We get a lot of questions in this line of work – some questions lead to blog articles on the subject.
Other times, it’s just simple observation. In this particular case, the idea for a blog article came from the Sunday VHL. The VHL goalies were so good this past Sunday that my post-game comments were what you will read below:
Take Away Goalies Lines of Sight
Goalies love seeing the puck all the way in. As goalies get bigger, faster and better, a shot from the outside with no traffic is like a 2 foot putt in golf. You’ll miss it the occasional time, but it’s not overly challenging to a seasoned, trained goalie. Instead – get in the goalies line of sight. For example – when your team has the puck at the point in the offensive zone, at least one (1) player should park their cheeks directly in front of the goalie. Not off to the side, not behind the net – directly in front of the goalie (as long as there’s no physical contact with the goalie). Make the goalie have to look around the parked player, make them have to “compete” to see the puck all the way in. Make life difficult on the masked marauder!
Keep in mind – parking someone in front doesn’t guarantee a goalie off the initial shot. But it puts the parked player in a great place for a deflection, or rebound. Also of note – goalies might stop a screened shot, but it likely just hits them so rebound control in these situations isn’t their best work. Rebounds will likely occur, which is what we want if we want to beat a hot goalie.
Keep Blasting Away
As a coach, I have found that players tend to get a little cute when facing a hot goalie – always looking for the perfect pass because they feel they have a better chance of scoring that way. I believe in the law of averages – the more pucks we put on goal, the better chance we have of not only scoring in the moment, but scoring later in the game because of physical and mental fatigue. One is more likely to make a mistake if they are fatigued; make the goalie work, make them compete, put them in high-stress situations and it’s bound to go in sometime!
Get The Goalie “Off the Spot”
This one may seem counter-intuitive to the “keep blasting away” point, but it is more complimentary to the above point than it is conflicting. Hot goalies are usually feeling good about their angles, footwork and ability to anticipate. It’s no different than Tom Brady or Peyton Manning in football – when they are in “the pocket” with time, they would dissect a defence. To beat those two QB’s was best done by “getting them off the spot” – making them move laterally, or getting them out of their respective comfort zones by making them have to “scramble”.
When shooting, try and create a different “puck angle” before releasing. That can be done by pulling the puck into your feet before letting the puck go, taking a quick lateral step before shooting, and so on. The ol’ straight-back-and-straight-through release pattern – against a hot goalie – is lower percentage than changing the puck angle. One-timing the puck is also highly-suggested; a quick pass-and-shot gets the goalies feet moving laterally, which opens up a lot of holes even on a hot one (note that we don’t want to pass through 2-3 players to create a one-timer aka “being too cute”).
Get Dirty
Anyone else thinking of the Christina Aguilera/Method Man song right about now? Or maybe I’m just stuck in the 90’s this afternoon? Moving on.
Rebounds are a hot goalies kryptonite. After the initial shot is taken, get into those “dirty areas” of the ice and focus on getting the puck “upstairs” as my dad used to always say. Goalies are trained to make saves in the butterfly, so they are usually down when pucks are in and around their feet on rebounds. Win a battle, and don’t settle for sliding the puck along the ice on rebounds. Use the toe of your stick, open up the face of the blade, and press downward with your bottom hand. Puck, meet mesh.
Other Comparable Media to This Article
Score More! Drills to improve offence (video) – – – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdzMCH_e5ws
Passing Tips (Article) – – – https://vhghockey.ca/stop-with-the-flaky-passes-at-distance-u15-and-older/
Until Next Time –
Coach AP