Old Dogs: Session #11 Recap - Tips and Deflections
I apologize for the delay and brevity for this write-up. While it is not an overly complex topic, the skills required for handling tips and deflections are very important to the modern game. The technical demands of the skills mesh very well with the themes that we tried to cover in the earlier sessions. Crucially, the use of the butterfly, butterfly slide and backside edge push/recovery all come into play in the tips/deflection scenarios.
Before I get into the technical, I should address the tactical a bit. The tactical side is basically unchanged over the years in the objectives the goalies have. Essentially, goalies need to read a tip or deflection threat and add the possibility that any shot could have its direction changed quickly and near the goalie. Goalies with this "situational awareness" can now make a decision upon the release of the shot. When the initial shot-line is determined, the goalie can shift in the direction of the shot-line (but not necessarily all the way to it). The goalie's desire is to get as much body as close to the potential tip or deflection point as possible in terms of ASD (angle, squareness, and depth). In a way, the tip or deflection point sets up a new shot-line for the goalie to handle. The challenge, of course, is that this shotline is not immediately determinable and the puck may not only change left/right direction, but also up/down trajectory as well. Reaction time is drastically limited and even goalies of yore understood this. For them and for the modern goalie, the initial emphasis was on blocking.
Prior to the heavy use of the butterfly for tips or deflections, the typical play for the goalie in those yesteryears was to stack the pads or jam the deflection point with as much body as possible. The pad-stack perform well in the way that it allowed the goalie to cover everything down low quickly. This emphasis on covering/sealing up the bottom part of the net is still very valid. It was also quite easy to throw the pads at the deflection point as the stack usually involved a long hard slide to the new potential shot-line. The disadvantages, of course, were the limits on covering the aerial angle and post-save recovery. If the pad stack was not sufficiently close enough to the deflection point, a tip that had gained altitude could quite easily find itself in the back of the net. The goalie, for the most part, could only address this by committing further and harder to the deflection point. This "over"-commitment and prone positioning caused the second major issue with this technique and that is post-save recovery, response and positioning.
The butterfly and the butterfly-slide has address these shortcomings fairly well. Firstly, a butterfly slide, executed with enough drive and push, can bring the goalie very close (in terms of ASD) to the new deflection point with all the bottom part of the ice covered. In addition, the goalie will have additional upper body coverage of the net not afforded to the pad-stacking goalie. The goalie's gloves and stick too can be added to help make a save or even control/prevent rebounds. These are all elements that are very limited to what a goalie can do with the stack.
One of the reasons tips and deflections are such dangerous scoring opportunities don't always come directly from the tip, but come from the difficult to control rebounds that result. The goalie that is well trained with butterfly recovery and backside-edge push can handle a rebound off a tip or deflection. Modern goalies can regain their feet/edges or even move on laterally on their knees to adjust to any rebounds that come off a tip or deflection. The post-save response for a goalie prone on the ice from stacking the pads is very limited. Many of the drills that we worked on in the mid-way of the session series were focused on these post-save responses and getting very good at them (work in progress...).
Now, I'm not saying to everyone here that have used the stack or still like to use the stack in these situations that you must totally abandon it. I still use the stack (with relish) and I think there is a time and place for it. I particularly like that it can add a surprise element to one's game. It can be very effective if the goalie can get very close to the deflection point. However, it should be a less than well-used tool in our bag of tricks, in particular when you are trying to play the game with more control and readiness.
Technically, once we have read that the shot is moving into a tip threat area, we will start to initiate a lateral shift. Now it is important that this lateral shift not go as far as the old shot line or as I said in practice, "you can't chase the old shot line" because it will take you too long to get on angle to the potential deflection point. Essentially, you are trying to read/predict the new shot-line that will result from the tip and then get your ASD on it. The lateral shift to the potential shot-line will involve our butterfly slide. We need to have a good lead leg drive down to the ice and follow that lead leg drive with a push leg that recovers back under the core (don't leave it stretched out) and disciplined stick and gloves. Remember the priority even with tips and deflections is always low. We must have that low part covered or blocked out. If we need to handle a tip that goes high(er), we have to rely on our body positioning first and glove reactions second. Also note, while I do say that we are making a lateral shift, in many instances, the goalie will be losing a little bit of depth on deflections, as the goalie has to get square to the new shot-line resulting from the deflection. A lateral shift while squaring to the new shot line will cause the goalie to lose a little depth initially.
Here a few videos that I have in my Youtube folder. Please have a look.
All the best in goaltending,