MythBusters Goalie Edition – Myth # 2 Goalie Stick Myths
It is important for all people to be critical thinkers and push back against conventional wisdom with evidence based new approaches. The goalie stick is subject to many long held beliefs and truisms. After careful examination and well reasoned inputs I can convincingly dispel and put to bed some of them.
Goalie Stick Myth # 1
YOU SHALL NEVER CUT THE SHAFT OF THE STICK AS IT WILL THROW OFF IT’S BALANCE.
This pearl of wisdom is uttered ad nauseam by long term hockey coaches / goalie coaches / sporting goods retailers and “in the know” goalie parents.
It is utterly false and more accurately for this article, a myth.
For young goalies who often struggle with stick discipline having a stick that is a little bottom heavy is actually a good thing. It will make it more likely to stay where it belongs, flat on the ice, centered between their feet.
A goalie stick is not actually truly “balanced” as you would believe to begin with. Try this yourself. Take an uncut stick and try to find the balance point. Hold the stick horizontal to the ground and place it on your extended index finger. You will likely have it balance on your finger on the paddle some where closer to the blade than the grip area. They COME bottom heavy from the factory.
To properly size a goalie stick with respect to the shaft the goalie should stand in their skates and stand the stick up with the toe on the ice and mark the shaft in the chin or mouth area. This is where the stick MUST be cut. Why?
An integral, requisite, oft-ignored goaltending discipline is called puck handling. To do this properly you must have a stick where the over all length is manageable. This will allow the goalie to stick handle, pass and clear the puck with proper power and mechanics.
Parents will complain that their rosebud can’t handle the puck and then I see the 9-year-old smurf with the shaft 4 inches above their forehead. Weird.
Modern Day Proof. Take a look at how short the overall length of Carey Price’s stick is. It is slightly below his chin and he is known as a very adept puck handler. I challenge you to find any elite goalie with a stick shaft way up past their nose when sizing it.
Goalie Stick Myth # 2
TAPE PROTECTS MY STICK BLADE
If tape actually protects your blade from the shock of the puck I have an experiment you can try. Take some hockey tape and cover your forehead as if you were taping a stick. Now take a ball peen hammer and have your sister hit you with a full swing using that hammer directly on the tape on your forehead. How well do you think this tape will protect your brain? (Obviously, this is tongue in cheek, but if you actually try this you win the Darwin Award for February.)
Tape actually serves a few functions. Primarily it is beneficial in imparting spin on a puck when passing, shooting or clearing the puck. Additionally, on wooden sticks it can help keep the blade dry if covered in stick wax or baby powder. This will help prolong the wooden blade since moisture is obviously the enemy of wood, particularly if that moisture freezes while your stick is in your car over night in Canada.
Goalie Stick Myth # 3
IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A LARGE KNOB
This is actually more of a preference area and many goalies do indeed have a large tape knob on their stick. Forwards never have large knobs on their sticks as the top hand holds the knob in the palm. That allows a lot of wrist flexion and assists in harder shots. Sometimes goalies can improve their shot by going to a smaller knob that better fits in their hand instead of stopping the blocker once it gets to the huge knob. So a large knob is okay, it is just not required as evidenced by the multitude of NHL goalies that don’t use them.
There is one thing many people may not realize about using a larger knob that will allow some goals. When the goalie puts the paddle down on the ice a large knob will keep the shaft high enough off the ground that it will allow a puck to go under it easily. With a moderate sized knob you can muscle the paddle down hard enough to flex the stick and prevent all pucks from squeezing under the shaft while in the paddle down position.
Goalie Stick Myth # 4
THE PADDLE SHOULD FIT YOU IN YOUR BASIC STANCE UP ON YOUR FEET
This myth here is relatively recent and undoubtedly will cause many to spit the bit. But allow me to explain and follow my logic.
In the good old days goalies used their sticks to stop 99% of the flat ice shots with their stick from a standing position. Now read this part slowly using Homer Simpson’s voice, “on a flat ice shot with any velocity 100% of goalies make this stick save DOWN in the butterfly position”
So………..if a goalie makes 100% of low shot stick saves from their butterfly position and almost zero from standing position, what position do you think your paddle should mostly be tailored to? Bingo! From your butterfly.
So when you go into the store, ideally the stick should fit your butterfly not your standing stance. The paddle shouldn’t be so short that when you stand in your stance it is no where near the ice obviously.
When in your butterfly, the stick should be placed flush, slightly tilted back like a 3-iron and there should not be a massive armpit hole on the blocker side. When a goalie fits their stick to a standing stance, often times they have huge blocker armpit goals while butterflying.
At the end of the day, you do whatever you want with your stick. You believe whatever you want about sticks. You are the one who lives and dies by your stick figuratively.
But I leave you with one piece of general advice. Weigh the credibility of the person giving you goalie advice. And then dance with the girl you brought.
