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I am powering down for the day so here is the best I've got.
Advantages of the Stick with Angle Approach
1. There is strong stick presence on any shots along the ice. One of the things that gets lost in the debate is that this approach and the one others support is that both sides adress the use of the stick for rebound control and its importance. We have a lot of common ground.
2. There is a greater chance of controlling rebounds in the top two rebound priorities; at the body or out of the play. The control at the body is an excellent way to control rebounds for a quick whistle if there are open players in front or right beside the goalie. Also, I strongly believe that an elevated rebound is far less dangerous than the low rebound.
3. Balance is improved with the stick and hands forward especially if a goalie has a wide butterfly. When the hands stay in front and do not pull back there is less likelihood of falling on ones butt in the butterfly.
4. Compactness is improved. By bringing the stick and hands forward there are very minimal holes through the body. If one takes a look at the goalie from the puck's perspective, which is the only perspective that matters, there are minimal holes through the body forcing the shooter to shoot around the body. This is the true definiton of playing big: being in proper position and offering minimal holes through the body. You may look bigger to the shooter but their perspective is much different than the puck's. If you are letting shots through the body you have effectively made yourself very small. If the body is one big unit that is playing big!
5. Closing holes is easier by bringing the hands and stick forward. The arms automatically close the 6 and 7 holes comfortably. The arms do not need to be in a locked position like a celtic dancer.
6. You only have one direction to move. Remember the Roberto Luongo After Hours mini-clinic? Even Luongo talked about knowing the glove needs to only move one direction when it is forward and compact. I think a lot of goalies (possibly the majority) find it easier to move the glove up rather than down.
7. On plays in close there are no holes through the body if executed properly. When we do our camps and are working on lateral/staggered feeds in tight I can usually snipe on a goaltender who has a hole under the blocker or through the body if the stick is pulled back. If I show that opening to our high level shooters they can exploit it without problems. If I can exploit it, the pro guys can really victimize a goalie. Most goals scored in close still go through the goalie's body unit.
8. The stick with angle enables active stick pull backs for rebound control at the body. If the puck is shot above the stick and hits the pads or knee blocks we have seen countless times that the puck will seemingly end up behind the stick for an easy pull back and cover. Rather than reaching over the puck and making an extra movement half of the work is done.
9. Arcing the stick to one side or another requires less movement than a stick flip or a pulled in approach. Due to proximity to the puck and the length of the paddle the stick may only need to move a couple of inches in either direction to get elevation over the glass or high into the corner. This simple arc is smooth and commands a stronger stick presence on the ice. There is less likelihood of improper timing.
10. The stick forward coupled with body activation(or moving the entire puck into the trajectory of a shot) on deflection situations or screen shots reduces the risk of a deflection through the body. If the stick stays in front and the goaltender slides onto the new angle of the deflection there is less chance of the puck being deflected to a position the stick has vacated or an open hole under the trapper or through the blocker arm due to unnecessary stick movement. On tip-ins on shots off the ice the puck is usually deflected down which is a problem if a hole is open through the body. **Remember, the point of the deflection constitutes a new shot which requires the goaltender to move the body into position thus body activation is a very strong tool that will not open holes as opposed to making an extended limb save.**
11. The stick with angle allows the goaltender to more easily move the blocker down into the tough to reach spot just above the blocker side pad or just off the hip. With the stick forward there is less interference with downward movement of the blocker because the stick blade just continues to slide forward. Ian Clarke describes the issues for blocker usage is the extra weight of the stick and the fact that a stick can impede downward movement of the blocker. A stick with angle allows the hand to move down with greater ease thus eliminating the 1 foot high shot just above the pad as a weak spot.
Words of caution...puck tracking and reading the release of the shot dictates proper butterfly use. The hands should be able to react to the puck when the puck is in an area that the goalie can react. Do not just blindly block unless the puck is in tight or there is a chance of deflection. This approach does work well in an automatic block situation. Other than that make sure proper save selections/tactics are used.
I think these pros are very strong reasons as to why MTN teaches this approach. The basic fact is both sides of the argument are providing a tool that gets the stick more involved in save selection which we can all agree is a dying art.
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