Heroic Shrimp
Active member
Here's a pretty good read and great insight into goaltending and facing elite NHL goalscorers, by Jonathan Quick for The Players' Tribune:
Elite Snipers 101
How many times have you heard this line before? ?Aw come on, it wasn?t a great save. He shot it right into the goalie?s glove!?
It always bothers me when people use this to discredit an amazing glove save, because I feel like it means that people don?t understand the beauty of my position. In the NHL, 90 percent of the save happens before the player shoots the puck. As a goalie, if you?re relying on your reaction time to make saves, you?re going to get yanked in a hurry. Keeping pucks out of the net is mostly about intuition and geometry. You?re watching the puck carrier and processing all of the guy?s options on the ice, plus you?re looking at his feet, hands and body positioning. Is he shooting? High or low? Where?s his passing lane? What?s the play here?
All the variables add up and tell you everything you need to make a decision. Instantly, your brain tells you to push out to the top of the crease and make yourself ?big? to close down the angle on the shooter, or to cheat your weight a little bit to push off and cover the pass. Before the shot even comes, most of your work is done. You?ve committed and you just hope you?ve made the right decision.
cont.
Elite Snipers 101
How many times have you heard this line before? ?Aw come on, it wasn?t a great save. He shot it right into the goalie?s glove!?
It always bothers me when people use this to discredit an amazing glove save, because I feel like it means that people don?t understand the beauty of my position. In the NHL, 90 percent of the save happens before the player shoots the puck. As a goalie, if you?re relying on your reaction time to make saves, you?re going to get yanked in a hurry. Keeping pucks out of the net is mostly about intuition and geometry. You?re watching the puck carrier and processing all of the guy?s options on the ice, plus you?re looking at his feet, hands and body positioning. Is he shooting? High or low? Where?s his passing lane? What?s the play here?
All the variables add up and tell you everything you need to make a decision. Instantly, your brain tells you to push out to the top of the crease and make yourself ?big? to close down the angle on the shooter, or to cheat your weight a little bit to push off and cover the pass. Before the shot even comes, most of your work is done. You?ve committed and you just hope you?ve made the right decision.
cont.
