Jonathan Quick - Elite Snipers 101

[dash]

Another fine article from The Players Tribune

Elite Snipers 101 | The Players' Tribune

 

[forty_three]

Another fine article from The Players Tribune

Elite Snipers 101 | The Players' Tribune

In the NHL, 90 percent of the save happens before the player shoots the puck. As a goalie, if you’re relying on your reaction time to make saves, you’re going to get yanked in a hurry. Keeping pucks out of the net is mostly about intuition and geometry. You’re watching the puck carrier and processing all of the guy’s options on the ice, plus you’re looking at his feet, hands and body positioning. Is he shooting? High or low? Where’s his passing lane? What’s the play here?

The snarky hockey fan in me says "yes, 90% of the time you have to kick the post off before the shot to get the goal disallowed".

But the goalie coach in me wants to give that passage to every young goalie on the planet.

 

[dash]

The snarky hockey fan in me says "yes, 90% of the time you have to kick the post off before the shot to get the goal disallowed".

Just wait until he starts deflating pucks

 

[Darkstone42]

In the NHL, 90 percent of the save happens before the player shoots the puck. As a goalie, if you’re relying on your reaction time to make saves, you’re going to get yanked in a hurry. Keeping pucks out of the net is mostly about intuition and geometry. You’re watching the puck carrier and processing all of the guy’s options on the ice, plus you’re looking at his feet, hands and body positioning. Is he shooting? High or low? Where’s his passing lane? What’s the play here?

The snarky hockey fan in me says "yes, 90% of the time you have to kick the post off before the shot to get the goal disallowed".

But the goalie coach in me wants to give that passage to every young goalie on the planet.

How can you tell high or low? I ask not only because I want to be a better goalie, but because as a shooter, I generally have no idea where the thing's going.

 

[puckhead]

How can you tell high or low? I ask not only because I want to be a better goalie, but because as a shooter, I generally have no idea where the thing's going.

then you're not a very good shooter

 

[Darkstone42]

then you're not a very good shooter

Yes I am. Mostly because I taught myself how to do it by just watching hockey.

 

[DragonfromTO]

How can you tell high or low? I ask not only because I want to be a better goalie, but because as a shooter, I generally have no idea where the thing's going.

You can tell because the answer is always "high". With the pads and the size and the butterfly there's nothing down there.

And I always know where it's going. In the motherfucking net

 

[dash]

And I always know where it's going. In the motherfucking net

Are you Brett Hull?

 

[DragonfromTO]

Are you Brett Hull?

No, but I am hated by just as many people in the Greater Buffalo area.

I'm more Robitaille than Hull, although Bossy was the guy I liked and watched closely as a kid.

 

[dash]

Bossy, now he was a sniper. Too bad a wonky back cut his career short.

 

[tducey]

Bossy, now he was a sniper. Too bad a wonky back cut his career short.

I agree with you on Bossy, had something like 9 straight seasons of 50 goals or more.

 

[forty_three]

How can you tell high or low? I ask not only because I want to be a better goalie, but because as a shooter, I generally have no idea where the thing's going.

A lot of knowing where someone is gonna go is watching the best players on the other side in warm up. Some people only try and snipe corners. Remember them.

In game, you need to watch the blade. To elevate a puck you have to have it more forward then a low shot and the blade actually tilts back more at release. Especially in ball hockey. It's really tough with as fast as shots come off carbon sticks, though.

It's best to understand the triangle. There is a triangle that can be drawn between the puck and the posts, no matter where the puck is. There is also the same triangle between the crossbar and the ice (in profile). This leaves an area where it is possible for the puck to go in. Your job is to fill as much as that space as you can, and know what you don't have covered. If you give them a few sq feet above your glove, it's easier to get the glove up in front of it than it is if you stand on the line leaving holes everywhere and trying to guess which hole they are going to pick

 

[Darkstone42]

Well, between what Quick said about reading their hips and your advice 43, I had about my best goaltending ever tonight. And my best glove save ever (on a really good shot, too). It was a pretty big deal, it turned out, occasionally just looking off the puck carrier for a second to see where his options were.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Bossy, now he was a sniper. Too bad a wonky back cut his career short.

Even with a bad back Bossy scored 38 goals in his final season. It was the end of an era as far as I was concerned.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

14th in the league in SV% on the team with probably the most stifling defensive system in the league? I sure as shit hope he doesn't win it.