Last week I started discussing the Goalie Stance and Key 1, which was focused on the Glove Side. In this post I’ll be talking about the Blocker Side.
If you’ve read the post about Key 1, you’re going to find the principals of Key 2 very similar. First off take a look at the picture where all of the Key areas have been marked. First thing to be aware of is that since this picture was taken in an actual game situation, with the goalie squared up to the puck carrier and not the camera, the triangle areas are a little off from where you think they should be.
Key 2
Key 2 is another triangular area that the goalie needs to properly position themselves to effectively cover. But this positioning is complicated by the need to hold onto and properly position your stick. If only you could just follow the recommendations discussed for covering this area with the exact same ones presented with for the Glove Side. A Goalie could just use a kind of “Wax On, Wax Off” hand positioning for both sides. But like most all sports, there is a dominant side that has to work to a different set of rules.
So you’ve got this thing that looks like a small shield attached to the back of your hand. And you’ve got a stick to hold too. You’re going to need to use that Blocker to stop or redirect any pucks that are trying to make their way into the net through that large area from your shoulder to the post.
Assuming that your like most goalies this Blocker will be on your dominant hand. This means that this hand should be a little faster and more responsive than your Glove hand. All this means is that you can afford to let this drop down a little closer to your knee. But as with Ke1 1, you need to keep this out in front of you, so you can see it and so it doesn’t get tangled in your pads.
If the puck is headed toward the lower half of the triangle, your movements to address it with the Blocker are going to be really small. Fortunately if your positioning is proper the Blocker takes up a whole lot of room with just minor movements side to side.
If a puck is headed up toward the top corner, your movement should simply be to rotate your shoulder up to cover the top of that area with your upper arm and the Blocker will cover the rest of the area automatically. As with Key 1, you’ve got to focus on that puck and know where it is going and what you can put in front of it. If at all possible, you need to “look” the puck into what your going to make the save with.
Another consideration when using the Blocker, is deciding how to handle the puck with it. If your teammates are playing good defense and you don’t need to slow down the game, simply redirecting the puck by angling the face Blocker to the corner is your best bet. But if your teammates aren’t handling the offense very good, you might want to use that Blocker to add some momentum to the puck by punching it in the direction your want to redirect it to. Just make sure that you’re not redirecting right back into the middle of the crease (center area between the face off circles). If you redirect anything there, you’re asking for another quick shot to be sent your way. The other method of redirection is to absorb the energy from the puck by being soft when it hits. This will usually result in the puck dropping to the ice at your feet where you can cover it with the Glove. This is best used to slow down the game by having a face off.
The next post will be about how to properly position the Stick, so keep the previous point in mind.