By GDI Goaltending /
The Situation
While goaltenders always want to be in position, and should endeavor to do so, the reality is that this is impossible. The game of hockey is too dynamic and too unpredictable with too many players affecting the next turn of events. Therefore, there will be times when a goalie has done everything right and will still be unable to get to where they need to be. In these situations, the goalie must be able to function “outside the box” and find a way to make the save. One competitive method of making these “less than perfect” saves is using a spread technique to gain wider, quicker, albeit low, coverage.
Recognition Through Early Eyes
The spread is used frequently in three game scenarios: lateral feeds, rebounds and scrambles. Notice in all cases, there is a tendency for the puck to have shifted away from the goalie’s current position to an area of the ice that is away from the goalie.
Let’s use the lateral feed as an example. As the pass is made, the goalie must lead with the eyes to not only be able to make the save but to assess what type of save should be made. As the goalie fixates on the puck, a determination is made whether the body will get all the way into position or whether the goalie is lagging behind. If the latter, the goalie may have to spread things out to get the necessary coverage for the save.
Lead Knee Bend
The spread can be executed out of a butterfly-slide transition or backside push. As the lead knee drives laterally across the net towards the new position, the goalie will begin to drop forward as though going to the belly. In doing this, the goalie releases tension on the knee, hip and ankle joints which expands the goalie’s ability to stretch out with the leg. A couple of key aspects in this execution include keeping the forward knee bent, making sure the toe of the pad does not get caught inside the post but rather carries on past the post and the goalie must be firm with the leg so that as the save is made the leg is not pushed into the net.
Glove Support
Finally, when in a spread, the goalie only covers the low portion of the net. Due to the low profile of the move, the top part of the net is wide open. The goalie can mitigate this problem, in part, by stacking the glove or blocker up on top of the vertical pad. This will strongly enhance the goalie’s vertical coverage recapturing some of the lost coverage due to the spread-out nature of the move.
For more info, contact Kevin Swanson, GDI Alberta Regional Manager at 403-724-0281 or [email protected] |