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wbon22
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You could knock me over with ... well considering my current health issues it would take even less than a stiff breeze...
Jeff Reese and the Flyers organization part ways .... with the team fighting for a playoffs spot. With Mason, the most important part of the team being able to compete his greatest advocate and the greatest example of how good coaching can save a players career.
I have no inside knowledge. I don't know what happened and personally have little faith in those who claim too. I hope there is no health issue or family issue behind this.
That being said, now what? Reese's input made the Flyers' goaltending better. He was able to work with Bryz, Emery, Bob, Mason and Bouch. Think about those different personalities. Think about the different physical attributes and styles and stages of careers. All have had good things to say about Reese...well, maybe not Bryz...but does he really every have anything clearly good to say about anyone who isn't Bryz?
I was a goalie. I played in the age when skate and stick technology was light years ahead of goaltending equipment and coaching. I was a hybrid goalie in the age when hybrid goalies were considered floppers or "fall down" goalies. Actually, anyone who wasn't a standup goalie was considered a "fall down" goalie. The greatest advise I ever got, on ice, or in life...was from a goalie coach. He told me that my best bet was to not try to be someone I wasn't. I didn't have the glove to be a pure techno standup goalie. I didn't have the foot speed to be a pure butterfly goalie (in an age when Hybrid goaltending was rate). This is of course more than you ever wanted to know...but...I went from a mediocre standup goalie to a very successful hybrid. I embraced "being who I was". I scrambled, snatched, kicked, dove...to do anything I could to minimize the number of goals I allowed. This was the result of one week with one goaltending coach at a hockey camp...he is now the GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It is never stressed how important a goaltending coach is. It is never the top of the list of things to address....it was on mine when it was obvious that Lemelin was done but....As a position there is no position in professional sports (accept other than maybe pitcher) that is about accepting failing. Every goalie allows goals. It is how you respond and when you do that makes you a champ. The right coach can help a good goalie become very good and very good goalie great. Bernie Parent was a great coach...he probably couldn't even tell you how he did it. He also had excellent goalies to work with. Lemelin was very good with an organization that really ignored the position for years. Reese was a breath of fresh air who worked with all of the different personalities. If you were every lucky enough to attend a Flyers practice you saw him working with the goalies on the little things...the things that you take for granted. He spent a good 15 minutes with Brian Boucher on how he angled his skate when pushing standing up as apposed to in a butterfly. Boucher was a holdover who didn't come up wearing "floating" pads (loose fitting pads). His foot work had to be perfect or he was prone to allowing goals his pads were not square with his hips and shoulders (think Cal Heeter in his one NHL game). Only a technocrat picks this up. The easy thing is to say a goalie has a weak five hole....Hextall heard that his entire career and he too did not play with floating pads....Reese was amazing. He had patients even when it was clear that Bouch was loosing his ....this was important. This could be the difference maker. In his next couple game Boucher played solid hockey...as a former goalie I watched for the little things...he had payed attention. His footwork didn't let him down.
I hope that Hextall has a solid next step in mind. I hope that this is a signal that there really is a willingness to move forward no matter how difficult it may be. I hope that Reese is healthy and happy and so is his family. I hope that Mason and Emery are able to carry on the good habits that Reese has instilled in them. I hope that the Goaltender GM doesn't forget how important the coach is.
Jeff Reese and the Flyers organization part ways .... with the team fighting for a playoffs spot. With Mason, the most important part of the team being able to compete his greatest advocate and the greatest example of how good coaching can save a players career.
I have no inside knowledge. I don't know what happened and personally have little faith in those who claim too. I hope there is no health issue or family issue behind this.
That being said, now what? Reese's input made the Flyers' goaltending better. He was able to work with Bryz, Emery, Bob, Mason and Bouch. Think about those different personalities. Think about the different physical attributes and styles and stages of careers. All have had good things to say about Reese...well, maybe not Bryz...but does he really every have anything clearly good to say about anyone who isn't Bryz?
I was a goalie. I played in the age when skate and stick technology was light years ahead of goaltending equipment and coaching. I was a hybrid goalie in the age when hybrid goalies were considered floppers or "fall down" goalies. Actually, anyone who wasn't a standup goalie was considered a "fall down" goalie. The greatest advise I ever got, on ice, or in life...was from a goalie coach. He told me that my best bet was to not try to be someone I wasn't. I didn't have the glove to be a pure techno standup goalie. I didn't have the foot speed to be a pure butterfly goalie (in an age when Hybrid goaltending was rate). This is of course more than you ever wanted to know...but...I went from a mediocre standup goalie to a very successful hybrid. I embraced "being who I was". I scrambled, snatched, kicked, dove...to do anything I could to minimize the number of goals I allowed. This was the result of one week with one goaltending coach at a hockey camp...he is now the GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It is never stressed how important a goaltending coach is. It is never the top of the list of things to address....it was on mine when it was obvious that Lemelin was done but....As a position there is no position in professional sports (accept other than maybe pitcher) that is about accepting failing. Every goalie allows goals. It is how you respond and when you do that makes you a champ. The right coach can help a good goalie become very good and very good goalie great. Bernie Parent was a great coach...he probably couldn't even tell you how he did it. He also had excellent goalies to work with. Lemelin was very good with an organization that really ignored the position for years. Reese was a breath of fresh air who worked with all of the different personalities. If you were every lucky enough to attend a Flyers practice you saw him working with the goalies on the little things...the things that you take for granted. He spent a good 15 minutes with Brian Boucher on how he angled his skate when pushing standing up as apposed to in a butterfly. Boucher was a holdover who didn't come up wearing "floating" pads (loose fitting pads). His foot work had to be perfect or he was prone to allowing goals his pads were not square with his hips and shoulders (think Cal Heeter in his one NHL game). Only a technocrat picks this up. The easy thing is to say a goalie has a weak five hole....Hextall heard that his entire career and he too did not play with floating pads....Reese was amazing. He had patients even when it was clear that Bouch was loosing his ....this was important. This could be the difference maker. In his next couple game Boucher played solid hockey...as a former goalie I watched for the little things...he had payed attention. His footwork didn't let him down.
I hope that Hextall has a solid next step in mind. I hope that this is a signal that there really is a willingness to move forward no matter how difficult it may be. I hope that Reese is healthy and happy and so is his family. I hope that Mason and Emery are able to carry on the good habits that Reese has instilled in them. I hope that the Goaltender GM doesn't forget how important the coach is.
