From The Crease: Success never rests
By Dave DeSander –
Every goalie in the NHL has one thing in common – they’re never satisfied with their current level of success. Over the duration of a long NHL season, goalies will often fall off the wagon of their normal success and find themselves in a slump. The typical fan would say an NHL goalie might be “content with making millions of dollars, regardless if he was winning or not.” Or my favorite, “He’s already been paid, why should he try to win now?”
However, true competitors are never satisfied with the present success. They’re always hungry. They want more then they already have.
NHL.com recently covered a story of Ryan Miller as a prime example. At the start of the 2011-12 season, Miller had struggled far below his recent Vezina winning performance. After I perused the article, I was reminded of a speech by Mitch Korn, goalie coach of the Nashville Predators, on the characteristics of successful goalies. In the article on Miller, I thought of a few key characteristics from Korn that I’d like to share that allowed Miller to get back on track to his winning ways, putting him back to the tops of the NHL elite goalies. In reading the article, it explains how Miller went back to the fundamentals of goaltending. He didn’t try to reinvent the wheel, or do a complete overhaul on his style of the game. Miller concentrated on three things, as follows:
Focus and Timing
– Visual/Mental Acuity: Some goalies have a special “connection with the puck.” They find it through traffic, they read it right off the stick knowing where or to whom it is going…and they do it quickly, with a “sharpness” that “connects the dots” during the game. They know what is happening next. This is the ultimate “goalie sense.” And finally, throw in the term “concentration”, and you can understand how all of the above ties into the goalie’s development…more than just the physical or athletic skills, and setting one goalie apart from another.
Positioning and Movement
– Ability to Adjust: By knowing yourself, and understanding the game and position, the athlete who can adjust succeeds. Many goalies dramatically extended and/or enhanced their careers by being able to evolve in the short run (period to period or game to game) or long run (with an adjusted style of play, possibly new save selections, etc.)
– Daily Work Ethic: “There is no substitute for hard work” Every goalie I have coached has used work ethic to give themselves a chance to succeed. It is not just on the ice, but it is off the ice regarding strength and speed training, flexibility improvement, game analysis, etc.
Motivation
– Passion: Work is fine, but add passion, and it’s taken to another level. What creates passion? …well a “burning desire to make a difference, the desire to be the best one can be…to compete.”
While all of these characteristics above can be pinpointed as to why Miller was able to get his game back up to his high level status, perhaps the single most important characteristic a goalie must have is resilience and mental toughness. Do you think it always goes well? “The road to success is always under construction.” True number one goalies bounce back from bad goals or bad games. They over come fatigue, bumps and bruises. They improve from getting cut from teams. They manage the pressure and responsibilities of playing goal.
In the future, if you’ve fallen off your success wagon, ask yourself, do you have the necessary characteristic to be an elite level goalie?
Steve McKichan created Future Pro Goalie School in 1992, and ever since, it has served as one of the top goaltending schools in the world. Find out more information about Future Pro by visiting their official website.
