Jan 27th 2009: NHL Saves of the Week
Theme for this week: Leg saves. Again, there are a ton of great leg saves where the goalie goes straight back to the post. Given the depth of the forward, going back to the post is the best possible move. But when the forward is not deep in the zone, the goalie challenges the shot by staying out on their angle. All of these saves are at the top (or even farther out) of the crease. For example, in number 7, look how far out Kiprusoff gets when he makes that leg save! Not only does he get the toe of his pad on the ice to make the save, he actually attacks the shooter by staying out at the top of his crease.
Another important note is the goalie's vision. Like last week's post on how watching the puck can be more important than a quick glove -- watch each goalie's head when they make the save. Their focus remains on the puck even as the puck is in motion. Some goalies do not completely focus their eyes and turn their head when they follow the puck. Instead, they try to rely on their peripheral vision, which does not allow them to remain focused on the puck. This can cause a goalie to loose sight of the puck, which will lead to more goals going in and/or losing sight of the rebound.