A Note to Minor Hockey-Aged Goalies/Parents
One of the most common groups of people that I find myself talking to after an on-ice session are the eager parents of young, minor hockey-aged goaltenders who want to know what the next step is – what to work on, what skills were lacking, how they responded to coaching, etcetera. Although I always welcome those who wish to improve and will gladly talk about anything done in the session, I find myself responding to many in the exact same ways. Over the years, I have spoken to hundreds of parents, and I have compiled a short list of the top responses that I find myself repeatedly giving. It might be surprising that none of them involve any technical skill, money, or even goalie pads.
Learn to skate – in any capacity. Go on the canal, play on the outdoor rink with friends as a scoring winger, anything that will develop a comfortability with your edges. This, in my opinion is the single most overlooked aspect of the position at ANY age, and is by far one of the hardest skills to catch up on later in life. For younger goalies, it becomes quite evident who was given the opportunity to freely skate before strapping on the pads. They will develop technical skills more quickly and easily than those who weren’t simply due to the fact that they’ve developed balance and stability on their blades.
Play other sports – develop hand-eye coordination, become a well-rounded athlete in terms of both ability and the mental processes necessary to succeed in sports and positions other than hockey and goaltending. If your child continues to want to come back to goaltending, then it may be something to take more seriously, but until you’ve tried other things, there’s simply no way of knowing for sure. If your child is already taking goaltending seriously (and I mean your child, not YOU), then playing other sports such as baseball, lacrosse or soccer can still drastically improve the motor skills necessary for things like tracking a puck.
Learn to learn from practice – although goalies sometimes get overlooked when it comes to team practices, they will always be able to get something out of it if they are applying themselves in effective ways. At CGD we offer clinics varying from levels GLV1 – GLV5. Often when parents are eager to move their child into the next level, I will explain to them that I, as a 25 year-old goaltender, could still find benefits in a GLV2 session. By applying myself to the basics, these sessions, although simple, will inevitably sharpen my skills. If you can help your young goalie to understand this at a young age and use it to their advantage, it will be a vital tool for their development. They don’t need to know everything before they step on the ice, so help to teach them to have open minds and accept their struggles and weaknesses as learning tools. Although at the minor hockey level this may not SEEM to be the case… it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Take your time in every drill of each and every practice to ensure that you’re squeezing the very most out of it.
Have fun with it – maybe this might seem obvious or cheesy to some, but as you move on from your minor hockey career, you’ll (hopefully) cherish the memories and experiences you’ve gathered with friends and teammates. Don’t put too much pressure on making that team or losing that big game. If you develop at a steady pace, there will always be another team or another big game waiting for you. Never look too far forward or too far behind. Instead, focus on the season, week, practice, drill, shot, and backdoor slide immediately in the here and now.
There are times to abandon technique – a lot like the popular quote, “there’s nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose”, there’s nothing scarier for shooters than a goalie who genuinely wants to find the puck and keep it out of the net. This is not a technical skill, but more of a competitive mental edge that will rear its head at the appropriate times. Carey Price is often referred to as the NHL goalie with the quietest feet and movements, but is also the proud owner of some of the most drastic and dramatic saves in recent memory. As goalies, we are allowed to use whatever parts of our body, in whatever fashion we like to stop the puck. Granted, at times there will be more efficient and effective ways to do things, but ultimately there is no wrong way. Having a killer instinct to locate and get to pucks is something that will be a key asset. As goalie coaches, we can teach a wild goalie to tone it down at the appropriate times, but one of the biggest challenges we face is to try and instill that killer instinct into a goalie who looks lackadaisical and has too rigid of a technical system.
Minor hockey is not the be-all, end-all. But it can be extremely competitive and not everyone will make the team they want to. I hope these responses help even one goalie to better understand the way that they can improve their game by doing some of these simple things. Very few will be technically excellent at this age, so often times it’ll come down to intangibles such as these.
