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High School or AAA/Travel !?!
By Todd Lightfoot, BTP Goalie Coach - COPYRIGHT © 2007 All Rights Reserved
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This month I will… without regard to political correctness, address a question that I hear at least 50 times a year and read about probably as many times during the course of a year. What’s better…Travel/AAA or High School!? However… before I get into the mashing teeth that grind this issue to death… I have some questions!
First of all, why is it that when I hear or read this question, it comes from the mouth or pen of a parent and not the player!?
Why is it that when I hear various answers to this question, they come from usually disgruntled parents justifying their child’s level of play!?
Why is this… such an issue for parents and not for players!?
WARNING: Remember, without political correctness, so if you’re sensitive this is your warning that reading beyond this point may cause discomfort!
Parents, get your ego in check! Your question needs to be formulated around your child’s enjoyment of the game and his or her skill development… NOT WHAT SOUNDS BETTER IN YOUR CONVERSATIONS WITHIN YOUR SOCIAL CIRCLES!
Fact: If your player has the natural athletic abilities, coupled with a true passion for the game, and a self starting, self motivated work ethic that makes you as the parent wonder where it came from… If your player is a normal center of conversation with the parents of the visiting team in the lobby, (not initiated by you) If you are being approached by coaches from outside your association wanting your player to consider playing for them, (not you calling them seeing if your player can get a tryout) THIS QUESTION WILL BE MUTE, a non-issue, chances are that your player, if he or she chooses, will skip over the midget AAA/ high school level and be playing juniors somewhere!
For the rest of the hockey world, (parents) where the player abilities and skill sets are coupled with a sound work ethic and nurtured passion for the game, why don’t you ask your player where he or she wants to play!? The chances are that if you’re worried about which is better, your child has already been playing at a higher than house level hockey, so you’re aware of the expense associated with the game so the real heart of the issue is what!? Are we taking about what is best for your child/player or what is best for your ego!?
Hockey players who have the requisite skill sets, passion for the game, and the desire to play at higher levels of play… will advance regardless of whether they’re playing AAA or High School!
Both of these programs have wonderful points, and the downsides are only in the eyes of the opponents of the program. Playing for your school used to be an honor, earning your letter, representing your school and your community, and being part of something larger and in some cases rich in tradition is not a bad thing! Choosing to stay with the advanced level of play offered in the travel/AAA programs also is positive… the biggest difference however, will be the number of games played during the season. Most state high school athletic associations limit the number of games a high school team can play to around 24 before playoffs. Strong AAA programs are looking at 65 plus games. Unless you live in an area that is saturated with AAA teams, there is a good chance that your child will have to leave home and change school systems, live with a host family and deal with being away from not only home and family, but from school friends. While this is good for some young adults, it can be difficult for others, and create the proverbial roadblock to success.
So in closing, I offer my answer. Regardless of the program, if the choice has been made by the player with guidance, not pressure, from the parents, the choice will be the right one.
Happy Holidays!
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Determining a Goaltenders Style
(The matrix of goaltending)
By Jeremy Kaleniecki, BTP Director, On Ice Operations & Goalie Coach - COPYRIGHT © 2007 All Rights Reserved.
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Over the past few weeks many people have asked me to do an official evaluation of their goaltenders. After the evaluation is complete, the parents or coaches always ask me the same thing, “how did you come up with those results?” Before I can actually evaluate a goaltender I must first identify the type of goaltender I’m working with. This could be a tryout evaluation or a check/ follow up evaluation, regardless, I always approach it the same way. I use my matrix system.
The matrix system is what I have implemented over the most recent year for the most efficient, fast, and intuitive way of identifying the types of goaltenders. With this matrix, a team coach can identify opposing goaltenders weaknesses, their own goaltenders weaknesses, and possibly give them some insight to what we will do with the goaltender in a systematic format. Whenever I do training, whether it is a private lesson or at a clinic, I first identify what type of goaltender I’m dealing with so I can adapt my training to their needs.
The matrix uses three primary types of skating that a goaltender will utilize, three styles of save selection, and finally the type of overall style that the goaltender will actually play in a game. For the purpose of this article I will only give a brief over view of each item. In months to come I will elaborate on each of the three main headings so you, the coach, can give an estimate of the type of goaltenders you have on you team.
The first area addressed is identifying the goaltenders skating skills. I have narrowed the field here down to 3 main styles: C-cuts, Straight Line movement, and Hybrid. C-cuts simply mean a goaltender moves laterally and vertically in a c-cut only. The Straight Line movement is exactly that. T-pushes and Shuffles are used for lateral and vertical movement. Finally, the Hybrid Style is a combination of the above two.
Once I have established their skating style, I move on to assess their save selection style. Again, there are three main types: Butterfly, Hybrid, and Stand Up. The Butterfly style by far is the most popular in this category, followed by Hybrid, and almost no one plays a stand up in today’s game. Rarely are there goaltenders classified as only butterfly or only hybrid. Most of the time, you will find a combination of some form of different styles. This is normal, however, let me add a a word of caution here. If you aren’t sure about which style your goalie plays, ASK!!!!! It is vital that you get the matrix correct in order to train a goaltender. In training… if you train a c-cut goaltender the way you would train a straight-line goaltender… the end result will be detrimental.
Finally, the last thing I decide is how does the goalie play in the crease or a game situation. In this section I again have 3 types of styles that I have come up with from my research: Playing within the Posts, Maximum angle, and again Hybrid. Playing with in the posts has more recently come on the scene with the increase in size of the goaltender and the increase in speed of the game. In the simplified version of this style the goaltender plays a box from the post out to the crease, then back to the post. Every move they make is with in that box. They also will find themselves holding the post-position must longer than other types of goaltenders. Maximum angle is by far my favorite style. At all times the goaltender must be at maximum depth from the crease as well as maximum position on the puck. It is the most aggressive but also the most tried and true style of goaltending. The last style is again a combination of the two.
Here is a simplified diagram of my evaluation technique
Once the matrix is complete then it is time to move on to actually coaching the goaltender. I again caution you to realize that even though most goaltenders have a combination of styles, do not automatically assume they are hybrid. This is only a simplified version of how I evaluate goaltenders. We are in business to do this for you and most importantly to do it properly.
Once completed, this matrix provides me with a direction to go with the goaltender. I can now cater drills specific to their needs.
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Past Articles
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September/ October Articles
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