Starting in Goal as an Adult

[IPv6Freely 2082]

13 hours ago, psulion22 said:

Season starts Wednesday and I didn't have to try out.  So I'll have a goalie spot again, which is good.

 

What's not is the other team that I play out for now told me today the other guy got hurt and is out for the season.  So they want me to play goal.  I don't really know if I want to play goal twice a week and only skate out once.  So now I'm stuck again.  Why can't this ever be easy?!

Seems like an easy decision to me ;)

 

3 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

He found every stinger spot on my CA (which was anywhere he shot), popped it over the stick blade when shooting my 5 hole (and I have the dents to prove it) and managed to ding my jaw bone and the top of my knee cap (fack me).

How does one manage to get hit in the jaw??

[bunnyman666 445]

3 hours ago, OptimusReim said:

Seems like an easy decision to me ;)

 

How does one manage to get hit in the jaw??

 

Wearing an open-eared helmet and cage (combo). Freak hit, but I think I am going back to my closed-ear combo or starting to wear my Mage. 

[IPv6Freely 2082]

Do you have something against wearing a modern mask?

[bunnyman666 445]

11 minutes ago, OptimusReim said:

Do you have something against wearing a modern mask?

 

I like the airflow and protection for the back of the head with a helmet. I am rethinking that right now...

[beedee 224]

Our team is now 2-4 this season, in the higher division we got placed in.

 

We lost 6-2 on Saturday night. It was one of those craptastic nights where they scored 2 power play goals on the back door, and another one went off my defenseman leg from the top of the crease and in. Our forwards aren't producing and our centers are being lazy AF on the back checks. I am continuously making first initial saves only to have rebounds (that aren't even that far away) banged in because no one is there to cover the open guy on top of the crease or on the back door. :o/ My defense has been great though and have been doing a great job of tying up their man when needing to do so. They are feeling frustrated as well, there rarely is a winger on the near side boards when they are looking for a break out pass, and the center is no where to be seen in the high slot or not circling back down low.

Oh well. My defense and I had a good talk after the game and it was refreshing to hear we shared the same frustrations. In the past they had brought it up to the team, but nothing really changed. I have decided that the only way to keep my sanity is to not let those goals get to me. I can only do so much, and talking to the team about what they need to do isn't going to change anything. Really hoping to get on a higher level team for next season.

[Machinehead2k5 32]

26 minutes ago, beedee said:

Our team is now 2-4 this season, in the higher division we got placed in.

 

We lost 6-2 on Saturday night. It was one of those craptastic nights where they scored 2 power play goals on the back door, and another one went off my defenseman leg from the top of the crease and in. Our forwards aren't producing and our centers are being lazy AF on the back checks. I am continuously making first initial saves only to have rebounds (that aren't even that far away) banged in because no one is there to cover the open guy on top of the crease or on the back door.

It's a team effort on the backchecks, something that most teams don't realize, when they do, you become a much better TEAM for it.

[psulion22 402]

41 minutes ago, beedee said:

Our team is now 2-4 this season, in the higher division we got placed in.

 

We lost 6-2 on Saturday night. It was one of those craptastic nights where they scored 2 power play goals on the back door, and another one went off my defenseman leg from the top of the crease and in. Our forwards aren't producing and our centers are being lazy AF on the back checks. I am continuously making first initial saves only to have rebounds (that aren't even that far away) banged in because no one is there to cover the open guy on top of the crease or on the back door. :o/ My defense has been great though and have been doing a great job of tying up their man when needing to do so. They are feeling frustrated as well, there rarely is a winger on the near side boards when they are looking for a break out pass, and the center is no where to be seen in the high slot or not circling back down low.

Oh well. My defense and I had a good talk after the game and it was refreshing to hear we shared the same frustrations. In the past they had brought it up to the team, but nothing really changed. I have decided that the only way to keep my sanity is to not let those goals get to me. I can only do so much, and talking to the team about what they need to do isn't going to change anything. Really hoping to get on a higher level team for next season.

 Maybe you need to work on your rebound control, particularly if they aren't going that far away.  There can't be any rebound attempts if you don't leave any or direct them away from danger.

 

Something to think about:  who is the better or more effective goalie - the one who makes the highlight reel third or even fourth rebound save or the one who doesn't leave 3 or 4 rebounds?

[beedee 224]

I agree, my rebound control can be 100% better. This is only my 3rd season in net, I started playing goalie in April of 2015. Constantly learning more each time out, and watch instructional videos and what not when I'm not on the ice. It was frustrating because the rebounds were just barely beyond my reach. Had I been able to absorb them, there wouldn't have been second chances. (as you said)

[IPv6Freely 2082]

And if you can't absorb, make sure they either go out to the corners or out far enough that you have time to recover. I hear you though, I had a problem for a while with not being able to hang onto pucks to the chest area. 

[Flop_N_Pray 38]

Well, my BHL debut ended in a 6-3 loss. Which sounds pretty awful, until I get into the recap. Before the whining commences, let me preface this by saying I still had a blast . . . 

 

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the teams were formed after a tryout. I ended up on one of three teams that has one less skater. Our top rated player decided not to show up because his daughter is looking at colleges - which may clue you in that the average age of my team is well over 40. We had another skater decide not to show up as well, leaving us with 8 (I think) playing out. Our lowest rated player is the one guy in the league who had never played an actual hockey game in his life, not even a drop-in (to his credit, he scored one of the goals). Compounding the issue, the team we played somehow has an average age around 30 and half of them know each other. After watching everyone else play tonight, I can say without a doubt they are the best team in the league - no real superstars, but tons of depth compared to the rest of the league that has 1-2 standouts and then a bunch of guys who can barely skate. One of the coaches from the class I just got done with told me they stuck me on this team on purpose, so I'll take it as a complement. 

 

The goals - 

 

#1 - great position on initial shot, hit the right elbow floater and took an odd flip, landing about four feet ahead of me . . . opposing forward was crashing the net with no defensive help 

#2 - my defenseman deflects a cross-crease pass from way down the wing right to their center in the low slot; I dove back across and almost nabbed it as the puck trickled across the line

#3 - tic-tac-toe goal to an open guy on the backside (I found out afterwards that my team was trying to play a zone, which explains why I kept looking up to see between 1 and 3 of the wrong color jersey standing right around the goal, undefended)

 

We were tied 3-3 until very close to the end of the second. 

 

#4 - mad scramble / ping pong in front of the net with one defensemen and 2-3 opposition 

#5 - breakaway by their best player; I played it well and got a piece of it with my left arm, but not enough, deflected into the top corner

#6 - kicked into the net by my own player 

 

I would say I faced 2-3 shots every time they came into our zone, which felt like an overwhelming majority of the game (I'm guessing I faced 25+ compared to maybe 10). I didn't let in anything soft, and felt that my positioning and recoveries were good. Didn't give up any bad rebounds besides the first one, and managed to jump on a few more that probably should have been goals. Still need to work on my ability to play the puck. I think we will fare much better against the other teams in the league, especially considering they are going to play man D next week. 

[psulion22 402]

13 hours ago, beedee said:

I agree, my rebound control can be 100% better. This is only my 3rd season in net, I started playing goalie in April of 2015. Constantly learning more each time out, and watch instructional videos and what not when I'm not on the ice. It was frustrating because the rebounds were just barely beyond my reach. Had I been able to absorb them, there wouldn't have been second chances. (as you said)

It's definitely a learning process.

 

Something else you might want to consider is stiffer pads.  I used to give a lot of rebounds and second chances when I had my Summit pads.  They were really soft (like Vaughns) and the rebounds would come off to the same areas as you, just out of reach.  Since I switched to Brian's pads, which have a stiffer foam core, it's not a problem anymore.  Rebounds go into the corners and even ones that used to end up just out of my reach now go further away - either getting behind the guys looking for rebounds or giving me time to get in position for the next shot.

[psulion22 402]

First game with the team that wanted me to try out was last night.  I had been telling the captain since the beginning he had to know me, but he kept saying he didn't.  I walked into the room and he looked at me and said, "Oh it's you!  That's awesome!".  Uh really?  I told you that you knew who I was.  So there ended my probationary period.

 

We played the worst team.  I think I got 6 or 8 shots total.  Maybe not even that many.  But they were mostly good shots that I had to be sharp to stop.  First shot was nearly half way through the first, and it was my own defenseman redirecting a pass on a 2 on 1 on net while I was sliding across for the shooter.  I had to extend back as I was moving and just got a pad on it.  A good blocker save on a partial breakaway.  A very good pad save on a shot from a pass out from behind the net to the opposite side.  I thought my try out was over on the goal though.  It was their player coming over the blue line 1 on 2.  He had just done this two times and dumped the puck on net.  So I was looking for an open teammate to move the dump in to and he shot it harder than expected, and it kind of knuckled.  I had to drop into a butterfly instead of just putting my glove behind my stick, so i kind of got caught inbetween.  When I dropped, I landed on my stick blade and trapped it under my thigh rise.  The stick got stuck when I tried use it to stop the puck and it slid 5 hole into the net.  Seeing how they had reacted to their last goalie, I thought it was going to be a problem.  Especially since that made it 2-1 in a game we were dominating.  But they all thought it was hilarious.  We ended up winning 5-1 going away.

 

After the game, everyone was optimistic.  They all said I was exactly what they were looking for.  The joke was that I allowed shots in warmups, which was an improvement from the get go.  (which devolved into jokes about how I looked better in warm ups, or they should have been taking shots from the blue line lol)  I guess their last goalie didn't want to take warm up shots.  Ever.  And then he would often allow a weak goal at the beginning or at least be shaky because he hadn't seen any shots.

 

So it was all much ado about nothing.  I'm not worried about their attitudes at all.  It should be a fun season.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

Heh, I'll take shots in warmups until somebody decides to try to snipe top corner and then I'm out. I also don't go down at all in warmups. They don't get the whole concept of "shoot at my gloves". 

[psulion22 402]

17 minutes ago, OptimusReim said:

Heh, I'll take shots in warmups until somebody decides to try to snipe top corner and then I'm out. I also don't go down at all in warmups. They don't get the whole concept of "shoot at my gloves". 

 

Why?  I understand not wanting to get rung, but that warm up time is important for timing and feeling the puck.  I won't take dekes because that's how you get hurt (though I will come out and move like it's a breakaway, I just don't try to make the save).  But to not go down at all is silly.  We're low level beer league goalies.  We need as much time to work on our technique and movements as possible.  It doesn't make any sense to me to purposely decline to use the time you are actually given to work on things.

 

I will take a round or two of shots, and then stay down and just slide from one shooter to the next to work on engaging my edges and pushes.  I'll also track rebounds after the first round or two of shots so I'm in the habit of doing that in a game.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

8 minutes ago, psulion22 said:

 

Why?  I understand not wanting to get rung, but that warm up time is important for timing and feeling the puck.  I won't take dekes because that's how you get hurt (though I will come out and move like it's a breakaway, I just don't try to make the save).  But to not go down at all is silly.  We're low level beer league goalies.  We need as much time to work on our technique and movements as possible.  It doesn't make any sense to me to purposely decline to use the time you are actually given to work on things.

 

I will take a round or two of shots, and then stay down and just slide from one shooter to the next to work on engaging my edges and pushes.  I'll also track rebounds after the first round or two of shots so I'm in the habit of doing that in a game.

Saving energy mostly. Warmups for me is just tracking the puck. 

[beedee 224]

17 hours ago, OptimusReim said:

And if you can't absorb, make sure they either go out to the corners or out far enough that you have time to recover. I hear you though, I had a problem for a while with not being able to hang onto pucks to the chest area. 

Totally. The low shots I don't have as much trouble redirecting to the corners with my pads, the P4's do a great shop of putting some velocity on them. Its those chest area ones that have been giving me fits. I know what I need to do in order to cradle them, its just that I haven't been able to execute, cradle and contain them. :(

[IPv6Freely 2082]

My biggest rebound issue at this point is shots off upper chest/shoulder area. There's no way to cradle those so it ends up popping out into the slot. 

[psulion22 402]

2 minutes ago, beedee said:

Totally. The low shots I don't have as much trouble redirecting to the corners with my pads, the P4's do a great shop of putting some velocity on them. Its those chest area ones that have been giving me fits. I know what I need to do in order to cradle them, its just that I haven't been able to execute, cradle and contain them. :(

 

This was a problem of mine also until I got the Ritual Pro c/a.  The hard plastic arms and rubbery floaters has helped with my ability to either trap pucks or deflect them away depending on what I want to do.

[bunnyman666 445]

@psulion22 I am in LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE with my Ritual Pro CA for the reasons you state. I don't let in pucks between my arms and body any longer and shots to the body fall lifelessly to the ice, even when mini MacInnis was shooting bombs at me. He was, incidentally, the ONLY stinger shots I have felt, and they weren't terrible.

[bunnyman666 445]

Drop-in Report:

 

We had four skaters, two goalies. Ugh. Nearly a waste of time. I said *nearly*, as we played cross-ice two on two, then someone was helping me work on my angles. I'm a silver-lining sort of bloke- I got to work on some things I don't get to work on in normal drop-ins. But it was a bummer, none the less. :(

[psulion22 402]

18 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

Drop-in Report:

 

We had four skaters, two goalies. Ugh. Nearly a waste of time. I said *nearly*, as we played cross-ice two on two, then someone was helping me work on my angles. I'm a silver-lining sort of bloke- I got to work on some things I don't get to work on in normal drop-ins. But it was a bummer, none the less. :(

 

I would have loved that.  The chance to work on things and have some shooters willing to help would be awesome.  I'd take that over a drop in or open hockey any day.

 

19 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

@psulion22 I am in LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE with my Ritual Pro CA for the reasons you state. I don't let in pucks between my arms and body any longer and shots to the body fall lifelessly to the ice, even when mini MacInnis was shooting bombs at me. He was, incidentally, the ONLY stinger shots I have felt, and they weren't terrible.

 

I've never had a stinger in it, even in the usual places like the ribs, triceps, or collarbone.  I even made a save off the outside of the elbow the other night.  that's something that really could have hurt.  In fact, it hit so solid the puck went up in the air a good 15 feet before coming back down into the corner.  Nothing.

[bunnyman666 445]

17 hours ago, psulion22 said:

 

I would have loved that.  The chance to work on things and have some shooters willing to help would be awesome.  I'd take that over a drop in or open hockey any day.

 

I did like it as far as the instructional aspect. It was just a bummer at first.  

17 hours ago, psulion22 said:

 

I've never had a stinger in it, even in the usual places like the ribs, triceps, or collarbone.  I even made a save off the outside of the elbow the other night.  that's something that really could have hurt.  In fact, it hit so solid the puck went up in the air a good 15 feet before coming back down into the corner.  Nothing.

 

Those arms are something in that CA, aren't they! I hope this thing holds up! I hope the design sticks around for a long while, as I don't want to go back to anything that resembles a Vaughn or a traditional design.

[psulion22 402]

11 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

 

I did like it as far as the instructional aspect. It was just a bummer at first.  

 

Those arms are something in that CA, aren't they! I hope this thing holds up! I hope the design sticks around for a long while, as I don't want to go back to anything that resembles a Vaughn or a traditional design.

I preordered mine before they came out, so it's a G1 as old as can be. I haven't had so much as a broken buckle or stretched out strap. I don't think the design is going anywhere. They'll probably even improve it in the G3. 

[bunnyman666 445]

49 minutes ago, psulion22 said:

I preordered mine before they came out, so it's a G1 as old as can be. I haven't had so much as a broken buckle or stretched out strap. I don't think the design is going anywhere. They'll probably even improve it in the G3. 

 

Good to know. I bought mine for chips ($160), so I knew I got a bargain; now it seems that I got the bargain of the century! Yours is around 3-4 years old? 

 

The former NHL-er who shot at me a few weeks ago didn't give me a stinger, but mini MacInnis just made me feel the puck with a bit of a sting; he did give me a Zowie on my Factory Mad knee guard! 

[badger_14 601]

Good god that was the warmest arena I've ever played in.  Gross.  I soaked through my headband AND my sweatband.  The ice was fine, but somehow the air was just hideously warm for playing hockey.  Folks on the benches were taking their undershirts off.

 

My friend (who has never seen a live hockey game) came to watch us play, and commented that "You were moving kind of stiffly, I thought you were hurt."  Well thanks buddy.  On the other hand, he enjoyed the game immensely and said it must be hard work to track the puck constantly.

 

Counterpoint to that, one of our best players complimented me later for reading the play "perfectly" when he and one of our other best players had a two on 0 (oops, defence) and absolutely stoned them.  So good for me.