Goalie warmups

[HansonBro]

Preface, i was a goalie for 10 years in the B league and almost 35 years of hockey including instructing.

As a child i was taught to just kinda flip the puck at the goalie. Doesnt really help me or him really

Then i started goalie around 22yrs old and warm ups were 15 guys taking clap bombs from the top of the circle or trying their best dangle. Nothing fealt natural. Like am I warming up or are you? Am i supposed to try super hard?

Took me 2 seasons to figure out I was better off stretching in the corner ala Fleury with his flippers and let the lads fire away on the empty net. Never took a pregame shot since

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[Bear of Bad News]

I subbed as a skater in a lower rec league at one point because a goalie I'd coached wanted a few more players that she trusted out there.

Anyhow, I'm warming her up before the game - blocker, trapper, pad, pad, blocker, trapper, pad, pad, blocker, trapper, pad, pad...

Go to the bench to get lines situated and the captain (who I sort of know) came up and said "[Bear], you've got a great shot but you need to work on your aim - everything was right into [Goalie's] gear."

I immediately made a note to never sub in goal for this guy.

 

[bucks_oil]

I subbed as a skater in a lower rec league at one point because a goalie I'd coached wanted a few more players that she trusted out there.

Anyhow, I'm warming her up before the game - blocker, trapper, pad, pad, blocker, trapper, pad, pad, blocker, trapper, pad, pad...

Go to the bench to get lines situated and the captain (who I sort of know) came up and said "[Bear], you've got a great shot but you need to work on your aim - everything was right into [Goalie's] gear."

I immediately made a note to never sub in goal for this guy again.

Lol...

I'm 49 and still playing 3-4 times a week with about as wide a range of hockey as possible lol... Mondays with a bunch of Dads some of whom can barely skate, Thursdays with exAHL, Div1, even an occasional guy who had a cup of coffee. Such is the life of a goalie lol... at my age, I only play with people who make it fun.

I find I'm more likely to face a warm-up clapper with the lower level guys... it's not malicious, they just don't know any better. Best to just tell 'em.

I have a pretty regimented and idiot-proof 10-step warmup that works every time:
1) Early warmup coaching at the local rink
2) Rush home for dinner and get kids in PJs
3) Make a double espresso
4) Jam my gear back in my bag, panic when I can't find any clean hockey underwear
5) Light swearing then run back up three flights of stairs in my townhouse to grab a pair of contact lenses (why didn't I think of this earlier!)
6) Rush back to rink, light jog to dressing room to get the blood pumping... hopefully arriving before the zam is on
7) Adrenaline spike as I frantically throw the gear on... try not to be distracted by any joking banter, don't put out your back tieing your toe-ties.
8) One half lap and then stretch, ooooch!!! need more stretching
9) Duck three head shots while trying to put the pegs in (since nobody else thought to do it)
10) 2-3 shots before puck drop, squirt water on head and wave at the ref - of course I'm ready!

Your mileage may vary.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I'm a skater, never played goal, I always try to follow what I thought was the etiquette of goalie warm ups.

- I shoot with 50-65% effort
-If the goalie is staying down in the butterfly, Im very cautious to not shoot too high to risk nailing them in the face or near collarbone.
-If they stay standing up, no low shots or shots on the ground.
-No dangles or slapshots
-More or less let them see it and save the shots.

When they leave the net, I'll shoot with 100% effort/force and try and pick the corners and start shooting closer to the net and making some moves to backhand etc.

I'm a rink rat and play on a few teams and fill in for others and lots of goalies don't even take warm ups, maybe a couple shots, and I don't blame them

 

[Bear of Bad News]

9) Duck three head shots while trying to put the pegs in (since nobody else thought to do it)

This hurts quite a bit - specifically in that my last broken finger came about in this fashion.

 

[Yukon Joe]

One of my pet peeves coaching - trying to convince players to not shoot bombs, or dangle the goalie out of his skates, on a pre-game warm-up.

Guys - we will do a shoot-out drill once in a while to end practice. It's maybe not the absolute best use of ice time but I get it's fun, so we'll make some time for it. That's when you can practice all your sickest moves. But warm up is just that - to warm everyone up!

 

[bucks_oil]

I'm a skater, never played goal, I always try to follow what I thought was the etiquette of goalie warm ups.

- I shoot with 50-65% effort
-If the goalie is staying down in the butterfly, Im very cautious to not shoot too high to risk nailing them in the face or near collarbone.
-If they stay standing up, no low shots or shots on the ground.
-No dangles or slapshots
-More or less let them see it and save the shots.

When they leave the net, I'll shoot with 100% effort/force and try and pick the corners and start shooting closer to the net and making some moves to backhand etc.

I'm a rink rat and play on a few teams and fill in for others and lots of goalies don't even take warm ups, maybe a couple shots, and I don't blame them

This is the way.

Also, I learned quite late in life, that I don't HAVE to try for every shot in warmup. In fact its not a great idea (since you then know that you missed). So if I do take shots, I tend to:
a) just focus on tracking the puck, working my edges to cut the angle aggressively so I don't have to move much to make a save
b) generally don't go down for low shots - this let's people know it's not a full effort shootout
c) wave a glove or a blocker at the guy to show wear I want it... let's them aim, lets me save - most guys clue in
d) if a guy is baring down for a 100% shot, you can usually tell, I'll just stop tracking them, which opens up plenty of cage for them to shoot at.
e) If I do go down for a rare butterfly/dangle... then I take my time getting up. Next guy can hit the open side, since invariably they are right on top of the previous.

This hurts quite a bit - specifically in that my last broken finger came about in this fashion.

I was mostly joking... I'm always paranoid that guys won't be looking up, but it's never actually happened... sucks that someone was so clueless. If that person is still on your team, I think it's only fair that they put the pegs in for every game.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I actually feel like taking simple slow shots helps the skaters as well. Warmups aren’t supposed to be about high performance. They’re about getting your brain and muscle groups activated to perform a few minutes later.

The best thing a skater can be doing with that time (aside from stretching and warming up their skating) is taking low-speed, careful shots and concentrating on their form and aim. Same reason basketball players warm up with layups and simple jumpers. Why the hell would they be out there heaving bombs from the logo in warmups.

 

[Yukon Joe]

The best thing a skater can be doing with that time (aside from stretching and warming up their skating) is taking low-speed, careful shots and concentrating on their form and aim. Same reason basketball players warm up with layups and simple jumpers. Why the hell would they be out there heaving bombs from the logo in warmups.

Because in a typical game you'll get maybe 1-2 shots on net (if that) and probably won't score - but it's always fun to put the biscuit in the basket.

I want to say that only kids think like this, but I've seen plenty of beer leaguers with the same attitude...