Fullright's 2017-2018

[Imperative]

I don’t understand a lot of the fundamental changes in goaltending. I follow a lot of goalie coaches on social media and some of the things they talk about I don’t totally understand. One example is how they teach goalies to play odd man rushes. It used to be that your d man forces the puck carrier to the worst possible shooting angle, while taking away a cross ice pass. While the Goalie comes out and cuts down the angle.  NOw they teach the Goalie to stay deep giving the puck carrier a good chance to snipe you short side, because staying deep it gives the goalie a better chance at a cross ice pass. 

[WillyGrips13]

Well consider that top level goalies are so big in today’s game. They take up so much room that playing aggressively doesn’t suit their all around game. Granted they still need to be at the top of the blue paint on an odd man rush, but they don’t need to be further than that. 

Also modern defenseman are not good enough consistently at breaking up the pass. They may be better skaters than their predecessors and more offensive, but I find their understanding of positioning defensively leaves a lot to be desired. Many stay in shooting lanes in an attempt to block the shot even in an odd man attack, which just boggles my mind. 

[Fullright]

Hope you all had a good holiday season and best for the New Year.

Two goalies in the one below. We had three show up for the skate. The third didnt seem interested in any camera time whereas Anthony, the fella I mentioned a few posts ago, is always trying to learn. So here there's about 2 and half minutes of my play and the rest is his. Personally, I thought I did better than the week before and my hamstring seems to be getting better. I still havent had to stretch all the way out so I am not sure how it will handle that. Obviously, a big difference stretching at home in a pair of shorts instead of gear while trying to stop a shot. I have a suspicion it might be a nag the rest of the year. Anyway, Anthony is the starter ahead of myself on one of the teams on which I am rostered. Pretty obvious why. He's really good even though he hasnt been playing organized very long.

Comments welcome. Thanks for checking it out. Sorry about the camera angle...I put the camera a little too high on the glass.

[WillyGrips13]

Wow, looked like the perfect advertisement for Jim Park’s “The Puck Stops Here” 1 & 2. Was like watching the combination of Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford, Andy Moog, Martin Brodeur etc. As usual the glove was on fire. The low ice coverage was wall-like, too, which of course can be harder for a goalie who stays upright longer. It was very hard to score on you in this session. The goals against were well taken by the attackers and you were not beaten easily.

Although you sing his praises, your partner in goal has a very raw game. He has many of the modern techniques, however they aren’t yet refined. Like many young goalies who learn modern techniques, there is an overuse of sliding around the goalmouth area. Often times leading to taking himself out of the play. More than a few times he wasn’t centered in the net. Sometimes his size and wide butterfly saved him, but other times it was exposed and led to a goal. His stance is so low that high level shooters will eat him up top shelf. His stance is more appropriate for in tight situations including when a breakaway attacker reaches him at the moment when the decision to shoot or deke occurs. If he works on refining his game he can be a solid goalie. 

[Fullright]

Yep. The talent is there; he just needs time in net. He's only been playing organized for about 2 years. He skates well and wants to get better. He will.

[Ghostender]

Your game looked great - if there is any residual issues for the hamstring injury, it doesn't show. From the reactions I think the shot went in at 2:14? Great reflex and you deserved the save, but I guess if you don't give them something, they go off an pout eh?

Your glove saves are like a magic trick - now you see it, now you don't.

I see you took one off the face - I've got you beat: I took three* on Wednesday night including one (last one) that went in off my chin - some guys have no class.

*First two were intentional on my part - too old and slow to get my glove up

[DALV1]

This is great stuff, my first “real” season was also 1971-72. I played the same way because that was how the position was played. I eventually decided to try playing like the kids and get modern equipment. Although,I don’t really believe at the beer league/pickup level that the save percentages are that different between the stand up and butterfly,I know many feel different, but watch Fullright and clearly he makes ALOT of saves. The biggest advantage for me has been virtually eliminating groin and hamstring injuries. Just cannot throw those legs out anymore. I do on occasion pull out an old school skate save,new skates aren’t good for this, and that usually gets a good response as most guys don’t see that often. Stick with what works! But if you want stop pulling things and lighten up your gear it may be time to try it. And I can close the five hole,took awhile to get there but I’m still trying to learn and improve even at this point.

Awesome videos

[Fullright]

Thanks for the encouragement fellas. It means a lot. Never quite sure how things look, and sometimes it creeps in that maybe I should stop while I am competent insofar as not getting blown out or being a danger to myself. But I really am enjoying hockey and its keeping me young in some respects.

@ Willy, I am trying to add more down game in down low plays off the posts and below the rings. So much more effective than staying up and hugging the post. However, I've been trying to do that for the past four years or so with little success, lol.

@ Ghost: just on one of those runs right now. Two more to the melon even though one was really nothing more than a flip shot. Thanks for the kind words but the ham is just being stubborn. I am trying hard to get it resolved but it just decides to remind me of its presence from time to time. I was very busy below and it decided to say hello.

@ DALV1, happy you like the film. Happier still that another dinosaur is still having at it. Last season I tried a modern pad, a CCM whatever. I probably put them on wrong but I felt bow legged. Plus, my hips were really sore for about 3 or 4 days after the skate. That was enough for me. My hips dont need problems; like just about everyone else, I've enough with shoulders and knees. At least my gloves are Passau and my pants are modern. You're totally right about still trying to learn. Makes it fun.

Good skate below. I thought I did a little better than average but some got through me or between an arm and hip. Both teams had good players and dark D-ed up...at least as much as skaters D up in a skate. Look forward to the next one. Thanks for taking a look.

[Ghostender]

More great saves in the Jan. 5 video than sugar in a bowl of Cap’n Crunch! You have both ends of the scale going with saves due to great reflex and great positioning.

1:33: Love the save sequence

4:03: Sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard you try (or how intensely the D watches)

3:55: That guy has no pride

4:26: Apparently the guy who has no pride brought his brother out as well

4:47: How does a guy get that close and decide the best shot is pretty well straight up (into your mask)???

[DALV1]

So good!!!  I’m working on what I call my “Tuukka” slide and I should just go back to keeping my stick on the ice. 

This is better than TV. 

[Fullright]

Thanks fellas. Much appreciated.

I didnt do so well here. Near the end pucks started getting under me and I lost my net some. The skate was down some better players and down another goalie. I switched nets every half hour or so. In general, the skate was just kind of a mid season "let's get it over with" type of session. Hamstring felt pretty good with no issues but I didnt do a whole lot either. Try and do better next Friday. 

Thanks for looking.

[Chenner29]

On 12/26/2017 at 10:31 AM, Imperative said:

I don’t understand a lot of the fundamental changes in goaltending. I follow a lot of goalie coaches on social media and some of the things they talk about I don’t totally understand. One example is how they teach goalies to play odd man rushes. It used to be that your d man forces the puck carrier to the worst possible shooting angle, while taking away a cross ice pass. While the Goalie comes out and cuts down the angle.  NOw they teach the Goalie to stay deep giving the puck carrier a good chance to snipe you short side, because staying deep it gives the goalie a better chance at a cross ice pass. 

I was taught growing up to be aggressive and let the D take away the pass.

These days, there is a lot of emphasis on "box control" which is essentially what the puck sees.  This is an expansion on the old "ropes to the post" drill to check if a goalie was on angle.  Where the rope drill focused on being centered, the new theory takes into account the vertical angle as well, with depth being a mitigating factor.  The key part of the theory is that because the puck generally leaves the stick from ice level, a shooter never truly is able to shoot on a 4x6' net if the goalie is on angle, off the goal line.
By angling the upper body slightly forward with gloves out front to control the path of the puck, the goalie is responsible for working a smaller window in front of him.  Depending on depth, it could be a 3x5, 2x4, 1x3 etc. 

Goalie size these days is a huge factor as well.  I watched the '01 finals last week with Brodeur and Roy.  Roy was listed at 6', Brodeur at 6'2.  Both of these guys look tiny compared to the goalies now, even with the new gear restrictions.

This was the "ideal" stance when I was taught to play.  Gloves slightly forward, glove to the side, straight upper body to take away the upper net.  No double coverage in any spot

This is probably closer to what is taught now.  Gloves aggressively in front, slight forward lean, deeper knee flex.

[BadAngle41]

2 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

I was taught growing up to be aggressive and let the D take away the pass.

These days, there is a lot of emphasis on "box control" which is essentially what the puck sees.  This is an expansion on the old "ropes to the post" drill to check if a goalie was on angle.  Where the rope drill focused on being centered, the new theory takes into account the vertical angle as well, with depth being a mitigating factor.  The key part of the theory is that because the puck generally leaves the stick from ice level, a shooter never truly is able to shoot on a 4x6' net if the goalie is on angle, off the goal line.
By angling the upper body slightly forward with gloves out front to control the path of the puck, the goalie is responsible for working a smaller window in front of him.  Depending on depth, it could be a 3x5, 2x4, 1x3 etc. 

Goalie size these days is a huge factor as well.  I watched the '01 finals last week with Brodeur and Roy.  Roy was listed at 6', Brodeur at 6'2.  Both of these guys look tiny compared to the goalies now, even with the new gear restrictions.

This was the "ideal" stance when I was taught to play.  Gloves slightly forward, glove to the side, straight upper body to take away the upper net.  No double coverage in any spot

This is probably closer to what is taught now.  Gloves aggressively in front, slight forward lean, deeper knee flex.

Good summary @Chenner29. I'm in the same boat as you in terms of what was ideal when I was taught as well. Of course I've altered some aspects to suit beer league play... but there is nothing better than making a tough save look easy. Undervalued by beer leaguers as they prefer a diving/rolling scramble save... but I'll sit in my stall after the game thinking of the quiet ones while they all talk about something flashy.

[Ghostender]

On 1/16/2018 at 5:24 AM, BadAngle41 said:

Good summary @Chenner29. I'm in the same boat as you in terms of what was ideal when I was taught as well. Of course I've altered some aspects to suit beer league play... but there is nothing better than making a tough save look easy. Undervalued by beer leaguers as they prefer a diving/rolling scramble save... but I'll sit in my stall after the game thinking of the quiet ones while they all talk about something flashy.

Yeah, some of the most difficult saves I have had to make have gone by totally unnoticed.

I was watching some pickup a while ago before a game: the one goalie was not the strongest skater and was struggling with getting in position (at one point he had to dive to corral a slow icing shot*). Someone came in on a breakaway, got him off to his blocker side and fired it high glove. He literally dove to the glove side and somehow miraculously got it in his glove. Just as I was thinking, “if he had better positioning he would've barely had to move to snag it” the Zamboni guy comes by, looks at me and says “wow- great save eh?” Geesh

I think the other thing that most forwards don't notice, because if done correctly nothing bad comes from it, is good rebound control. A puck redirected into the corner does not require you to make that sprawling rebound save that a poorly placed one usually does. 

Unfortunately good goaltending is boring goaltending

*Not being critical, we all have to start somewhere

[Ghostender]

Back to the video though:

Mother of crap – you stopped that at 1:42?

3:33- really liked the tracking and coverage on a difficult play

When they are scoring on stuff like a 3:1, I would openly question their dignity once back in the change room

[Fullright]

@ Ghosttender, I got it with my blocker but the shot fluttered and continued to do so off my blocker and my head to the shooter for an easy tap in. 

Since the 2 on 1 business came up originally in Imperative's thread - I like this stuff so please "high-jack" away - I've made a point of watching this play in an NHL or other high end game and the D still takes away the pass unless the "gap" is so tight he can close on the puck and the skater and get both if not the puck. So I am not sure where some of this business originates. Doesn't matter to me personally but my preference is to have the D close the passing lane and let me do my job with the shooter rather than have to get back across to the passee, re-set, and have to stop a "short" breakaway down the slot. Pretty simple so why over complicate an otherwise easy play? The goal mentioned above wasn't a full blown 2 on 1 from the blue in but the play was still the same. D didn't cut off the pass and the goalie failed to control the shot from the prime "kill zone". The same play also gets to the easy save issue. The skater (passer) is on his backhand and he has absolutely nothing to shoot at. If he shoots backhand, pretty easy save. In other words,  I just stand there and the shot hits me. 

Great conversation, fellas.

[Fullright]

Unlike last week, the skate this time was much more exciting with better pace but it was still down some players because of game conflicts. We also had a second goalie.  Anyway, I played ordinary. I didnt stink the joint out but I got beat too many times and really struggled with rebounds especially during the first 45 mins or so of the skate (2 hr skate). I think a big part of the rebound struggle was misapplying being down on plays and shots about 15' off the posts up to about the lower parts of the rings. Once I was down, the film shows I failed to maintain form in that I'd go from a butterfly to a paddle down posture. I think I settled in afterwards but still got beat too many times. On the plus side, I got a new practice goalie cut sweater for $13 and my leg worked without incident. One unusual thing was getting chirped a lot by a player whose skill level doesnt back the size of the checks his mouth writes. I gave no response - never found it helpful to chirp opposing players. Plus, getting physical with him when he was in front would have probably only led to him being a bitch whining to the building's management. My non hockey life is too busy to be involved in such matters....but there's always next week.

Advice welcome. Thanks.

[Imperative]

2 hour skate?!! That is insane, the ice would be garbage after 35 minutes, haha. I had the volume up but I couldn’t hear the guy talking smack, what was he saying? My Vikings teammates and me chirp each other quite a bit during shinny but all in good fun.

[bunnyman666]

I never talk back to the chirpers. They usually end up flying at some point of the shinny.

I always say “Oops! My bad!” 

[Fullright]

@ Imperative,  the building's Z driver does a nice job and it usually holds up pretty well. It goes to hell during the warmer months though. When it gets bad during those months, they'll resurface at the half way point.

@ bunnyman666, a good friend saw my note and wondered whether it was something new for me. It isn't. But I hadn't experienced it in some time since I stopped playing beer league. It was much worse in later stage youth and junior/college hockey. We've all experienced it but I was a little surprised to hear it. I try to play hard but I didn't run my mouth then and I don't run it now. For me, running my pie hole distracts from the job. What surprised me here is that the fella who did run his mouth doesn't know me and I guess he thought it would give him an edge or he's just one of those cats who needs to do it to get himself into it. I left his yapping out of the film because it didn't add anything and it didn't happen when the puck was on or near me. It usually happened several seconds before a shot or after a goal or a freeze. It was the typical commentary about my size, the age of my stuff and myself, and about how I am too small to play with men. Pretty funny actually but I admit that for a moment or two, my pores opened more than usual and I wanted to break his foot or knock his teeth out. He was one of the taller players in white with black gloves and no number. Of course, like all "tough" guys, he wears a full wire cage and like I suggested above, getting into an altercation these days with a snow flake seems to lead to inquiries, meetings, potential bans, and litigation. Besides, my Billy Smith days are over and during Hockey Life 1.0, I had only two fights in 23 years.

[coopaloop1234]

lol, who the fuck chirps in drop in?

I don't generally run my mouth either, but hey, it's drop in. I'd take every opportunity to tell the guy he's being a retard.

[IPv6Freely]

I'd kill for a resurface at the half way point of a 2 hour pickup. If nothing else so I get a couple minutes to rest. 

Even worse when the teams are short so they don't change up entire lines at a time which means no water breaks for me. I end up just grabbing my bottle and skating into the corner. They get mad at me but whatever. 

[IPv6Freely]

12 minutes ago, Fullright said:

I had only two fights in 23 years.

I've only ever been in one fight on the ice. Well, sort of. Not really. I mean, I was given a 5-minute fighting major. But if you call "getting tackled to the ice from behind, breaking your ankle going down, and then laying face down on the ice waiting for the guy to stop pummeling the back of your head with his fists because you're not able to get up" fighting, then sure I guess. 

[bunnyman666]

@Fullright I know what you’re saying, frankly. I have only been in one fight in the last five years on ice since I have returned to the ice and nearly got into another, but cooler heads prevailed. Both times were literally because of gooniness from people who think drop in is their ticket to the glory they never had, as well as them thinking I am an easy target due to my size. 

I try to avoid physicality in goal, but sometimes it is unavoidable, especially when a player on a break away is going full steam ahead with their head down. That is just dangerous and irresponsible. Sometimes the trip as a result of a poke check is unavoidable. 

I have a funny feeling chirpy boy will end up with his come uppance, as you’re most likely not his only target. Someone with a shorter fuse will lay into him and he will cry to management. I respect and admire that you let him go. Let someone else get the ban.

[IPv6Freely]

5 minutes ago, bunnyman666 said:

I try to avoid physicality in goal, but sometimes it is unavoidable, especially when a player on a break away is going full steam ahead with their head down. That is just dangerous and irresponsible. Sometimes the trip as a result of a poke check is unavoidable. 

Everything you just said is the exact polar opposite of what you usually say.. lol.