Complete Ice Hockey Goalie Equipment Tags

A lot of times a forward will deke himself out. He′ll have the goalie beat but he already has his mind made up that he′s going to do something else. He′ll actually fumble it before he can shoot it. Remember make the goalie make the save. Don′t make it easy...

MENTAL PREPARATION The game of goaltending is 80 percent mental. Prepare your mind before you hit the ice. Take five to 10 minutes and find a quiet spot where you can be alone to focus. Visualizing plays and seeing yourself make the right play will help you immensely. It may...

Remember This... The backhand shot shouldn′t be a dying skill. It′s just as important as a good wrist shot. Most players don′t have a strong backhand shot because they don′t practice it enough. Coaches need to develop drills that will help you practice this very important but under-used shot....

USA Hockey strongly discourages checking from behind but if it should happen while you′re facing the boards get your stick and gloves up to spread out the area of impact. Use your arms as shock absorbers....

BOUNCE-BACK MENTALITY The best goalies know they′re going to have bad goals and more bad games. In an 82-game season it′s impossible not to. They can shrug it off and not let it get to them. Positive self-talk and a positive attitude are the keys to this. Goalies get scored...

I think the backhand shot is one of the most seldom used but effective shots in a sniper′s arsenal especially when taken from in close. Sometimes you don′t have the time to move the puck onto your forehand. That′s where a backhand shot comes into play....

Some people say that when you′re coming in on a breakaway or penalty shot you should have a strategy of what you want to do before you get to the goalie. I think you have to take what the goalie gives you. If he comes out to cut down the...

Sometimes a player makes the mistake of carrying the puck in front of him so the goalie knows what he′s going to do because he can′t shoot the puck from that position. As you get close to the net bring the puck to your side so you can either take...

Repetitions without being repetitive. We are all guilty of relying on our favorite tried-and-true drills to work on specific skills. A coach should not lose sight of the importance of continuing to promote skill development but mixing in different drills and small area games with new objectives can go a...

SKATING SKILLS The foundation of goaltending is based on balance and edges. The better skater you are the better goaltender you will be. Before every practice and every game your warmup should consist of simple skating drills: T-pushes shuffles and slides. You use a T-push for long crease movements. Push...