With tryouts only a few months away, I thought this would be a helpful post for any hockey goalie who is trying to make the team. These are a few tips for getting noticed by coaches and scouts and getting picked for the team that you are trying out for.
Do whatever you have to do to get as much net time as possible - You don’t have to be a jerk to the other goalies to make sure you get in the net, but it is a good idea to be assertive and make sure you are seen in the net. Do your best to be the first goalie in for each drill.
Communicate as much as possible - Make sure that you talk and talk loud (yell if you have to) to your defensemen, let them know if they have time to skate with the puck or let them know if they have somebody on them and they need to get rid of the puck.
Play the puck - Coaches these days are looking for goalies who can handle the puck. Make sure that you are making smart plays with the puck, also make sure that you are making hard crisp passes onto your players sticks. Don’t flip it!
Be the last goalie to leave the ice - Make sure that you stay out there on the ice as long as possible because you will be noticed as a hockey goalie who loves to play and wants to take as many shots as you can.
Never give up on ANY play - This is something you should practice whenever you are in net…Train yourself not to give up on anything. Even if the player has a wide open net and you have to dive 6 feet to get to the puck and there is no chance for you to stop the puck…still go for it. It will show that you have work ethic and that you hate to be scored on. You will actually be surprised how many saves you will make in desperation situations if you train your brain to NEVER GIVE UP. Coaches love that!
Work on foot speed drills when you are not in the net - Sometimes you might be trying out against up to 10 goalies if not more, so it is important to make sure you are staying warm when you aren’t in the net. It will also show coaches that you are a hard worker and it will give the coaches another chance to evaluate and possibly remember you.
If any of you watched any NHL games this year, it should have been pretty evident to you that it is very important for a hockey goalie at a high level to be able to play the puck. Marty Turco, Martin Brodeur, and Rick DiPietro are prime examples of goalies who have the ability to act as a third defenseman. They are relied upon to go out and play the puck and often make a tape to tape breakout pass. What this does is it buys your teammates time, and it also makes opposing teams weary of playing dump and chase hockey. I can almost guarantee that when a team has to play one of those goalies they make some changes to their game plan so they don’t have to deal with just giving the puck away to the other team. If you are a young hockey goalie it is definitely a good idea to start learning how to make accurate passes, clear the zone, and have poise with handling the puck.
Sometimes the hardest game to play in as a hockey goalie is the game where your own team is dominating the game and you are only get a few shots each period. As we all know its so much easier to feel comfortable in net when you are getting a lot of shots, but what do you do to stay warm and focused when you aren’t getting enough shots?
It is important to make sure that you are doing whatever you can to engage yourself in the game. Go out and be aggressive when it comes to playing the puck. Also, you are going to want to make sure that you are focusing on whats going on even when the puck is in the other end. I used to shuffle and track the puck wherever it went even if it isn’t anywhere near you. When you are getting plenty of shots that is a good time to rest, but if you aren’t getting enough shots thats a good time to stay warm and engaged. If you don’t do something to keep your mind sharp, there is a good chance that you might give up one of those soft goals that every hockey goalie has had nightmares about!
I don’t know about you, but I would prefer to have a shooter deke me on a breakaway rather than shoot. A way for the hockey goalie to dictate what the shooter does on the breakaway is to adjust how far you come out when they come in. If you want the shooter to deke you want to come out pretty far so that they don’t have anything to shoot at and have to deke. If they decide to shoot anyway you should have your angles covered and it should be very difficult for the shooter to snipe on you. If you would prefer to have the shooter take a shot rather than deke, you might not want to come out as far.
I remember when I had coaches who would tell me to take a look at the shooter’s eyes when they come in on a breakaway and you can tell where they’re going to shoot. This is such ridiculous advice and if you have ever received the same advice you probably need a new coach or you need to educate your current coach. I’m not really going to get into why its so ridiculous, because I’m pretty sure you can figure it out. Anyways, there is a way for the hockey goalie to read what a shooter is going to do on a breakaway, its definitely not fool-proof (especially when you start facing advanced shooters) but it can be helpful. The key to reading the shooter is seeing where the shooter is holding his or her stick. If their stick is out in front of them it usually means they are going to deke, its pretty hard to get off a good shot if you are holding the puck in front of you, so if you see that the shooter pulls the puck back to the side of their body it is likely that they are planning to shoot. Remember though, this depends on the level that you are playing at…once you start facing better shooters they can be much trickier with the puck and they can snap shots off quicker with out having to pull the puck all the way to the side of their body so be careful with this.