The Keeper

This is the most mentally challenging position to play because when the goal makes a mistake there is no back up. When forwards make a mistake, the defense is there to right the ship. When the defense makes a mistake, the goalie is there to clean up the mess. Unfortunately there’s no one there for the goalie.

5 players on the ice can make a mistake and nothing more than a scoring chance may be generated, most likely most of the audience would even notice, but when the goalie makes a mistake it’s up on the score board for all to see.

When should you come out to cut down an angle and how far

When coming out to cut down the angle or challenge the shooter, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. The sharper the angle, the less a goalie has to come out. If a shooter is wide or at a sharp angle, the less he has to shoot at. This means you don't have to come out as far to be effective. If you over-challenge in these situations, you increase the chance of being back-doored or being late in getting across in time for a lateral pass. If a shooter is in the middle -- or slot area -- it is ideal for a goalie to be at the top of his crease. If his heels are outside the crease, he decreases the shooting area in the net. Hockey is an unpredictable and fast game with screens, deflections, and broken plays. There are sometimes few ideal situations for the goalie to get set. That being said, skating well and learning to read the play to get set and cut down the angle is vital for goalies.

On odd-man rushes, should I focus on the puck-carrier or cheat for the pass?

As a goalie, your job is to focus on the puck and the man with it. On odd-man rushes, a goalie is more concerned with the puck carrier, but he must also know the situation -- 2-on-1, 3-on-2, etc. The difference here is that a goalie can't get caught over-challenging the man with the puck. Come out to cut down the angle, but not so far that if a pass is made, you can't recover and get across. Goaltenders and defensemen should work on this in practice. This is a situation where defensemen learn to force the puck carrier wide for the goalie to play him. Defensemen then try to cut off any passes and let the goalie handle a shot from a wide angle. Communication between the goalie and defensemen is important, and this is also learned in practice. In practice, a goalie has to experiment with how far to come out and be effective, yet be able to get across if a pass is made. Again, the better a goalie's skating ability, the more he can challenge and still recover if a pass is made.

If you can't fire out from the goal crease to get to hard-arounds. How can you get to the boards in time to stop the puck?

In answers 2 and 3 above, I've already stressed how important skating ability is to a goalie. Movement in the net with speed and balance is all related to a goalie's skating ability. Doing cross-overs in practice will help develop balance and agility. It is a strenuous and tiring exercise with goal pads, but it will help all aspects of your game. Anticipation is a key to getting out to stop pucks behind the net as well. Take the shortest route to the back of the net. You know the puck will follow the boards, so get from point A to point B as fast as you can. Young goalies tend to hesitate, not sure that the puck is going to follow the boards. In most arenas are almost perfect, and bad bounces seldom happen, so get there. If the puck is going around on the glass, let it go. This is when you get bad bounces, and the puck bounces into an empty net. The glass has seams that are not as smooth as the boards.