Вратарь. Выходы один на один PLAYING A BREAKAWAY Goalies must develop strategies for certain situations that come up regularly. A clean break by an opposing player, or a breakaway, is something goalies don’t want to see, but they are common. Increasingly, different levels of play are employing breakaways to decide tie games in various shootout formats. Here is an example of how a goalie thinks in developing a strategy for stopping breakaways. This was first prepared in 2004 for USA Hockey Magazine. Goalies are best served by having a method. In this instance, having a method means the goalie knows what he would rather have the puck carrier do—shoot or deke. Another way of looking at this is to consider what a goalie does better, stopping a direct shot or a deke. When the goalie knows that, he can try to play the breakaway in such a manner that he increases the chances that the puck carrier does what the goalie wants him to do. Goalies who have success against breakaways are often able to anticipate them. They are not surprised by the breakaway, and they don’t get caught moving out when the attacker is approaching. If certain teammates are prone to surrendering the puck in specific situations, the goalie must be alert to that possibility. Here are two typical situations that can lead to breakaways: 1. The defenseman coming out of the zone has a tendency to attempt a cross-zone pass when forecheckers are in position to intercept those passes. 2. The defenseman on the offensive blue line tends to take slap shots with his head down, often shooting into the legs of an opponent who is moving out to cover the point.
In these two instances, the goalie can almost predict the breakaway before it happens. To be ready, he must skate out to the top of the crease, maybe beyond, and prepare to play the lone break. Coming Out and Gap Control Once the goalie identifies the breakaway, he has to come out of the net and establish proper position. How far to come out depends on a number of factors, most notably how well the goalie skates and what the goalie wants the puck carrier to do. A better skater can come out more aggressively, safe in the knowledge that his skating ability will get him back quickly. If the goalie would rather face a deke, he should come out aggressively and all but eliminate the chances of a shot even being attempted, let alone finding open net. If he prefers to react to a shot, he wouldn’t come out as far, thus increasing the likelihood that the puck carrier will shoot. Next comes gap control. The goalie must maintain a constant distance between himself and the puck, which involves getting a sense of the puck carrier’s speed. If he speeds up, the goalie speeds up; if he slows down, the goalie slows down. This maintains that constant distance, or gap. The purpose is to avoid either backing too far into the net or getting caught out so far that the puck carrier can easily skate around the goalie. Next is the execution of the move. Against a deke, the goalie wants to force the puck carrier to make his A move. That is, a goalie doesn’t want to get beaten along the ice on a deke, either between skate and post or through the legs (the 5 hole). The goalie should cover the entire ice by extending all the way to the post. If this is executed properly, the shooter can beat the goalie only by pulling the puck and lifting it at a fairly steep angle. In a perfect situation, the goalie wants to remain centered on the puck even when leaving his feet in response to the deke. That means pushing off the far skate, bringing the stick to the puck, and maintaining control of the upper body, the chest still centered on the puck. This also means the goalie doesn’t simply drop straight down and extend his skate toward the puck. He moves his entire body in a coordinated fashion, almost launching himself toward the post on the side the play moves to. Against a shot, the goalie should be in good shape to make the save if he is correctly aligned on his angles, maintains good gap control, and doesn’t drift back too deep in the crease. At some point, he must get set for the shot. The goalie must also note which way the puck carrier shoots, left or right. Should the puck be pulled to one side, the goalie must make the lateral adjustment to stay centered on the puck. Some young goalies back straight in toward the net, lining up more on the shooter’s body than on the puck, which gives the shooter space to score on the stick side. Other Factors If the puck carrier approaches the goalie with his head down, the goalie has another option: the poke check. Goalies may be successful with this aggressive tactic if the puck carrier is ill equipped to see it coming. Conversely, if the puck carrier is a skilled player with his head up, the goalie should be reluctant to initiate such a move, since his opponent can see it and successfully react. The element of surprise is key, and a puck carrier with his head down allows for that. For example, the poke check is a good option when the puck carrier looks down at a puck that has rolled on edge. Goalies benefit by being aggressive in these situations. There is also a difference between plays coming straight down the ice and breakaways from the side. The path of the puck carrier makes a difference. A player coming right at the goalie can go to either side, although most dekes are made to the backhand side. A player coming in from the side usually has two choices: shoot or cut across the front of the goal. Few players deliberately go short side or behind the net. In these situations, the goalie can almost force the attacker to cut across the front by taking the shot away. Then it’s a matter of moving laterally with the attacker, which is difficult, or attacking either the puck or the space in front. A goalie attacks the puck by attempting a poke check. He attacks space by attempting to claim an area, with the stick or a combination of stick and arm, to prevent the attacker from moving through that space. Given how difficult it is for a goalie at a dead stop to move laterally and match the speed of a player who already has momentum, the notion of attacking or claiming space is an attractive one. What ultimately determines the goalie’s best option is the actual path of the attacker. If he is far from the goalie, say 10 to 20 feet, the goalie will have to move laterally on his feet. But if the attacker brings the puck within a stick’s length of the goalie, then the goalie has the more aggressive option of attacking the puck or the space in front of the puck carrier’s path. Finally, there are breakaways that aren’t clean. That is, a teammate is a factor at some point. If, for example, the puck carrier is coming in alone from the left wing and no defensive help is in sight, the goalie will have to be more cautious and patient. If the puck carrier is coming in from one side and a defensive teammate is hustling back into the play from the middle, this changes the time element of the play. Under pressure, the puck carrier will have less time and space to work with, and the goalie can factor that in, perhaps coming out more aggressively to one side knowing that if the attacker moves to the other side he’ll be playing into the approaching teammate. Coaches should allow goalies to work on all variations of breakaways and not just penalty shot or shootout types at the end of practice. Some breakaways begin just a few feet from a goalie, which doesn’t give him time to get out and create that backward momentum. These should be practiced as well (see the breakaway drill). Mini-Breakaway Drill Place three shooters, each with a puck, about 15 to 25 feet from the goalie: one directly in front, one off to the left by the face-off dot, and one at the right dot. The coach stands behind the net and points to one of the puck carriers. Upon that silent signal, that player attacks the goal. The goalie won’t know which attacker he must play until that player starts skating. Up to that point, the goalie must keep all three in sight with peripheral vision. As an option, have a fourth player out behind this line of shooters. His job is to fill the slot vacated by the shooter. This way, you will always have three potential shooters at the start of each sequence. Another option is to move the shooters who are on the two face-off dots deeper toward the goal line.
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