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088 - A Deep Dive Into Goalie Movements
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This week we break down the most common movements as goalies and how to be more efficient and powerful with them!
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Transcript
Introduction and Announcement
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome to the DIY Goalie Podcast, where hosts and goalie coaches Nathan Park and Connor Munday share their insights on how to become a better goalie.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hey, goalies. ah Welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie Podcast, a rare one lately. um Connor and I are together honest on a same podcast episode, and that's... ah That seems to be rare these days. um So, yeah, um we are going to dive into things. But first, um I kind of wanted to let all you guys know about a cool...
00:00:47
Speaker
new offering that we have here at True North Goal Tending. um So we just recently kind of did a soft launch on virtual goalie sessions, um which will allow us to provide goalie coaching to all of you, anyone in the world, basically.
00:01:10
Speaker
um so If this is something you guys are interested in, because we're doing kind of a soft launch with this just to kind of train some of our staff and kind of get our process um down, we are offering a little bit of a discounted price for it right now. um And so what I'll do is I'll put a link in the show notes to kind of ah a Google form that we have for people that are interested um while we kind of polish things up before rolling it out full time. But we are looking for kind of a handful of people to help us out with that, nailing down our process. We have done a few that have worked really, really well.
00:01:50
Speaker
um So now we're kind of taking that next step to to start to scale it a little bit and see see where the issues lie there. So for 60 bucks Canadian, you can get an hour virtual goalie session.
00:02:04
Speaker
We do have options for 30 minutes and 15 minutes as well. um And then, yeah, as long as we can make the timing work, um we'd love to have you guys test it out. And whether you're in Australia, whether you're in South America, whether you're in Europe or the States or Canada, wherever you guys are we can run a goalie session for you guys. So that's a cool little
Trade Reaction: Stuart Skinner to Penguins
00:02:30
Speaker
offering there. um If it is something you guys have questions on, because I don't want to go too, too much into it, we'll be here for
00:02:38
Speaker
you know, a little while if we do, but if you have any questions on that, you can email us at goalies at truenorthgoaltending.com. Or like I said, I'll put a link into the intake form that we are, um using right now before we actually fully launch it on our website and all that stuff.
00:02:55
Speaker
Um, so something cool to check out. Uh, we're excited to roll that out and, uh, pretty excited to see how that goes. Um, And so I guess right before we dive into the meat and potatoes of the episode today,
00:03:10
Speaker
and We might have to change up the DIY Goalie podcast drinking game now that Stuart Skinner is a Pittsburgh Penguin and no longer an Edmonton Oiler. So I have not talked to Connor about this trade yet. So I would like real time reaction from Mr. Connor Monday over there.
00:03:33
Speaker
man. I'm surprised you didn't do a welfare check on me earlier today. ah um This is my welfare check. I want to break this down kind of quickly here. of it's it's It's a good move for both goalies because I think you know having maybe a change of scenery for both Jari and Skinner as a bat or isn't necessarily a bad thing.
00:03:57
Speaker
However... It's a bad move for the Edmonton Oilers in general. It's such a stupid lateral move that's not going to do anybody any favors. The Oilers suck and in their own defensive end.
00:04:12
Speaker
Evan Bouchard needs to go to Pittsburgh before Stuart Skinner does, to be quite honest with you. um I don't know. i mean... All in all, though, I mean, I liked Jari when he was here with the Oil Kings. We'll see how see how he fares now that he's in the the orange and blue.
00:04:29
Speaker
um But yeah, Stuart Skinner i will be missed. And I guess now I can officially say that we won't be talking about an and talking about him anymore on the podcast. but Everybody rejoice.
00:04:43
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. It's... this is why i
Question: Tips for Improving Goalie Movements
00:04:48
Speaker
don't This is why I try not to get too emotionally involved in things nowadays, particularly when it comes to that. Get out of here. um But yeah, like i don't like I don't know. and think it's it's It's a good move for both goaltenders. I think it's a really good move for Pittsburgh because now that they have Shilovs and Skinner in their arsenal, I think Dave Smith is still in their arsenal as well. Marischov.
00:05:08
Speaker
And Marischov. Nipping at the heels. Yeah, so it's it's a good move for Pittsburgh. i think it's a really stupid move for Edmonton, so we'll see how things play out. Yeah. um i yeah Would you have done Skinner and Bouchard for Jari and Carlson?
00:05:29
Speaker
Yeah, okay. no You don't hate Bouchard that much then. okay no okay Well, okay, no. I don't know, man. like Bouchard, bo char like that guy has no hockey IQ whatsoever. I don't understand him.
00:05:45
Speaker
like How can he be so good with like with the shot that he has and how and how he and how he sets himself up in the offensive zone to be a good goal scorer when the owners do rely on him?
00:05:57
Speaker
But everything else about his game is just so awful. It's so bad. He gets caught on turnover so many times. He gets caught flat-footed or on the wrong side of the puck so many times. How the hell is how the hell are the Oilers paying him, what, $12 million? It's only $10.
00:06:18
Speaker
Oh, it was a $10. Well, whatever. That's still too much money. But like, how, like, how are they, how are they paying them that much money to basically stand around and do nothing and then effectively be the reason why Stuart Skinner got ran out of Edmonton? Like, I don't, I don't, I don't get it.
00:06:35
Speaker
I don't get it. Well, as goalies, we're used to being the scapegoat. I will say, I think the biggest thing, if Bouchard had a little bit more grit to him, like if you had Bouchard's skill with kind of Adam Larson's, you know, fiery side, you'd probably, yeah. you'd you'd have like a top five D-man in the league for sure. and well then what then well Well, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.
00:06:57
Speaker
and Well, yes. So like I don't know. Like like definitely Stuart Skinner and Revan Bouchard did not mesh well together. But I will say, I don't know. The one thing that Jari does bring though is he's very good at playing the puck. which might help out. So was Mike Smith.
00:07:16
Speaker
So was Mike Smith. He was exceptionally well at playing the puck, but the orders still suck in their own end. Don't give me that. I'm just saying. i That's like the one thing I will say is a major upgrade.
00:07:30
Speaker
But yeah, I'm not going to go too much into this. Um, Connor's kind of I'll, I'll leave that as Connor spotlight. So on the meat and potatoes of, uh, yeah. Yeah.
00:07:43
Speaker
And that's it for today. Um, For what we're going to talk about today, Connor kind of alluded to it last week in the podcast episode, but we did have a listener reach out on Instagram.
Key Goalie Movements Explained
00:07:56
Speaker
Crease Quest was the handle.
00:07:59
Speaker
um So shout out because we love hearing from listeners and we love getting feedback. um and and kind of getting asked questions and stuff. So um the question was basically around if we could touch on talking about um movements and how to be better in our movements. And specifically, this goalie is struggling with T pushing um that he was kind of looking for some clarification on. But I do think in general, if we kind of go into just
00:08:32
Speaker
ways to improve our movement or things to think about for improving our movement. I think that's something that across all levels, even though this is probably more geared towards somewhat more beginner goalies, but I do think there are some things that on the higher end level as well that we can take from,
00:08:52
Speaker
um we'll kind of go through i guess maybe to start just kind of talk about you know the most basic movements that we go through like on my mind there's about six that are that cover basically 99 of what we do as a goalie um so there's your shuffle that's kind of you know smaller movements your t push is for the longer um kind of lateral movements we have butterfly slides which is kind of for a lateral movement in tight one thing we'll talk about a little bit more when we get into it is how overused the butterfly slide is but you know i digress we'll save that for like 10 minutes from now um we've got the inside edge push which again is for in tight when we are down low on our knees to start um we've got the t push recovery which is when we're on our knees and we're recovering to our feet
00:09:47
Speaker
And then we have knee shuffles, which is when we're on our knees and making small little adjustments on our knees, which is one that doesn't really get talked about a whole heck of a lot, but is very handy for the situations that it's good for.
00:10:04
Speaker
um But something that maybe could be practiced a little bit more. um So in the grand scheme of things, those are kind of the big six. um those are basically going to cover, like I said, about 99% of what we do as goalies. Um, they're all for various situations. So shuffles again, kind of more the small movement. So more so when a player is, um, skating with the puck, um, or short passes, those are kind of good. Like the higher level goalies, um,
00:10:37
Speaker
the more efficiently you can kind of use those long shuffles on passes, the quicker that we can kind of get our feet set and all that good stuff. So um having a good shuffle, being able to get a good, powerful push through that shuffle and get our feet set quick, staying low through that push is really important.
00:10:55
Speaker
um The T pushes like we've talked about are kind of better for those longer passes stuff like the D2D Pass or you know, whatever the case is like power plays we're probably doing a lot of T pushes um Especially the younger goalies we're gonna be doing more T pushes across our net than the older goalies for sure um When it comes to the butterfly slides again it's not a substitute for a T push. There's too many goalies that substitute T pushes for their butterfly slides. um If you have time to slide and pop back up to your feet at the end of your push, you had time to T push.
00:11:38
Speaker
So, Save the butterfly slides for when it's in tight. So say there's like a D man that has the puck near the blue line and they kind of pass it to that back door on a power play. Like that's the perfect example for a slide or a two on one pass comes across. The guys are pretty, you know, low in the zone. Um, that's a great time for a butterfly slide too.
00:12:04
Speaker
Um, a D to D pass is not a great time for a butterfly slide or stuff like that. Right. And I do see a lot of goalies, especially the younger ones doing that. Cause one of the first things goalies do when they get out on the ice is slide around.
00:12:18
Speaker
They start on their feet and they do
The Art of Weight Transfer and Efficiency
00:12:20
Speaker
a butterfly side. Cause it's one of the easier things to do and it's one of the more fun things to do. But then we get into that kind of that bad habit about that. Right.
00:12:28
Speaker
um Inside edge push, those are kind of used for a rebound that's in tight or maybe a shot gets blocked that we drop down for and it kind of gets deflected off to the side and we have to adjust our positioning. That's where we're down on our knees. We kind of lift that back leg, make a small little pushover staying on our knees.
00:12:49
Speaker
Um, that's when those are good for t push recoveries, same situation, but if that pucks a little further out, um, so say we make a rebound or and we make a save, our rebound goes further out. There is no real immediate threat. We can do a T push recovery to our feet, um, and get there quickly. Um, and then with the knee shuffles, those are kind of for like in tight scrambles where we don't really have enough time to lift our leg.
00:13:17
Speaker
um to make an inside edge push because we're going to open up too much in that five hole. We can just do little quick knee shuffles over um to adjust our position by a little bit, um just following that puck bouncing around.
00:13:32
Speaker
So um that's kind of the general overview on those. um We'll kind of break down some tips um to be better with all of those, but I don't know if you really have anything to add with that. I mean,
00:13:46
Speaker
not talking about anything groundbreaking right now. So, uh, yeah, no, it's, yeah, you, you basically hit the nail on the head already. It's, um, it's a lot of different movements, uh, in terms of how to get around in our crease.
00:14:03
Speaker
It's just a matter of, knowing when to use what movement for what purpose, if that makes sense. Right. Like, obviously, we're not going to be using ah a T push when it's a when it's a kind of a short pass across. Right. Like maybe I don't know, like a kind of dot to kind of slot shot. Right. um You know, we're not goingnna be using ah a shuffle when it's I don't know, like a late, like like you said, like a D to D pass or whatever. Right.
00:14:30
Speaker
So, um yeah, no, you're right. nothing nothing to Nothing too too groundbreaking on that. Not necessarily reinventing the wheel of that. It's just more so about knowing when to use what position and when or what to you when to use what movement and when. I will say, though, you like the knee shuffle is actually one of my favorite movements.
00:14:50
Speaker
for some reason just because of how absurd it is um and just moving around the crease there and and for especially for somebody like in my frame um you know just utilizing that maybe just a little bit more uh and just being able to utilize that just take away a lot of the net specifically in tight when that puck's moving across is a lot of fun yeah i like throwing in the odd knee shuffle i don't do it for the younger kids but for kind of the older kids i love throwing in the odd knee shuffle during our skating drills and just watching them suffer because it burns the legs like doing any sort of um you know like if you do the iron cross for example and you do that movement hash mark to hash mark back to middle
00:15:37
Speaker
you do that with knee shuffles that the goalies get about a third of the way through and they're just bagged. But yeah, it is it is one that's not talked about enough and is actually very useful for the situation that it's useful for. and Because so many times on those in tight plays where the puck is moving just a little bit,
00:16:00
Speaker
Um, and we're already down a lot of goalies try and lift that leg for an inside edge push, which takes longer. It opens up more. And if we can get used to that, um, knee shuffle and just make those small adjustments, just like regular shuffle, that's, uh, that's going to be the best to put us in a good position. Um, just build off of what Connor was saying too, in terms of the biggest thing is the decisions we make and that's 100% spot on. The other thing I'll add to that too is the efficiency of how we move. I think those are kind of the two most important things when it comes to movement. um
00:16:41
Speaker
A lot of goalies, and I guess kind of we'll dive into the nitty gritty of it and kind of some tips here, but a lot of goalies, especially younger goalies, what I notice is They don't and it makes sense, like they don't have a lot of understanding of body control yet.
00:17:00
Speaker
And a lot of them don't really know how to actually get good power through their pushes. um And basically the best way I can explain it is thinking of your legs is like a spring, right? You got a load that spring. You got to load your leg so that you can basically let go and explode through that push. Right. So A lot of goalies that are younger and kind of struggle with the power and the strength side of things don't really help themselves out with technique.
00:17:31
Speaker
They don't bend their leg enough and they don't shift their weight. So that's a big one is being able to shift your weight from being kind of 50-50 on both feet to about 80-20 maybe on the backside foot, on your push foot.
00:17:47
Speaker
That's where a lot of that power is going to come from, right? Shifting that weight, loading that back leg, bending that knee. That's what's going to allow you to get a nice explosive push through. That's going to be hard.
Common Mistakes and Solutions
00:18:00
Speaker
That's going to be powerful and that's going to help you get across quickly.
00:18:04
Speaker
um When it comes to efficiencies, too. Like not only do we have to have that weight transfer and that weight load, but we also have to make as much of that push carry us laterally because there's a lot of goalies that pull up through their pushes and pull back through their pushes and they lose some of that power to kind of that, you know, upward trajectory as opposed to the lateral trajectory.
00:18:33
Speaker
And that kind of is a big thing that loses a lot of that power, too. So what I like to tell my goalies is when you're making your pushes, try and think about leading with your head, shoulders and hands. And you're basically stacked with your upper body over top of your knee and your lead leg so that your body is driving through, staying low and forward and allowing you to get maximum kind of power laterally as opposed to kind of losing some of that by pulling your body back or pulling your body up. It's all about the shoulders. The shoulders got to lead. The shoulders got to go forward because if they go up or back, Not only does it lose power, but then you have to spend extra time at the end of your push getting back down into your stance, your proper stance.
00:19:21
Speaker
And because we've pulled back and up, we're kind of opening up more net by that, too. So that's something to think of during our pushes as well. um um was going to add on that. think you kind of covered it already.
00:19:34
Speaker
um But just with just kind of making sure that we get a good rotation and getting on and getting on a proper angle. Right. Because a lot of times and I've seen it in various different levels where the goalie will make their push across, whether it's a T push, butterfly slide, shuffle across, but they're still kind of coming.
00:19:59
Speaker
for lack of better term, at a straight line to the shooter rather than making small adjustments or getting a good rotation so then they get on a proper angle. So we want to make sure, like Nathan was saying, like our shoulders are staying forward. but We want to make sure that our square, so the the space in between like our shoulders and our hips, um is still on angle to where that puck is in relation to that back middle bar of the net.
00:20:24
Speaker
You know what I mean? So that's that's another crucial thing as well. as So we're not pushing and getting across for the sake of getting across. We're still moving across, trying to get on a good angle with purpose to get to our next position.
00:20:38
Speaker
um Another thing that I wanted to touch on with that is, especially for our smaller goalies, because I was out with one of my kids – couple weeks ago, I guess. And so he's about what, like four feet, maybe a little bit taller.
00:20:57
Speaker
um And so it's a large distance for him to go from one corner of the crease, specifically in a T push um to go from one corner of the crease to the other corner of the crease. just doesn't have that power.
00:21:08
Speaker
So we talked about, you know, getting a good push across, but then kind of pumping that leg, pumping that back leg again to get another push across this crease. So then he's still beating that pass across.
00:21:19
Speaker
Right. We still want to be making sure that we're utilizing, you know, getting a good angle, getting good power across. And if we have to kind of double pump, you know, we get a push and and then another push across to get to that next position. As long as we're getting there, we're still beating the pass. We're still gaining good depth, getting on good angle.
00:21:35
Speaker
You know, that's that's if hey if it works, it works. And especially at, you know, that level where or that age where he doesn't have the leg strength that you and I have, Nathan, as an example. Right.
00:21:46
Speaker
And so it's, it's, it's an option that works, right? So we just got to make sure that we're still utilizing, and we're still doing techniques properly or as best as we can and trying to, excuse me, utilize our advantage, ah ah utilize our ourselves effectively.
00:22:02
Speaker
Yeah. Rotations are big. That's probably on the bingo card. The DIY goalie podcast drinking game is how many times we say the word rotation. Yeah. Um, but it is true. There's a reason for that. And I, we have talked about it. I think in the episode, when we were talking about simplicity, um, that panic factor that goalies have, where as soon as that puck goes laterally, it's like, I gotta go, I gotta get there. And a lot of times the push already starts like immediately.
00:22:31
Speaker
And yes, it might seem counterintuitive to take a split second extra to take that rotation before making that push. it actually gets you to your end spot quicker. right So if we can get that good rotation and as you guys get better at this, the rotation and the push almost start to happen simultaneously once you get really good at implementing um the rotations in your movements.
00:22:55
Speaker
But even still, like if you're not at the point that that's happening almost instantaneously, it's still going to get you to your proper position quicker than if you push flat like Connor's talking about, because you have a further distance to go when you're flat as opposed to getting that kind of, you know, rotated angle back. um It does make a huge difference just getting that proper line and The other thing, too, with that panic, we talked about how it can lead to us opening up because we're stretching out and doing all this stuff again, getting that body around, getting it rotated and leading with that body in that push.
00:23:37
Speaker
It's our biggest area of coverage and having your body in proper like alignment with your lower body. just keeps your balance a lot better too. So when you get to the end, you're not scrambling to try and get yourself reset and on balance. You're just there. You get a stop and you're set. You're ready to go.
00:23:57
Speaker
um So, yeah, the the rotations are probably the single most important part about most pushes, even with the shuffles, because the shuffles are small.
00:24:08
Speaker
um So we're and maybe not necessarily doing a rotation to the extent like we do the T pushes. But if you're shuffling, like say a D man walks across the whole blue line and if you just start shuffling flat,
00:24:24
Speaker
you're eventually going to just shuffle yourself into the slot or, you know, something like that. Right. As opposed to having to get those small little rotations as you go. So your body's kind of following that crease, like that kind of semicircle.
00:24:40
Speaker
um Otherwise, you're just going to be flat and you're going to lose your angle and you're not going to be square and all of that stuff. So those rotations are incredibly important with any movement we do.
00:24:53
Speaker
They've like the rotation we do or the rotation. Yeah. The rotations that we do is going to be different with each ah movement. Like I said, the shuffles are different than the T pushes, but all of them will require some form of rotation.
00:25:10
Speaker
um And that even goes for our slides or inside edge pushes or T push recoveries, all of that stuff. And we want to try and get that full body rotation because I do see some goalies do a really good job of it with their upper body. but they leave their hips and their feet behind and still end up pushing flat, right? So I always say rotate top down so your head brings your shoulders, your hands brings your hips, your feet.
00:25:34
Speaker
um Again, we want to lead with that head, lead with that upper body anytime we're doing that. But um that rotation is crucial. And you guys, if you aren't doing it yet, do it.
00:25:48
Speaker
Start implementing it into your game. It's that simple. It's, it's sorry. this It's funny how it all kind of goes hand in hand, right? How it's just like pieces of a puzzle. They all just kind of click together. You know what I mean? So just, you can't get a good position. If you don't get the good rotation, you can't get, can't get into position. If you don't get, you know, good power and you know, you can't make the save. If you're not tracking the puck, you can't follow your rebound out. If you don't, you know, lay it all. Just,
00:26:22
Speaker
correlates together and it's one of the more fascinating parts about this position really and I think just you know the better you understand that the easier it'll make it for you um I did just want to touch on one of my last points where you know again just the hockey IQ part of it as well we've we've touched on this so many times in various different episodes you know and just wanting to make sure that you know we're understanding the play out
00:26:53
Speaker
utilizing the correct movement to get across our crease. You're not necessarily going to, you know, like i said, shuffle across your crease when it's going to be a D-to-D pass, probably with a one-timer at the end of it.
00:27:07
Speaker
right You're going to want to get that good T push across, and it's debatable enough already where you get that T push across at your feet and make the save. Or if you want to get that rotation T push and then you kind of collapse into a butterfly slide afterwards. We were talking about that with one my goalies last week.
00:27:22
Speaker
um So, again, it's just neat we need to make sure, and we've seen it one too many times, you know, where a goalie at any level,
00:27:34
Speaker
will do their movement across in an attempt to make a save and they still end up getting scored on it and they think in that current point in time so well i got across i butterfly i butterfly slide it across and then when we look back at the video and we see that shots you know like top of the circles close to the point and the goalie's like yeah why did i slide I had time to get there on my feet. Right. So understand how the game works, understand the play, understand reads, you know, and then it'll make it a lot easier for you as well.
00:28:09
Speaker
Yeah. And with that being said to understand depth management, because out of the three, like we've talked about this, but out of the three points of our positioning between angle, squareness and depth, depth is our last priority. You want to get across and on angle and square to that puck before you are gaining proper depth because if you don't have time to push to the top of the crease or beyond the top of the crease and that shot comes before you're fully across and set, you're leaving that open. So if you need to get back to the middle of your crease, but that allows you to be on your angle and set, you're in a much better position than in the process of still moving when that shot comes. Right. So that's another thing, too, is make sure that you guys take
00:28:59
Speaker
that into consideration based on what your situation is in that moment, right? If it's a further out pass, then yes, gain some more depth through your push. But if you don't have that time, if you're a little late on the push or if it's a quick bang, bang play, maybe you're screened, you don't see the release of the pass, you're a little bit behind.
00:29:19
Speaker
It's not the end of the world to try and push back a little bit more to get into that lane quicker, even if you have less depth. If you're there in your set and your hands are out and your shoulders are forward, you can still make a save with a little less depth easier than you can make a save while you're still moving or while you're off your angle. Right.
00:29:40
Speaker
um So that's something to consider, too. um i kind of want to go back to weight transfer for a second and kind of hammer some stuff home on that, um because we talked about the weight transfer for push.
00:29:55
Speaker
But I think what a lot of goalies struggle with is the weight transfer during our push. Because we transfer our weight to our back foot for the push.
00:30:07
Speaker
But after we release that push, like after we kind of, you know, let that spring loose and we explode through our push, we then need to transfer that weight to our front foot so that we can kind of lead with that body over top of that foot. And we have the weight now to get a good hard stop.
00:30:27
Speaker
And that's a lot of I find what goalies struggle with is the weight transfer. So transferring to load up that back leg and then that push comes and then we transfer back more so to the front leg, get that good hard stop. And then we kind of go back to that neutral 50 50 on each leg.
00:30:47
Speaker
um That's one thing that's really going to help to get a good push off and then to maintain good balance and drive your body forward through into that push as well. We need to make those weight transfers.
00:31:02
Speaker
um The other thing too that comes with that, the best way I like to explain this is kind of almost, you know, think of the magician sawing the assistant in half kind of thing, right? In the box, your upper body, its job is to get into the lane.
00:31:26
Speaker
Your lower body, its job is to make the push because a lot of times, and we see this with younger goalies, a lot of times the upper body gets swung back to load momentum into your push.
00:31:40
Speaker
So you're swinging your arms back to one side, You're turning your body back to one side and then trying to get this big swing of momentum to load up for a push across, which leads to a whole lot of problems with your balance, a whole lot of problems with hand positioning, with squareness, with getting on angle, all this stuff.
00:32:01
Speaker
It just really wrecks the push. If you can save all of the push for your lower body and all your upper body is doing is getting into the lane, that's going to be where you're successful. Right. So don't be swinging your hands around. I don't know how many times we see this with goalies that we work with all the time. You know, we make ah an inside edge push and our glove is 10 feet behind us.
00:32:29
Speaker
Right. we make a a big butterfly slide. And like the one I find funny is when goalies rotate, like we tell them to, and then right after they rotate, they do this big swing back with their, their arms and their body. And then I'm just like, well, at that point, why did you even rotate? Cause you just lost literally everything you just did. So, um,
00:32:52
Speaker
So that's a big one too, is kind of think of yourself in two different segments. Lower body is getting the power, getting the push. Upper body is leading you into that um lane to make that safe.
00:33:07
Speaker
Counter rotation is what they're doing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And um just make sure that your butt doesn't s sink. really right we don't want our butt sinking back towards our heels at any point i was doing a drill with my u18s yesterday um or with one of my u18 goalies yesterday where like this guy likes to like he likes to move around on his knees a lot in his net and kind of gets lost a lot of times in no man's land so we're trying we're trying to figure out how to clean that up
00:33:38
Speaker
So we're doing a drill where, you know, he makes a save off of his stick, kind of comes out to the other side of his crease in a bad spot and bad rebound spot. And so trying to get him to move across and trying to avoid doing the, you know, Jonathan quick, you know, split save type thing, trying to bring everything across, bring all of his weight forward.
00:34:00
Speaker
And there was one where it looks so good, looks so good, looks so good, looks so good. And then by the time that, you know, he was been ready to make a save, he kind of ducked essentially kind of brought his weight down, brought his butt down. And so ended up beating him. And I don't, I don't have a very good shot, mind you, you know, beating him over the shoulder on his blocker side. And the first thing I went was why?
00:34:20
Speaker
Why, why, why, why did we do that? And he goes, don't know, it was habit. So I go, okay, we got to inhabit that and we got to figure it out in different ways. So we want to make sure that we're leading forward with that blocker, right? Blockers, you know, first line defense, the rest your body is the cavalry afterwards.
00:34:40
Speaker
right That's the best way I like to describe it because I think it makes sense. you know So we want to make sure that we're body weight is staying forward, that we're kind of pushing into or falling, fall not falling forward, but falling forward, into our safe, cutting off the angle in front of us. So we're giving ourselves the best opportunity, specifically in type for something like this, you know to ah to to to make the safe as best as possible.
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah, in tight for sure. So your butterfly slides and your inside edge pushes. um The way I like to explain it is leading with the hand. So you actually are projecting your hand towards the puck, stretching out your hand towards the puck.
00:35:19
Speaker
And then when you make your movement, you have your body kind of come into your elbow as you're making that slide. So your hand starts out extended towards that puck, covering that net. And then as your body gets into the lane, Your hand is no longer extended, but it's kind of just where it needs to be.
00:35:39
Speaker
And your body catches up kind of into that elbow. um That's the best way I can explain it too. So that's kind of two different ways of explaining the same thing. So maybe one works better for you or rings more true. I'm superior. Don't listen to him. I am superior. And Connor won't be returning for the next episode.
00:36:01
Speaker
um Okay. no ah so so and so So just to add on to the bingo card here, we'll talk about Stuart Skinner one last time. You know, and so it pains me to say this, but like if you look at the highlights of him last year, he was not very good laterally at all.
00:36:18
Speaker
And it pains me to admit it, but it's true. It's it's it's it's an honest truth. you know he's He's good in most other areas, but they definitely that cross crease, cross eye stuff, he was not very good at it whatsoever. So if you ever find yourself looking at Stuart Skinner highlights, um you know and I think that's probably a good example of what not to do, versus that if you look at somebody like Connor Halibuck,
00:36:44
Speaker
Andre Vasilevsky, Carey Price. Dustin Wolf is unreal. Actually, yeah. Yeah, Wolfie's another good one. And Wollstead, too. I haven't seen much of Wollstead, so I can't really say. But um but just if you look at you know those guys, they move so well laterally across, whether beyond their feet or down in their butterfly. you know They get that good rotation. They're moving forward. Their weight's staying over top of their knees.
00:37:14
Speaker
it's it's It's a really cool thing to see. And so that's what a lot of what we kind of try to reference as best as we can in terms of wanting to get our goaltenders in terms of how they move. Yeah, my big thing with Stu, I just think comes down to depth management, right? Like yeah a lot of times for his ability to go laterally, he'd be too far out or he'd be pushing to be too far out. And I think if he could kind of take a half step back most of the time, he'd end up in a better spot.
00:37:44
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah. The last, I guess, point that I kind of have on this, um the one thing that I find makes a huge difference. And this one is definitely more for the inside edge push, but also just kind of all pushes in general.
00:38:02
Speaker
A lot of goalies try to extend their push leg to the side because they're trying to push laterally. It makes sense, right? Like you kind of are trying to push in the complete opposite direction of where we're going.
00:38:18
Speaker
But the problem is, is our contact point is the ice and that's below us. And when you are trying to make a push, you need to load your weight down into the ice. So you need to find a way to bring your leg up so that you can push through your foot, through your edge, down into the ice so you can actually catch that edge.
00:38:39
Speaker
A lot of times when we see goalies blow out, like when they're trying to make an inside edge push and all that's happening is they're just kicking their leg. um A lot of times that's because they're trying to push to the side and not down.
00:38:53
Speaker
And that's the big one that I find makes a big difference on these lateral plays is if when we talk about that transfer of weight, if you can transfer that weight to that back foot in a way that you can now load that weight down, that's when we can really grab that ice, make a good hard push and and get an anchor point, right? Because that's the big thing is if we push to the side, there's nothing there unless you're against the post, which is a much different story. But other than that, if you're trying to push out to the side, you're going to have a tough time. And that's also when I find, too, we get really stretched out and spread out. Like if we're too wide between our feet, we're going to have a tough time with any push we do. So we got to make sure too, and that's why any pushes as well, after we push, we want to snap that back leg back as quick as we can. so we're not so spread out because that loses a lot of power.
Conclusion and Community Engagement
00:39:50
Speaker
But we also want to make sure we get that good anchor point by pushing down so that we don't kick that leg out and accidentally get spread out too, right? So we got to make sure that as best we can as goalies, we're maintaining that just outside of shoulder width.
00:40:07
Speaker
um With our feet and that goes for the end of the push to when we finish our push we don't I see a lot of goalies get a good hard stop and then they extend their feet out into their set position and they get stuck or they get low or they get off balance or whatever the case is.
00:40:24
Speaker
um But we want to make sure that we are maintaining that kind of nice neutral width on our on our pushes, on our stance, on our setup, anything we're doing. Obviously, we'll be a little bit spread out on a push, but as best we can, we snap that leg back to neutral.
00:40:43
Speaker
And so when we get that good hard stop, we're done. But on that push, push down and we should have a good time. Yeah, I got nothing to contribute to. Just push forward, keep everything out in front.
00:40:59
Speaker
You'll be good to go. All right. You got anything else to add or is that is that the end of the show for us? Um... No, I don't think so. I think we've i think we've basically covered the the the extent of it here. Again, I'm going to keep going back to just you know knowing when to utilize what movement for when.
00:41:23
Speaker
right so Definitely, um you know if goalies who do have the end goal um subscription, you don't check out the pro reads on that because that definitely provides a lot of good insight.
00:41:38
Speaker
um for those who have sense arena as well you know to be able to actually live it live essentially i know that uh one of our students um with true north has uh recently got into that and so um check that out as well there and uh um you know just again watch games watch highlights you know kind of study the playbook a little bit and so then you can kind of have an idea of okay they're setting up the the the box plus one, you know, so let's, you know, so here's, so if that pass is going D to D, then this is the type of movement that I need to do. And obviously things will be situational and stuff, but if we have a base idea in terms of how we want to get across our crease in the most efficient way and how we want to do it, that's going to be, that's, that's going to, that's going to help us out a lot in the long run.
00:42:23
Speaker
Yep. Yep. We talk about processing and understanding the game being important so many times. So good point to end off on. Take us home, Connor. I'd like to think so.
00:42:34
Speaker
um Anything else, I suppose, before we kind of sign off here in terms of what we have coming down the pipeline, anything that we want to tease before we yeah enter into kind of the the Christmas, New Year break here? Anything that we can expect in 2026? Yeah, there's ah yeah there's stuff on the go. I just...
00:42:55
Speaker
It's still pretty far out. So, you know, the the most recent one we've talked about is the remote goalie sessions or virtual goalie sessions. So that's exciting. There are other things we're working on, but, you know, down the line.
00:43:09
Speaker
Fair enough. Well, ah Nathan, it has been a pleasure to be back on the pod with you today. Don't think it's it's definitely been a little bit since, you know, the last time that ah you and I have sat down in the captain's chairs and kind of run the show before. Huge shout out to Billy last week for bailing me out in terms of... you know, trying to find, trying to figure out something to talk about. So i really do appreciate him, uh, him coming on and hanging out with me. Um, I guess on my side, we do have a, we do have a few exciting guests coming down the pipeline. I just have to, reach out to some of our guests here that we did reach out to earlier, uh, in the earlier last month, late last month, and just kind of see if we can reconnect on some of those. But, uh, Lots of exciting stuff coming down the pipeline here. Lots of new content that we're looking to shoot for you guys. so We're definitely ah excited about that. and With that being said, this has been another edition of the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. You guys can go could check us out, truenorthgoaltending.com. If you do happen to find yourself in the Edmonton area and want to book a session with us, you can go online, truenorthgoaltending.com, hit the book online part.
00:44:16
Speaker
Pick your coach that you want to work with or any coach. Pick a time and a date and we'll see you out there on our synthetic ice facility in the NISCU region. As Nathan said as well, we are in a soft launch of our online online virtual ah goalie coaching program there. So you guys can go check that out. Can they book online to do that? is that that's that's where we're That's where we're doing that.
00:44:39
Speaker
Eventually, but right now it's just through the form because, um yeah, I don't have anything set up to pick a time. And because we don't have coaches trained on it yet, um it'll just be kind of back and forth communication. So that's why I don't have anything set up on the website yet.
00:44:57
Speaker
Okay. So, so the, okay. So then where can they go find the form them? Is that on our social media pages or? It'll be in the show notes. So both for YouTube and for the podcast episode, they'll be in the show notes. Um, and for those of you, I know you're asking the question, yes, you would be on the ice or your synthetic ice setup.
00:45:15
Speaker
And we would have you set up one to two devices. Two is recommended so we can do the video playback, but, uh, Yeah, we would give real time feedback. And if you have the second device with the video set up, then we can share our screen with your video of previous reps, go through it and give you that kind of real time feedback. So it is pretty cool.
00:45:37
Speaker
and We've gotten really good feedback on the couple that we've trialed. So I think once it gets rolling, it'll be a real cool experience for for you guys. Okay, so there you go. You can go check that out in the show notes, whether you're listening on any of your podcasting platforms, whether that be Apple, iHeart, or Spotify. And while you're there, make sure you hit that follow button and make sure hit that share button because the more goaltenders that we are able to bring in together, the better. ah And if you are on the YouTube side of things, hit the like, hit the share button, hit the hit the subscribe button.
00:46:09
Speaker
Again, this helps out the algorithm, helps bring in more goaltenders and, you know, expands our reach, expands the community. We are now we are no we are no longer True North Goaltending. We are True International Goaltending at this point. you know, that is exciting. Speaking of that, you guys can go check us out on our on your social media pages. All of that will be True North Goaltending, except on Instagram. Because we like to be different, that one is Y-E-G Goalie Coach. I like how that tagline stuck around at this point. ah You can follow myself on Instagram at Monday GC. Lots of exciting stuff on my page. We had, we had our first visit to Santa Claus with my daughter this year. So that was really exciting. So you can go check that out there as well. If you kind of want to get away from goaltending for a little bit, you know, a little bit of life. um What else do we have? I think that's it.
00:46:57
Speaker
I feel like I'm forgetting friend, share with a friend. Yep. Share with a friend, you know, all that fun stuff there. And yeah, Yeah, we'll leave it at that. On behalf of myself, Nathan Park, this has been the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. Merry Christmas. Make some saves, goalies. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.