Goaltending — Canadian Style

This is exactly the kind of article I’d envisioned when I first created this special area at CoachChic.com.  My good friend, Joe Coulter, shares with us some truly awesome past experiences, and he also adds a little bit of advice for fellow goaltenders.  So other members get to know him, let me briefly point-out that Joe works with numerous goalers on the South Shore of MA — at clinics and with a local high school girls’ team, he head coaches a local Mite team, and he also acts as an administrator with several youth hockey leagues.)  With that, I think everyone should really enjoy this one…

– Dennis Chighisola

GOALTENDING — CANADIAN STYLE

By Joe Coulter

Having grown up playing youth hockey in Toronto in the late 1960’s, and being a goalie, you learned very fast how to stay warm and limber.  Most of my games back then were played on outdoor rinks. Great ice, boards, blue lines, center ice and face-off circles, and of course benches.

I remember the chain link fences instead of glass, but what I remember most was the cold and the wind and the snow from a typical “Ontario winter”. I remember pucks that would disappear in the corners due to snow that had piled up. I remember players that would vanish from my sight due to the snow that was falling.

Every time there was a whistle or a line change I would venture out of my crease and go for a skate. I would use both face-off circles in my zone and skate out and around them and back into my net. I would go for a skate around my net and return to my crease. I found that my legs were comfortable and very limber when play would return to my zone. I was better prepared than the lone goalie standing in his net at the other end doing nothing between whistles.

As time moved on and more indoor rinks were being built, I continued this tradition of skating around the face off circles, or skating around my net or moving “post to post” or dropping down on both pads and getting up quickly. I found that in a very slow game or not a lot of action in my zone this practice made my legs and body very limber and when called upon I did my job!

So when you have the opportunity, with face-off in the opposing zone, line change or a whistle, move around, stay limber, stay warm, stay flexible. There is nothing worse for a goaltender, young or old, to see little or no action. What’s worse is a goalie that just stands in his/hers net, doesn’t move and when called upon, is stiff and cold and doesn’t do his/her job!

Thank you

No, thank you, Joe!  I know a lot of folks are going to enjoy that (and probably recall some similar memories of their own)!

– Dennis Chighisola