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The Stand-Up Myth
Perhaps one of the most
over-blown statements a goalie hears in his playing career is
STAND-UP. From Tyke to the N.H.L.,
a goalie will hear the phrase thousands of times. “You
didn’t Stand Up”, “ My boy plays a Stand Up Style
of goal”, “Stay on your feet and challenge the shooter”.
Since I started playing goal, these words have always bothered
me, but until recently, I never knew why. I never really understood
what ‘Stand Up’ meant. No coaches could give me an
adequate explanation, especially the ‘goalie coaches’.
Over time, I began to realize that what ‘Standing Up’
meant was as much a mystery to them as it was to me!
Now, as a full time instructor
of the position, I am in a constant battle with young goaltenders
who have been contaminated with poorly thought out systems and
‘copycat’ styles. Often, they have picked up the idea
that ‘Stand Up’ goal is what they must play in order
to progress out of minor hockey. Like kids do, they take their
instructions literally, “STAND UP, DON’T
GO DOWN” While I have no complaints with
coaches and parents taking time to develop a goaltender, I do
have a big problem with ‘goalie experts’, or well
meaning parents, repeating something they have heard and preaching
what that they themselves do not understand. This is especially
the case with something that can ruin a young goaltender’s
confidence like trying to stay on his feet for every shot. Learning
to stand up is just one of the maturing processes a young goalie
has to grow into.
As I mentioned, a big
obstacle in teaching/learning this type of system is that many
people in the hockey community (coaches, TV Experts, Goalie
Schools Instructors, Parents) push the ‘stay on your feet
system’ too early. What most people seem to forget is that
the goalies they hold up as good examples of the stand up style
(i.e. McLean, Vernon, Richter) are adults! Not only that, but
they are adults playing at the highest skill level on the planet.
I can guarantee that the style every “classic stand up”
goalie who is now playing Professional, College, or Junior,
in no way resembles how he played as a beginner, as a growing
14 year old, and as a maturing 17 year old. Trying
to instill a disciplined, “stand there and don’t fall
down” style on a energetic young teenager is like advancing
the kid from grade 9 math to University Calculus. It just won’t
work.
To let a goaltender grow
into the position, I think it’s important to encourage
the person use their natural abilities at the time. A beginner
should, first and foremost, have fun. Concentration on skating,
basic stances, and save execution should be the main focus.
12-15 year-olds should
be allowed to use the natural physical advantages that become
evident at that age; Hard Working, Scrambling, Kicking, Doing
Anything and Everything it takes to keep the puck out. It is
of utmost importance that a goalie this age develops strong
self-esteem and ego. Success at the position is the only thing
that will build these important personal attributes. I hate
watching a 13 or 14 year old goalie try to stand up and play
disciplined. It’s a complete contradiction to the time
of life they are in, and because most are not ready to play
that system, they will be less successful.
Once an individual has
finished growing physically, is used to his new size and strength,
and, most importantly, has been encouraged to concentrate on
what really is important (STOPPING THE PUCK, NOT HOW HE DOES
IT), he is ready to grow mentally as a goaltender, and prepare
for the corresponding challenges he will face at the next level.
I suggest that Standing
Up seems to be less effective that going down, or, in other
words, most goalies stop more pucks by going down than by standing
up. This seems to be proven by the continued success of butterfly
style goaltending in the NHL, which has been the prevailing
system used as long as I can remember. With the exception of
the goalies mentioned earlier, and, of course, Bernie Parent
and his student, Pelle Lindbergh, I am hard pressed to remember
many more goaltenders that have been able to single handedly
win games playing a disciplined, “stay on your feet”
style. In fact, if you watch McLean, Vernon, or Richter, they
do their fair share of falling down and scrambling! This leads
to the heart of the matter. What does Standing Up really mean?
Is it one of those things that makes sense in theory, but not
in practice? If standing up is the way to success, why have
almost all the great goalies in the last 40 years relied on
dropping down and using their limbs on most saves? Could it
be that the preaching of the stand up style we have been bombarded
with since the early 1980’s is a false doctrine?
Ultimately, confusion
lies with the perception that standing up is a black & white
issue. If you are a young person, and an adult is telling you
to stand up on most shots, you are left with the impression
that you must stay upright, on your feet, in order to play the
position properly. But a paradox exists in the goalie’s
head that
- it’s harder to reach shots
low to the corners on your feet
- if stopping the puck is the goalie’s
job, standing up seams like a harder and less effective method
of getting many shots.
Since 70% plus of shots a goalie faces
are low (on the ice to a foot 1/2 off the ice), a ‘stay
on your feet’ system of play is definitely less effective
than a ‘wider stance, cover low ice’ system. This
is especially the case in minor hockey, where there are so many
defensive breakdowns and uneven attacks it is impossible to
play like Kirk McLean.
Standing Up is a system
of play that is desirable at the highest level of hockey in
the world, played by older, experienced goalies, on teams that
keep high percentage scoring opportunities and uneven attacks
to an absolute minimum. Most interesting is that what the professionals
mean by standing up is not what we all think it means. Standing
Up in upper level hockey is a “code” word for another
thing all together.
One thing that cannot
be taught is experience. As a goalie we grow into the understanding
that Stand Up means Patience. The patience to wait until a shot
is on its way before we make the decision of what to do. The
understanding that falling down early gives shooters new options
that were not there a split second earlier. There are times
when a goalie stays on his feet to block shots,
- bad angles shots
- long shots that have no chance
of deflection
- waiting for a player to pass on
a 2 on 1, rather than getting anxious and falling down just
as he passes, etc...
But what is really meant
by standing up is staying on your feet at the right times and
not going down at the first sign of a shot, when you will have
plenty of time to react if you hold your ground a split second
longer. This is what the pros mean, and what the “code”
word is. For the most part, it is a learned process that one
goes through, not a teachable technique that can be mastered
like a skate save.
So where has this ‘standing
up’ is superior to going down theory come from? Why do
we all think a flopper/scrambler is less desirable than a disciplined,
‘on your feet’ goalie? Why does the myth continue
to be pushed and accepted when the evidence is overwhelmingly
in the “less desirable” style's favor? Because the
people perpetuating the 'Stand Up' style myth are professional
goalies, ex-professional goalies, media commentators repeating
what the pros are saying, and minor hockey parents, coaches,
and goalie school instructors repeating what they heard or read
in the media. Because the Professional player is so revered,
automatic acceptance is given to what they say, even when we
can see with our own two eyes, and feel in our gut, that something
does not quite make sense.
Allow goaltenders to get
the most out of their physical and mental attributes, don’t
enforce a system that they can’t understand and will ultimately
lessen their success.
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