To play goalie, you must develop a skill set that allows you to stop the puck on a regular basis and then control the puck so your team can turn an opponent's scoring opportunities into offensive chances for your team. Goaltenders need quick reactions, the ability to read the play and must make decisive movements to stop the puck.
Skating
Skating is one of the most underrated aspects of great goaltending. They have to be able to maintain their balance when moving from one side of the crease to the other to stop their opponents. They also know how to skate quickly and well when leaving the crease to chase down a puck. When a goaltender does this correctly, he can blunt the attack and start one for his team.
Blocking Shots
The goaltender's primary job is to stop opponents from scoring. A goaltender can do this different ways, but the primary style is called the butterfly. When a goalie uses the butterfly style, he places his upper legs together and his feet out in an inverted "V" form. This leaves an opening between the legs and the shooter often tries to hit the opening. However, when using the butterfly, the goalie drops to his knees to close out that opening. When the goalie drops to his knees, his feet spread out to the corners of the goal. That allows him to block low shots to either side.
Stopping Breakaways
When an opposing skater gets behind the defense and skates in alone on the goaltender with the puck, he has a prime scoring opportunity. From the shooter's perspective, he does not have to worry about the defense altering his path to the goal or blocking his shot. He just has to beat the goalie one-on-one. Despite this advantage for the shooter, many goaltenders find a way to win this battle. One of the primary techniques is to leave the crease and cut off the shooter's view of the net. This is called cutting off the angle. When a goalie cuts off the angle, he can be at risk if the shooter fakes or dekes him out of position and goes around. However if the shooter makes the first move, the goaltender can react quickly regain the advantage.
Quick Shot Practice
When goaltenders prepare for games, they must get used to stopping a lot of shots. The team often helps it goaltender prepare by lining up at the blue line and taking shots at him. In this drill, about 15 to 20 players have pucks and the player on the far right will start the drill by winding up and taking a slap shot, snap shot or wrist shot. After that shot, the next player inline will do the same thing. The drill progresses until all players in line have taken at least two shots. When this drill is done during warmups, it prepares a goalie for game action.
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