Cheating Your Hips as the Puck Goes Down the Wall

Part of Lesson 5 · Advanced Movement. Moving like an advanced goalie: every push, slide and rotation starts and ends in the right stance for the situation and takes the most direct route, with your weight centered, your whole body arriving square, and your legs ready before the puck moves. It's the same order every time (look, rotate, load, push, stop square), started a little earlier and aimed at where the puck is going next.

When a puck carrier skates down the wall (along the boards) toward the corner, they become less and less of a shooting threat as the angle gets worse. The real threat is a pass out to the slot or the back door. In this scenario you can let your hips cheat a little toward the middle of the ice while still honoring the shot by keeping your head, chest and hands square to the puck. Your push to the middle is then already aimed where the dangerous pass will go. How much to cheat is a coaching choice, so ask your goalie coach.