensive threat can come from. Are the skill guys on the ice with their normal line mates? Are the role players looking to crash and bang and throw everything at the net to gain some momentum?
Watching zone breakouts and the options they provide
Every goalie is guilty of it, the coach brings the team in, goes to the board and starts to explain the zone breakout and the goalies on the ice sigh and tune everything out until they see another puck. Most teams use the same tendencies. Puck carrier goes wide, second man drives the net with the third guy high. Watching how your team plays off of that and having an understanding of what other options teams may use can give you a huge advantage in beating plays on your feet to give you the most options to make a save.
The fine details
This one takes the most time, and the goalies who really go the extra mile will see the rewards. The Little fine details a goalie picks up over a season. What way does a player shoot? Does a team like to take a shot from the right side or the left side on a power play? If a player has gotten you a couple of times, has it been from the same spot on the ice? Has it been the same type shot or beaten you in the same spot a couple times? If theres a two on one does the puck carrier have a tendency to shoot first or pass first?
Being a goalie is a mental battle, having small bits of information about a certain team, a certain player, a certain system can help prepare you even before you step onto the ice. It takes a time and effort to build up but throughout the course of the season it can make the difference between starting in the playoff finals or watching another team from behind the glass.
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