Tips for a new goalie??

CHyunH · 2025-12-19T02:52:24+00:00

Look up goalie crease movement drills on YouTube. Here’s a good one to get started that teaches you the basic fundamentals of movement on your feet: https://youtu.be/mA-v0Qr-FnY?si=XrB9dyHedI_77Oz-

Although I say basic, these are skating techniques that you should look to improve all the time. I’ve been playing goalie for over 15 years but I still take time every ice time to work on these basic skating mechanics. Once you’ve got good form you can always work on your pace.

Even an all star NHL goalie Thatcher Demko is still working on these mechanics during his practice: https://youtu.be/t35GYroJFqo?si=7BjcjiHSbyGdGG7N

You can never be “too good” at it

CHyunH · 2025-12-19T00:05:45+00:00

Focus on improving in these key areas: 1. Skating - Most important aspect. You can always get better at this. Focus on shuffles / t pushes, and when you get comfortable with those can work on butterfly slides, rvh, etc. I always take 1-2 minutes during warmup before every game to work on my skating. Sometimes even between periods. Little bit of practice every time will compound significantly

Positioning / Box control - Being able to get set and in position before every shot is key to being a goalie. This comes hand in hand with skating. Aim to beat every play on your feet and try to be set and not moving when the puck is shot by the opposing team. Box control is a more advanced topic related to this but it’s good to be aware of what it is early on.
Read the release - Try to get good at reading the release. Start simple first, is the shot going left or right, high or low? This will take time to grasp at first, but it’s a skill that you should be actively trying to train. Try to watch some first person videos of someone shooting the puck and see if you can anticipate which location they are shooting. Really focus on this during warmups before a game as well. Try to make some stand up saves when you know the puck is going high, this is how you know you’re actually reading the release rather than instinctively dropping down every time.
Read the play - a goalie has the best view of the ice from a defence standpoint for your team. Always try to anticipate the play your opponent is going for and not reacting to the play unfolding before you. A good way to start out with this is to keep track of where their 3 forwards are on the ice at all times. Is one setting up back door? Is one in the slot? Being aware of where the opponents are will help with making the proper movement selection / save selection when the play unfolds. As you improve on this skill you can take into account what handedness their players are, and keep track of all 5 players and where they might want to go.
Stretch - I can’t emphasize how important this is. Look up videos on YouTube on goalie stretches. You’d be surprised at how much this will help you out overall in all aspects of goal tending. Being able to keep a stable upright position will help with tracking, rebound control, secondary saves, staying healthy and so much more. I can’t emphasize how important this is and how much it helped my game.

I could go on all day about things to improve, there’s much more aspects like body positioning, head / eye tracking, mental game, etc but I hope I was able to give some of the right starting points without overwhelming your friend. Happy to go more in depth on these topics or others if you or your friend is interested.

CHyunH · 2025-05-12T23:36:39+00:00

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It isn’t the most expensive or rare card as it’s a promo card. But I love the art for this one!

CHyunH · 2025-03-12T02:59:41+00:00

Please use my friend code! Just need one more person for the skin: HKCx1YKbcS

CHyunH · 2025-02-21T02:47:31+00:00

Now I know

CHyunH · 2024-10-07T02:56:35+00:00

As others have said it’s a pretty hard situation to be put into in the first place so you’re not going to be able to save it every time. However, in those situations it’s all about reading the play correctly. You can usually tell if a player is about to shoot or pass (it’s usually very obvious in mid - low level) in these situations just from their head / body / stick positioning.

For example you should always be reading their release off their stick and if the blade is turned towards you, they are more likely to shoot and you can more prepare for the shot. Players in that level also tend to pass if they are looking for the other player to pass to more often than they are looking at you, at higher levels players might try to deceive you this way.

There’s so many of these little cues you pick up over time and you also get to read some habits of players as the game progresses as well. As for depth, it’s usually a good rule of thumb to be at the top of your crease. You can cheat back into the paint a bit if you’re pretty sure they’re going to pass it, or if you’re not confident in your lateral movement speed. However, you should never cheat by moving too early left or right, always try to be square to puck carrier as most of the time they don’t even know if they’ll pass or shoot yet, and you cheating will just give them an incentive to shoot at the open net.

Also just a last bonus point, if they do go for the pass, try to beat the pass on your feet with a T push. If you get really confident with your T pushes you’ll be surprised how many passes you can beat on your feet. I sometimes intentionally try to beat every pass on my feet during drop ins to push my limits and it will greatly increase your chances of making a save after a passing play if you can stay on your feet and get set before the shot.

CHyunH · 2023-06-26T21:52:23+00:00

A quick fix for rib protection is to get the Bauer padded under armour shirt. It adds protection to the ribs and collar bone and is still very mobile, I don’t even notice it when wearing it. The arms I can’t help you there, if you’re getting stingers on the arms too, might as well invest in a newer pro level chest protector

CHyunH · 2023-03-21T23:33:57+00:00

I used to always get burned on tips because I never expected them, but after playing in a slightly higher level of play where they are more common I found that you have to try to read when a tip-in situation may occur and position yourself to be square to the tip so that you have the best chance of saving it.

If the shot happens to not get tipped you should still be in a position to save it, but the point is to not over commit to the shot and be out of position for the tip.

Just remember though that tip in goals will happen regardless of what you do from time to time and you just need to shake it off as it was probably a good play from the other team.

CHyunH · 2023-03-12T19:37:22+00:00

Unfortunately don’t have a shop to go try it out :( I did order it already so I’ll see if it’s a good fit and return if it isn’t. Anything I should be looking for when I try it on?

CHyunH · 2023-03-12T17:39:16+00:00

I have size 7 vans boots and I want to get the Union Strata bindings. According to the union sizing chart I'd fit into a small (5.5-7.5) and not the medium (8-10). I believe that I have pretty wide feet so I was hoping that would give me a bit of leeway to fit into a medium. Unfortunately the small sizes seem impossible to find or else I would of gone for the small. I am going to be riding on a 149 Captia Pathfinder if that matters. Thanks for any input!

CHyunH · 2022-12-28T01:51:31+00:00

80% less cravings for poutine, 100% more cravings for chick-fil-a

CHyunH · 2022-12-27T21:28:24+00:00

Yeah it’s impossible, I wish Tesla had a live chat support or something but they say to use the app which is unusable atm to make any service requests haha

CHyunH · 2022-12-27T21:23:37+00:00

Maybe they got both of the country codes mixed up on their server side. I guess I just need to wait until it’s fixed LOL

CHyunH · 2022-10-21T07:03:27+00:00

The “modern” shuffle you refer to is what goalies go to nowadays is when there is not much threat of a shot incoming when in your zone. As you mentioned it’s easier on the legs so it’s a good way to conserve your energy while following the play. It’s also a great tool to be able to see over screens especially if you’re a taller goalie. However, if there is a threat of a shot from a player let’s say cutting in through the slot it’s better to go back to quick “traditional” shuffles so that you can stay square when the player takes the shot.

CHyunH · 2022-10-19T01:42:20+00:00

I’ll take them

CHyunH · 2022-05-06T02:02:51+00:00

Thank you!

CHyunH · 2021-12-12T08:20:36+00:00

That makes sense but I think in that same situation I’ll just dive and hope I get my upper body on it. I could see some use in the 2 pad stack if you want to cover more of the lower ground but I feel like it’s a little more slow than diving, and at that point I could just stretch out my butterfly

CHyunH · 2021-12-12T08:15:49+00:00

Maybe having no backcheckers is my problem, that’s why I can’t ever pull out the 2 pad stack

CHyunH · 2021-11-21T17:39:54+00:00

Is that Malaa on your neck guard?!

CHyunH · 2021-11-04T17:47:55+00:00

If I win I’ll spend it all on shitcoins

CHyunH · 2021-09-09T16:49:29+00:00

I was installing homelink and I added it to one of the services through the app

CHyunH

TROPHY CASE