Streeeetch!

Wondering what to work on over the course of the summer? An on-going goal throughout your career, along with being a simple process, should be to increase and maintain your flexibility and range of motion.

A goaltender that pays attention to their flexibility and is able to bend and distort their limbs in different directions will always have a distinct advantage over the goaltender that refuses to stretch.

Over this summer make the right choice and stretch... every day!

Take a look at a quick click of Antti Niemi as he is able to cut across the crease and shut down Vancouver on an in tight feed.

Streeeetch!

Sundays Coaches Corner: May 15

If you happened to be out and about Sunday night and missed Coaches Corner then you didn't see Don's rant on the importance of warming up your own teams goaltender.

Before puck drop for Game 1 of Vancouver vs San Jose, Luongo was hit in the head by teammate Raffie Torres. Whether or not, who knows if this may have had an affect on Luongo.

We have all seen it before where a goaltender is focused and relaxed and then takes a puck in the head and immediately their mood changes to a tight and tense state. For a goaltender that knows how to "Click the Switch" or "Change Channels" to a different frame of mind this then shouldn't be the case.

On the other hand, the whole concept of warming up your goaltender is to do just that - keep them warmed up. Every goaltender is different in their own. Some like to simulate game specifics in warm-up and put emphasize on every shot that they face in the net. Some prefer to allow the puck to just hit them. I would highly suggest that goaltenders treat their warm-up for what it is, a warm-up. For the one's that over energize their physical ability, and more importantly their mental thought process, they are usually draining their positive energy. This can easily be detrimental to a goaltender, and can cause a weak performance, even before the game begins.

Areas that goaltenders should be taking into importance when going through their 15 minutes on the ice in pre-game are:

• Position Specific Movements
• Understanding and developing a comfort for the ice surface and arena
• Movement coordination with ice landmarks
  
• Visually tracking the puck throughout the save process
• Developing a rhythm for responding to a players release
  
• Taking time to stretch and relax
• Monitoring and conserving their energy

The area of a goaltenders on-ice pre-game routine is rarely explored, by goaltenders and coaches. For coaches: Take some time during the season to understand your goaltenders and how they would like to go through warm-up, and take into consideration if there are any preferences that they have. For goaltenders: Again, treat your pre-game on ice for what it is - simply a warm-up. Don't overdue or over-think anything. Keeping a simple frame of mind heading into the game is at up-most importance. For players: Your goaltender simply wants to be relaxed in net, before and during the game. Help them do this, and keep pucks away from their head!

For more on the Coaches Corner episode from May 15 Click Here.

Sundays Coaches Corner: May 15

Pred's Rinne Has Some Fun in Elimination Games

VANCOUVER -- Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne has been around the organization long enough to know what is a signature moment in franchise history.

He knew going into Rogers Arena on Saturday that Game 5 against the Canucks was a big one because it was the first time in Predators' history that they were facing elimination in the second round. Following the 4-3 win, which was backed by his 31 saves and two goals apiece for Joel Ward and David Legwand, Rinne called it the biggest game in franchise history.

He also had several other things to say about the Predators staving off elimination and forcing Game 6 Monday in Nashville:

Q: What does this win say about your team's resiliency?

A: That's the way we are. We've done this during the regular season many times, but obviously this is the biggest game so far for us probably in the Preds' history. For the organization it's the biggest game ever, and we did a great job. We battled hard, came really strong in the third period, got two big goals from Joel Ward and at the end showed a lot of character, blocking shots, doing the little things, just playing for the team.

Q: How does it feel to know you're playing another game?

A: It's so much fun right now. These are the games you live for. You practice hard all year long and we still get to play -- it feels great. It's the best time of the year, for sure.

For the full interview by NHL.com Click Here.

Pred's Rinne Has Some Fun in Elimination Games

Stanley Cup Playoff Report: Unbeatable...Undeniable!

Game 2 of the Boston vs. Philidelpia series having the games announcers close to loosing their voice due to the array of breakaway stops and goal line pad saves. Playoff hockey is the time where goaltenders prove their wealth by making those "winning" stops, the ones that hold the momentum and life for their team.



Tuesday night features Dwayne Roloson looking to steal another game for the Lightning to take a 3 games to none series lead, along with Vezina nominees Luongo and Rinne dueling between the pipes to challenge each other for taking a lead in the series.

Quick Tip: Use each game! After being on the ice for a 1v1 session, review how your game compares to the goaltenders in the NHL. Critique a goaltenders game while watching. What do you love about their game. What would you fix? A high percentage of athletes are visual learners, along with being kinestheticly engaged, and are able to connect aspects that they have viewed and incorporate that into their learning.

Watch some of Pekka Rinne's amazing saves from this weekends past Predator's Game 2 overtime win over the Canucks.

Stanley Cup Playoff Report: Unbeatable...Undeniable!

GDI Tactical Review: Read and React

As the game has evolved into a more dramatic and fast paced tempo, goaltenders have elevated towards a strategic mentality of processing each in zone transition.

A goalies ability to read and react to each play is a unique essence of being aware constantly. Off the rush, a quick pass happens within a split second, along with the opportunity of an open player to fire the puck on net. The acquisition of a goaltender reading the approach of a zone entry and reading the in zone threats as they approach is one key to providing a team with consistent and reliable goaltending.

Take note:

A) Early Ice Awareness. As the rush hits the opposing teams blue line the goaltender should be beginning to establish their depth along with their up ice awareness as the rush transitions through the neutral zone into an in zone attack. This maturity leads to depth management that positively impacts a goaltenders performance on the games flow, attack awareness, and puckhandling.

B) Positional Speed. Constant repetition over numerous movements patterns and practice tactical approaches helps lead to proper speed upon pass options. Due to being aware early, positional body adjustments can be made to enhance speed and movement as a mode of transportation to a new position.

C) Zone awareness. Specific areas of the ice allow a goaltender to respond with more time. On the other hand, there are certain areas that limit a goaltenders response time and force a pressured instinctive approach. Early eyes helps a goaltender develop technical adjustments towards how they will respond to each situation. For example, this may depend on what handedness and angle of approach the shooter has on net.

With the Detroit and Nashville game providing a close Western league battle with Detroit coming out on top 4 - 3 in OT, goaltender Jimmy Howard kept the game dead locked at three with a great athletic - read and react sequence that held Detroit in the last 10 minutes of the game.

GDI Tactical Review: Read and React

NHL Saves of the Week

Take a look at the NHL Saves of the Week for your fare share of breakaways, cross-crease extensions, cut-lows, and desperation dives. Clips 1 and 3 have Corey Crawford and Dwayne Roloson in mid-flight through the air!

This is what it takes to help your team win each and every night!

NHL Saves of the Week