... for a goalie to stop a breakaway in a game?
Tyler Sieben, River Lakes
(The senior stopped 48 shots, including five breakaways in a 4-0 loss to Alexandria on Jan. 19.)
Skaters might think of a breakaway as a great opportunity to put a point on the board for their team or a point in the stats book. I see a breakaway as a chance to show the other team that points are not going to come easy. As a goalie, I have one responsibility and that is to keep the puck out of the net. Stopping a breakaway can change the entire outcome of the game. There is no time or place in the game to blame your team for a defensive letdown, so the first thing I do when a skater is coming down all alone is clear my mind of everything that has just happened and concentrate only on the puck. Stopping a breakaway can be very simple as long as you make the first move. I am constanly thinking about angles and what the player can see. If I place myself on the right side of the crease, a person naturaly shoots to the left. Timing is everything, making a move early will give players and opportunity to make you look like a fool. When a player is coming down on a breakaway, I like to think of myself as an attacker more then a defender. If I make the first move then I force the skaters into doing what I want instead of what they were planning. If I can make the skater cut from one side of the net to the other, then I have to believe that I have the upperhand, giving me a chance to use a simple poke-check. This can be a great weapon, but only when used at the right moment. But at the end of the day, stopping a breakaway is 90 percent mental. Just stay focused.
Read the article: What's it like to ...
RSS Feeds