Tryout TV; The Goalie

[Bars and tone] [Bars and tone] The following program is brought to you in part by a special Grant from the friends of channel 21 incorporated [music] At the turn of the century hockey was played quite differently from the version we know today. The first goals were simply two poles placed in the ice six feet apart. A

situation which caused many problems for the goal judges. Apparel was designed by Rube Goldberg. The leg pads were adapted from cricket pads and protective equipment was non-existent by today's standards. Either the shots weren't as hard or the sticks were more resilient than the modern models Percy LeSueur's goal stick lasted for six seasons. Peerless Percy is also credited with inventing the gauntlet type goalie gloves and the goal cage used from 1912 until 1925. Until 1922 all goalies defended the nets using a stand up position. The rules provided a $2 fine for any net miner who left his feet to block a shot. Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons influenced a change in the rules admitting that if you did it a bit sneaky and made it look accidental you could fall on the puck without being

penalized. Benedict was also the first goalie to wear a protective face mask when his swollen nose healed he discarded this leather monstrosity for good. During the 20s protective equipment improved and the baseball cap modeled by Hap Holmes became popular with all goalies. Georges Vezina patrolled the Montreal Canadian nets from 1910 until 1925. Playing his last game ravaged by tuberculosis. Evidently Vezina had other talents besides goal-tending. During his short lifetime he fathered 22 children. These are the gloves of Lorne Chabot a goalie involved in two of hockey's most memorable moments. In the game between the Rangers and the Maroons Chabot was struck over the eye and not able to continue in the days when teams did not carry a second goalie Lester Patrick the 45 year old coach of the Rangers was forced into the nets. The Silver Fox gave up only one goal in a 2 - 1 overtime win. With the Maroons

Chabot was the losing goalie in hockey's longest game. During the 8th overtime period, 5 hours and 51 minutes after the play had begun Chabot took these pads off and left for home with a 1 to nothing loss. The game was played in the days before the ice was resurfaced between periods and it is rumored that the winning goal was scored with a sand wedge. During the 1930s the diminutive Roy Worters became the first goalie to use the back of his hand to deflect the puck to the corners of the rink. Chuck Gardner of The Black Hawks wears heavier protective gear which has changed little since that time. The first goalie to score an assist was Tiny Thompson. He was also the first goalie to be removed from the ice in favor of an extra attacker. Bill Durnan of the Canadians was the only ambidextrous goalie in the National Hockey League deftly switching the stick from hand to hand to block and catch shots. Turk Broda was a money player. Always at his best during the Stanley Cup

championships. Yet his paunch almost cost him his job. In 1950 Broda was ordered to lose 10 pounds or remain suspended. A crash diet put Broda back into the nets after missing only one game. The Bruins Mr Zero, Frankie Brimsek was a Native American from Eveleth Minnesota who marked his NHL debut with six shutouts in eight games. In the 1950s the slapshot, traveling at speeds of over one hundred twenty miles per hour became the goalie's nemesis the awesome slap shots of Barney Joffrey on and Bobby Hall could literally shatter a man's skull. To the goalie it was not a laughing matter. Things were not now a question of a few stitches. The position could cost you your life. Glenn Hall was miserable with his job often vomiting before games and between periods. Having a goal scored on me is like having my pants

pulled down in front of 15,000 people he mused. Terry Sawchuk compiled a brilliant career goals against average even though he had a broken right arm that didn't heal properly and wound up inches shorter than the left. He also suffered severed hand tendons a fractured instep punctured lungs ruptured discs injuries which would qualify some workers for permanent disability income. Yet he is the only goalie in hockey history to record over 100 career shut outs. Some goalies managed to remain glib. Gump Worsley had the thankless task of defending the goal of the New York Rangers. One of the worst teams of the 50s. When asked which team gave him the most trouble Gumps stone faced reply was the Rangers. Jacques Plante perhaps the most famous goaltender to ever don the pads. Plante was a rover a goalie who would skate far from the cage to clear or smother a loose puck. He was eccentric

but he was also brilliant and he introduced a degree of sanity to the position when he adopted the face-mask in 1959. The mask was an obvious move yet the Montreal coach told Blake tried his best to dissuade Plante from its use. No one will ever know the number of kids who will not have broken jaws, missing teeth or be severely injured in the goal now because plants remain loyal to his greatest contribution to goal tending. When Plante is elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame the mothers of every young goalie in the game today should attend the induction ceremony. The ageless Johnny Bower played go until almost the age of 50. A testament to the fact that for the goalie mental attitude often compensates for tired legs in heavy skates. [Bill Howard] First of all the goalies skate is a much heavier skate than the

regular forward skate and notice that the forward skate the goalie skates blades are completely different. The forward skate has a rocker on each end. The goal's skate blade is straight there is no rocker. You'll notice that in the regular skate there is no protection along the side whereas in the goalies skate you have the full protection here to protect the ankle when you make the skate save. You also have a much different blade here which doesn't allow the puck to go through there. It's a straight edge blade. You have a steel toe and padding around the toe all the way up to the top of the ankle and there are obvious reasons for this you're going to get hit in the toe. You're going to get hit in the side and the boot is completely different. The whole skate really is different than the regular forward skate and for obvious reasons a forward isn't going to be stopping very many shots with it. He's got to have the rocker to have the ability to turn the goaltender skate doesn't have to have the rocker because he doesn't have to turn. In addition to the skates and most people aren't aware of all the equipment that a goaltender wears but he has goalie pads that can average

10 to 15 pounds he's got heavy arm padding and shoulder padding. He's got a heavy chest protector. He's got much heavier gloves than the regular forward skater does that are protected on the outer sides. He wears a heavier helmet or face mask than the regular player and most people don't realize the weight of what the goaltender is carrying which can be an excess of 30 pounds and that's a great deal of weight to be carrying around and the movements that he has to make of those movements are usually very quick movements. And so the equipment becomes another factor and uniqueness of the goaltending position. The goalies' job requires him to successfully cover twenty four square feet of open goal mouth. Since his body and pads cover only about 10 square feet it is essential that he consistently place himself in the proper position in front of the goal. Here we're going to talk about probably the most important thing for all goaltenders to learn how to play and that's playing the angles properly. In most cases in the youth level all the way

through the collegiate level there are very few shooters that are going to be able to pick the fine corners [unclear] of the goaltender plays the angle very well. Obviously to his advantage. Now we use the goal crease as a very basic thing for the goaltender to work on. We encourage all goal tenders whether they're young goal tenders or collegiate to play out on top of the crease. Just outside. very pointer of the crease. He should always maintain that level of the angle with the shooter wherever that shooter may be on the ice. You should always stay on top of that crease. The only time that a goal tender should begin to move back in is when the shooter gets in with about a 3 or 4 foot radius of the net. Then the goaltender will start to move back in with the player. Most goal tenders have a tendency to start to back in much sooner than the three or four foot

area. Now a couple of cues for the goal tender. If the man were to have the puck on the blue where the blue line line intersects the board Then we would want to freeze. Back crease three. be between is legs. Then as the man moves Not back in. Most goal tenders have a tendency to move back and right. Now is the man on top three.

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[coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] lunge out but maintain your balance. Just let the stick slide and shoot it out to the side, maintaining his balance. Now to reinforce that to make sure that if he missed with his stick he has something else within [unclear]. And he lets the stick slide easy very easer save but most goal tenders will not use their stick. Same thing if a man were to come Out of the corner with the puck. The

goaltender should use his stick to keep him back in that corner. Or to break up a pass that might come out in front of the net. Him. Very basic principle here is to let the sticks slide all the way you get a good full extension and you don't want to get in a position where you're leaning forward or lunging at the puck because you're off now. From there we go to the tender shot of what. [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching] [coach on ice coaching]

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Well you know there's an old saying and Bob Johnson brings it up a lot is that it takes a goal tender to know a goal tender. It's sort of a joke but I think it's really very true. Unless you've been in the situation you have no understanding of the goal tender whatsoever. And he pretty much just is a target practice player and in practices with the players don't say much to him and he doesn't get an opportunity to let out some of his tensions or pressures the normal hockey player does in a game situation. He's isolated the whole game. He doesn't get a chance to talk to anybody he doesn't go get a chance to sit down get a drink of water and the position is very unique just simply because he's isolated he's totally by himself. I think one of the one of the big problems with the goal tender is that he gets very poor coaching. There are very few goalie coaches around and so the practices are never geared for em. Again he's in that unique situation then that he's got a coach himself unlike any other

position. And I think the mental pressure that most people don't even understand at all is a very trying factor whereas the other players in the game of hockey don't have that pressure. And when they do have it they have a way to release by hitting somebody or going over to the bench and gathering their thoughts and the goaltender just doesn't have those opportunities. He's by himself and he sometimes like a pitcher in baseball. He has full control of the game at times and other times it has nothing to do with the game and it's a very difficult position to play in. I think because of that it takes a different kind of person to play there and I think that mental preparation is probably just as important as the physical aspect of the game and that's something that is very difficult to teach. You try to work on different drills to improve that concentration but you'll see a lot of times where a goaltender will give up a goal that you probably could have stopped and that's just a breakdown in mental concentration and it's very difficult to explain. It's a big part of his game and different people react differently to the ways they handle it but again it's difficult to teach

and I think that on a given night it can be a total dominating factor for the goaltender. A person like Mike Dibble likes to be left alone and that might be playing cards or shooting pool but he doesn't want to be involved with a lot of players on the team at that point he wants to stay away from the game as long as he can and then when he gets to the game that he wants to concentrate on his job. A guy like Julian Beretta a little more outgoing and has a number of superstitious things that he does and he'll go through a set routine you're back in the net a certain way and the preparation for the game really varies with the individual and I know when I played that I didn't want to be bothered with any members of the team and I might play bridge or I might just go down in my room and take a nap or listen the radio. What you try to do I think and most goal tenders will admit this you try not to do things that would cause strain on your eyes or take a lot of concentration and you try to get away from the game as much as possible and you try to rest your eyes. There aren't many good teams that have poor goalies. And a goaltender and it's happened in a number of different situations at all levels of hockey the goalie can win the game. He can be 90

95 percent of your game and there just aren't very many good hockey teams that have poor goaltender. You're not going to win a league championship for the WCHA or the Stanley Cup or whatever unless you've got a good goaltender. He's the most important player on the ice. If he has a bad game no matter how good your team is a good chance that you're going to lose a game. If a goaltender makes a mistake you get 8,000 people to see that mistake. If a winger defenseman a center makes a mistake in most cases they may not see it or the end result may not be the red light turned on behind you. And again it goes back to the uniqueness of the situation in the goaltender is in a world by himself out there and a very difficult person to understand and that's why I say I think it takes a goaltender to understand him one that one has been through it and the unfortunate thing is if he's a great many cases it's the team that won the game and he doesn't get the due credit in many cases. If the team loses in almost all cases at all levels of hockey the answer is the goaltender

had a bad night. It isn't the team had a bad night. It's the goaltender had a bad night and this is why more young goaltenders quit playing goalie than any other position in hockey. They don't people don't understand em. They don't communicate with that person and the goaltender almost always is the blame for the loss Despite the support and confidence of teammates despite the proper mental attitude and total concentration things sometimes just don't work. The puck must cross the goal line totally for a goal to count. Apparently Mike Dibble has made the save or did he. Mike's reactions to referee Dino Panici's decision tell the story. Perhaps our title the goalie Hockey's the last man is a misnomer at least as far as this Pee wee goalie is concerned.

I played forward for about two years. I want to see what goalie was like so I tied it. I had to work hard to get in that position. Beating out the boys and trying to stop the puck. Sue Mussey who tends goal for the East Side hockey hawks in Madison worries more about her goals against average than about affirmative action. Her teammates consider her a good goalie in the league and the game which is essentially dominated by males. The unique problems inherent to the backup goalie are explained by Brian Virgin a junior at Madison East High School. Well during practices [unclear] starting goalie Brian Cooke because I never know when the time is going to come around to go out on the ice and do the job that he was doing. So my physical stamina and mental concentration has to be as higher or higher than his. I never know when the time to come when I have to go on the ice and then I don't want the team to feel down when I do go out. I just want them to consider me their number one goalie. When game time comes on I have to get a

differently me than Brian because he knows he's going to play and I never know when I'll have to go in on the spur of the moment. On the bench I usually talk to the other players that aren't getting enough ice time like the sophomores the other goalie that's on our team. Occasionally I'll glance up in the stands and check out the women. I'd be relieved to know that I was going in ahead of time. But being back up goalie you always don't get that chance because you never know when your team's going to go out in a period and maybe scores six seven goals in one period. The possibility is always there that Brian will get hurt and I might have to go into a game when the score is zero zero. Former all-American Robbie Moore who loves to play on and with the spectators emotions often manages to keep his eyes on the puck and on the crowd at the same time. Or so it seems. There's 8000 screaming people it's very hard to put them out of your mind and instead of letting them bother me I try and you know get along with them and the rinks that I've played in along the way it's been you know pretty cool because people have

related to me as a person not only as the opposition. When I go out there and if I can you know have a rapport with the people I feel much more comfortable myself and I feel I can do my job better if they if they're going to applaud me for something that I've done. I can't see you know this big hate relationship between between opposing fans and the players. The people that I find are the most obnoxious are the people that don't know very much about the game themselves and they're there because they feel that that $5 ticket enabled them to call me anything they want to. People that come down and pound on the glass and everything like that more or less they could be a frustrated athlete that is not out there in the limelight. Getting the attention that they should by doing something constructive. They're doing some very destructive to get their attention. The people that I really enjoy are the people who are there and if they see I've done something wrong and they can notice that well then more power to them because

you know if they're yelling oh you should have done this or that. Well then I know that maybe I should have and it helps me myself to realize that possibly that's what I should have done. I guess the worst thing I ever had thrown at me was I got a light bulb off the back of the head when I was a junior and it didn't hurt but it just scared me when I exploded when it hit. And there's another arena I played in junior in Strafford and I thought it was very foolish they sold apples in the arena and the apples used to fly stuff like that. I've had hot dogs thrown at me. When we were playing Michigan State one time and that's one place where the people really hate me. They pulled their goalie in with 20 seconds to go we scored our seventh goal to put the icing on the cake. So I went around the arena doing a little dance and beer cans flew and marbles and bags of jujubes and peanuts and everything. So half an hour later the game resumed for the final 20 seconds and I wasn't allowed to play the final 20 seconds of the game because the police got me out of the arena. They figured that someone might have a gun in Lansing but you know that might be a foolish thing to say but I didn't want to get shot.

I really enjoy the game and that's why I play the game. If the fun ever went out of it I think that's when I'd stop. I guess it might be a sort of Jekyll and Hyde. People see me as fun loving. They see me as someone who doesn't seem to have a care in the world if the puck goes in it goes in you no big deal see if I can get the next one. But I think that the main thing is people don't see me before the game. They don't see me in between periods in the locker room when I'm getting sick and I do vomit I get very upset with myself if I feel that I've let my teammates down. I get very upset if I feel I'm not doing the best job I can. Not only for my teammates but for the people who come to watch the games. I feel that the people deserve to see me at my best at all times. And I become the day of the game a lot of times maybe an hour or two before the game I don't talk to people very much. I

find myself being very reclusive and I'd much rather have you know get cut over the eye or something like that and then to then to let a goal in because if the puck hit me in the eye then it didn't go in the net. But that's my job my job is to stop the puck and nothing else. And once I feel I'm incapable of doing my job then it's not worth while being out there. How many jobs do you know of that soon as you know you failed a little bit and your job made one tiny mistake a red light flashes on and 8,000 people stand up and call you a bum. You know there's not too many jobs that that happens in but you know the good really outweighs the bad. Good must outweigh the bad for there are thousands of youngsters who play goal at every level of organized hockey despite the severe mental pressure and the possibility of personal injury. There are no vacancies for goalies in the college and professional ranks. Someone with experience is always available to fill the position.

The goalie is the focal point in the vortex of the world's fastest game. Yet there seems to be a universality in the position which transcends sport. The challenge of man's age old desire to overcome fear to master himself to probe his very nature in a sense this challenge separates the goalie from other hockey players. The goalie is unique and rightly so for he represents the very essence of the game. Without him hockey would be meaningless. The preceding program was brought to you in part by a special grant from the friends of channel

21 incorporated.