2008 Stanley Cup Champions – Chris Osgood

[fiveholegoalie]

Bandits Goalie School would like to congratulate long time Bandits student Chris Osgood of the Detroit Red Wings for winning the 2008 Stanley Cup. Congratulations Chris, all your hard work finally paid off!



Below are pictures from the Wings cup celebration:








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

[Spidey]

WAY TO GO OZZIE!!

Now if I could just score some more of his return sticks LOL

[jacksonh]

Nice. I remember reading that Ozzie spent a lot of time modernizing his game after the lockout. Was it you guys he's been working with? His technique looks so much better the last few seasons. Uses his size really well now.

I imagine he worked with you guys during the summer? Do you mind kinda outlining what you did with him? Would be awesome to get an idea of what an NHLer does during the summer.

[fiveholegoalie]

Originally Posted by jacksonh

Nice. I remember reading that Ozzie spent a lot of time modernizing his game after the lockout. Was it you guys he's been working with? His technique looks so much better the last few seasons. Uses his size really well now.

I imagine he worked with you guys during the summer? Do you mind kinda outlining what you did with him? Would be awesome to get an idea of what an NHLer does during the summer.

Yes, Ozzy comes to Bandits and works a great deal with my business partner who's also the owner of Bandits, Stan Matwijiw.

Chris came to us in the fall of 2005 during the lockout when he was still with St. Louis and has been with us ever since.

Honestly, he reinvented his game from top to bottom. He wanted to start from scratch. He was a goalie that always played deep in his crease, used the butterfly very seldomly and now he's a more modern hybrid goaltender that challenges in his white ice and has increased his ice awareness.

To see what a typical workout might look like, some pictures can be viewed here at these links below:

1. 9/7/2007 - Chris Osgood and Brandon Kaleniecki | Photos | Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League

2. 09/06/2007 - Chris Osgood Trains at Orchard Lake St. Mary's | Photos | Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League

Hope this information helps.

Thanks for checking out our forum!

[Twiv01]

Originally Posted by jacksonh

Nice. I remember reading that Ozzie spent a lot of time modernizing his game after the lockout. Was it you guys he's been working with? His technique looks so much better the last few seasons. Uses his size really well now.

I imagine he worked with you guys during the summer? Do you mind kinda outlining what you did with him? Would be awesome to get an idea of what an NHLer does during the summer.

Thank you for your kind comments and yes I am the one that has worked with Chris since the lock out four years ago.

He has come a long way in that time and has work very hard in changing his game. When he first called me, I asked him what he was looking for exactly. In his exact words he said "I want you to rip my game apart and rebuild it from the ground up" so that's what we did!

Believe it or not the first time I work with him we were on the ice for an hour and twenty minutes and I never shot a puck at him!! Everything was movement, not only showing him the correct way to move but also explaining to him the reasons why (which is so important).

It has been a long process and has taken him sometime to get to were he is now and still he is far from perfect but Chris is a very dedicated student of the game now and he and I will continue to work on the flaws in his game.

I will say this about him (which I believe is the biggest compliment you can pay to this caliber goaltender) Chris NEVER questioned anything I suggested to him. He always tried it and something’s worked while others didn't. When something didn't work for him we kept working until we found something that did.

There is not two goalies on the face of the earth that are exactly the same, what works for one doesn't always work and another so as a coach you have to work with the players strengths and make their game as complete as possible.

If you ever have any questions/comments please feel free to PM me and I'll do my very best to help you out.

[sloth2946]

The differences in Osgood's game over the last few years is actually quite simple.

I noticed with the Islanders that he was deep in the crease and reaching for shots, as opposed to challenging and making guys beat him.

Through the entire playoffs this year it was obvious that someone, my guess is you guys, finally got him to realize that he was too deep and needed to be out a top the crease more often and make shooters make shots to beat him.

The results speak for themselves.

PS: If you don't believe I knew it then, check out this post from 2002: Osgood on the thigh rise bandwagon

[CubanPuckstoppr]

Actually, I was quite impressed with the Osgood interview after the game. He stated he "really wanted this cup for Dallas Drake who defended him a number of time when he was getting run."

I convinced there are a lot of Ozzie haters out there who just don't get it.

[jacksonh]

Originally Posted by sloth2946

The differences in Osgood's game over the last few years is actually quite simple.

I noticed with the Islanders that he was deep in the crease and reaching for shots, as opposed to challenging and making guys beat him.

Through the entire playoffs this year it was obvious that someone, my guess is you guys, finally got him to realize that he was too deep and needed to be out a top the crease more often and make shooters make shots to beat him.

The results speak for themselves.

PS: If you don't believe I knew it then, check out this post from 2002: Osgood on the thigh rise bandwagon

I think the depth it partly a result of his improved movement. He definitely gets around faster than he used to and doesn't shuffle everywhere.

He also added down mobility using the occasional backside push. However, I think this is still his biggest weakness though, seems like when he goes down he still gets stuck and extends by kicking out a leg or diving instead of re centering his body.

[fiveholegoalie]

Interesting Ozzy facts below:

- Currently ranks 15th in career wins with a record of 363-195-76 in the regular season.

- Has 279 wins as a Red Wing which is second behind Terry Sawchuk's franchise record of 352.

- He also has 3 more years left on his contract that will certainly put him over the 400 career victory mark which will in turn move him into the top 10 in all time wins.

- Has won more playoff games than any other Red Wing goalie - 52 wins, breaking Sawchuk's record.

- Past Sawchuk to become the team leader in post season shutouts - 12 shutouts.

- Has won 3 Stanley Cup, 2 as a starter and 1 as a back up.

The debate now comes after he retires, will he be considered a Hall of Fame goalie? I know it's been discussed on here but also in pretty much every news outlet across North America over the last few months as well.

What do you guys think???

[CubanPuckstoppr]

Originally Posted by fiveholegoalie

Interesting Ozzy facts below:

- Currently ranks 15th in career wins with a record of 363-195-76 in the regular season.

-What do you guys think???

I hear the arguement that it is the Detroit defense in front of him that makes him the goalie that he is. From the image above the 2001-02 season with NYI and the 2003-04 season with St. Louis with .910 save percentage should refute that argument, I do not recall either of those teams being anywhere as strong as Detroit is defensively in those years.