![]() Quick doesn't have ideal size or height, but he gets to almost every shot because he moves so well in and around his crease with fantastic quickness. The goalie with the best athleticism and lateral movement is Los Angeles Kings star Jonathan Quick, who also won the Conn Smythe Trophy two years ago. The speed of today's game and the overall talent level of the goal scorers make having great athleticism a requirement for long-term success as an NHL goaltender.Ī common display of athleticism is moving laterally from post to post, which often happens on two-on-one odd-man rushes and one-time shots on the power play. In the following video, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask points out the open man at the point, which helps his defensemen, but it also shows the awareness he has while still watching the puck.īeing aware of your surroundings and identifying which players are in a position to score are crucial to a goalie's ability to react quickly. It also helps goalies fill the net and take away open areas in the net for opponents to target.Īnother part of positioning is awareness. Good positioning goes a long way in making sure the puck stays out of the net when it cannot be seen or takes a sudden deflection. ![]() When goalies such as Thomas are too aggressive and lose their position, teams will take advantage of it like the Canucks did in the video above by firing the puck wide off the end boards on purpose to give Maxim Lapierre an open net to shoot at. ![]() The only goal scored in Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final was a good example of this. His very aggressive and unorthodox style of play in which he comes far out of his crease to cut down the angle was effective for several years, but it also resulted in opposing players having plenty of net to shoot at when Thomas was out of position. While the above video was a fine example of good positioning, Thomas is also the poster boy for how bad positioning can give the opponent a great scoring chance. In the video below, former Boston Bruins goalie and two-time Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas makes a positional save on Buffalo Sabres star Thomas Vanek by taking away the post and five hole while the puck is fed to the Austrian from below the goal line. The best goaltenders leave just a little amount of room between them and the stick of the player closest to the crease, which helps prevent deflections from going into the net.īeing well-positioned also helps goaltenders make saves on shots that are created from a pass behind the net. Good reflexes help prevent these shots from going in the net, but sometimes they happen too quickly for a reaction save. ![]() Positioning also helps goaltenders stop deflections that occur within a few feet of the net. These are what we call "positional saves." It's still possible to save a puck that cannot be seen if a goalie is well-positioned in his crease and takes away the five hole. This is why good positioning is so essential. They may have an idea where it is, but the exact location isn't known because of the traffic in front of the net. There are many times throughout each game when goalies cannot see the puck. Let's look at a breakdown of what makes a perfect NHL goaltender with video examples from players of today and the past. ![]()
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