Goalies and goalie coaches
They are the goalies. They are the quirky kids. Unlike any other position, they can win or lose a hockey game on their own. Meanwhile, a good goalie coach can make a real difference for a good goalie. There are good goalie coaches out there, just as there are those who, unfortunately, are imposters.
Starting right from the young ages of minor hockey, goaltending is a position that should not be messed with. Goalies are for the most part and thereabouts among the smartest kids on the team. The good ones are wired to channel and put into perspective the risks and rewards that come with the position. Which is where a good goalie coach can come into play.
Perhaps just as much as size and skill and technique, the mental mindset of the goalie — regardless of age — is what can separate average from good, good from exceptional, status quo from advancement. Just as a good goalie coach can tweak what needs tweaking and work with and develop and make a good young goalie even better.
As a hockey writer of 50 years and a fan of the game ever since I can remember, the goalie position has always been a preferred one. The majority of my all time favourite Ontario Hockey League players are goalies including Memorial Cup champions Kevin Hodson of the Soo Greyhounds and Michael DiPietro of the Windsor Spitfires.
At any rate, besides watching goalies stop pucks and how they handle success, adversity and pressure — especially pressure — I also pay close attention to goalie coaches. I study them. I listen to what they have to say. I ask others about them. And then I form as best of a learned opinion as I can.
On either side of the International Bridge at Sault Ste. Marie, goalie coaches and tutors who can be trusted with the development of up and coming youngsters at the minor hockey and junior levels would include younger guys like Donnie Bruni and Noah Zeppa and older more seasoned ones such as Terry Barbeau, Bruno Bragagnolo and Bill Vanderleest.
Meanwhile, in the southwestern Ontario area of Windsor and Essex County there are the reputable likes of Pete Crankshaw, Nate Crankshaw et al of Prospects Goaltending as well as Matt Anthony of the BioSteel Sports Academy.
The above is how I see it. It is what I have been told by people in the game who I know and trust. It is what I am comfortable relaying about the goalie position and those who instruct, teach and develop it.
Obviously, every team at any level needs a good goalie or two. Just as every goalie needs a permissible goalie coach who knows what he is doing and knows what he is talking about.
A spurious pretender should be easy to figure out as a goalie coach in name only. Just as a legitimate goalie coach will teach, train, develop and give the honest truth to his pupils — like it or not — and be appreciated.
Here’s to the young, committed, up and coming goalies as they navigate the toughest position in hockey. And just as importantly, here’s to the coaches who train them, not drain them.