goaltending tips - Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association

Inside The Mask: Goalie Training & Consulting
Mobility & Agility Drills
“Alphabet Skating”
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Here are some examples of skating drill routines that can be modified within the basic, intermediate & advanced skill set model.
Increasing the intensity of these types of drills can be achieved by adding a shot at a ʻstop/setʼ pt., down/upʼs or more advanced lateral movements.
“U” Skate!
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“W” Skate
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Pattern: start on a post, move out toward the hash
marks - stop/set, Ccuts bckwrd to same post,
Tpush to mid-ice gaining depth, open pivot-Tpush
to other post, repeat going back to the start.
Pattern: start on a post, move out toward the
faceoff dot - stop/set, Ccuts bckwrd to same post,
move post to post & repeat on other side.
“X” Skate!
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Pattern: start on a post, strong/quick Tpush out
toward the faceoff dot - stop/set, arc-Shuffle same
pt. on the other side, open pivot-Tpush to far post,
repeat going the other way.
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“Y” Skate
Pattern: start @ mid-goal line, ʻpowerʼ out to midice gaining depth, stop/set, Ccuts bckwrd toward
the mid-goal line, Shuffle toward the corner of the
crease/goal line, return to start pt., repeat going the
other way.
Hey Tips!
Lateral mobility;
1. Shuffle
2. TPush
3. Half BFly slide
4. BFly slide/Power
slide
5. BFly shuffle
From basic to advʼd;
✦ add a shot @ any
stop/set pt.
✦ add a BFly/
recovery @ any stop/
set pt.
✦ add a down/up
during bckwrd
movement
✦ execute a ʻsaveʼ at
any stop/set pt. or
lateral movement
✦ ALL of the above!
Inside The Mask: Goalie Training & Consulting
ITM Fundamentals:
Jim Corsi (Goalie Coach, Buffalo Sabres) once wrote, “...style is going out of style...”.
Donʼt worry that you donʼt know all the technical aspects of goaltending, here are some fundamental things that
you can look for to help your goalies play their best.
The idea is that if a goalie subscribes to a single ʻstyleʼ and only that skill set than they may be missing out on save opportunities, unable to read & react
appropriately to the offensive attack and become predictable to the shooters.
At ITM we pride ourselves on knowing the strategies, systems & tactics of the game of hockey. By combining our extensive goaltending skill set with our playing
experience and study of hockey, we feel we provide the most comprehensive training. It is from this base that we build our drills, share our expectations and work
with each individual to manage their goals and achievements.
“The Diamond”
What is the ITM ʻDiamondʼ? Connect 4 pts.(1.) - the middle of the stick, the glove, the chin & the blocker.
No matter the ʻstyleʼ of goalie, the diamond is evident in all set stance positions. We like to teach our students to be
a ʻsnow plowʼ to the puck, guiding every puck to a safe area outside the dots. The diamond presents itself as a
wedge or ʻshieldʼ when executing save techniques. When the puck is a potential shot, we are square to the puck at
all times. When the puck is shot we move the ʻdiamond shieldʼ to the puck to stop it from going in AND controlling it
to a safe area on the ice.
“The Stance”
It used to be that a goalie stance was marked by a ʻbalance lineʼ perpendicular to the ice (2.); balls of the feet, knees &
shoulders. As you can see in the picture, a new stance has evolved from the butterfly & half butterfly techniques presenting
the shoulders in front of the ʻbalance lineʼ. This is a result of the ankles flexing more and the goalie setting up their shoulders
toward the puck. Stance and goaltending are based on a very strong awareness in maintaining balance.
By lowering the stance and presenting the upper body into the vertical angle the overall mobility is improved, stability &
quickness are enhanced and pucks are controlled more efficiently.
“The No Play Zone”
There is an equilateral triangle in the middle of the crease that we teach
as a ʻno play zoneʼ. (also known as, ʻthe pitʼ, ʻthe holeʼ, ʻthe triangleʼ)
We feel that under no controllable circumstances should a goalie play in this area.
Most offensive attack situations allow the goalie to move through this
space (deke, pass across etc.) or they can recede/stand on the edge
of the triangle to manage odd # offensive attacks/power playʼs by
honouring the shot but conceding depth in anticipation of the
puck carrierʼs passing options.
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Inside The Mask: Goalie Training & Consulting
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Is it important to include goalies in skating drills?
The quick answer - YES. If you go back and dig into your Hockey Canada resources it is recommended that goalies do team skating
until PW, then additionally they should be doing goalie specific skating drills. We feel that despite the overwhelming amount of skills in the new goaltending
techniques, skating is still the most important skill...if you can’t get there, you can’t stop the puck! It is also an issue of team dynamic, inherently the position is
separated from the group so any team activity that encourages the goalies to participate sends a positive message of inclusiveness to everyone.
2. Iʼve always been confused when I see a coach making time for the goalies to have another coach ripping shots at younger goalies.
The goalies will never see shots that hard so whatʼs the point?
At Inside the Mask we always teach to the highest common denominator, raise the bar and challenge the less accomplished to achieve better while motivating &
pushing the more accomplished goalies...
That being said, coaches should be able to gauge the release, shot pace and location appropriate to the age level their training...then kick it up 5-10% so that it will
likely match that of the ‘best’ shooters they compete against.
3. Whatʼs a goalie coachʼs opinion on pulling a goalie and how to do it?
Talk about a loaded question! A good & experienced coach once told me that he would call the goalie to the bench, speak to them to gauge their attitude and
mental competitiveness. If their heads in it, he put them back in because it was important to the coach not to mess with their confidence. I like this approach a lot
because it is making communication the top priority. Communication is the key to any good coach-goalie relationship. The only thing that I can add here is that you
have a specific conversation about this potential issue pre-season. Open up a dialogue with your goalies to see what they think, present a couple of typical
scenarios that may occur and ask them what they would do if they were coach, what they would prefer happen to them. This will show them that you respect them
and the hope is that they will take ownership of the situation responsibly. This will also give you an opportunity to use what they say to formulate your plan on
handling the matter when it arises.
4. How important is it to include goalies in practice?
Maybe the better or more honest question is, ‘How important is it to me that I neglect two members of my team on a weekly basis?’. The practice plan can include
the goalies in many ways. The easiest and most efficient thing would be to start a drill or two with the goalies. For most flow drills you can (1) rim/dump the puck,
have the (2) goalies stop it behind the net while the (3) D back peddles from the D zone faceoff dot. The D can then skate behind the net to get the puck (4) make
an outlet pass to a F skating up the boards, (5) then the D skates to mid-ice, transitions to backwards skating to (6) play the 1 on 1 with the F skating from the far
end of the rink.
F
4
Hey Tips!
From basic to advʼd;
✦ make the rim/dumpʼs random
✦ Vary the degree of difficulty: off the glass, flip @
the goalie, soft dump, Xcorner etc.
✦ have the G make stop the rim/dump & make the
pass to the F
5
1
D
F
6
3
G 2
Inside The Mask: Goalie Training & Consulting
Warm Up:
Inside the Mask: Goalie Training & Consulting
Date: 8 October 2011! Duration: 50 minutes
Coaching Clinic: Toronto Leaside Wildcats
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