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) [log in to unmask] HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.