People often talk about the mentality of a goalie. The ability to do what we do is especially key to the mentality of the player himself.
Mikka Kiprusoff was the best example for me of pure goalie mentality. If you watch clips of Mikka, his reaction after a goal or an amazing save is the same, He would raise his mask, and take a drink of water. This was his way of dealing with the fact that each episode was only a small part of a 60 min contest that required focus to complete.
Most goalies strive to achieve the feeling quiet calm confidence in their game. Few actually achieve it. I myself have struggled time and time again. A goalies focus can be affected by so much, and is very difficult to change during a game. You see goalies trying to focus or find ways to concentrate.
At 12 years old, I read an article about a goalie who used to build a mental wall in front of his net. I began trying the same. Just before the opening faceoff, I would skate to the blue line and slowly skate back to my crease. The whole way back I would mentally build a wall brick by brick. All the time telling myself it was my job to keep the wall in tact. Some nights it worked….some nights the wall came down. But it was a consistent method for me to start every game. There were, on occasions, times where a defenceman would greet me part way to have a chat, only to be met with silence. Of note…don’t mess with a goalie, he’s a bit nuts as it is.
Since those days I have had different ways of dealing with focus. Music for a short time helped, unless you got a song stuck in your head that wasn’t er..um…appropriate….any goalie with kids knows where I am coming from. It’s a lot more difficult in the FBHL to get to that place mentally. As many people and personalities there are no real “quiet” places to focus or prepare, but I do notice each goalies abilities to focus mentally.
There was a goalie a few years ago, Anthony Elia. Some will remember him for his eccentric ways. I will most notably remember him for his quest for focus. There were times he would do yoga/meditation before games. As well as his experiment with listening to an ipod during play. Each goalie will do what it takes to get in the “zone”.
A goalie coach once told me, the best way to maintain composure is to have a really bad memory. oh how I wish I could forget!
I will finish with this. Players, did you screen me? Doesn’t matter. Did you miss picking up your guy? Doesn’t matter. Did I let in a soft one…probably, but doesn’t matter. What matters is the next Faceoff, next goal, the next save. Move forward in your game, there isn’t enough time to look behind, besides…there’s a wall there right?….
Tony
