I really appreciate the info. I've looked at both resources and MD's explanation and tried to do some study myself on the subject. After all of that, I see some things my son is probably doing wrong:
During these drills, my son is starting just beyond the top of the crease, then dropping back into (or almost into) the goal. He's sliding left or right, but his pads seem to be going parallel to the goal, and hence, if the player keeps the puck, he just skates around the pad and puts it into the corner of the net.
I see two schools of thought:
1) Skate out towards the skater. When the skater reaches the hash marks, the goalie starts dropping back to the top of the crease, then makes a left or right slide (depending on which way the skater goes) somewhere near the perimeter of the crease, not deep near the goal. The slide should orient the pad to be somewhat perpendicular to the goal, hence, it's more difficult for the skater to go around. Typically, don't try a poke check.
2) The goalie positions himself within two strides of the goal (probably just outside the crease for my 10 year-old). If the player gets to the hash marks and is coasting, it's probably a good time to make an aggressive poke. If the player is skating hard, the goalie needs to determine whether he is going left or right, then make a break in that direction (and towards the goal). The goalie slides so that his skate lands just outside the left or right post, thus protecting the corner.
The idea behind #1 is to prevent high shots with the goalie being out from the goal. The idea behind #2 is to eliminate backing up with the skater, allowing the goalie to just focus on making a play to the left or right. The corners of the goal are covered so there is no chance of a low shot in the corner going in, unless the goalie just gets faked. However, the goalie probably ends up deeper and is somewhat vulnerable to high shots.
Please let me know if I've got the schools of thought right. I'm not trying to determine which is better right this second, just trying to get a good enough understanding so I can present to my son.
Thanks.
Posted on Aug 23, 2006, 12:18 PM from IP address 216.64.15.122
