Nov 6, 2014
Post 2 Post: Various styles lead to success among NHL goaltenders
It seems in today's world of goaltending, there's still a couple of contrasting styles that help netminders have success. Every goalie has a specific skill set where you're trying things and adding them if they work for you along the way. Certain plays, saves, reads and how you consistently play them help define you as a goaltender. TSN hockey analyst Jamie McLennan breaks down the styles of all 30 starters in the NHL.
It seems in today's world of goaltending, there's still a couple of contrasting styles that help netminders have success.
Every goalie has a specific skill set - I call this 'the toolbox' - and you're trying things and adding them if they work for you along the way. Certain plays, saves, reads and how you consistently play them help define you as a goaltender.
With the evolution of goaltending at an all-time high over the last 20 years, most goaltenders play relatively the same way - especially in their save selection in certain areas of the crease. Where it differs is how you arrive to make the save.
Some goalies play deeper in their net, while others play more aggressive. Some netminders have better lateral movement and flexibility and some play a more upright style, while others play with more patience. The bottom line is that everyone plays a little bit different from one other.
When I started to look at how guys play in the league today, there wasn't much difference in what I would term the 'middle' group. It's their modified styles that are the most noticeable difference.
Let's start with the majority group - 'the hybrid goaltender.' These are the goaltenders that have a lot of different skills in their tool box, play with structure, a near-predictability in their save selection and are basically a cross between a standup goalie and a butterfly goalie.
Aggressive, But With Structure
These goaltenders play the top of their crease and will try and take as much ice as they can. They use athleticism, try not to open a lot of holes and work within the confines of good crease management. When they're on their game, they make it look easy because the puck hits them and dies. Modifications of it are also noticeable if the goaltender plays more upright or in a deeper crouch.
Goaltenders in this category include Florida's Roberto Luongo, Boston's Tuukka Rask, Ryan Miller of the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard, Washington's Braden Holtby, Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks, Brian Elliott of the St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, Chicago's Corey Crawford, Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars, Ottawa's Craig Anderson, Colorado's Semyon Varlamov and Ben Scrivens of the Edmonton Oilers.
Most goalies go down on almost every play to take away the lower part of the net because shots are rarely clean nowadays. With net-front traffic, screens and tips, the puck changes directions constantly. With the 'middle' group comes the aggressive hybrid style - and you can lump most of today's goaltenders into that category. And there's different groups within this category based on how they react to shots.
Patient With Structure
These are goaltenders who don't go chasing the puck - they allow the puck to come to them. They still incorporate all the features of a good hybrid style, but look a lot more relaxed doing it. They're very efficient with their use of energy, almost to the point that they could be accused sometimes of not trying on certain shots.
Goaltenders in this category include Montreal's Carey Price, Philly's Steve Mason, Darcy Kuemper of the Minnesota Wild, New Jersey's Cory Schneider, Toronto's Jonathan Bernier, Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes, Jaroslav Halak of the New York Islanders and Buffalo's Jhonas Enroth.
Aggressive And Athletic/Garage Sale
These guys have all the skills and have the athleticism to get away from structure, but will stop the puck by any means necessary. They'll use flexibility, quickness and willpower to keep the puck out of the net and throw everything they have at the puck to make the save.
We're talking about Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville's Pekka Rinne, Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg's Ondrej Pavelec.
Deep And Athletic
Netminders that use their size and athleticism to their advantage. But there's also no margin for error, as they play a foot-and-a-half deeper within the blue paint. It helps to conserve energy, be more efficient on side to side plays and there's not a lot of 'scramble' mode.
This includes Tampa Bay's Ben Bishop, Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes and New York's Henrik Lundqvist.
Pure Butterfly
I term 'butterfly' as more the style of a save. Calgary's Jonas Hiller makes no apologies for playing from his knees, uses the 6-foot-2 frame to be as big as he can and tries to force shooters to go high.
Standup Style
This has gone the way of the Dodo in today's NHL. It used to be the style for most of the league, but the biggest adaptation in goaltending over the last 20 years has been covering that lower part of the net where 80 per cent of the shots end up going.
Now the 30 NHL starters listed above each have unique traits that separate one from another. But it all comes back to structure and base and what's in your toolbox.
At least 13 of 30 starters play an aggressive game with structure. Maybe that's why when it comes to goaltending chats, people always say they're interchangeable. It's how they use and incorporate the skills that separates the good ones from the elite ones.
It also includes the 'extras' or 'intangibles.' I know my analytics friends hate those words, but when it comes to goalies, that's just a fact. Durability and mental capacity, along with the skills I've talked about above, are what really separate the good from the great. And that will be for another chat to come.