From The Crease: The shoulder gap

By Jeremy Kaleniecki (guest writer) –

After two weeks of camps this summer, I have taken mental notes about certain patterns that I am seeing. One of the more notable patterns I am recognizing has to do with goals that could have been stopped. What I am finding is that a small handful of the goals we allow to go in the net is because we literally and unintentionally get out of the way of the puck. We allow our reactions to take over instead of making the correct save selection or movement.

One of the more common situations that I see with goalies of all age groups has to do with shots in the upper glove side corner. If the puck goes to the very outside of the corner, it is an easy glove save. If the puck is going closer to the body, it should be an easy, possibly possessed, shoulder save. The more common issue with goalies moving out of the way is when the puck is in the area between the outer corner and the shoulder. This type of a shot makes the goalie have to decide whether to get the glove on it or do some type of lateral shift for the body save.

More times than not, goalies opt for the glove save. This decision has some side effects. When having to reach into a certain area, goalies will unintentionally rotate their shoulders un-square to the puck. The shoulder rotation is generally coupled with a glove side leg lift as well. The combination of the leg lift and the shoulder rotation, more times than not, moves our body out of the line of the puck.

The key to making these saves instead of getting out of the way is to keep the glove leg down and glove forward of the body. Get to know the zones in which you should use your body with a lateral shift, as well as the zones in which the puck is reachable with the glove. Be sure to try and keep the glove leg down whenever possible, which will aid in keeping the body from rotating.