Mental Preparation
I have personally watched hundreds of goaltenders with exceptional skills in practice, even at lower levels of hockey. However, when these goaltenders play in a big game or attempt to play for the first time at a higher level things sometimes go terribly wrong. What possible explanations are there for such fluctuations in performance? For the
Athletic Separation
All athletes regardless of sport or position need to have special abilities on and off the ice. One of these special abilities I have termed is "Athletic Separation". (AS for short) AS by definition refers to the refined ability of an athlete to distinguish between factors that involve the athlete and factors that involve the person.
Puckhandling in the New NHL
The new NHL rules have met with almost universal approval from the fans because of the increased goalscoring, the frequent comebacks and because of the excitement of the shootout. Many of the changes have really forced coaches to evaluate previous approaches and make adjustments to the way the game is played. One area where this
Dropped Goal Stick
I have watched and played hockey for over thirty years and I have seen the goaltender lose his stick during the course of play hundreds of times. Chaos ensues and defensemen furiously try to get the goaltender their stick while the coach on the bench is screaming, “He’s got no stick. Give him your stick!” Conventional
The Backup Goalie
Every team has a starting goalie and by definition this means the other goaltender will have to fill the role and expectations of the back up position. No one wants to be a back up for more than a short period of time, if ever. I always hear about how someone would love to play
The Success Triangle
To make it to the big leagues you need to have a well balanced life. The balance that I'm describing involves three areas: school, social life and hockey. If you can visualize these three items as points on a triangle it will help understand the discussion. If you spend all your waking moments on any single
Legitimite Excuses for Failure
I placed a simple but powerful quote on a whiteboard during one of my summer camps several years ago. “To have the ultimate result of making the NHL you must systematically and with vigor identify all potential issues that could derail your career. Once each area is identified and addressed you are left with only one
Breakaways
The first key to stopping a breakaway is to be prepared for them beforehand and to be keenly aware of certain situations where they normally happen. When to be ready 1) On your power play - How many times have you seen a shorthanded goal scored on a breakaway? All the time! Breakaways frequently happen when point
The Brittle Goalie
Goaltending is extremely stressful, dangerous, difficult and more times than not potentially embarrassing. To show up day in and day out whether you are feeling your best or not is challenging. A true athlete plays through bumps and bruises and nagging minor issues. I don’t advocate playing when you are legitimately injured. What is that