snlsmith
10-21-2008, 03:49 PM
I was hoping to find a C League team, but had to settle for D League as that was the only opening I could find, and it is a step above the I-League i am currently playing in. Our first game tonight. The team has been overhauled since the end of the summer session, so there are a lot of new people. On top of that, we have no practices.
Here is the letter I sent to the team:
A (long) note from your goalie. I know this is long, but hopefully it will help make things go smoothly tonight, as well as the rest of the season as we learn to play with each other.
Introduction
I have been playing in net for over 5 years. I started out with the Generals I-league inaugural team and played with them for 3 seasons. I then moved up to the team that is now called the Matrix. I played with them for 2 fall seasons and one summer season, ending the 2006-07 season with the Frisco championship and as the Metroplex runner-up. I took the summer off and they found another goalie. With all teams full for the 07-08 season, I have played with the Fury (I-league) where we have now won back-to-back championships. I look forward to moving back up and regaining the Frisco title.
Communication
Communication between a goalie and the other players is essential, but understanding what is said is even more important. Below are a few phrases that I commonly use and what I mean by them.
Wrap it / Wrap it around - there is a person on your tail, and probably one coming on the other side of the net. Throw it around the boards to get out of trouble.
Reverse it - whichever way you are going around the net, shoot or drop the puck in the other direction. Usually there will be an uncovered teammate nearby so they will have time to get to it even if it is not real hard.
Switch it - means for you the player to stop and go back the other way. Typical scenario is you taking the puck behind the net and the opponent going the same direction, but in front of the net. By switching directions, you should have a moment of free ice while they have to circle around the net.
Center / Left Wing / Right wing - when you are going around the net I will say this to indicate where we have a person with the most open ice. This does not mean just throw it in that direction once you get past the net. You will still need to look up to see exactly where on the ice (our blue line, center, or far blue) they are. If you already have a plan, don't take it as instruction, but just a suggestion, and continue on with your plan.
20 feet / blue line / far side / both side - all just indicators of where the closest opponent is, usually when racing back to the defensive end to get a puck.
No icing - kinda obvious, but I will usually have my arm up if I see one of the refs signaling for icing.
Turn and go – The ice is wide open and there is plenty of room to skate. Usually said when the other team or both teams are changing lines. Look for people breaking up ice when they are coming off the bench.
On ice philosophy
Shot-blocking – as much as possible, try to not block or deflect a shot with your stick while in the slot (between the circles, crease to blue line). This usually has the high potential for bad results. Try to have your skates in a line from me to the shooter or perpendicular. If you are in the crease, let all hard crossing passes go through. The exception is if there is someone on the immediate back side waiting for that pass, although if that is the case, hopefully you will be engaging that person and lifting their stick. J
Me playing the puck – I am Turco-esque in that I love playing the puck. I only have two requests for the rest of you. 1) If I am going to play it away from the net and pressure is coming down, the first player back help cover the net. 2) If I go to play it and I have time, the center or winger away from the benches needs to break out up the ice to an open area. A lot times I can get close to a tape-to-tape pass at the red line, depending on ice conditions. If I am going to leave the puck for you to pick up behind the net, I will either get out of the way before you get there stand still next to the net or boards until you go by. Obviously there will be situational exceptions, but this is generally how I work it.
Player to goalie communication – Just as important as what I mentioned above. I encourage you to talk to me too. Please let me know when the puck is loose, as well as where it is. If I am just sitting still hunched over, I either think I have the puck or it hit me in the lower, lower mid-section. Either way I am not thinking about playing a loose puck. If you just yell “loose”, I will have no idea where, so also include, “behind you”, “post”, “corner” or some other identifying info. Also much appreciated is “wrap around”. I have saved many goals thanks to my D giving me the heads up if I have lost the puck.
Delayed penalty – I am usually good about seeing these called and will skate my ass off trying to get to the bench. My only expectation is that someone will be ready to hit the ice once I get there.
Odd-man rushes (against us) – 2-on-1 - With few exceptions, skater takes the pass, I have the shot. I will play the shooter like a breakaway, so if he gets the pass to the guy you are covering, he will probably have a pretty open net depending on the circumstances. In general, if the goalie can’t trust you to cover the other guy, they start cheating over and give up shot side goals. 3-on-1 – I will take the shooter, you hold ground around the centerline of the ice not letting the pass get across and/or tie up the stick of the player you think is the greater risk.
Opponent coming down the wing – Let them. If you have to cheat by staying a ½ step behind them, don’t let them move toward the center. Scoring chances are very slim from the boards.
The other team’s goalie – When the puck is in my end, my job is to stop the puck. When it is at the other end, I watch the goalie, looking for weak points. During the first intermission, I will relay my observations. You may think “no ****”, especially if it seems obvious to you, but it may not be to others. Sometimes I will point it out before the game just from watching warm ups.
Pre-game warm-up
Most people don’t realize that the warm-up is intended to warm up the goalie, not the player. It takes a little time to get used to tracking the pucks. At the beginning of warm up I will be stretching a little on the ice. Once I am in net, please line up on/near the blue line and fire pucks at me, IN ORDER. I don’t care if it is left to right or right to left, but do not shoot it anywhere toward the net if I am not looking at you. I have known several people knocked out of games by their own players during warm-ups, getting hit by unsuspecting pucks. When the clock gets down to the final minute or so, I will skate out of the net to do some more stretching. Please use this time to skate in and practice your dekes and close in shots. If I am already feeling good, I may stay in for this last part, but my goal is to not get injured before the game starts.
On a final note, please don’t take this as being an aggressive “my way or else” instruction because that is not the intent at all. Everyone has their way of doing things ,it’s just easier to work with someone when you know where they are coming from. I am very easy going, but have a strong competitive spirit. If you shoot the puck into our net, I will probably be a little po’d, but other than that, if everyone is giving their best til the final buzzer, I can live with whatever the result. See ya’ll tonight.
Steven
Here is the letter I sent to the team:
A (long) note from your goalie. I know this is long, but hopefully it will help make things go smoothly tonight, as well as the rest of the season as we learn to play with each other.
Introduction
I have been playing in net for over 5 years. I started out with the Generals I-league inaugural team and played with them for 3 seasons. I then moved up to the team that is now called the Matrix. I played with them for 2 fall seasons and one summer season, ending the 2006-07 season with the Frisco championship and as the Metroplex runner-up. I took the summer off and they found another goalie. With all teams full for the 07-08 season, I have played with the Fury (I-league) where we have now won back-to-back championships. I look forward to moving back up and regaining the Frisco title.
Communication
Communication between a goalie and the other players is essential, but understanding what is said is even more important. Below are a few phrases that I commonly use and what I mean by them.
Wrap it / Wrap it around - there is a person on your tail, and probably one coming on the other side of the net. Throw it around the boards to get out of trouble.
Reverse it - whichever way you are going around the net, shoot or drop the puck in the other direction. Usually there will be an uncovered teammate nearby so they will have time to get to it even if it is not real hard.
Switch it - means for you the player to stop and go back the other way. Typical scenario is you taking the puck behind the net and the opponent going the same direction, but in front of the net. By switching directions, you should have a moment of free ice while they have to circle around the net.
Center / Left Wing / Right wing - when you are going around the net I will say this to indicate where we have a person with the most open ice. This does not mean just throw it in that direction once you get past the net. You will still need to look up to see exactly where on the ice (our blue line, center, or far blue) they are. If you already have a plan, don't take it as instruction, but just a suggestion, and continue on with your plan.
20 feet / blue line / far side / both side - all just indicators of where the closest opponent is, usually when racing back to the defensive end to get a puck.
No icing - kinda obvious, but I will usually have my arm up if I see one of the refs signaling for icing.
Turn and go – The ice is wide open and there is plenty of room to skate. Usually said when the other team or both teams are changing lines. Look for people breaking up ice when they are coming off the bench.
On ice philosophy
Shot-blocking – as much as possible, try to not block or deflect a shot with your stick while in the slot (between the circles, crease to blue line). This usually has the high potential for bad results. Try to have your skates in a line from me to the shooter or perpendicular. If you are in the crease, let all hard crossing passes go through. The exception is if there is someone on the immediate back side waiting for that pass, although if that is the case, hopefully you will be engaging that person and lifting their stick. J
Me playing the puck – I am Turco-esque in that I love playing the puck. I only have two requests for the rest of you. 1) If I am going to play it away from the net and pressure is coming down, the first player back help cover the net. 2) If I go to play it and I have time, the center or winger away from the benches needs to break out up the ice to an open area. A lot times I can get close to a tape-to-tape pass at the red line, depending on ice conditions. If I am going to leave the puck for you to pick up behind the net, I will either get out of the way before you get there stand still next to the net or boards until you go by. Obviously there will be situational exceptions, but this is generally how I work it.
Player to goalie communication – Just as important as what I mentioned above. I encourage you to talk to me too. Please let me know when the puck is loose, as well as where it is. If I am just sitting still hunched over, I either think I have the puck or it hit me in the lower, lower mid-section. Either way I am not thinking about playing a loose puck. If you just yell “loose”, I will have no idea where, so also include, “behind you”, “post”, “corner” or some other identifying info. Also much appreciated is “wrap around”. I have saved many goals thanks to my D giving me the heads up if I have lost the puck.
Delayed penalty – I am usually good about seeing these called and will skate my ass off trying to get to the bench. My only expectation is that someone will be ready to hit the ice once I get there.
Odd-man rushes (against us) – 2-on-1 - With few exceptions, skater takes the pass, I have the shot. I will play the shooter like a breakaway, so if he gets the pass to the guy you are covering, he will probably have a pretty open net depending on the circumstances. In general, if the goalie can’t trust you to cover the other guy, they start cheating over and give up shot side goals. 3-on-1 – I will take the shooter, you hold ground around the centerline of the ice not letting the pass get across and/or tie up the stick of the player you think is the greater risk.
Opponent coming down the wing – Let them. If you have to cheat by staying a ½ step behind them, don’t let them move toward the center. Scoring chances are very slim from the boards.
The other team’s goalie – When the puck is in my end, my job is to stop the puck. When it is at the other end, I watch the goalie, looking for weak points. During the first intermission, I will relay my observations. You may think “no ****”, especially if it seems obvious to you, but it may not be to others. Sometimes I will point it out before the game just from watching warm ups.
Pre-game warm-up
Most people don’t realize that the warm-up is intended to warm up the goalie, not the player. It takes a little time to get used to tracking the pucks. At the beginning of warm up I will be stretching a little on the ice. Once I am in net, please line up on/near the blue line and fire pucks at me, IN ORDER. I don’t care if it is left to right or right to left, but do not shoot it anywhere toward the net if I am not looking at you. I have known several people knocked out of games by their own players during warm-ups, getting hit by unsuspecting pucks. When the clock gets down to the final minute or so, I will skate out of the net to do some more stretching. Please use this time to skate in and practice your dekes and close in shots. If I am already feeling good, I may stay in for this last part, but my goal is to not get injured before the game starts.
On a final note, please don’t take this as being an aggressive “my way or else” instruction because that is not the intent at all. Everyone has their way of doing things ,it’s just easier to work with someone when you know where they are coming from. I am very easy going, but have a strong competitive spirit. If you shoot the puck into our net, I will probably be a little po’d, but other than that, if everyone is giving their best til the final buzzer, I can live with whatever the result. See ya’ll tonight.
Steven