Friday, August 13, 2010

Goaltending Styles

I've been asked a few times what my goaltending style was, when I was playing hockey, and I thought now was as good a time as any to answer. Standing at 6'3''covering half of the net standing up was not a problem, and going down on my knees in butterfly style, my pads would cover the complete bottom of the net, roughly a foot high; my shoulders would still reach the cross-bar, so the middle part of the net was covered, and I just needed for my glove and blocker to be fast enough to cover the space on either side of my chest.

When standing, my basic position resembled that of Jeff Hackett, pictured below, with the legs in a bit of an upside-down V, (but not exaggeratedly so like Cristobal Huet here), the stick blade flat on the ice, and my glove at hip level (I was quick enough to raise it on time to cover the top corner when need be):
But, more importantly, was where my concentration would lie when play was stopped - and that was more reminiscent of Craig Anderson, pictured below...
Except, you know, my mouth wouldn't be open in awe.

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