Goalie Training Tips for Parents & Coaches: Active Sticks vs. Freezing

During our goalie training sessions, we emphasize the need for quick and effective decision making.  It’s an essential aspect of the game for goalies when facing pressure.  But are goalies making the correct decisions?

We’ve come up with a few tips to help our students, and to educate and inform parents and coaches about the Why’s, When’s, & How’s of freezing of the puck or utilizing the stick.

Reactive Control

To be an effective goaltender, goalies must ensure that they practice using their stick as much as possible during goalie training sessions, and team practices.  But using their stick to direct the puck to corners is only a small part to consider.

Deflecting to the Corners

Deflecting the puck over the glass behind them will allow goaltenders to stop the play during penalty kills or other high pressure situations.  However, directing the puck to the corners may only result in a 50/50 chance of their defenseman coming out of the corner with the puck.

In today’s game, there’s no shortage of puck possession as a strategy.  So directing low shots to the corners may not always be the best option because the opposition may have a chance at keeping the puck deep within the zone.

Alternatively, goalies can angle their sticks to direct pucks to their mid sections to retain the puck and stop the play, or stop the puck along the ice, then place their glove on it.

Directing Rebounds to Below the Goal Line

Whether it’s with the forehand or the back hand, goalies should become comfortable with the puck on each side of their stick’s blade during their goalie training and team practices.  Thus enabling their confidence in their stick during games, allowing them to direct pucks to corners with force and accuracy after a hard-to-handle shot is taken.

When faced with minimal time and maximum pressure, this is a vital aspect of goaltending that should be worked on regularly.

Aggressive Control

When faced with high-pressure circumstances, a goaltender’s athleticism combined with an ability to think quickly, is vital to turn a play around for their team.

Poking at the Puck

When faced with scrambles in typical scoring areas around the goalie’s crease, poking the puck away rather than using the backhand to pull the puck back and freeze it, may be unfavourable for the goaltender.

Although poking the puck away has immediate advantages of disallowing an opposing player from shooting, the puck remains in play.  Once again, whoever gets their stick on the puck first, is left to chance.

Instead, goalies should use their abilities developed during their goalie training by applying the theory that if they can reach the puck with their stick, that they’re able to pull it back to freeze it.

Freezing the puck results in a 50/50 face off in the goalie’s defensive zone, however, the goaltender diffuses the scramble in front of the net, avoiding a potential scoring opportunity.  This may also allow the goaltender’s team an opportunity to change lines, and put one of their best faceoff players to take the faceoff.

Playing the Puck

Some teams dump pucks into the offensive zone at goalies rather than into the corners.  With enough offensive pressure, the goalie is forced to stop the puck from going into the net, control it, then make an assessment of the situation to decide what to do with it.  Teams may apply this method to force faceoffs in the opposition’s defensive zone.

Playing the puck is an essential part of goalie training in order to ensure that the goaltender remains calm and confident during this situation.  Goalies should look to make the save with as much puck control as possible so that they may play the puck back up ice if possible.  This is an option only if the defensemen are able to stall the fore checkers effectively.

However, just because this is an option to consider, it may not be the right option all of the time.  Attention should be paid to passing lanes, potential threats, and an understanding of one’s puck playing ability.  Therefore, goalies should consider this as an option only if the time is right.

 

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