At Home Goalie Training

As part of the Hockey at Home Series, Hockey Alberta published a series of videos focused on goaltender skills drills that can be done at home. Don't let a lack of ice keep you from developing your skills!

Pulling the Puck off the Boards and Passing

Being able to pull the puck off the boards, move it away from pressure and up the boards to one of your teammates can assist your team in breaking the puck out of your own zone. Try isolating this skill, without deliberate focus and repetitions it can be easily overlooked which will ultimately limit performance. When practicing this skill try to keep the eyes up as much as possible, there will always be a need to “check” the puck but push yourself to keep your eyes up, when possible, to be able to scan and evaluate incoming forecheckers.

Start in an athletic stance - bent ankles/knees, chest up and back straight
Hands away from the body, blocker is positioned at the butt end of the stick and the glove hand is positioned in an inverted grip above the paddle of the stick
- The glove can rotate to a standard player grip on the stick – based on the skill set of the goaltender
Glove hand applies downward pressure and prepares to pass the puck
Sweep the puck along the surface and pass towards your target
Legs are bent and feet pivot as you make the pass
Obstacles can be placed to simulate a defender (depending on the skill set of the goaltender)
To progress this drill:
- Head is up to read options to make the pass
- Do this on your backhand
- Have someone flash que cards
- Have someone flash a different number of fingers every 2-3 seconds
- Identify various things in your environment to cycle between

Moving Across the Crease and Tracking

Being able to move across the crease, get your feet set and square before the shot is a key element to save selection. You can isolate your footwork and agility skills, or you can combine them with tracking exercises to your glove and blocker. In season and during team drills these skills, without deliberate focus and repetitions, can be easily overlooked which will ultimately limit performance. This drill can be done with a puck or a ball, whichever works best for your training. When practicing these skills, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Start in an athletic stance - bent ankles/knees, chest up and back straight
Hands away from the body, blocker and glove are positioned in front of the body. Elbows are bent and hands are ready.
Head stays level during shuffle movements (no bobbing up and down)
Both hips face forward and square up with your target
Make sure to square up your shoulders to the “shooter” (or ball being thrown)
Set your feet prior to the “shot”
Make sure to track the puck all the way into your glove.
- If you do not catch it, square up to the rebound to practice good habits
Make sure to do this on both sides (glove and blocker)
To progress this drill:
- Have someone flash a different number of fingers every 2-3 seconds at the mid-way point
- Incorporate up/down movements to simulate getting in and out of the butterfly (knee pads encouraged)
- Reaction balls can be bounced off of the ground towards the goaltender
- Obstacles can be placed to simulate a screen (depending on the skill set of the goaltender)
- Change up the footwork patterns (smaller shuffles, bigger T-Push like cross crease movements, etc)

As part of the Hockey at Home Series, Hockey Alberta will publish a weekly video focused on goaltender skills drills that can be done at home.

This week, Team Alberta alumna, University of Calgary Dinos goaltender Dayna Owen shows how to practice recoveries and crease movement. Check back every Saturday for the latest goalie skills video!

Recoveries and Crease Movement

Being able to recover and move across the crease efficiently is a key element to having your feet ready and set for the next shot. You can isolate your recovery and agility skills, or you can combine them with tracking exercises to your glove and blocker. In season and during team drills these skills, without deliberate focus and repetitions, can be easily overlooked which will ultimately limit performance. This drill can be done with a puck or a ball, whichever works best for your training. When practicing these skills, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Start in an down/butterfly stance – Chest up, weight over your knees, eyes downward, chin in front of knees
Hands away from the body, blocker and glove are positioned in front of the body. Elbows are bent and hands are ready.
To rotate to start your recovery, think head, hands, hips;

- Eyes and head turn to look where the goalie is going (new target)
- Hands begin to move together towards the next target (remember: elbows stay against the body)
- Lead leg pulls under the body and squares the hips up to the next target

Once you have rotated, get up and push with the outside/back leg
Stop using the lead leg
Make sure to square up your shoulders to the “shooter” (or ball being thrown)
Push yourself to set your feet prior to the “shot”
Make sure to track the puck all the way into your blocker (or glove)
- If you do not catch it, square up to the rebound to practice good habits
Make sure to do this on both sides (glove and blocker)
To progress this drill:
- Have the “shooter” move to different positions to simulate shorter/larger pushes across
- Incorporate up/down movements to simulate getting in and out of the butterfly (knee pads encouraged)
- Reaction balls can be bounced off of the ground towards the goaltender
- Obstacles can be placed to simulate a screen (depending on the skill set of the goaltender)
- Change up the footwork patterns (smaller shuffles, bigger T-Push-like cross-crease movements, etc)

Crease Movement & Screens

Being able to move across the crease efficiently and setting your feet all while managing screens can be a difficult component for goaltenders to master. You can isolate working on screens, or you can combine them with some footwork. In season and during team drills these skills, without deliberate focus and repetitions, can be easily overlooked which will ultimately limit performance. This drill can be done with a puck or a ball, whichever works best for your training. When practicing these skills, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Start in an athletic stance - bent ankles/knees, chest up and back straight
Hands away from the body, blocker and glove are positioned in front of the body. Elbows are bent and hands are ready.
To rotate to start your movement, remember your eye lead that we worked on in last weeks recovery drill.
Set your feet square, maintain a good knee bend and look around the “screen”
Once the “shot” is taken, make sure to track the puck all the way into your blocker (or glove)
- If you do not catch it, square up to the rebound to practice good habits
Make sure to do this on both sides (glove and blocker)
You can creative on the obstacles you use for a screen!
To progress this drill:
- Have the “shooter” move to different positions to simulate shorter/larger pushes across
- Incorporate up/down movements to simulate getting in and out of the butterfly (knee pads encouraged)
- Reaction balls can be bounced off of the ground towards the goaltender
- Obstacles can be placed to simulate a screen (depending on the skill set of the goaltender)
- Change up the footwork patterns (smaller shuffles, bigger T-Push like cross crease movements, etc)

Hand/Eye Coordination

This this video, we showcase a couple of drills that can help improve your hand/eye coordination. Working on improving your hand/eye coordination will assist you in tracking pucks into your body and become more natural for you when you are on the ice.

These drills can be done with a tennis ball or reaction ball, whichever works best for your training. When practicing these skills, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Drill #1 – Quick Reaction Toss

Start in an athletic stance - bent ankles/knees, chest up and back straight
Hands away from the body, blocker and glove are positioned in front of the body. Elbows are bent and hands are ready.
Establish visual connection on the ball as soon as possible and track the ball all the way into your blocker (or glove) – eyes remain on the ball all the way in.
Make sure to do this on both sides (glove and blocker)
To progress this drill:
- Use smaller objects such as a ping pong or golf ball
- Bounce a reaction ball of the floor towards the goaltender
- Incorporate different plyometrics prior to throwing the ball (starting face down on the ground, laying down & getting up, burpees, skater hops, etc).

Drill #2 – Quick Reaction – Wall Bounces

Start in an athletic stance - bent ankles/knees, chest up and back straight
Hands away from the body, blocker and glove are positioned in front of the body. Elbows are bent and hands are ready.
Establish visual connection on the ball hits the surface in front of you and track the ball all the way into your blocker (or glove) – eyes remain on the ball all the way in.
Make sure to do this on both sides (glove and blocker)
To progress this drill:
- Use smaller objects such as a ping pong or golf ball
- Use a reaction ball instead

Drill #3- Juggling

To start juggling, pick three objects of the same weight.

Start in an athletic stance - bent ankles/knees, chest up and back straight
If you are just learning how to juggle, there are many great tutorials online to help you learn this skill!

To progress this drill:
- Use the wall to increase the difficulty of this skill (as shown)
- Use smaller objects such as a ping pong or golf ball

Recovery

Start laying on your back – you can have your feet towards the shooter or away.
Quickly get into an athletic stance – remember to keep your ankles/knees bent, chest up and back straight,
- Hands away from the body, blocker and glove are positioned in front of the body. Elbows are bent and hands are ready.
Establish visual connection on the ball as soon as possible and track the ball all the way into your blocker (or glove) – eyes remain on the ball all the way in.
- If you do not catch it, square up to the rebound to practice good habits
Make sure to do this on both sides (glove and blocker)
If you are incorporating footwork/crease movements with this drill, remember to:
- Stop using the lead leg
- Make sure to square up your shoulders to the “shooter” (or ball being thrown)
- Push yourself to set your feet prior to the “shot”
To progress this drill:
- Use smaller objects such as a ping pong or golf ball
- Have the “shooter” move to different positions so that you have to scan and recognize where they are
- Bounce a reaction ball of the floor towards the goaltender
- Incorporate different plyometrics prior to throwing the ball (starting face down on the ground, laying down & getting up, burpees, skater hops, etc)
- Obstacles can be placed to simulate a screen (depending on the skill set of the goaltender)
- Change up the footwork patterns (smaller shuffles, bigger T-Push like cross crease movements, etc)