Transcript
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.
Speaker: Goalies, how are we doing? Welcome back to another episode of the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. is one of your hosts, Connor Monday, here in the captain's chair today. Nathan and I have just been real busy with the tryouts and evaluations and all that sort of fun stuff that we got going on here. So it's just one of those things that, you know, once... some Once you know the summer, the summer camp's end, we just, we just end up getting right into the thick of it. So we are, we're dealing with that and we're going to be bringing you another, another quick hitter today on the DIY goalie podcast. Just a couple of things to go over here. First, go check us out. Trenothgoaltending.com where,
Speaker: We do have a year-round booking, so you do if you do have to find yourself in the Edmonton area, you can go check us out, true-north-goaltending.com. You can book with myself, Nathan, or any of our other fantastic um members that we have on staff ah with True North Goaltending. Let's talk about evals and trials, because we've um we've gone over it.
Speaker: Before an episode very long time ago, but I figured that, you know, why don't we come back to it today as most of you all may already be in the middle of trials and or evaluations.
Speaker: You know, maybe you're already on your team for the year, you know, and that's already been set. But we just wanted i just wanted to come out here today and just talk about tryout habits and things that, you know, evaluators may look for.
Speaker: you know The story may always be the same. you know Body language is is is the biggest thing. right how how How do you carry yourself after um you know a bad goal or you know a bad play or you know anything um along those lines? um Which is obviously good to have. um you know Make sure that we have you know that we're carrying ourselves with a a level of professionalism, making sure that we are um you know having a little bit of dignity you know in our in our game and you know just that we're where we're representing ourselves to the best of our ability in order to make the team that you know we want to to make um that plays a part in it but the other thing to really consider as well is the um you know the skill aspect of it as well it seems you know pretty self-explanatory uh you know at at this point you know but we want to make sure that you know, that we have good tryout habits and, you know, that everything that we worked over on in the summertime, you know, doesn't get thrown out the window and, you know, that we we we bring that we bring our A-game into these trials and into these, um you know, evaluations. You know, so so what are what are some of those things, you know, that ah that an evaluator, you know, such as myself, I'm actually going to entering into that as of recording this,
Speaker: The episode will come out on September 9th. I will be at the rink on September 9th. So this is kind of goes hand in hand here. You know, what are, what are some things that, excuse me what are some things that um you know I will be looking for um when I go out um into my trial or into my evaluations, into my trials? um One of the biggest things that I look for is consistency. you know that's that's That's one of the biggest, biggest, biggest things that I look for, especially at you know the AA, AAA, and even junior levels. you know I'm not looking for a goaltender you know that...
Speaker: You know is is Is pretty at skating You know is I guess best way that I can put it I'm not looking for a goaltender You know that can You know Skate circles around Other players I'm not really looking At that Does it play a part in it? Sure. But again, it's not first and foremost on my mind. Obviously, I want my goalies to be good skaters, but you know i'm not I'm not looking for you know perfection really when it comes to that. Because again, to me, that says that there's no that there's no room to grow. right
Speaker: When we come into these evaluations and when we travel for these teams, We always want to have, um you know, some room to grow at the same time, too. So if if I'm not and I'm not looking for perfection by any means. Same thing with, you know, oh, are you know, like, oh, they made a pretty, pretty blocker save. OK, that's great.
Speaker: Can they replicate that? You know, so the consistency aspect of it for me is a huge, huge one. Right. And I'm not expecting like 10 out of 10 perfection. Right. I'm looking for 7, 8 out of 10. Can you make the same save 8 times out of 10?
Speaker: And would those saves look damn near identical to each other? Obviously, some give or take in that as aspect. But again again, if I were to show save number 3 and save number 9...
Speaker: those two saves again on the blocker side from the same area where the puck's being released from should look practically identical right again talk about robot goaltenders and all that which i'm not going to get into today but that's besides the one you know so so things like that that's that's the biggest one for me especially you know in in my evaluations um other things you know Quiet hands, right? that's that's That's obviously another one. Again, you know we want to make sure you know that we're controlled or that we sorry that we have control in our you know save execution, that we have control, again, in our movement as well too, right? that's
Speaker: that's That's a big, big, big one for you know us there, right? It's just want make sure that you know our save execution, our movements, you know tracking, you know it ah it's all...
Speaker: locked in together you know it's it's all there you know and it's in ah and it's and it's a it's a it's a product of the work you know that we put into um you know everything that we've done essentially up to this point especially the work that we put in you know the separate time
Speaker: excuse me, the ah the summertime, the, um you know, all that ah all that stuff there, you know, and and even before that, right? So again, again it's that consistency factor, um you know, that comes into it again as well. Good rotations, good tracking, you know, that's that's that's another one, right? you know, we want to make sure that, You know, especially for, you know, younger goalies, right? We want to have good tracking, right? Head over top of the puck, hands off the body.
Speaker: um You know, again, same thing with our rotations as well. Making sure that we're getting up with the correct leg, right? That's a big one. Making sure that we're bringing our body or bringing our hands and our body around So then we are able to get on angles. Then we get in good position. So we get square. So then we do get in good position, you know, at the end of the day too. Right. I'm, you know, it's kind of funny. Like when I look at, you know, the notes that I have here, I don't think about the younger side of things. I think more about the older side of things. So I need to reevaluate a little bit, but that's, the that's all right. um You know, obviously different levels obviously require different things, and there there are different aspects of a goalie's game that an evaluator looks at at these different levels, right? But the basics still remain the same at the end of the day, right? So um that's a huge one. And again, a big note that I have here is emphasizing, you know, tracking the puck off the body to find our rebounds.
Speaker: How many times do I see my goalies at all different levels where they track the puck in and then they have no idea where the puck went afterwards? Right. That's that's a huge one. And you know what? That would actually set a second at the top of at the at the top of my list after consistency is, you know, tracking the puck out of our body and into our rebounds. Right. Or into our post-save recovery, I should say.
Speaker: We always, you know, you is is is it going to, again, is it going to be perfect? No. But we want to really make that conscious effort of watching that puck into our body, watching that puck come out of our body, you know, and then utilizing the most effective movement in order to get to that next position, right? Do we get back on our feet? Do we butterfly, crawl, slide across, right? Do we...
Speaker: do a 360 catch behind the back. Andre Vasilevsky glove. Save. Right. Hockey IQ, I guess is where is is one i'm is what I'm driving at as well. but that's also But that's also another good point as well. Having some ability to read the play that's going on in our end, maybe going on the other end as well. But just having that little bit of a little bit of hockey IQ, a little bit of extra hockey knowledge, um you know, in order to, you know, help in your game.
Speaker: That's another big one as well. um Good rebound control, obviously. Good communication with your teammates, right? Even your goalie partners, right? How are you interacting with your coaches? How are you interacting with...
Speaker: your teammates, how are you interacting with players on the other team within the same organization? How are you interacting with your goalie partners? You know, stuff like that, um you know, is also very important. And again, it's just, it's those minuscule things, you know, that you think that coaches or evaluators whoever don't see, but we do, we see it, we're aware of it, right? Right.
Speaker: So, you know, it's all just it's all just, you know, fun things like that. and Sorry, my wife sent me a text here. That's funny. I'll have to respond to that later. um You know, so it's it's all just, you know, small things like that, right? um Yeah, another big one, right? Again, going back to our movement, making sure that we get our feet set early, making sure that we have no extra movement in our feet, nice, crisp movement.
Speaker: Right. Utilizing ourselves making sure that we're utilizing the correct positioning, the correct movements, the correct save execution in our net in order to, you know, make the save and, you know, showcase that we are able to get to that next level.
Speaker: Um, you know, it's, it's all a bunch of different things. Um, you know, if you are able to find out what the, um, you know, coaches or evaluators may be looking for, uh, when you go into your tryouts, I know sometimes that, um,
Speaker: You know, some organizations have like a rubric out. Some of them utilize, especially, you know, here in Canada, the you know, the hockey Canada kind of evaluation um thing. There are kind of variations of that as well. So maybe what I'll do, maybe we'll get Nathan to do here. Let's see. Hockey Canada goalie evaluation skill development. What is this here?
Speaker: Yeah, so on the Hockey Canada website, again, I don't know what it's like in the States, but there is a, ah they have their practice plans. Where are there?
Speaker: i know they have it.
Speaker: I know that they have it. Is it this?
Speaker: i found I found it. Ha ha. There we go. So, yeah, what I'll get Nathan to do is I will put it in. We'll put it in the show notes. But there is a Hockey Canada goaltender evaluation sheet um where it does go over different things. Now, I will.
Speaker: say with a thousand percent certainty that none of these are, you know, this isn't the make or break, right? This isn't, um you know, the, um you know, the, the blueprint really. Right. Cause it's like, there are some things in here, you know, like quickness of blocker,
Speaker: is one of their goaltending as part of their goaltending evaluation sheet. Now, I'm not entirely sure when the last time this was updated. um Maybe they should update it. But, you know, that's not really, you know, ah you know something like that, you know, isn't necessarily that important, right? i don't I don't care how quick your glove is. I don't care how quick, you know, your blocker is, right? I care more so about, you know, the position of your blocker, which they have here, right? The position of your catcher, right? Again, those can be subjective as well.
Speaker: But, you know, the biggest thing with that is just to make sure that you have a you know, a somewhat ideal or so somewhat idea rather, i should say, of kind of the things to be looking for and things that evaluators, you know, may be looking for. That's really that's really annoying. be actually The actually the quickness of blocker, quickness of catcher. What are we doing here? you know Again, rebound control is another one. How is your rebound control off your blocker? How is your rebound control off your catcher? How is your rebound control off your chest?
Speaker: you know Things you know like that. you know um yeah this i yeah i'm I'm just reading some of this here. like Works hard to find puck. What does that mean? You know, what is, what does that mean?
Speaker: You know, cause that can mean different things to different people. Use of body. What is, what does that mean as well? You know, this, I don't, I don't think this has been updated. I would totally love to go and kind of rework this. um I know that we have our evaluation or true North goaltending rather I should say has our, um you know, kind of guidelines.
Speaker: on the on you know what about ah on what your or what an eval should look like and what things coaches should be looking for in their goaltenders. um But you know it's just it's just the basics, you know and just simple stuff like that is the biggest is the biggest thing.
Speaker: You know what i mean? So just when when you guys go into your tryouts, if you haven't already or and you're in or youre you're in the middle of them and and you and you think that you're not having a good tryout,
Speaker: Biggest thing to focus on, again, is just working on your game, right? Showcasing your game and the things that you have in your toolbox in order to bring to the team to the table, right?
Speaker: Sorry, I hit a chord and i don't know what I don't know what happened there. So I kind of lost my train of thought. That's all right. But again, just just kind of going back to the basics of it, you know, just things like that. um You know, again, when I'm going into my evaluation process,
Speaker: As of recording this tomorrow, which will be uploaded you know today, um September 9th, I'm looking for consistency. I'm looking for how the goaltenders move and are they utilizing the most effective route back to their position?
Speaker: You know what I mean? For younger goaltenders, it's not so much about that. It's more so it's their save execution. It's their positioning, um you know, which encompasses angles, depth. um What's the last one? Squareness, you know, so different levels require different things, right? I'm not going to expect U13, U11 goalie to perform the same way as a U17 AAA goalie, right? Those are two different levels. Those are two different aspects of of a goaltender's development and they need to be judged accordingly, basically.
Speaker: So, going into your tryouts at the end of the going into your evaluations. If your team hasn't been set already, um, good luck, you know, do the best that you can do.
Speaker: Right. And even if you don't make the team that you want to this year, which will, which I'll talk about again in another podcast, we've talked about it before, but I'm more than happy to rehash it. Um, you know,
Speaker: Just do the best that you can at the end of the day Have some fun with it. Take something away from it at the end of the day too. And again, if you don't make the team, you know what you need to do in order to make the team next year. And if you did make the team, congratulations.
Speaker: But the work doesn't stop. So... I'll leave it at that. Like I said, it was a little bit of a quick hitter today. um i hope that made sense. I was kind of just rambling on for the better part of 17 minutes. um But, you know, it is what it is at the end of the day There's no perfect formula going into evals because you have a bunch of different X factors about it as well.
Speaker: um But just if you're able to come out of your evaluations and, you know, feel good about it, regardless of the result,
Speaker: I think that's also a win in the same breath. so I'll leave it at that today. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you are watching over on the YouTube platform, make sure you hit the subscribe button, hit the like button, hit the share button as well. ah The more goalies that we are but able to bring to our little corner of the internet, the better. If you are listening on your favorite podcasting platforms, whether that be Apple, I heart Spotify, wherever it is that you get your podcast, same deal. Hit the like button, hit the share button, hit the favorite button, hit the button that puts it in a playlist. I don't know, but just hit a button that, you know, shows the love that we'll, is what I will say.
Speaker: um You can follow us on your favorite social media platforms, all at True North Goaltending, except on Instagram, because we like to be different. That one is Y-E-G Goalie Coach. You can follow myself on Instagram over at Monday GC, um where I post my life and some goaltending stuff, but mostly of my kids. So if you guys want to see pictures of my kid, you guys can go to my Instagram.
Speaker: um you can go check us out true northgoaltending.com like i said at the start of the show here today we have um our facility booking sessions that happen all year round so if you want a book with myself nathan or any of our other amazing staff members you can go check us out true northgoaltending.com also on the true northgoaltending website is our store so if you guys want to buy some of our merch you guys can um do that again at true northgoaltending.com we also do have our drills on there as well so all of the drills that you guys see us work with if you have worked with us before all of the all of the drills that we use are free to uh free to use on our website again true northgoaltending.com it's kind of broken down by you know
Speaker: ah Lateral plays, post plays, rebound control, all that fun stuff. We are looking at updating our drill library here soon, so you guys can check that out. We also do have concentration grids if you guys want to, ah um you know, utilize that brain of yours, i guess. You know, have all that fun stuff there. Again, true notes, goaltending.
Speaker: Dot com. oh Yeah, there's there's a bunch of cool stuff on our website. I say that with a little bit of biasness, but you guys can check all that out at true north goaltending.com. I do just want to say thank you to everyone who has made our summer camps successful again this year. We saw a lot of returning faces. We saw some brand new faces in our camps as well. And it seems like everybody had a wonderful time. So again, just thank you from the bottom of our hearts, ah you know, for allowing myself and Nathan to do the things that we do.
Speaker: Um, and, ah we, we really do appreciate it And we always love the, we always love the love and support that you guys show us on the podcast, on our social media platforms, and even in person as well, uh, here at trunorthgoaltending.com. So we really do. Uh, we really do appreciate that. and Enough of the sappy stuff out the way. Good luck in your tryouts, guys. Until then my name is Connor.
Speaker: On behalf of myself, Nathan Park, and all the wonderful people at True North Goaltending, this has been the DIY Goalie Podcast presented by True North Goaltending. Make some saves, goalies. We'll see you guys next time. Take care.
