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100 - Goalie Hot Takes (2nd Edition)
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To celebrate episode 100, we reached out to the goalie community to ask for some hot takes to talk about! Thank you all for supporting us through 100 straight weeks of podcast episodes!
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Transcript
Celebrating 100 Episodes and Schedule Change
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
How are we doing goalies? Welcome back to the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending and I guess it's kind of a big deal around here for this episode because we have finally dropped the zero in front of the other numbers for episode number. We have hit number 100, which is kind of cool, kind of crazy.
00:00:44
Speaker
a a little bit of a blur to you know, see that you've gone through 100 episodes already. So, know, kind of cool to see. And it also means we're only about four weeks out from, know, the two year anniversary, I guess, of that. of the DIY goalie podcast, but it's kind of crazy. That's been a hundred straight weeks of episodes. Um, some of them have been a bit more of a scramble than others. So, uh, appreciate you guys bearing with us for, you know, some of that we do get pretty busy during the off season, but we are trying to plan now that we're kind of right at the tail end of our season. We are trying to plan, a lot more content over this off season. So front load some podcast episodes, get some videos out for you guys, because we haven't done a whole heck of a lot of that over the last little while. So we would like to try and do that a little bit better. um The other thing too, just so you guys know, just to work it better with our schedule, this will be our last podcast episode that's uploaded on a Tuesday.
00:01:48
Speaker
ah Moving forward, we're going to shift to Wednesdays for uploading just because um we're finding that there's sometimes, especially on stuff like long weekends, it's kind of hard to um make sure that we get everything out for the Tuesday morning. So we are just going to shift to Wednesdays just to make our lives a little bit easier. So just as a heads up on that, that will be changing after this episode. So this one will come out on Tuesday. What is that? March 10th? March 10th. Yeah, March 10th. And then the following one will be Wednesday, March 18th. And then from there, we'll keep going on. the Wednesdays. So just a little bit of an announcement there, I guess.
Community Engagement and Hot Takes
00:02:36
Speaker
Nothing too crazy, but um Connor has gone out and reached out to the goalie community at large to try and get some more hot takes. So we have done a hot takes episode before, but it's probably been, i don't know, close to a year or so, maybe a little less, but we figured that
00:02:56
Speaker
They're fun episodes to do, so we do that for number 100 here too. So um I don't know, I guess we can dive right into it. What do you got for us today, Connor? Oh, by the way, I have not seen these yet, so we'll see what gets thrown my way here.
00:03:13
Speaker
How much ranting I get to do today. Yeah, um I don't know. the ah it was It was kind of my own fault because I kind of ended up putting this out last minute. So thank you for the for the people that did ah that did decide to you know give me some takes. a couple of them we've already ah we've already gotten before, right?
00:03:36
Speaker
Emerson's with me now because she decided she didn't want to miss out on the 100th episode of the DIY goalie podcast. presented by She's got some hot takes from all her yeah life experience. Exactly. she's She's heard me talking about goaltending enough times that she's like, I have some things to say.
00:03:54
Speaker
um yeah so thank you to everybody who uh yeah yeah sorry yeah um yeah so yeah so thank everybody who uh to who reached out um yeah just first out crazy that we're at 100 episodes now that's uh that's uh that's that's a little wild and um You know, it started as, ah you know, just kind of an off thing for you while you were recovering. And then I bullied my way onto here. And, you know, it's been it's been it's been smooth sailing ever since. so Yeah, I'm 100% smooth. Yeah, this is my...
00:04:30
Speaker
my creation from uh my hip surgery recovery and somehow it's still going so you know
00:04:39
Speaker
um yeah um yeah just crazy that it's uh that we're at 100 episodes now so you know yeah yes i guess um okay so i'm going to uh think we need to do this um oh we need we we need to we need to up we need to up We need to upgrade that.
00:05:05
Speaker
um that's That's funny. um Okay, so here's what we're going do. So um again, like I said, thank you to everybody who's who's reached out to us here. um People you know who did reach out you know did um you know did say that they didn't mind you know being you know being the ones credited. um I think I am just going to keep everything just an umminous anonymous today. But again, just for those who did reach out and you know when you're when you're listening back, again, just thank you.
00:05:32
Speaker
So let's um let's start with this.
The Politics of Tiering in Youth Hockey
00:05:35
Speaker
um So this one says, um how to get out of your head when you've been on the lowest tier four years in a row.
00:05:45
Speaker
Everyone comes to you after tiering and to your kids saying that they do not deserve to be there. Literally, others can see the politics. So I think what this person's getting at is that, you know, they've been mis-tiered, you know, for those who are in tiering. um You know, they've been mis-tiered for the last...
00:06:02
Speaker
obviously four years uh and so just everybody and their dog can can see that uh you know hey you're not at the level that you're supposed to be at um and uh you know unfortunately you keep getting the short end of the stick i've personally been there myself uh unfortunately you know hockey politics do play a huge part in it and uh you know it's so you To me, it's, you know, my me and my family, we had decided to, you know, make the decision to jump ship from, you know, that organization and move over to a different organization where, you know, I was able to not only play with my friends, but I was also able to be tiered properly and play at the level that I was supposed to be playing at. So I don't know if this is necessarily something of a hot take, but I think it was definitely, ah you know, definitely ah definitely something more of, ah you know, just just just a talking point here.
00:06:56
Speaker
Yeah, i was gonna say that sounds like more of a Q&A episode question, but that's okay, because we can we can definitely mix in some of that, too. But um fortunately, i never have been in a spot where I was missed tiered. However, I was cut from a team that I shouldn't have been.
00:07:15
Speaker
Luckily, I made another organization. um within like two or three days because the organization that cut me cut me four days before the start of the season. And that turned out to be one of the best things that happened to me for my career. But um when it comes to the missed hearing, I know it's happened. There's some goalies that we train that, um you know, we've gotten emails about from parents that are kind of panicky. And when they mention the tear that the goalie made,
00:07:47
Speaker
it leaves you scratch in your head because, you know, like working with them, that they're at a much higher level than where they were placed. Now, I get sometimes things happen like injuries and illness and whatnot. So there there could be some of that, you know, depending on how the tryouts are structured. If you have a bad weekend that could potentially, you know, sink the rest of your season, which is unfortunate.
00:08:14
Speaker
um But If it is something that's due to politics and if you do truly feel like there are issues, um start by kind of reaching up reaching out to higher up in the organization.
00:08:29
Speaker
um If that doesn't go anywhere and you still really believe that there was, an egregious error. There is a process to go through with um whatever your governing body is most of the time.
00:08:44
Speaker
um i know for sure, like here with Hockey Alberta, there's you know kind of a process that you can go you fill out a form and kind of escalate that up through Hockey Alberta. And I imagine that there's a lot of that at other governing bodies as well.
00:08:58
Speaker
um I guess if you're on the unsanctioned side, you might be a little bit more SOL, but you could potentially reach out to the league that you're working with and kind of talk to them there. But that one might be a little little bit tougher to do.
00:09:14
Speaker
um But that being said, if it is one of those things that you do end up stuck there, even after going through the processes, there's still ways to make the best out of that situation and you can still use the ice time to develop. And if you can frame your mindset to kind of have the prove everyone wrong type of mindset, it can kind of be a bit of a motivator moving forward. So I think if you frame it the right way, um it although isn't ideal, it doesn't have to be a complete write off of the season. That's for sure.
00:09:53
Speaker
Yeah. um I mean, and and and I think we may have touched on it before and, you know, and in another podcast, but, you know, just the, you know, just.
00:10:07
Speaker
You know, like, like I said, you know, just like I've been in that I've been in that situation. It's it's it sucks, um you know, and so it's just it's a matter of just kind of how you handle that from there. You know, obviously you don't want to. You know, burn bridges per se, you know, because definitely like the hockey community is small enough already and, you know, word of my word of mouth can travel fast.
00:10:34
Speaker
but So you need you need to approach it, you know, less with emotion and more with practicality, right? You know, what's going to be the best move or best decision for you, Kit, you know, is, you know, do you write out this last year playing...
00:10:53
Speaker
tier whatever tier let's let's say tier five as a nice round number you know hockey and then do you make the jump from you know playing with organization a over to organization b at least in the you know the the hockey alberta you know but kind of reference it to you know edmonton minor hockey stream um or do you um transition you know you know make that mid-season transition of you know hey i'm moving over to this now Because, you know, that's what we're doing, essentially, you know, and that's that's and and and that's what my family did is, you know, after, you know, after my my peewee year, we had decided to make the transition from organization A to organization B and ended up ended up playing in a tier in a tierna level that, ah you know, supposed, you know, is supposed to properly play in. So i don't know. Yeah. right. What else you got?
00:11:50
Speaker
All right. um I do want to jump into this one here and we've touched on it a little bit, but I think where, um you know, where this person's going with this is, is is
The Importance of Stick Size and Puck Control
00:12:00
Speaker
interesting. So ah this one says coaches slash parents who don't cut their kids goalie stick.
00:12:07
Speaker
to size are doing their goalie a disservice there's no such thing as throwing off the balance of the stick in relation to this is that goalie should start learning to play pot play the puck in u9 so basically right from the get-go it's a super useful skill and goalies who do it well stand out and are more valuable to their team
00:12:30
Speaker
okay so i am fully on board with the cutting of the stick um I actually did find i I went through an experimentation phase in junior where I tried almost every length on this one stick, like literally went down to the point that like there is maybe like a blocker length above like where my blocker was sitting. So not a width, but like a blocker length. So was pretty close to my hand.
00:13:00
Speaker
That one I found was a little too much. That's kind of where I found the line was, but a little, a little longer than that um was still quite short. But what I did find was, yes, it did make playing the puck a lot easier. And I did find too, like, it was a little easier to control,
00:13:21
Speaker
um like where the puck went to, like being able to kind of steer my stick a little bit and stuff. It it did seem a little bit easier to control as well, like on saves.
00:13:32
Speaker
um I know we've talked about this in kind of previous equipment episodes and how it's kind of a myth that there's, you know, a built in balance point and the shaft has to stay as long as it is.
00:13:44
Speaker
um The biggest thing, though, with stick sizing is Like, and we get this all the time. um oh his stick seemed too small. So we went up a size, but can you look at it? And then we look at it and it's like, no, this, this size is way too big. There's still that mentality as to where the stick sits when goalies are standing.
00:14:08
Speaker
But um we want to size a stick more so for the butterfly. So I don't know how many young goalies and I'm sure you're in the same boat, Connor, but how many young goalies we see with their hand basically up beside their face because their stick is so long.
00:14:25
Speaker
um So that's one thing to think of, too, is size your stick for the butterfly. and then I think what you were kind of touching on, Connor, was the um the puck playing as kind of the hot take.
00:14:43
Speaker
And making sure that or I guess not making sure, but like introducing that skill set to younger goalies. And i've for one, am all on board with that on kind of very basic introduction right from the get go on puck playing, even if it's just something as simple as being able to make like a two or three foot pass accurately. Is it one of the skills that we're going really focus on? No.
00:15:12
Speaker
But is it one that you can kind of introduce and get them to fool around a bit? 100%. if you kind of introduce it early enough and they get comfortable enough with it, they're probably more likely to work on that stuff on their own.
00:15:27
Speaker
Cause I know plenty of goalies that just love to shoot and that's all they like to do. But, so but yeah, I, I agree with that part too. Emerson's got some, some things to say as well. oh When I go and edit this, she's, she'll be muted. So you guys won't hear it, but not only does she disagree with me, Nathan, she's trying to destroy my, ah my my my so my, my, my set here. So,
00:15:52
Speaker
That's okay. She's trying to kick you off the pod too, huh? She's in cahoots with me.
00:16:00
Speaker
um Yeah, and you know this is like this has been a hot button topic for the last few years now, at especially when I stopped playing. um
00:16:12
Speaker
I'm okay with cutting the stick. Not necessarily to the point of balance, but kind of what you were talking about already is that when it comes to goalie sizing, you know, it's more so sizing for the butterfly, you know, for the paddle, right? That's the that's the biggest thing there. So if you're taking off a couple of inches,
00:16:33
Speaker
maybe not Maybe not the end of the world. Because there's really no in-between size you know for goalie sticks. If you're going from a 23 inch paddle to 24. 23.2, 23.6, you know anything along those lines. It's just you're going from one number to the next, essentially.
00:16:53
Speaker
So, I mean, the problem like the problem with cutting the stick, though, and in the in the same breath, is you know just the paddle sizing over over anything. Now, would you be so bold to say is that do you shave down the paddle a little bit?
00:17:11
Speaker
You know, like we've seen goalie sticks, you know, where i don't have mine in front of me or nor do I have like one of those replica mini sticks. But, you know, we've seen it where or we've seen goalies where, you know, they shave down the edges, you know, they shave down the corners where the paddle meets the shaft, essentially.
00:17:31
Speaker
So do you do something like that instead
00:17:36
Speaker
I don't disagree with it. I don't love it either because goalie sticks are pretty enough already. Why, what why, why mess with them? But, you know, you need, so as, as I will, I will never, ever, ever recommend goalie equipment or goalie stick sizing. I will put my input out there and be like, Hey, I think that this 25 inch stick is a little too large.
00:18:07
Speaker
I would recommend going to see, you know, I always recommend, you know, my former goalie partner here in the Edmonton area, Jacob Musselman, who works at to United Cycle. So I'll always refer people to him. I really got to get a referral code from at this point.
00:18:21
Speaker
But, you know, i will I will always do that because am personally not comfortable with recommending, you know, goalie equipment sizes and goalie equipment, you know, stuff like that.
00:18:34
Speaker
But, you know, if it's definitely something you agree, just, you know, where we see, you know, like the kids blocker hand is bill is basically elbows up and in the air there. um Yeah, definitely, you know, definitely something that I'll i'll call out and be like, hey, we got to we have to address this.
00:18:49
Speaker
um i owe I will always i will always leave the equipment. related stuff to equipment expert people, you know such as you know the salespeople you know at you know at hockey shops and whatever else. BC you know is you know is is ah very, very lucky to have the guys over at the hockey shop. um But you know again we have United Cycle here as well in the Edmonton area. um Yeah, so I don't know if it's necessarily, you know, do you look at cutting down the shaft? I think more so do you look at, you know, shaving down the paddle instead.
00:19:26
Speaker
um With that being said, though, you know, when it comes to the, you know, playing the puck stuff. Yeah. I have a hard stance on this and I say, you know, I, I'm not personally worried about playing the puck so much number one, cause I can't play the puck worth the life of me. Um, but I don't, I, to me, I think that there are more important skills to be focusing on first over playing the puck, especially at, you know, the, the younger levels, but I will say, you know, do you look at, um, you know, the,
00:20:02
Speaker
you know, the the different types of streams, I guess. And so what I'm referring to is, you know, at the U9 level, you will definitely use seven level, but definitely U9 level, you know, am I worried about it so much?
00:20:14
Speaker
No, not really. At the U11 level, In the main community stream, maybe not so much. In the elite stream, can maybe you touch on it a little bit. um My thing is, is's just you know like do we want goalies to be comfortable you know in you know how to how to how to handle stick properly when they go to play it like like like a regular player? Sure. Absolutely.
00:20:45
Speaker
Can you not destroy my set, please? Um, as well as, you know, but again, just like I said, like I'm, I'm, I'm worried about other, other skill sets and other assets of playing goalie before playing the box. So I've, yeah, I've, uh, I've, I'm not, I'm not dead set against it, but I'm not a huge proponent of it either.
00:21:08
Speaker
Here's a very old man take. Um, I don't know. Can you like with the composite sticks these days, can you even shave down the paddle? Really?
00:21:19
Speaker
Like, I don't know. Cause I, I only ever really use foam. I don't think so. I don't. Cause there's, cause there's, there's, there's a lot of, you know, inner workings in there. Right. You know what the, um, cause I think like, I think some of them still have like foam cores and, um, you know, a few other things in there.
00:21:38
Speaker
yeah So maybe, so maybe not, but. Yeah, but that's but that's the way that I would look at it versus, you know, taking down, you know, a few centimeters of the shaft, you know, so.
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah. So in that case, um that to me is all personal preference. Like, again, I don't know how much of the new modern composite sticks can get cut at the paddle, um but there are kind of starting to be custom options now for trigger grips if that's the route you want to go to.
00:22:10
Speaker
um But so Yeah, I mean, that's an option, like, again, that's tailored towards personal preference. um I did have a stick that was like the very steep, um I don't know, corners of the paddle, I guess, as opposed to like the more standard, like it came very sharply down. And I did not like that at all. I liked kind of having a little bit more to to hold on to. But I'm sure there's lots of goalies that like the the more narrow one. Um, in terms of the puck playing though, like, I think there's a way you can do it for the younger ones to still be beneficial. Like to me, you can almost run it as part of a bigger drill. Like you can add a pass component, um, whether it's in the middle of skating or whether it's in,
00:22:59
Speaker
you know, like before getting a shot or something like that. um I do think there's ways that you can introduce it. And I do think it is a skill set that is good to introduce early, but not to focus on. Like you said, there are bigger fish to fry. um You know, if you're working strictly on puck handling and you have a goalie that can't even butterfly yet or has no idea what tracking a puck is, then yes, our priorities are a little skewed there. But I do think having the odd drill mix in a pass or two might not be the end of the world. The other thing you can do too, is if you're out with a team that has two goalies, you can set up a drill where the other goalie has to give the coach a short pass before a shot as well. And then they're getting some touches in as opposed to, you know, and not really taking away from working on the other stuff as well. So I do think there's creative ways you can kind of mix that in a little bit and and still kind of be beneficial. So.
00:23:59
Speaker
I think Emerson's got a question next or a hot take next again. Yeah, I think her hot take is that this is boring. Why am I lit why am i here? You know, I want to go play.
00:24:12
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, basically. um My hot take for you is that I don't want you to be a goalie. She probably won't. Let's be goalie. um Okay, so these next three here, they're kind of all related in a way.
00:24:29
Speaker
um But I want to start with... ah Which one do I want to start with here? like they're all They're all, to me, pretty pretty good. um Okay, let's start with...
00:24:43
Speaker
Let's start with this one.
Challenges in Youth Hockey Practices for Goalies
00:24:45
Speaker
So this one says, hot take not all but a large majority of youth under twelve team practices can actually be detrimental to a goalie coaches who don't watch or enforce shot attempts causing desperation saves more than set quality reps In addition, so in some cases, they can even be downright dangerous with kids shooting at the same time because one because one player is still finishing a drill. Many drills are also designed as odd man rushes or breakaways versus versus full ice.
00:25:23
Speaker
set plays transitions comparable to a game that is 80 20 odd man versus set zone time from what i've seen versus uh realistic gameplay which is more 20 80 or 30 70. uh while it's understandable not to have a goalie expert on the ice all the uh at all times uh teams often don't even offer this except as a once a week goalie only practice It's difficult to create good habits in practice because they aren't at all made up with the goalies in mind.
00:25:56
Speaker
Again, all understandable, but something that is rarely talked about at the younger goalie ages. Goalies that have an advantage are the ones who happen to have a parent, coach,
00:26:08
Speaker
who was a goalie or a parent who can pay for a goalie coach on the ice over and above the team fees of the team, usually at $75 of practice of this person of where this person is So quite a bit in this one. And I think definitely, you know, some that maybe we have touched on before, but, um, a like this, like this guy was hot about it I'll tell you that much, but, uh, yeah. Um, well, lay it, lay it on us.
00:26:42
Speaker
Um, I'll take that a step further and say that it's not even the majority of, 12 you practices it's just the majority of practices out there um so hate to break it to you but it's probably not going to get better as you keep going through the ranks um apologies for that but uh yeah that's something that we've been championing over here for a long time um I need to get my butt in gear and put together coach's course. I have scripts. I just haven't videoed anything. But yeah, I think the biggest downfall of the goaltending position is that there's not ah enough of a push from the people that can make the push.
00:27:37
Speaker
to try and get at least one coach on each team with a basic knowledge of goaltending. And also, i i don't know, there's better ways to do it, I think, from these governing bodies as to how to get proper drills and practice plans out there as well for goalies. like But I'm talking about like team practice drills that are also goalie friendly. And I think there's not enough emphasis on that.
00:28:05
Speaker
um And the funny thing that I find too is when coaches run goalie friendly practices or goalie friendly drills, a lot of times it actually will make their players better too.
00:28:21
Speaker
Like when I played, the guys that I found could not hit the net whatsoever in a game where the guys that were always two feet in front of the net when they shot in practice.
00:28:33
Speaker
you want your guys to be more accurate, get them to shoot one step inside the blue line and try and hit the net. If it's only for the first drill or two to get the goalies into it more,
00:28:45
Speaker
it still helps your players be able to be more accurate from all over the ice. Same thing with when we run in tight areas or game situation stuff, that's better for your players too. They get more touches.
00:29:01
Speaker
Having some more game-like situations like traffic in front is also good for your players to get used to getting in front of the net, trying to tip a puck, trying to screen the goalies, right? Trying to fight for rebounds, letting rebounds play out until the goalie covers it or until they score, depending on the drill. That's a good thing too. Maybe not for like a four on O in front of the net, but if you have like, you know, a box out drill where you've got two defenders and two players in front and the
00:29:32
Speaker
D are trying to box out the forwards, let them play it out. See what happens. Get your goalies moving in a game-like situation. It also helps your D to clear the net. It helps your forwards to try and battle for that puck. So these sorts of things, I find it funny because these sorts of things...
00:29:52
Speaker
are good for player development as well and goalie development. So it kind of does baffle me that this sort of stuff doesn't happen more often just because it's good for players too. Like how many kids do we see nowadays that have such a good skill set in terms of being able to stick handle in a phone booth or being able to, you know, Michigan 12 times in a row or whatever the case is.
00:30:18
Speaker
But then you put them out in a game and they're lost because they have no idea what they need to do, where they need to go. They can't hit the net from the tops of the circles. You know, they don't know how to drive for a rebound or box out for a rebound or whatever the case is.
00:30:32
Speaker
And it's because they don't get work on these skill sets in practice and working on those skill sets make it a more friendly environment for your goalies. So ah that's kind of my little rant and hot take on that. But I do think that's the biggest downfall for goaltending in hockey is just the fact that we don't have enough people that know the basics of goaltending and we don't have enough resources out there for team practices and goalie sessions in terms of proper drills and what to do and and practice plans and stuff.
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, you hit the nail on the head on that one. um I think though that To play devil's advocate, really. And I might lose my goalie union card here. um I think, and though... here GBI, open up up.
00:31:39
Speaker
I think, though, in the same breath, for us as goalies, you know, we have to be... adaptable And so sometimes, you know, where the drills that we are in that are less favorable um for us, we still have to find a way to, um you know, make the most out of it. So, i mean, like if you're getting two shots, you know, happening at the same time. Yeah, obviously, you know, not going to be the case. So we just need to,
00:32:13
Speaker
pick a puck essentially right and then if one of the one of those dummies decides to you know you know and ends up ends up accidentally hurting us you know they it'll be dealt with as as as it is um because sometimes though in a game and even sometimes like when i've had one-on-one sessions or even just sessions in general um Sometimes the drill doesn't go exactly according to plan or sometimes the shot doesn't go where I want it to go.
00:32:43
Speaker
And then the goalie gets scored on and they're like, well, I thought you were shooting here. And I'm like, well, yeah, I was trying to. But sometimes, you know, the shot isn't going to go where you want it to. So we still have to adapt. We still have to adjust. We still have to, you know, go back to a goalie instinct, go but go back to goalie basics and goalie instincts and be like, well, Puck come, me stop puck, you know, like, so you know, it's stuff like that, right? where it's It's not always going to, can you not, please?
00:33:10
Speaker
It's not always going to be, um you know, sunshine and rainbows, and it's not always going to be, you know, designed perfectly for us, or, you know, it's not always going to be, you know, how we envisioned it all the time. So I think...
00:33:25
Speaker
You know, in in in a perfect world, you know, where, you know, I've said it before in podcasts, you know, do in my perfect world, every team has ah has a dedicated goalie coach, you know, and, you know, all all that stuff. Unfortunately, not the case.
00:33:41
Speaker
and even with the resources as limited as they are that are out there, um you know, it's, it's, it's, it's still an uphill battle, but I think even in the greater grand scheme of things where a lot of practices nowadays are more so designed for skill development and not necessarily so much focused on team play. And we see that happening more and more in the, in, in the, in the,
00:34:08
Speaker
the The bigger levels or the the the upper the upper levels in in hockey, Team Canada, both, I wouldn't say on the men's side so much, but definitely on the World Junior side is more is is more of a better example. you know With not even really a lot of individual play, but you see a little bit more individualism out there rather than players.
00:34:30
Speaker
stuff so i think you know just practices in general and how we approach them need a revamp but you know in the same breath too we as goalies have to understand that it's not always going to be you know the way that we want it to but we still have to try and find a way to make the most of it as we can Yeah, um Ian Gordon said it, the embrace the development mindset, right? Every opportunity is an opportunity to get better. um That being said, like if we are getting to the point that you're getting two shots at the same time frequently and you know players are potentially hitting you when you're not looking at the puck,
00:35:15
Speaker
The best way to send a message and i don't know, maybe I'll get some flack for this, but the best way to send a message is if you have two guys coming down at the same time, both of the puck, literally just skate out of the net.
00:35:28
Speaker
um Yeah, I don't really have too much more to add. I don't know if you got more there or if you want to hop into the next one. No, i think ah i I think we're okay here. We have three more left, so we're going to we're gonna try and get through these as best as we can. um This one here, i had to get a little bit of clarification on because this one, I think you know i don't think we really touched on a whole lot.
00:35:55
Speaker
It says, my hot take is there needs to be a basic basics info sheet on how a coach should shoot on a goalie in practice in the coach's handbook or posted on association websites it kills me to see a u eleven or you nine kid get shots ripped at them from ten inches away ah let's get the kids time to track the puck make the proper make the proper movement on those warmups so i did had to get So I did get some clarification on it, and I was asking, like, are we talking about coaches shooting on goalies during warm-ups, or like whatly like what's like what's going on here? So he did say to not get him started it. did say that, you know, kids will be kids, especially in the lower tiers, but primarily coaches, the volunteer dad that gets, quote unquote, stuck with the goalies and it just just shoots on them while the skaters are doing power skating. In the city that he's in, that they have a lot of shared ice. So he's watched other coaches just doing basic glove and basic blocker saves.
00:37:02
Speaker
um They are way too close for the U11s play. make it help for their development yeah okay so that does tie in a little bit to the last one and i think you had said that there was three that were kind of similar so the next yeah they're yeah they're all yeah they're all kind of similar but and i know this this this third one that i have here is a kind of a little bit on its on its own but okay so um Yes, and that I think ties back into more of the education piece, right?
Educating Coaches on Goalie-Specific Training
00:37:34
Speaker
Just um getting these coaches on board with what's proper for goalies. Like I can guarantee there are people out there that think that um the harder I shoot, the better it's going to make the goalie.
00:37:51
Speaker
And technically to a certain extent, I guess that that, thinking has a little bit of merit, but there's a line to that. Like if you're at the point that we're just ripping it by, you know, a nine year old that with, you know, your 80 mile an hour league clapper. um Yeah, it's probably not doing much for your goalie.
00:38:14
Speaker
um So there is a fine line there. i i do agree that it ah again just kind of comes back to that educational piece, right? Just to be like,
00:38:26
Speaker
hey, we need at least at the start of practice to be shooting maybe tops of the circles so the goalies have enough time to track. And then try your best to be age appropriate. I know it's tough. Like when I first started coaching, trying to be accurate with my flick shots for the younger goalies was like impossible. Now I'm in an okay spot with it, but still like I'm, you know, 25 years,
00:38:52
Speaker
passed on my player skills and they're they're not the best. um But yeah, there there is a bit of ah an awareness piece there, understanding how hard you need to shoot for the goalie you're working with. I do know, and I'm pretty sure most goalies out there have a similar situation. Like I do know when I was younger, I got a few bruises from coaches, even though they'd hit my chest protector, just because my stuff's, you know, meant for 11 year old shots, not 31 year old shots or whatever the case is.
00:39:29
Speaker
Um, So, you know, that that is something that, yes, I think is important. But I also do think, on the other hand, that it isn't as common.
00:39:43
Speaker
um Like, I don't see it very much anymore. Like, I think it's something that used to be more common. So some of the more old school coaches might still be doing this.
00:39:54
Speaker
or just people that really don't understand anything at all related to goaltending and are just thinking that they're quote unquote toughening up their goalie or, you know, making it harder for them to make the save so they get better.
00:40:08
Speaker
um I find a good approach is to assume good intentions because most of the time people have good intentions, right?
00:40:21
Speaker
um I think most coaches want their goalies to get better. They just don't know how to do it. So they're basically just, you know, doing what they know is best to try and get goalies better, whether that's ripping shots at them, whether that's telling them to stand up more, or telling them to come out more. Yes, they're probably completely wrong, but in their mind, they think that they're doing the right thing. And I think um going into it with that approach, as opposed to thinking that people are
00:40:56
Speaker
Mal intentioned and just out there to hurt your kid um might be a better way to go, especially if you have to approach a coach to talk to them. Just say, hey, I know you're trying to help, but this isn't helping. Can we find another solution?
00:41:16
Speaker
Yeah. ah if If you're watching on the on the YouTube side of things, Emerson is, um she's just causing chaos. Very alert.
00:41:28
Speaker
Yes. For being now nine o'clock in the morning. um Yeah. I mean, most parent coaches or parents or coaches that get stuck with the goalies,
00:41:46
Speaker
Some, not all, but some are pretty receptive of, you know, hey, you know, you're shooting a little too close.
00:41:59
Speaker
Could you, you know, back it up, you know, a few inches or or a few feet or whatever. Um, yeah. Most of the ones that, you know, that I've been out with, I'm like, they've been, they've been pretty good. Mind you, I'm also the goalie guy. So they're also, you know, listening to what I'm saying.
00:42:14
Speaker
um But like even on, you know, a couple teams that I've been on you know, that I've, that I played on, you know, where, and my dad used to be, you know, the goalie coach for the longest time for me, but then he's, he took on more of a head coaching role and and in my later years. So the one parent or, you know, the one assistant coach that, you know, we would that I would have while, um you know, there's practice or, you know, the players are doing their own thing down at one end goalies to be down the other. And I'd be like, hey, here's where I want you because this is what I want to work on, you know.
00:42:50
Speaker
down at this end and most coaches are pretty are pretty receptive um to that again it's a matter of just how you come and uh and and uh and approach it as well thankfully though at true if you go to true north goaltending.com we do have all of our drills posted there um and so we do have we i mean not not all them no but we do we do we do we do have a we do have a good chunk of them that uh you know are um you know, available, uh, you know, in our kind of beginner level, um, practices, you know, so they there should be, you know, something there, you know, to take and, you know, whether it's something as simple as, you know, goalie going from post top of the crease back to the other post stuff like that. But at least, you know, it's still working on something. Right. And you have a rough idea of where you, of where the the, the shooter needs to be. um,
00:43:47
Speaker
um lost my train of thought, but you know, that's, that's, that's the general, that's a general idea. Right. um Yeah. I, I, I don't know where else really you can go further with that. You know, like Nathan was saying, no, we are coming up with a, not a handbook, but like ah like a coach's guide or something. That's of course. Yeah. That, that does kind of, that does kind of address this. So, yeah.
00:44:16
Speaker
Yeah. All right. What's next? All right, so this one is actually from a dad whose son is out with us every Monday at our organization skates, um which um I wanted to talk with you after pod.
00:44:32
Speaker
um So this one, he talks about, you know, blurring the roles or the blurring roles of dad versus coach.
Parent-Coach Dynamics in Youth Hockey
00:44:44
Speaker
um So this one talks about a couple of things that come in mind for me are the blurring roles of dad versus coach supporting young goalies after a tough game, helping with the mental aspect of the pressure they feel and how best to keep it fun for young goalies.
00:44:59
Speaker
I can think I can't think of a bit more ideas too, but this is just kind of what he has ah just what he has, what he sent me here. So, I wanted to more so focus on the the blurring roles of dad versus coach. And I know that and because you're dealing with this real time, right? With with with that with your oldest son, Hayden, um you know, and his and his venture into goaltending. So in your very small sample size of of of what you have so far, because Hayden's what, in his second year of hockey?
00:45:36
Speaker
Yeah, he's only six. He's second year you seven so Yeah, so just how have how have you been approaching this? yeah What tips can you give me? Yeah, a little bit of context here. um Yes, Hayden is only six.
00:45:54
Speaker
And yes, he is playing spring hockey this year as a goalie. The reason we are doing that is because he has been nonstop bugging us. I'm sure it's because dad was a goalie and, you know, him and his brother come to the facility sometimes when I am running sessions and they get to see the goalies and all that. so definitely does make a like he's just around it a lot. So he keeps bugging.
00:46:23
Speaker
So we thought spring hockey would be a good thing to try um to see if he liked the position. So that's why we're doing that. um What I find, at least right now, is when we do the odd facility session to kind of get him some skills and and whatever, we usually only go for like 20 or 30 minutes at a time.
00:46:47
Speaker
um I will tell him things and I get a lot of, i know dad, even though it's like something we've never talked about before.
00:46:59
Speaker
However, what I do find is then he does go out and actually implements the adjustment. So he just basically has to throw in the sass. That's rare. That's so rare. um Not all the time, obviously, but I mean, what kid is 100%, know,
00:47:16
Speaker
you know paying attention and whatever. And six. um So as of so far, i and it's still very new into the goalie dad side of things. um So far, it hasn't really been too, too much of an issue.
00:47:36
Speaker
um But I have kind of talked to him as well and have just said, hey, I do know what I am talking about when it comes to goaltending and you know, I will help you however much you want me to help you.
00:47:53
Speaker
um Understand that when we're out there, I'm coming at it more from the coach side as opposed to the dad side. And then kind of after the fact is more of the dad stuff. So i haven't gotten to the point with him yet, obviously that we've had any sort of like crises, like he hasn't had,
00:48:12
Speaker
a very bad game that's really put him down or anything yet. um He's played in one little day long tournament as a goalie and was just happy to be there. So we haven't had to really deal with the downswings yet.
00:48:29
Speaker
um So I don't have any input on that side yet because I do have tools I can use, but that's going to be one I think that's um that I'm going to struggle with is how much do I do coach and how much do I do dad?
00:48:45
Speaker
um But I think the biggest thing is just keeping that line of communication open um and just being like, hey, I'm here to help as best as I can.
00:49:00
Speaker
and You know, almost like when you get on the ice, the dad had his left on the bench and you put the coach had on kind of thing and coming at it from that approach. The other thing, too, though, is I think.
00:49:16
Speaker
being open with your, your kid about wanting them to be honest, if you're being too involved. And then if they do tell you that, then we back off a little bit and give them some space.
00:49:30
Speaker
I think that's kind of important to maintain that healthy relationship as well. Cause at the end of the day, like hockey's fine, hockey's a sport, but we'd much rather have that long lasting relationship of like dad and,
00:49:45
Speaker
kid um as opposed to kind of like we hear so many stories of, you know, people resenting their parents because of how hard they push them for stuff like hockey. Right. So um I think just that open line of communication, being able to kind of distinguish between the two based on certain situations, like even tell your goalie to come to you and be like,
00:50:11
Speaker
I need coach right now or I need dad right now or whatever and kind of have that, um you know, that distinction. um And yeah, I just think being supportive, doing what you can to help them develop, but also understand where your limitations are and have them communicate to you if you're being a little too overbearing for them or whatever, and being able to take that feedback and actually apply it. I think that's kind of the best way to approach it.
00:50:45
Speaker
um And yeah, it's it's going to be different for everybody's situation. So you just kind of got to you know, roll with the punches as best as what works for you guys.
00:51:01
Speaker
I'll cut this part. do you write any notes for that or what? Yeah, let me yeah let me just pull out my entire logbook here. um Yeah, I mean, thankfully, I'm not in that boat yet.
00:51:18
Speaker
Hopefully won't have to be. But... um if you guys recall the episode and I think we might've touched on it, but then the, the episode that I did with my dad, you know, where we, we touched on a lot of different things. And I think one of them was kind of the role between goalie parent and goalie coach, um, or coach rather on the team. Yeah.
00:51:48
Speaker
We are almost at the end. We're almost at the end. Can you figure it out for next 20 minutes? Not even that because Hayden has a practice at 10. Okay. um All right. I'm just going start from beginning.
00:52:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:52:09
Speaker
Yeah, um thankfully, I'm not in that boat yet. Hopefully, I don't have to be. But, you know, um I think the thing, you know, that I look at it is, you know, if you guys recall the episode, and I think we touched on it.
00:52:25
Speaker
in this episode but if you guys if you guys recall the episode that I did with my dad right and we I think we touched on you know the the role of goalie parent versus goalie coach um I'm thankful enough to have had my dad as the head coach of the team so I don't think we really had to worry about a whole lot of the you know the the goalie coach or the goalie parent side of things definitely you know like the car rides home though I think you know, I was probably a little more blessed than others where, you know, it wasn't like I was being torn apart in the car ride home. It's like, I'd ask dad, like, Hey, like, what'd you think? You know? And he was constructive with you you know, like, Oh, I think, I think you would have liked to have, you know, have had the, the, you know, the third one back, but you know, all, but, but all in all, like you played, you, you play, you played okay. You, you, you played all right. It wasn't like you sucked, you know, the team lost because of you, or, you know, I expect, you know, uh,
00:53:23
Speaker
Goals against average of one or whatever, right? So I think, you know, I think it's easier said than done to have those roles separate.
00:53:38
Speaker
um But if you are in that boat where you are a dad of a goalie and you are the coach of said goalies on the team, then
00:53:53
Speaker
you need to approach it more. I would say as hit off of a cut, like touch on a couple of quick points, like, Hey, get your, get your gloves up. Hey, track down on the pucks without going so much into, into lecture mode.
00:54:11
Speaker
You know what I mean? Like it's that's, yeah, I don't know. Like that's, that's the way that like I would approach it so much. um I don't know. I'm not in that boat. So I can't really just know goalie parents.
00:54:30
Speaker
i just i know of goalie parents who, yeah, they're overbearing and, you know, they just, they just need to take a backseat a little bit. Just want to just try and take the emotion out of it, you know, as, as, as best as you can.
00:54:51
Speaker
um But I definitely think, you know, just like, little quick hits, you know, Hey, get your stick on the ice. Hey, bend your knees. Hey, you know, gloves, gloves off your body, you know, without going so much into the, Oh, here's why we're doing this. Or here's the, you know, the reason, or here's, you know, what you're doing. Like, here's the whole, here's an essay of what you're doing wrong. That's, that's my job. That's, that's Nathan's job. That's, that's, that's the goalie coach's job is to do, is to do the analyzing. Yeah. such the role as the goalie parent who may be more so a coach on the team is more so just to i would say touch on the quick hits touch on the quick points touch on the the more easier things you know that can be addressed you know what you you know what i mean you know what i'm driving at you know like that's like that's just that's just the way that i would that i would look at it over anything yeah
00:55:51
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that sums it up pretty good. um What do you got for the last one for us? So the last one I think, um you know, touches on it's this this one we kind of already touched on already earlier in the episode, but we can we can touch on it again here. um This one talks about, you know, with tryouts coming up, which I don't know how tryouts are coming up because, you know, we're all at the end of the season here.
00:56:16
Speaker
there's ice dudes and I I think Ontario might do tryouts around now more so than Alberta does, but. Well, Ontario also has the open borders thing as well. So I wouldn't be surprised. Um, so, uh, she talks about, you know, tryouts coming up, choosing where to try out.
Choosing the Right Team for Goalie Development
00:56:35
Speaker
Do you go somewhere where you will get more play or play the high? So horror do you go somewhere where you will get more play or play the highest level you can, even if you see less ice time?
00:56:50
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Um, It entirely depends. So in general, more ice time is usually better development. However, um it also depends on what you get for goalie specific development. So if that higher level team has a coach coming out you know once a week or maybe even as a coach on staff that's out every practice and the lower level team doesn't, even if you're not getting as much game time, you might end up with more development over the course of the season.
00:57:22
Speaker
um The other thing to think of too is how much of a drop down is that next level, right? Like if it's triple A to double a you can still make quite a good career out of having a couple of years playing double A um and you can still get quite a bit better playing double A. So, you know, if that's the case,
00:57:47
Speaker
If all things are equal, then yes, maybe the playing time is a little bit better. um the other thing I guess too is think of fit in terms of travel, in terms of frequency of skates, in terms of who the coach is all of that stuff. Like go with the best fit for you and where you think your goalie might um flourish a little bit better or be able to get a little bit more development. So, Um, kind of a few things to weigh there. it's going to be very situational.
00:58:23
Speaker
Um, but yeah, look, ah look at it less of a game time thing, like gameplay thing and look at it more of like an overall development thing and kind of, you know, cause that higher level might have more ice time in general than the lower level does. Even if the lower level, you might get more game time.
00:58:44
Speaker
um And again, too, you might get much better goalie specific development at the higher level, although you could get more goalie specific development at the lower level, too. That's something to look at, too. Like you don't know maybe the other goalie on that lower level team, his dad is a goalie coach or something like that. You just never know. Right.
00:59:03
Speaker
um So that would be my thing is kind of weigh the whole situation. Don't strictly look at game time necessarily, but just kind of the development as a whole.
00:59:15
Speaker
um yeah Um, yeah, I'm, yeah, I'm in that same boat as well. Um, the biggest, yeah, the biggest thing is that you don't want to go chasing you. You don't want to get caught up in the, like, oh, you should come here because, you know, everybody else is going there or, oh, you should come here because it's, you know, best program in the the province or state or wherever it is that you guys are at.
00:59:40
Speaker
you want to look at, you know, like definitely like the reviews help, but you want to look at the, you know, just kind of the overarching thing is, you know, like how, like Nathan was saying, you know, how often is, you know, the development, you know, who's doing the development um and just really just kind of ask questions about, you know, what to expect or what to get out or what to, what to get out of, know,
01:00:08
Speaker
or what or what what what you want to see you get yourself getting out of with, with, with your child and hockey. um And just, um you know, going at it from there, essentially.
01:00:24
Speaker
So yeah it's, it's, ah it all has its ups and downs, but it's more so just about, you know, not only just kind of what the program has to offer, but it's also just, you know, where does, you know, where does your, where does your goalie, where does your athlete want to play to in the same breath? Right. So that's the, um that's, that's the biggest thing.
01:00:46
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. um I don't really have anything else. I don't know if you do or if we're good to wrap up. No, i think we're I think we're good as well. Just thank you to everybody for you know um you know submitting your ah submitting your thoughts, submitting your your your hot takes. really yeah Really appreciate it. And just thank you guys again for 100 episodes. that's its It's nuts to be here. And then four episodes later, we'll be two years into this thing. so that'll be ah That'll be wild. But that'll do it for us on the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. If you are watching over on the YouTube side of things, you hit that subscribe button and the like button. the more goalies that we're able to bring together, the better along with the share button. If you are listening on your favorite soul or your favorite podcasting platforms, whether that's Apple iHeart or Spotify, hit the follow button. If you're new, hit the share button. If if you are a returning listener, um follow Go follow us on our social media platforms, all at truenorthgoaltending.com, except on Instagram. Because we like to be different, that one is Y-E-G, Goalie Coach. You can follow myself on Instagram at MondayGC.
01:01:55
Speaker
Go check us out. TrueNorthGoaltending.com. We have a whole bunch of camps and such available still. We offer ringette camps this year. We have a week-long goalie camp in middle of August, and we also have like ah a beginner goalie camp early in August as well. So if you are in the Edmonton area, go check that out. But also, if you do happen to find yourself in the Edmonton area, and if you want to book a session with us, TrueNorthGoaltending.com, you can hit book online. And you can choose whichever coach that we do have on staff ah to be able to go and do that. um I got nothing else on bomb but behalf of myself and Nathan Park and Emerson Monday. This has been the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by Trunos Goaltending. I'm getting beat up. Make some saves goalies. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.