Playing for a below average team

[fiveholegoalie]

© Bandits Goalie School - 2008



Only one team can win the league championship in there respected leagues every year. At the beginning of the season, each player has the obvious goal of playing their best and winning a league championship at the end of the year. Unfortunately within the first ten games or so of the season a very large percentage of these players realize that a league championship is a real stretch with the team their on. This is a difficult reality to face for a lot of young hockey players particularly goalies. After playing those first ten games and being blown out of the building seven out of the ten games and losing the other three allowing six or seven goals, goaltenders can get very discouraged. Getting discouraged is very easy to do when the goaltender is getting shelled every time he plays in a game.

If you’re in the scenario above, there's a simple solution to the problem. The solution is as simple as looking at the situation a little differently. Instead of looking at the wins and loses or the goals against, look at your overall performance. As we have talked about in previous posts a goalie cannot put added “pressure” on oneself to go out and “win” every hockey game for their team. This, my goalie friends is impossible, unfortunately last time I check a goaltender cannot score goals while tending the four by six cage. A goalie needs to put things into perspective, as a goaltender, be thinking about your own personal performance each game. If you can look yourself in the mirror after a game and say that you gave your best effort and your team a chance to win then you did your job, no questions asked.

Remember this; if you get caught in the middle of a barn burner, don’t let anyone in the arena know that you’re discouraged. If a goal goes in, get yourself back up and forget about it. You can’t change the past so get yourself ready for the next shot and take each shot one at a time.

Keep your head up!

To learn more about Bandits Goalie School, go to: Bandits Goalie Camp - Learn to Rob the Shooters Blind!

[Cujo_64]

I agree with this one totally !!

Last season our son played for a squirt A team and his coach had told him it was up to him and the other goalie to win games, and if they lost he would publicly bash the goalie, either my son or the other in the locker room and to the coaches, informing the team how the goalies let them down.... we figured out real quick that wasnt right and we made sure he wasnt going to coach our son again, this blew his confidence and desire to play..... over this last summer he asked to play summer house league and found the fun in it and then asked to play again.... so we signed him up for a local travel B team

At the beginning no one on his team was a travel level player besides himself. We started the season off rough and the shots on goal were way up there 40-50 per game. He was down on himself at first still going thru withdrawels of last season and blaming himself for each loss... We had to talk to him several times about doing his part and not worrying about winning the game himself. At the mid season point we had started to gel and the shots went down as did the scores, we ended up losing games 1-0 or 2-1 vs 6-0 or 5-1 the pressure wasnt there for him to win the game for them and we told him to just go and do his best and good will come. He started having more fun out there and even in the loss he found positives and so did his team, they got better and He ended up with the only win the team had that season as well as the tie and then notched the 1 win we got in the playoffs.

Overall his gaa was a high 3.56 at the end of the season and his sv% was .896 which at the halfway mark of the season his gaa was 5.23 and sv% was .836 so there was definate improvement and he kept things consistant every game he played. he had a more controlled rebound game towards the end which helped him.

overall I know that when he gets older and the higher level teams he might play for, that the level of pressure is there for the goaltender to raise their level of play and make that extra save... I just didnt think that at the 8 and 10 year old level it was there.


Rob

[fiveholegoalie]

Originally Posted by Cujo_64

I agree with this one totally !!

Last season our son played for a squirt A team and his coach had told him it was up to him and the other goalie to win games, and if they lost he would publicly bash the goalie, either my son or the other in the locker room and to the coaches, informing the team how the goalies let them down.... we figured out real quick that wasnt right and we made sure he wasnt going to coach our son again, this blew his confidence and desire to play..... over this last summer he asked to play summer house league and found the fun in it and then asked to play again.... so we signed him up for a local travel B team

Rob

Rob:

I wonder where some of these hockey organizations find these unqualified coaches especially at the younger levels. I've heard some appalling stories from students and parents and seen things first hand that make me shake my head.

I'm glad your son found that spark playing hockey again. Hockey is a fun sport especially at a young age and NO one should take that away from anyone!