To find out about how Conner got into hockey goaltending, read here.
Saturday morning arrived and I couldn’t have been more pumped to get on the ice. After months of leaning to play in goal via YouTube and Sportsnet I was going to have my game torn apart by the professionals at the Ron Veit Goaltending School.
I showed up to the training session early, the way that I always do because it takes me so long to get all of my gear on - and I was shocked to see other goalies pouring in shortly afterwards. It was an odd sight to look around the locker room and see no one or two goaltenders, but a full dozen sets of pads being laced up without a skinny-stick (skater) in sight.

As we slowly got to know with each other we learned that there was a full range of experience and skill levels in the room: from players who had recently gotten back into the game after growing up between the pipes and guys who had picked up the goaltending position as an adult to aspiring pros who are progressing through the Midget ranks. Similarly the age ranges from pre-teen to 40s, but everyone had the same mentality that’s unique to goalies. Immediately it was easy to see the novelty the guys felt about working together with a group of people who had the same experiences as they had, given that goalies are so used to being the odd-man out in the dressing room.

We started our first day of lessons with some basic skating drills to get our feet under us. The drills were basic to everyone but me, who had only ever heard terms like “T-Push” and “C-Cut” online. The coaches and players were all extremely helpful, showing me the easiest ways to pick up the skills and pointing out the things that I was already doing well. I was blown away at the level of detail that is common knowledge in the goaltending position - every movement and push is labelled, specified and optimized to create the most efficient outcome. And that’s just the stuff that everyone already knew.

Warmed up and stretched out, we moved into a circuit of 4 drills that featured 4 element of the goaltending position each with dedicated coaches at each station. One of the coaches was Veit himself, who has an incredible knack for simplifying otherwise difficult concepts. I learned a ton just standing with him and chatting about the drills as they were going on.

We were broken into groups according to experience level and started our first stations. As the more advanced groups moved through the drills, their drills matched their levels, therefore the ones that I was taught were the most basic versions possible. That being said, there are valuable takeaways that I’m sure every goaltender can benefit from.


Drill #1 - HV Positioning

I was ushered to a goal positioning drill to begin, one area where I had been almost entirely ignorant up until that point. The drill focused on body positioning when the opposition has possession of the puck to the side of the net. We learned the HV - a term that everyone else seemed to be familiar with - which consisted of a vertical post-side leg pad and a butterflied goal-side pad pushed tightly against the post-side pad.

From a goaltender stance we dropped down into HV then pushed into a butterfly slide. At this point my eyes were quickly opened to the facts that I had been playing pucks to the side of the net poorly, and my butterfly slide is significantly worse.

HV Drill 3 Tips:

1. Goal-side knee must be firmly against the post-side skate. Simply resting the pad tip next to the skate leaves a dangerous gap.

2. Flare the goal side pad as much as possible. This one seems obvious, but we have a tendency to pull our back skate in as we try to tighten up against the post. A flared pad makes it much easier to respond to cross-crease passes.

3. When transitioning into butterfly slide, push the stick slightly ahead of your movement. That way the vertical part of the stick covers the 5-hole as much as possible while you move into full butterfly.

Drill #2 - Shooting Angles

Our second drill focused on the angles of approach as shooters break into your zone and shoot off the rush. The Veit school has developed landmarks to pick up and adjust to based on where the shooter breaks towards the net.

Early on in my learning I identified angles as being one of the most important things that I could learn. Techniques, flexibility and reaction time all take years to develop, but if I could make sure that I was always in the best possible position I’d give myself a chance on every shot.

This was my favorite drill by far because it was less drilling and more of the fun stuff- stopping shots. Several shooters lined up and, one at a time, they broke down into the shooting zones at a variety of angles. Our job was to identify the lane, the shooter’s hand and adjust our angle to match.

Shooting Angles 3 Tips:

1. Stand slightly outside of the crease.

2. Track the shooter one step behind. As the shooter moves across you face, you’ll be moving with him and can move in that direction more quickly than retreating.

3. Adjust 1/2 of a lane to the shooter’s hand. If the hand is to the short side, adjust to the post and make him shoot across your body. If the hand is to the open ice, do the opposite.

Drill #3 - Off-post Push

At this point, my legs were starting to burn. A lot. Looking around, it seemed that I was the only one, which led me to the conclusion that after 30 minutes of training I still wasn’t quite at the pro level.

In off-post push we started standing, positioned next to a post facing forwards as if the puck was in the corner behind the goal line. From there, the goaltenders C-Cut to facing perpendicular from the net, then T-Pushed to the top corner of the crease.

That transition was a tough learning point for me. I had to figure out how to C-Cut forwards, which I had never done, then stop and change directions into a T-Push, which I’m terrible at. Watching the seasoned goaltenders move through the drill effortlessly made me realize just ho much I was benefitting from these seemingly small learning points.

From the top corner of the crease, we shuffled twice and made a basket save from a straight-on shooter. As the drill progressed, we would make a pad save, then shuffle over again and stop a simulated rebound.

Off-post Push 3 Tips:

1. When standing at the crease boundary, place both skates on the line - by doing that you’ll always be facing directly outwards.

2. Keep your body weight centered (not over your toes or heels) when shifting from T-Push to Shuffle.

3. To move out of butterfly, always stand up with the foot farthest from the puck first.

Drill of the Week - Crease V Movement

Each of the drills was awesome, and the coaches drastically improved the way that I moved in the short 15 minutes that I spent with them, but the Crease V movement was definitely the most beneficial drill.

The Crease V teaches its participants that goaltenders’ area of movement when the puck is in tight is similar to a V, where we position closely to the posts, and move out when the puck is in the center. In order to best display the drill I’ve put together a diagram of the movements:



1 = T-Push from the top of the crease to the post
2 = Drop to butterfly
3 = Recovery turn and T-Push back to the top of the crease
4 = Cut-stop and reset
5 = Butterfly slide to stop a shot from the side of the net

This drill was amazing. It is so perfectly applicable to game situations and wrks on exactly the areas where I have the most difficulty. In talking to some of the other students they told me that they had experienced the same thing when starting out; knowing how to move around the crease is the most important element that builds a goalie from beginner to competitive.

Crease V Movement 3 Tips:

1. When moving from butterfly to T-Push, turn your head, pull your play-side foot in tight to your body and turn your shoulders to face the direction that you’re going. The result will be that your skate blade will be perpendicular to your push and get you there the fastest.

2. The start of the butterfly slide should begin with the slide-side knee as close to the push off skate as possible.

3. If, after sliding to the shooter, he’s still holding the puck it’s not necessary to do anything. You’re in good position, moving a leg or arm only gives the shooter an opportunity to capitalize on.

After the session I was exhausted, but quite sure that I was already a significantly better goaltender than when I had started. The other goalies were a blast to work with and a major reason why I got as much out of the lesson as I did. I’m already looking forward to next week.

I hope what I have learned has helped you!

Conner



HC guest blogger Conner Galway is one of the social media and web content
developers at Screen World Media in Vancouver BC.

Follow Conner on Twitter @Conner_G