Dustin Wolf, Juuse Saros, and Being Small in Net

[Kielbasa]

Kevin Woodley wrote a really interesting article on Wolf and how his game has developed, I suggest you give it a read here:

Unmasked: Wolf of Flames impressing as undersized goalie | NHL.com

Rookie performing well despite atypical positioning, depth in crease

www.nhl.com

What really caught my eye was the quote that Saros gave on Wolf, who he has been following since the 2018 Ivan Hlinka Gretzky Cup apperently.

"Obviously there's not many of us," said Saros, who at 5-foot-11 is the smallest goalie in the NHL this season. "But I don't really pay much attention to the size. I pay attention to how goalies play. There's a lot of saves you notice how he controls his body and how fast he changes direction, so all those little things as a goalie you really appreciate when you see that. His technical, his skating and all those little details are, I feel, better than anybody in the League, so that's what I feel all goalies can look up too."

That's some pretty darn high praise from a guy most people see as an annual Vezina candidate.

Click to read more...

 

[Norwegianoiler]

Why "smol"?

 

[Kielbasa]

Why "smol"?

Oh lol, that would be an autocorrect that my phone has learnt from other stuff, woops.

Any comment on the post beyond the title?

Edit: fixed

 

[GeeoffBrown]

I do wonder if they benefit from being a different matchup than most goalies. Teams prepare for 6'4" goalies, not 5'11" goalies

 

[DJJones]

He's clearly way faster than most goalies, especially laterally.

So much offense is based on cross ice passes in order to beat the giant goalies he seems to have an advantage there.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Hockey IQ doesn't get talked about much when it comes to goalies but these two have it in spades. Process and anticipate extremely well.

 

[Sheppy]

It's kind of crazy how that position changed so much. In the 80's it seemed like 5'10 was a big goalie, haha.

1984 Wins Leaders (Top 10):

Lindbergh - 5'9, 165
Hayward - 5'10, 180
Brennerman - 5'11, 185
Riggin - 5'9, 170
Lemelin - 5'11, 170
Barrasso - 6'3, 210 (Absolute giant)
Penney - 6'1, 190
Millen - 5'9, 175
Fuhr - 5'10, 200
Janecyk - 6'1, 180
Wamsley - 5'11, 185

Outside the top 10 in wins:

Moog - 5'8, 175
Stefan - 5'11 180
Hrudey - 5'10 185
Smith - 5'10, 185
Gosseln - 5'8, 160
Brodeur - 5'7 160
Keans - 5'7 185
Resch - 5'9 165
Vanbiesbrouck - 5'8 180

 

[JPeeper]

The link to the article is broken for me (404).

Wolf rules and will win a Vezna one day..

 

[WayTooCold]

That's what she said ...

 

[SUX2BU]

The link to the article is broken for me (404).

Wolf rules and will win a Vezna one day..

Is a Vezna for small goalies?

 

[Chips]

When teams were clogging up and creating a new dead puck era, larger goalies were covete. No disrespect to bishop who was legit great but I remember thinking the dude barely had to move 90% of the time.


No, there is way more movement, space and lateral passing. Defensemen are looking to transition an any moment.

I think smaller explosive / athletic goalies will make a comeback