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Date: | Thu, 14 Dec 1995 17:00:36 -0900 |
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While the subject of goalies is being tossed about I have several =
questions/observations. And I'll use our two goalies at UAF as an =
illustration.
We have 2 goalies. One, Larry Moberg, is a senior and is 5-8 160. So =
far this year he is 0-8-1 and has a ghastly GAA and save percentage. =
Larry in the past has been the model of consistency and calmness under =
fire. If he did give up a goal, he'd go back to the net and right back =
to work (this in comparison to his partner last year who once smashed =
two sticks on the cage and broke them and was tossed out of a game). He =
always seemed ready and on the alert, but is very small and if he stays =
back in the net, offers a very large amount of open space to shoot at. =
He's probably not the quickest goalie, but he's been pretty consistent =
and has a decent glove. He gives up a lot of rebounds out front but has =
been good at diving on top of them. If he can be faulted for anything =
in particular it's that he has just an awful time getting up when he =
goes down--not that it's easy to get up in all that gear I'm sure--but =
if you can get him down you can shoot the puck over him. He seems to be =
having a crisis of confidence. He's played a couple of pretty good =
games at Lake Superior and Michigan this year and one at home against =
BGSU--he's beaten Michigan State twice in the past and was CCHA =
defensive player of the week once last year--but more often than not =
this year he has been shelled. Shots straight at him are zipping by =
into the net. He'll make huge saves and then miss an easy one. To be =
fair though there have been an awful lot of screened shots and opposing =
forwards planted right in front of the net. It probably doesn't help =
when your penalty killing is at 67-68% either. Until this year the team =
appeared to feel like they were in the game whenever he played. This =
year is another story.
The other, Ian Perkins, is a freshman and a very imposing 6-4 200. We =
have only seen him twice at home this year--he pulled a muscle in his =
third start against Bowling Green--but he is 4-1-0. His only loss came =
at Ferris State when he started in place of a very sick Moberg and gave =
up 6 goals. He also had a strong 35-40 minutes in relief of Moberg at =
Ann Arbor giving up one goal only in the last couple of minutes. He is =
so big he blocks out most of the net no matter what. At times he looks =
awkward, but he is very quick with a very fast glove. You better be =
perfect with your shot when he drops to his knees, because he is still =
blocking a lot of the net and is very fast. He also appears to be very =
good at directing rebounds off into the corner instead of out front =
where you can get a second or third shot. Not being a goalie or even a =
hockey player, I don't know if you have that much control of where the =
rebounds are going, but he seems to. So far the team has played with a =
lot of confidence in him.
The point is we have two goalies with extremely different sizes and =
styles. Now the question I have is, are certain types of goalies better =
suited to play against some teams than others? Which ones against which =
kind of team? Does anybody else have this great a contrast in two =
goalies?
What I like to see in a goalie is consistency. You want to know he is =
going to be able to make the same play most of the time. You like a =
goalie who hates to give up a goal, but he also can't lose control of =
himself when it happens. He needs to be paying attention all the time, =
be vigilant and be into the game (I'm not sure that is easy). One thing =
though is the team better be confident in him or no matter how good he =
is you are going to be in trouble in short order. That's where we are =
having a problem with Moberg. No one on the ice or in the stands is =
sure what's going to happen anymore. We're not even sure from period to =
period much less game to game. We wonder if we put him against MSU here =
next month if he'll come up big against them like he has in the past. =
On the other hand we're starting to worry whenever we see him out there. =
That's not fair, but that's the way it is.
Another goalie question I've heard discussed in the past with no =
particular answer is how do you coach them? Anybody know or have =
comments?
Eric Carlson
U of A '78 (that's UAF now)
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