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083 - Simplicity and Communication: Two Keys to Goalie Success
146 Plays4 months ago
Check out our drills, articles, merch, and book a session with us at https://truenorthgoaltending.com!
This week Nathan and Connor sit down for the first ever recorded session at the TNG Nisku training facility! We talk about the importance simplicity and communication play in your development as a goalie. Whether on or off the ice, we provide some tips and discussion as how both can help you be better while tending the crease.
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Transcript
Introduction to DIY Goalie Podcast
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 ah better goalie.
00:00:18
Speaker
Goalies, welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie podcast. Guess who's back? Back again. It's been a while since
First Live Podcast Experience
00:00:28
Speaker
I've been on. Well, the fact that you know we're that we're in-house right now is yeahs crazy. I was just going to say we're doing our first ever live in-person podcast recording at the True North Goaltending Facility because we are in the middle of, well, technically not the middle. We're at the end.
00:00:45
Speaker
of our first birthday celebration week. And we just decided that, you know, schedules lined up and we would try it out. So here we are. Yeah. um So it'll be interesting because I feel like if I start talking over Connor, he's just going to hit me where he can't do that normally. so The I hate you's might get a little escalated today. But yeah, we're here. We're coming in before a couple sessions for tonight. So um as always, if you guys do find yourself in the Edmonton area, come check us out.
00:01:23
Speaker
Connor's got two. I had one, but with the first snowfall of the year for us, we're rescheduling that one because they wouldn't be able to get out here in time. So yeah. <unk>re we're just gonna have some fun on here and wing it a little bit yeah sounds sounds good uh yeah no this is this is a little weird i can actually like manhandle you this time so yeah um no just i guess just first off just thank you to everybody for coming out to the facility and in our first uh first birthday celebration here uh this this week so really appreciate that this is actually like my first time being here i've been i've been preoccupied elsewhere
00:02:02
Speaker
the last four days but it sounds like we've had a ah pretty good time with uh with everybody coming through the doors here yeah this is my fifth day here a row wow the boss of the company is here every day yeah unheard of and not getting paid for it but you know um no it's been a good week we've had lots of fun stuff we set up our fit lights we uh i've been playing around to the synaptic glasses the strobe goggles that we have um Finally got around to putting out some of our merch that you can find online out at the facility.
00:02:35
Speaker
So that's been fun too. But yeah, no, it's been a good week of of development. Got a lot of new faces out, which was good to see. So all in all, been a good week. and In one sense, I'm kind of glad it's over because, you know, a little bit of breathing room again.
00:02:53
Speaker
But i have I know nobody can give me sympathy because it's all self-inflicted and I do it to myself. So,
Simplicity in Goaltending
00:03:00
Speaker
you know. Remember the last time that we were together, we were talking about load management. Yeah. and So this is this is exactly right there.
00:03:06
Speaker
um Yeah, no, for me on my front, like I've been dealing with our KC North group, our SPS Fusion group, my U18 AA group. Yeah. other few odds and ends here and there this like this month is busy for me in general but yeah it'll be a it'll be fun time nonetheless so yeah i basically live at the facility and connor lives at doing all our out of facility sessions right now which is so funny because last year was the opposite yeah i lived here and you were out yeah doing everything so you know flip-flopping but you guys probably didn't listen or tune in to listen us uh you know chat about our lives so um we'll chat about
00:03:46
Speaker
what basically our life is all about and goaltending. Um, so I kinda had the thought of coming on here to talk about the importance of simplicity when it comes to our approach to goaltending.
00:04:02
Speaker
Um, there's a lot of goalies that I've seen lately and just in general that, uh,
00:04:14
Speaker
they do a little bit too much. And so that's kind of the theme that I wanted to touch on today and just kind of, you know, hammer home the point to you guys that there's really like we don't have to do as much as we normally think we do. And a lot of times we have a little bit more time than we think we do as well as the play is developing.
00:04:36
Speaker
um One of the sets of goalies, one of the teams that I work with, basically what the last couple of weeks we've been focusing on has literally just been eliminating movement.
00:04:49
Speaker
um There's been a lot of, you know, drifting after pushing across or even like driving forward with with their knees and the butterfly, which is leading to some, you know, a little bit of sliding forward while they're making their saves. And so That's kind of got me thinking about, um you know, touching on this topic and kind of getting through sort getting the message through that there's a lot less that you guys really have to be doing um than you think you do. So i think I've touched on it before, but I kind of like to tell my goalies that when you're doing something, when you're moving or whatever the case is, it should accomplish one of two things. It should either get you in position to make a save or
00:05:36
Speaker
or be making the save. And if it's not helping you do one of those two things, we need to get rid of it. so Like I said before, the little bit of drift at the end of a push.
00:05:47
Speaker
um Anytime we're moving while trying to make a save, it makes our life a little bit more difficult. um The other kind of examples that I can think of is using our hands to swing us through a push on momentum. I find that that's pretty common for the younger goalies when they're trying to do inside edge pushes. That's probably where I see it the most.
00:06:10
Speaker
but The other thing I see lots too is a hand pulling in or dropping down and then coming up to try and make a save. um But basically just anything that's not allowing us to either make a save or get into position to make a save, we need to eliminate.
00:06:28
Speaker
um I do have some stuff on simplicity too for off the ice, but I'll let you chime in and kind of put your two cents in. How can I do? Yeah, no, ah definitely for sure. And I find, you know, because again, it's all habits at the end of the day.
00:06:46
Speaker
right And it's funny enough, I was dealing that with that last night with my U18 group. um One of our goalies who's really kind of not raw, but just like still a little kind of all over the place, you know just makes his initial save and then he's kind of...
00:07:07
Speaker
scrambly i guess in a sense afterwards so really with him it was just trying to dial it back make sure that we track that puck in track that puck out and we're just kind of again using our momentum but not in the way that kids have been doing it or goalies have been doing it like with the swinging of the arms and such and just kind of throwing the body across but it's like in out and we're getting that proper rotations uh hands out in front we're doing everything technically proper technically proper to get to our next position because again like i like i like to talk about biomechanics a little bit even though am not well versed in biology whatsoever um but again just like the head leads the bod the head leads the shoulders the shoulders lead the body the body leads the arms and the feet and
00:07:55
Speaker
everything So it all kind of coincides together essentially, right? So um that was a big thing. And then with one ah with the other goalie, again, it was just kind of eliminating just some bad habits that we have at least.
Developing Good Habits Early
00:08:10
Speaker
Just kind of fine-tuning his movement, um you know, just making sure that, oh, what's it called? Yeah.
00:08:21
Speaker
man and and and and And train of thought is derailed. But that's what that that's still the the idea is that we were trying to... um like he had his like his weight His weight was coming back when he's when he's moving in suction. So he's just shortening himself by by a few inches. And so he's having to reach out a little bit extra to make that save. So again, it's all it all just starts just kind of with the habits that we have. And yeah we want to replace good habit or we want want to replace bad habits with good habits.
00:08:50
Speaker
um and just kind of go from there so again if we're able to start simplifying our game earlier in our career um again that in that longevity in the long run it just makes life so much easier Yeah, and i think a lot of it stems from panic.
00:09:13
Speaker
like I think goalies tend to you know think that it's a quick play happening and they panic and they feel like... they got to just stretch or dive or do whatever they they feel the need to do.
00:09:31
Speaker
And a lot of times I find as goalies, we have more time than we think. um Most of the time, there are instances where, you know, you kick out a rebound right on the guy's tape and it's in your net before you can even do anything.
00:09:46
Speaker
But for the most part, goalies see like, ah rebound coming back door a pass coming back door and the initial instinct is to just go and If we can simplify things and not have the big extension the big you know Stretch out the big dive the flat push whatever all of that if we can kind of dial it down a little bit break it down have that Rotation get a good push across and then we're leading with our body just simplifies things make things a lot easier
00:10:20
Speaker
um i know we have talked about it before but i do just notice so many goalies with that panic element that it's like okay you you don't need to necessarily just right off the hot get there you have a little bit of time to try and get there properly um the other thing too is Just related to on ice training, i think a lot of people try and overcomplicate things too. Like we can keep things a lot more simple in our approach.
00:10:51
Speaker
You guys don't need to have 10 different shots in a drill necessarily, or, you know, have eight different movement patterns leading into a shot or anything like that. Like some of the most effective training,
00:11:06
Speaker
is simple skating patterns, is simple tracking drills, right? Or save execution drills, like hammering that sort of stuff home. We talk about those like core foundational skills.
00:11:19
Speaker
That stuff is very effective when it comes to our training. Yes, we want to train like a game where there's lots of variables and things can happen and all that stuff, but you can't get there if you can't track a puck anyways.
00:11:32
Speaker
So a lot of times I feel like, you know, people try and overcomplicate things with these props too. Like you got ramps everywhere and rebounders and lights and, know,
00:11:45
Speaker
you know, all that. And all of that does have its place when used properly. And I think in,
Communication in Goaltending
00:11:52
Speaker
you know, small amounts, but people are trying to reinvent the wheel. Right. And there's, there's a reason why, if you look at like the fitness side of things that like, you know, the stuff that's working nowadays is very similar to the stuff that's been working since, you know, the eighties, the seventies, the sixties. Right.
00:12:13
Speaker
And no matter how many fads get thrown out there, um a lot of times if you just keep it simple, get back to basics, that can be a lot easier and a lot more effective in a lot of cases too.
00:12:29
Speaker
Yeah. um An example that I like to throw out, because we again we were talking about angles with our KC group, our KC North organizational skate last week.
00:12:43
Speaker
And um so the best way that could describe it to them, because we were talking about angles, squareness, positioning, is that kind of if you think about it like a math equation, you know angles plus squareness equals position.
00:12:58
Speaker
and know It's the most basic term. and yeah and and Well, you didn't touch so much on that. That's the that the next part. you know You have to learn how to subtract before you can multiply. Or add them before you can multiply. whatever Shut up.
00:13:11
Speaker
See? WCB on the camera. um Harris Mint.
00:13:18
Speaker
Thanks, now you may lose my train of thought. um You're talking about angles yeah squareness the angles plus squareness equals positioning. Add in depth in there as well. um But just it's still like like if you think about like just think about it, you know, and' in terms like that, you know, step one equals step two equals step three.
00:13:39
Speaker
You know what I mean? So it's, again, like we I talked about it in previous podcasts where, you know, we talk about what's one thing that you want to focus on in a practice, what's one thing that you want to focus on a game, and then you just hammer that home.
00:13:53
Speaker
You know, because if you try and focus on so much, you know, like you've got to try and try and track the puck and get angle and, you know, and be good at skating and this is not like if you start piling too many things on your plate which nathan knows too much about uh... you know it's all gonna come crashing down you know you gotta to set that foundation first which we talked about a lot of the it's just start at step one then move on to step two and whichever
00:14:25
Speaker
kind of
Effective Off-Ice Programs
00:14:26
Speaker
technique or whatever form it is that that that you're taking on essentially, right? So just kiss method, keep it simple, stupid. but Like that that's that's that's another way of going about it as well.
00:14:37
Speaker
Yeah, well, and boil it down, right? I mean, as much as there's so much that goes into goaltending and successful goaltending, at the end of the day,
00:14:49
Speaker
the job is stop the puck. Like no matter what you add to goaltending and how you go about it, yeah legitimately at the end of the day, your job is to make a save.
00:15:00
Speaker
And I think sometimes we get caught up in because there's so many variables that go into goaltending and because there's so much that's like a part of it, I think we get a little too caught up in trying to make that work.
00:15:18
Speaker
as opposed to it just like being what it is special guest star emerson monday decides to take over here so i'll just take a pause for a second
00:15:30
Speaker
yeah and same thing applies to off ice programs as well too right you know like obviously in a camp setting we have a bunch of different stations, a bunch of different ball drills, stretching drills, kind of workout-ish drills in general.
00:15:46
Speaker
But really, at the end of the day, you're going to want to have a program that's going to not only set you up for success, but is also going to Simplify things to a point where it's touch and go on kind of different aspects of your game.
00:16:06
Speaker
Ball drills for the hand-eye coordination. um Strength workouts for strength, basically, right? um Can you tell we work out a whole lot? How can how deep and profound are you?
00:16:21
Speaker
But but it's it's that general that general point right? Because you or have like a you're not like you don't need to do or have like a seventeen 17 step workout program that goes into depth about how to you know build up your triceps to a certain mass or how to uh you know train your eyes to the point where they hurt afterwards or you know what i mean it's just you know goalies are such interesting creatures.
00:16:54
Speaker
um You know, where they have just they have their their style and just kind of how they do things and their um routines and such. um You know, where there you you see guys like Connor Hellebuck as an example who does like the eye twitch thing on the bench to start the game. he is He's working his eyes, but again, he's just doing something as as simple as that.
00:17:19
Speaker
Picking different points in the arena to be looking at and make sure that he's hitting them a certain amount of times. I don't know if that's actually the case, but that's that's the general premise that I'm going with. um But, you know, just things like that.
00:17:31
Speaker
You know, like, why why are we doing things to make it more complicated for ourselves? Why are we doing things, you know, that is taking away more energy from us rather than when we should be putting that energy into making the save, into the game?
00:17:48
Speaker
You know, things like that. So what like why why are why are we making things more complicated for ourselves? Just spilled off and build on the off-ice side of things too. That goes for like routines as well. If you guys have a pregame routine, the more complicated that you make it, the harder it is to replicate and kind of the more likely you are to introduce anxiety if things aren't going well or whatever the case is. So, um, the biggest thing guys is just try and do your best to obviously set yourself up for success, but it doesn't have to be complicated, right? Like,
00:18:25
Speaker
ah simplify your game on the ice, simplify your approach both on and off the ice. And at the end of the day, it's a sport. At the end of the day, we are all doing it for fun.
00:18:37
Speaker
um Don't make it too much more complicated than
Importance of Simplicity
00:18:41
Speaker
that. Yes, we want to get better. we want to put the work in. Obviously, most of you listening are probably wanting to get to some sort of high level or higher level than where you're at, whatever the case is.
00:18:53
Speaker
But at the same time, like enjoy it while you can. Don't burn yourself out. Keep it simple. Don't panic on the ice. Don't introduce 20 million props, whether you're on or off the ice.
00:19:07
Speaker
Or just don't introduce props in general. That's my personal take on it. Yeah. I mean, we use like pylons. That's technically a prop. No, no, no. and're We're going to have a whole podcast on that. the The pros and cons of props. I'm the cons for for the record.
00:19:24
Speaker
Yeah. But, yeah, no, that's that's the essence of it is we don't have to make it more complicated than it is. At the end of the day, stop the buck. And like obviously, like we dragged this out to close to a 25-minute segment.
00:19:38
Speaker
But the overarching story of all this is don't make it complicated. Keep it simple, stupid. We'll edit that, and then just that'll be the podcast. Five-second podcast this week, guys. Yeah, there you go. My segment is going to have a little bit more in-depth content.
00:19:57
Speaker
and such And we've talked about it on the pod before, talking about communication with goaltending. I'm going to try and take it a different way from when from when we talked about it before. Nathan's laughing at me, which is nothing new.
00:20:28
Speaker
HR. I'm being bullied on my job. I'm being bullied on my job. Pause, not pause, pause, not pause. Like I said, editing this is going to be so much fun.
00:20:42
Speaker
Jump back from top.
Open Dialogue with Coaches
00:20:44
Speaker
Yeah, um going into my segment for today, which is going to be a little bit more, going to have a little more complication to it, I suppose, is talking about... Keep it simple.
00:21:01
Speaker
um Is um talking about communication and goaltending. And we've touched on this before, at least, I don't know so much about in depth, but I know that we have talked about it. In previous podcast episodes, I'm going to try and take it a different way if we haven't already, but I wanted to talk at least about um number one, how goalies should be communicating with their team.
00:21:24
Speaker
Number two, how goalies and goalie coaches should communicating with their team. can be communicating with each other, because I think that's an interesting aspect. Again, depends, because different goalies have different tendencies when dealing with their goalie coaches.
00:21:39
Speaker
ah Goalies and their regular coaches and then goalies Versus the general public, essentially, is kind of where I'm going at it from today.
00:21:50
Speaker
um well i want So I guess diving into this, as goalies, um I like to put it as we're the quarterback of the team, essentially. Because we're the guy on the ice that can see everything in front of us, side to side, up and down, except for what's behind our net.
00:22:08
Speaker
you know But we can generally see the whole area of the ice. And so we're able to have a better idea in reading plays and kind of reading um kind of zone setups and whatever else.
00:22:20
Speaker
um just we we We have a better vantage point compared to regular players. on the ice. so So as goalies, number one, we've got to be communicating with our with our team, with our defensemen, or with our fours.
00:22:33
Speaker
Man on. Got time. um you know Up the wall. what Whatever that may be. Wheel, wheel, wheel. Yeah, exactly. some of that You hear that a lot. and so I feel I used to. Exactly. um But just, again, like you are you're kind of that third eye for these players.
00:22:51
Speaker
you know So take advantage of it. um goalies versus goalie coaches when it comes to communicating i nathan to think you and can kind of touch on this as well we've had we've we've come across a bunch of different goalies some of whom who will chatter ear off some of whom we can barely get a word out edgewise so it's about managing that communication because you still got to get your point across in some way shape or form and but again like we've talked about before it's like the best goal or The best goalie coaches that are on the ice are the goalies themselves.
00:23:27
Speaker
And so there needs there needs to be some kind of dialogue, that some kind of communication between the goalie coach and the goalie in order to achieve the same goal.
00:23:39
Speaker
I've had goalies who will tell me where to go and how to get there. I know that you've had that as well. um you know be like no I've done this for x amount of years, I'm not changing that even though it's not working.
00:23:51
Speaker
And then even though i've like I've had my fair share of being on the ice where I've really had to kind of defend the position that I'm in in order to drive the point across in order to get them to not necessarily do what I want them to do but to you know just be open and understanding to um the the the point and the idea that I'm that i'm trying trying to drive home you are going to clash with your goalie coach, and I think that's general across the board, essentially.
00:24:25
Speaker
um And so, again, you guys, the goalie and the goalie coach in particular, you know, you guys are trying to come to the same goal at the end the day. So it's just it's how ah how do you go about communicating that? How do you go about um kind of testing out both ideas and then trying to figure out what's going to be the best,
00:24:44
Speaker
um the best option moving forward. I'll let you touch on that before I move into the other moving into the other two ones. You're laughing at me here, but just I'm curious your thoughts. I'm just waiting for my opportunity to be like, Connor, are you even a goalie?
00:25:03
Speaker
That happened three times this past season, and I'm still i'm still triggered by that. yeah Yeah, I just like to slide that in when I get... it yeah oh every time yeah Every time I talk, Emerson just doesn't like it. so She obviously is one of those goalies that does not agree with what I have to say. yeah We're already clashing. We haven't even started working together yet. um No, that's ah the the big thing I think is the way you go about it. So if there's something that you don't understand or something that you don't agree with,
00:25:41
Speaker
bring it up in a way that's like, okay, I think this works better because, or I have another coach that said to do this instead because, and that communication, that two-way communication is big because um then your current goalie coach could say something like, yes, that's true, but in this specific situation that we're working on,
00:26:08
Speaker
this is better or they could be like, okay, I see where they're coming from, but this is why I like this approach better. Why don't you try it out? If you don't like it, we can go back or whatever the case is. Cause if you're working with a solid goalie coach, they should be somewhat adaptable and somewhat open to working with you as well.
00:26:29
Speaker
Um, because like we've talked about, you're the one that knows yourself best as a goalie. Um, But there is a a way to go about it. Because if you just try and come in guns a blazing and say, you suck at your job, you don't know what you're talking about, and all this stuff, then obviously that's not going to go over too well. So you guys have to go about it the right way. But I do think it's...
00:26:53
Speaker
Like from a goalie coach's perspective, I enjoy that discussion. I enjoy that back and forth, that conversation. I enjoy being like, okay, you know what? I see where you're coming from.
00:27:04
Speaker
This is why I like this approach better. And it worked for me when I played, but I also understand that you're not me. So yeah, you know, let's try it out. If it doesn't work, then we'll go back to what you're doing.
00:27:17
Speaker
Sometimes we do that and sometimes they try it out and they're like, oh, wow, that was way better. And then you're like, great, let's do that then. Or sometimes you find kind of a happy compromise in the middle too.
00:27:29
Speaker
And I think that's, that's where being open about it and having that dialogue, but also like, Again, you have to be open to the rebuttal from your goalie coach.
00:27:39
Speaker
Your goalie coach should be open to what you have to say as well. And just to kind of have an offshoot conversation of that um goalie coach versus goalie coach, essentially.
00:27:54
Speaker
um you You had that conversation fairly-ish recently. won't go into... the details on that but again it's that same idea where you know understand goalies that there is no well i i shouldn't say that there is no goalie coach loyalty but understand that because coach a has told you to do this and you've been working with coach a for so long that when you transition over to coach b or you you have coach b coming in the mix and they tell you that's something completely or slightly different
00:28:28
Speaker
understand that it's all in the purpose of making you better and so what i say is going to be different from what nathan says and so that's going to be up to you as the goalie to kind of figure out what's going to work best in the long run and so then that's where that dialogue comes in it can't just be oh nathan told me that i shouldn't track the puck so why is coach connor telling me to track the puck you know like i i've been working with coach nathan for so long that he's never told me once to track the puck and
00:29:02
Speaker
Coach Connor is just trying to ruin my game. That's not it at all. yeah it's You're going to have different voices. You're going to have different people in your ear kind of giving you different techniques, different topics to adjust on. And so your game evolves as as you evolve as well.
00:29:21
Speaker
But again, just you there is no goal there doesn't need to be any sort of goalie coach loyalty one way versus the other. yeah and with that too like there's gonna be something you can take away from everybody and we talk lots about the tools in the toolbox right so the more tools that you have in your toolbox you might pick up one tool from one coach only and maybe another coach you get like six tools from but either way there's always something that you can kind of go about it just as a side note too um goalie coach to goalie coach the majority
00:29:57
Speaker
of those conversations. And yes, goalies, we do talk with other coaches of other companies or organizations or teams or whatever. ah Most of it's very productive and very open and collaborative.
Effective Communication with Head Coaches
00:30:12
Speaker
There's the odd time that it's not. And some guys are a little bit more set in their ways. But understand that to goalies, that the goalie coaching community is also very small and very connected. And you know Connor talks lots about how he talks with Curtis Mooka all the time.
00:30:31
Speaker
um i talk to other guys around here too relatively often when I have time to and I'm doing that more so now that I've started kind of doing some advising stuff. um So it happens lots and just so you know guys too, if you give a bad experience to another goalie coach,
00:30:52
Speaker
that word gets around pretty quickly and you might end up getting blacklisted a little bit. So just as an FYI, the hockey community is small, word gets around. So be aware of that.
00:31:04
Speaker
And what, you know, sometimes switching goalie coaching providers may not get you away from that reputation. Exactly.
00:31:16
Speaker
So... Moving on from that, because we probably delve delve too much into that probably than we should. um Conversation between goalies and and their head coaches.
00:31:27
Speaker
Non-existent. Yeah, basically. We hear it every year. i see it every year on Facebook. My head coach doesn't.
00:31:37
Speaker
say anything to me my head coach um you know he tries to give me advice or tries to um help but he's not really helping or my goalie coach or not my goalie coach my head coach doesn't tell me who's starting until five minutes before puck drop basically right so how do i go about asking or like getting my head coach to to give me more ice time or xyz or whatever right so Understand, first off, that um sorry i just got ha our tap and it just got text shes sleep ya understand goalies that head coaches, as much as we would like them to, know absolutely nothing about goaltending.
00:32:21
Speaker
And they are never going to learn anything about goaltending. Unless your head coach is a goalie, then that's just concerning in general. um So you need to approach your head coach or if you're a goalie parent to approach the head coach with a level of understanding that yes, your head coach may not fully understand or have an idea what it is that you are talking about um or just may not think the same way as you do.
00:32:55
Speaker
You know, um ah yeah we get the response all the time. So, oh, I know nothing about goaltending. So it's kind of just thrown to the wind, essentially. um So you need to...
00:33:09
Speaker
for lack of a better assert yourself with some confidence and say I deserve you know I need to be I need to be notified 24 hours if I'm playing or not because it helps me X Y and Z and then you can kind of um what for lack of a better term can not necessarily go down the rabbit hole of why but it's just If you're able to make your point or bring your point across and say, i need Nathan, i need to know that I need to know that I'm starting seven hours before puck drop because it helps me get ready.
00:33:39
Speaker
I have a routine in place that helps me get ready, and it's going to help me bring the best towards this team. Something along those lines, right? Or, our Coach, i don't i feel like i'm not I feel like I'm not being treated fairly in practice um because of X, Y,
00:33:56
Speaker
you know whatever right You have to ah approach this with some dominance, for lack of a better term, with some confidence. and um you know You really need to articulate um kind of your side of the story. just kind of your um ah what um Your point. Your point, thank you.
00:34:18
Speaker
um and So then there can be some dialogue. Obviously, it varies different in age level. Obviously, a goalie parent shouldn't be talking on behalf of their U16 goaltender, you know.
00:34:32
Speaker
um some you know something to that extent. So it just, I think, you know, again, as much as we would like them to, head coaches aren't or ever really going to understand goaltending.
00:34:47
Speaker
So we have to, we even we as goalie coaches too, have to come across to a point where like we have to assert ourselves with some confidence and be able to articulate ourselves clearly to get the point across in order to get them to somewhat understand where it is that we're coming from.
00:35:02
Speaker
Not this past skate, but the week there, the skate before I was, had a conversation with, again, my U18 doubles coach, and we were talking about, uh, um, just kind of the, uh, our, our, our secondary goalie who wasn't doing all that hot. And, um, the coach wasn't sure if he was going to play him this weekend. I said, well, you think you should, like, even though he was coming off of a concussion, he's, um, you know, still moving while he's making his saves. Obviously you want to take him a little more carefully than you would, but,
00:35:31
Speaker
He still deserves in some right to play, essentially, right? So we we see it all the time. Do you do you ever recall, I'd have to maybe mad i out to reach out to Jamie maybe to get me to send it, but there's a clip of...
00:35:45
Speaker
the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending coach and Sheldon Keefe. You know which one I'm talking about? Yeah, I was talking about it today, actually. But there's there's there's a clip of, who was the goalie coach of the at that time? which her I can't remember coach. I can't remember his name either, her but.
00:36:02
Speaker
it was there's So there's a clip out there Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending coach and Sheldon Keefe. And Sheldon was just absolute. Who was in that? Samsonov? Yeah, I don't even remember. I think it was Samsonov and Wol at the time.
00:36:17
Speaker
And so Keefe was ripping into one of those two. We need a save there. Yeah, we need a save there as it's a five-on-one, five-on-oh in Toronto's, I don't remember what it was. it was It hit somebody's, like, pants. Like, it deflected off somebody's pants and went in. And Keefe's like, we need a save there. And the goalie coach just, like, went off the guy's leg and went in. Like, what do you want from him? Well, we just need a save there.
00:36:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's a... it's it's it's it's it's ah It's unrealistic is is what it is. And so, again, like we have those, not arguments, but those dialogues with with coaches, probably far more than we'd like to admit. But just having some, just kind of asserting some some sort of confidence or some sort of um dominance to an extent to to to get your point across, essentially.
00:37:07
Speaker
Yeah. The more I've thought about it, and this is kind of something that I've... put together to best articulate my thoughts on it. um But the best way I can explain it is most coaches, not every coach, but I think most coaches and they won't ever admit it and they might not even realize it themselves.
00:37:31
Speaker
But I think that they kind of feel like their goalies are more of a liability as opposed to an asset, like a bit of a burden. You know what I mean? like somebody that they don't know anything about that they have to try and incorporate into their practices, into their games. And yet they just want them to be magically good.
00:37:54
Speaker
Like, you know, oh, we need a save there or, oh, you know, we we need better clutch performance or more consistency or whatever the case is. And it's like, well, what are you doing to help?
00:38:08
Speaker
and And it's flow drills where it's a two-on-oh.
Explaining Strategies to Coaches
00:38:12
Speaker
Three-on-oh life. That's what I'm doing to help. But that's the thing is even the coaches that are well-intentioned,
00:38:20
Speaker
they're sitting there telling goalies to stay up more, to come out more, or whatever the case is. And it's like, well, not necessarily. It's situational, right? And so that's the thing that we have to understand is when people aren't goalie people and they're putting their thoughts in on goaltending,
00:38:40
Speaker
it puts us in a tough situation. So the best way that I kind of would say to go about it. So if you have a coach that's, you know, for example, telling you to come out more and you can literally be like, okay, but that's conflicting with what my goalie coach says, because if I come out too far in this instance, I can't get across for a lateral push or whatever the case is, right? You can say,
00:39:13
Speaker
okay, I can try and hold my feet longer, but at the same time, the kids are shooting at a ah speed now that if I hold too long, I'm not gonna be able to get down in time for a shot along the ice.
00:39:26
Speaker
Having that open dialogue and having reasoning behind it, and also being able to say something along the lines too of, well, that's conflicting with XYZ that my goalie coach has talked to me about.
00:39:41
Speaker
um You know, and a lot of times, too, you can connect your goalie coach with your coach. Like, for example, us, we're totally open to having those conversations. If you have a coach that's telling you, hey, you got to stand up on every single shot or hey, we want you two feet out of your crease.
00:40:01
Speaker
Send me an email. I will personally reach out to that coach and tell him he has no idea what he's talking about. Nathan's willing to fight people. Yeah. saying so So, but yeah, like that's the big thing is just, you know, come at it with, with a reasoning. Like anytime you're coming to these coaches, explain why you're coming to them, do it respectfully follow.
00:40:26
Speaker
Make your case and leave it at that. And don't go to your coaches over every little thing because that's going to, you know, create the boy who cried wolf situation. um But if you have something valid, bring it up and have reasoning to back it up and just have a regular conversation about it.
00:40:47
Speaker
And so then quickly, lastly, jumping into goalies versus the general public. um i And so when I say general public, I'm talking like goalie parents, fans, essentially, right?
00:40:59
Speaker
So that's one of those ones where, especially goalie parents in particular, you could have a goal you can have a goalie parent that is, with all due respect, a bit of a bit of a hard ass. Maybe first censor word in I'm going to redo that.
00:41:22
Speaker
you you can You can have goalie parents, um with all due respect, can be a little too hard on there on their goalies. um Maybe have some unrealistic expectations or just like to talk for the sake of hearing them talk.
00:41:40
Speaker
ah Like us? Yeah, just a little bit. you can have some goalie parents who don't say anything or you can have some goalie parents who say just enough. um And then even by proxy as well, you know you some you'll have some hockey parents on a team that will say little Timmy just couldn't make a save tonight, but although little Johnny couldn't score a goal on an empty net, essentially, right? like It's like like it's like it' things like that.
00:42:09
Speaker
um Obviously, like as goalies who have goalie parents, and it's on especially on the ride home, we don't want to disappoint mom and dad.
00:42:21
Speaker
But mom and dad also need to understand that your goalie is probably replaying everything that they did wrong from the first time that they did it wrong all the way until they get into bed on the way home. right They're replaying that in their mind. and So the last thing that we as goalie parents want to be doing is...
00:42:43
Speaker
jumping on that anymore because your goalie is doing that already I think it's important to have that dialogue at least with your goalie parent To say, like, mom, dad, like, I i just didn't play well.
00:42:56
Speaker
um Or just, I'm really upset about that goal that went in. And then have a little bit of a dialogueal dialogue about it. Play it back. It can't be, well, yeah, you got yeah you got scored on because you decided to lay down on the ice and make a scorpion save or whatever, right?
00:43:11
Speaker
Or no, you didn't you got you got scored on because your coach was trying to tell you to do this newfangled tracking thing when you should have just threw a limb out and... see what happens essentially. Or you just suck. Or you just suck. like It's things like that. like we can't have You can't have that conversation.
00:43:27
Speaker
But I think it's important also in the same breath, you know as for us as goalies, maybe try and walk mom and dad through um what you were thinking. Maybe try and walk mom and dad through um you know kind of the step-by-step process. How you saw the save, what you thought you thought that you were on angle, how you thought you were making your save.
00:43:47
Speaker
And then if mom and dad know enough about goaltending or goaltending coaches themselves, um you know, can maybe try and help break you down a little bit more. Otherwise, if it's a goalie parent that knows little to next to nothing about goaltending, might just be one of those things where...
00:44:04
Speaker
well, what did what what did you think? What would you think your goalie coach would have said? Something like that. it has to be There has to be like that some constructive conversation. Not saying, Nathan, you suck. you know like That's why I'm coaching and not playing anymore. but know but that's but But it's a general idea. And then by proxy, listening to you know random goalie parents or not random goalie parentss random hockey parents that will say, yeah, little Tommy, little Timmy sucked because he couldn't make a save to save his life or that's why the our team lost.
00:44:33
Speaker
In one ear, out the other. That's the way it has to be, um essentially. Because, again, the best way to think about is that, like, yeah, you know nothing about goaltending. You have no idea. And so throwing Stuart Skinner in the mix, like I like to do, well, even just as and NHL fans in general. and NHL fans, hockey fans are so funny to me, especially Oilers fans, because there's this whole talk about Connor Ingram, even like being this next saver for Edmonton. He's not doing all that well on Bakersfield.
00:45:03
Speaker
But, again, it's that same idea just where hockey fans in general, they're like just the goalies are always the scapegoat. Even though Connor McDavid can't put the puck in the back of his net to save his life. Leon Dreisaitl just is slow on the ice. Evan Bouchard can't make a defensive play to save his life. Things like that, you know. But...
00:45:24
Speaker
I digress. um But that's what but that's but that's just that's just what I'm saying. like like For NHL goalies in particular who have a more louder voice um or have ah much louder voices to be dealing with rather than regular minor hockey goalies, with them it's just it's probably shut off social media or in one ear or out the other.
00:45:45
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's a general systemic thing because, I mean... he like we hear the most of it cause we're in the Edmonton area, obviously yeah around the Oilers, but even like after the end of last year, everybody was jumping on board to erect a statue of Dustin Wolf in downtown Calgary. yeah And this year, boy, has that sure changed so far um So I think honestly, like what I would love to see and I think would make a big difference is
00:46:21
Speaker
having like segments on these broadcasts of like people properly breaking down certain things with goaltending and actually, you know, being like, like, I think there'd be a lot of fans that would probably be interested that know nothing about goaltending that would actually be interested in seeing somebody break something down like it at intermission that a goalie was doing.
00:46:50
Speaker
Like, have, like, you know, a goalie segment type deal. you know Well, you know what's funny? so like If you were listening to the episode of my dad, who he would tell you that there used to be something like that.
00:47:03
Speaker
I forget what the guy's name was, but there was a point on the broadcast, especially in the intermissions, where one of the broadcasters would break down. Howie Meeker, that's his name.
00:47:13
Speaker
I think it was Howie Meeker that would jump on these broadcasts and would break down... um a save or a goal or whatever it was essentially but so it has something to do with goaltending i think um kevin woodley does a hit on one of the edmonton radio stations here that talks about where he talks about goaltending and such yeah but i'm going to call out the radio stations and the broadcast stations here in edmonton because
00:47:47
Speaker
There's so much talk about it and I listen to these hosts. i like I like listening to them, but I listen to these hosts and I listen and see the comments of their fan bases and it just makes my skin crawl and just listening to just the takes that are out there, which some are not so bad, but some are absolutely horrible.
00:48:10
Speaker
But I'm going to be calling out these radio stations or these stations in general. There's one I'm thinking of in particular. And I've texted them about it saying that you guys need to have an actual goalie coach, whether it's me or Nathan or somebody in the Edmonton area that can actually go and maybe break down last night's Oilers game.
00:48:30
Speaker
of and some break it down on both sides is that here's what who they play who the who the oldest play this upcoming weekend uh... so here's what mckenzie blackwood did well here's what school or steward skinner did well here's what mckenzie blackwood didn't do well is let's do a skinner didn't do well and then have that um... kind of video breakdown that we all like to do here so um umm um'm calling i'm I'm calling them out.
00:48:54
Speaker
That's what I'm doing. I'm um i'm calling them out and saying, no, you guys have to be better than that. You guys need to have some actual proper goaltending representation on your stations. And I think unless and like until such time that happens, like really anything that has to be said about goaltending, I will refuse to listen to it.
00:49:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's the big thing is it's just, you know, commentary from the uneducated on it, right? Yeah,
Need for Goaltending Analysis in Media
00:49:22
Speaker
exactly. That's why I think it'd be cool to have somebody on, like, I don't know, get Henrik Lundqvist on. I can't remember which one he's on in the States. Is it TNT? Yeah, it's a TNT. Henrik Lundqvist, you could have, I don't know. I don't like Kelly Rudy's comments about goaltending up here. He's just a dinosaur, so. But... With all love, Kelly, seriously. Yeah, we'll have to edit that out.
00:49:47
Speaker
No, I'm just kidding. But, no, somebody that can be like... you know They do it for like goals or like defensive plays or stuff. They'll highlight and they'll be like, oh, look at you know Quinn Hughes here, how he came up the rush and then there's a turnover. And look how he did three crossovers here and you know back checked through the middle of the ice so he's able to get his guy. And they break those down.
00:50:11
Speaker
But I think it'd be helpful. for just the average fan to get that breakdown when it comes to goaltending too, to just be like something like, hey, let's look at John Gibson on this play. He was a foot out of his crease and there was a backdoor threat and the pass came across and he wasn't able to get across in time and got beat.
00:50:32
Speaker
And that's why you coaches out there that keep telling goalies to come out more, maybe there's some situations where that doesn't you know work or whatever the case is. Or we could be like,
00:50:43
Speaker
hey, look at this transition that this goalie did really well from the overlap into the RVH or whatever the case is. like Just getting a little bit more of that insight into goaltending, it doesn't have to be quite that technical. That's just off the top my head as somebody who...
00:51:00
Speaker
is a little bit more technical on it. But even just that general breakdown to get the concepts down and out there, I think would be very beneficial to just the average person getting more of an inside look to things.
00:51:14
Speaker
Because I don't think people realize just how much goes into goaltending and how many variables there are. And also people don't realize that we're one of the few positions in sports that can't really make things happen. Like the play has to come to us. We can't really go out and change the course of what's happening in front of us.
00:51:35
Speaker
And if we do, we're going to get ourselves really out of position and get scored on anyways. So we kind of have to wait for things to develop and come to us. And so, you know, you just can't really make things happen and people don't really realize that. So I think that would go a long way to just more of that mainstream kind of information out there because a lot of these people won't go seek it out on their own.
00:52:00
Speaker
But if they're already watching the game, maybe they get a little kind of 10,000 foot overview breakdown of that. And then they're like, oh, that's interesting. I didn't know about that. And then all of a sudden, you know, they're waiting for the next one the next week or whatever on Hockey Night in Canada that they can kind of get some tidbit of info there. And maybe that does spark some interest in learning more or whatever the case is. So I think that would go a long way in helping out too.
00:52:31
Speaker
For the sake of devil's advocate, I suppose to an extent there already is that. But again, it's the highlight-ish real save.
00:52:43
Speaker
Or just even just kind of, hey, here's how this save ended up developing into an offensive chance going the other way. What I think what I'd like to see with that is...
00:52:54
Speaker
um Again, a breakdown of it using proper technical goalie terms. And then, again, kind of like you were saying already, it's like, here coaches, this is why you should stop telling your goalies to be a foot further out of the crease because this is what happens, essentially.
00:53:12
Speaker
And so as I'm thinking about it live, to add more things onto your plate, um probably should be something that we tackle. I mean, I know that there's goalie resources out there already, but can be something that we can tackle, or even even something like technical term of the day. Like, here's what tracking means. This is the definition of it. This is the visualization of of of what it looks like.
00:53:39
Speaker
something like that right so yeah the problem with that though is that a lot of the people that would see it is people who are are people who are following us because that are already gone no i no i have i absolutely agree there and so i didn't ever say it was a perfect system but just something like that and so again just like i said like i'm going calling out like i'm calling out our our local radio stations here but uh like this some like there's got to be some changes with that and so how that looks yeah
00:54:14
Speaker
And that's why I think it's almost got to be someone more mainstream. Like if you had somebody on, you know, Sportsnet or TNT or ESPN that did like, even if it was just on the Saturday night, like on hockey night in Canada, if it was like coach's corner type segment, just during one intermission in one of the games that are streamed or whatever played that whole day, um,
00:54:39
Speaker
just something, something to start sparking a little bit of interest, something to start explaining where people are like, oh, I never knew that or like, oh, that's kind of interesting. I'd like to learn more or whatever. Right. That sort of stuff.
00:54:53
Speaker
I think that would go a long way. And then not to beat the dead horse that we already have on this, but I think governing bodies need to do a better job to like, you know, your USA hockey or hockey Canada, all that stuff, too.
00:55:07
Speaker
um Are there people trying to do good things? Yes. But I think there still needs to be more from them as well. um But I digress. We've kind of gone down that road yeah too many times. And so we so this all this kind of did end up turning into an inadvertent third segment, I guess, today. so Media. Yeah, exactly.
00:55:27
Speaker
um I got nothing else for me. You? Nothing? No. Let's go play in the snow. Sounds good. grand It's cold out there and it's getting dark out too. so Anyways, ladies and gentlemen, that will do it for another episode of the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by North Goaltending.
Conclusion and Social Media Engagement
00:55:44
Speaker
Make sure you guys follow us on our social media platforms, all at True North Goaltending, except on Instagram because we like to be different. Why? Because somebody else had the Instagram handle True North Goaltending, so I had to improvise.
00:55:57
Speaker
And that one is? Y-E-G Goalie Coach. There we go. You guys can follow us on that front you can follow myself on social media particularly instagram at monday gc uh if you are listening on the podcast platforms whether that be apple iheart or spotify if you are a returning listener thank you make sure hit that share button if you are a new listener to our little program make you hit that follow button and also hit that share button because more goalies that we can bring together the better If you are watching over on the YouTube side of things, make sure, again, same idea. Make sure guys hit that share button and the like button because it helps push the algorithm.
00:56:35
Speaker
And then also hit that subscribe button if you are a new viewer to our channel. um Again, go check us out, truenosgoaltending.com. We have lots of fun and exciting things happening in the works. Nathan, do we have anything new coming down the pipeline yet? or Not that I'm ready to announce. No, not that's far enough along.
00:56:56
Speaker
Quickly though, shout out to all y'all in like the cool places around the world that tune in like Brazil and Australia and you know France and Spain and all that. Should just have an episode where it's just completely French.
00:57:11
Speaker
Yeah. Sacre bleu. Yeah. Definitely our our reach has expanded a lot further than we ever could have thought. So we do appreciate that.
00:57:22
Speaker
ah But yeah, go check us out. TrueNorthGoldTending.com. If you are in the Edmonton area and would like to book a session with us here at our lovely facility, you are more than welcome to do that.
00:57:33
Speaker
um On top of that... On behalf of myself and Nathan Park, this has been the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by June North Goaltending. Take some saves, goalies. see you guys next time.
00:57:44
Speaker
Oh! Take care.