Playing goaltender in ice hockey requires athleticism, quickness, strength, skating ability and courage. Goaltenders are the last line of defense for their team. While they can't be responsible for stopping every shot, great goaltenders often make spectacular saves by playing the angles correctly and by making quick moves to stop shots that may reach speeds of 100 miles per hour.
Positioning
Goaltenders can learn to excel at their job by taking the proper angle when facing the shooter. The goaltender wants to be square to the shooter and does not want to leave any obvious openings on the short side. For example, if the right wing has the puck on the goalie's left side, the goalie must make sure he does not leave any space between his body and the post to his left. This would give the shooter to inviting a target to shoot at. The goaltender must cover the short side of the net. In this goalie gauntlet drill provided by Ice Hockey Systems, the center has the puck behind the net and passes the puck to the right wing and the left wing alternately. After attempting to stop the right wing's shot, the goaltender must slide over and attempt to stop the left wing's shot. Have the goalie stop five shots from each side before taking a break.
Facing the Shot
When facing shooters who can blast a hard puck made out of vulcanized rubber at high speeds, goaltenders must get used to facing hard shots. During practice and warm-ups, have the team's shooters fan out along the blue line and take turns firing the puck at the goaltender. This will get the goaltender used to seeing shots coming from all angles at high speeds. The more rubber the team fires at the goaltender, the more familiar the goalie will get with the sensation of the puck being shot at him.
Technique
Many goalies use the butterfly technique when they are playing goal. With this technique, the goaltender will drop down to his knees and spread his legs across the goal mouth to cut off as much as the shooting area as possible when the opponent is close to the net. However, this is not a static position. The goaltender must get up out of that position quickly as he makes a save because he may have to make another save on the other side of the net. Getting up and down requires leg strength and stamina. Goaltenders need to work on the up-down move during every practice session and pregame warm-up. In this drill, provided, a player will have a pile of pucks -- at least eight of them -- and a shooter will have the puck in the slot about 20 feet in front of the goal. The player will shoot at the low corners of the net and the goalie will go down in his butterfly position to block the shots. The goalie will then return to his standing position before the player takes the next shot.
Skating
Skating is one of the most underappreciated aspects of a goaltender's game. A goalie must be able to skate out of his crease with confidence to retrieve the puck. A goalie who can skate confidently on the flat, dull blades of his goalie skates can blunt the opponent's attack and help start one for his own team. By skating from the goalie crease to the face-off dots on the right, to the face-off dot on the left and then back to the goalie crease, the goaltender can work on his agility and maneuverability on the ice. Skate this triangle five times going to the right face-off dot first and then five times going to the left face-off dot first to improve skating.
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