You’ve probably heard it before: stay “square” to the puck. If you stay square, you have a better chance of stopping more shots.
Being square means keeping your body between the puck and the center of the net and your chest pointing straight at the puck. It can be a hard thing to remember to do when you’re first learning to play goalie, so here’s a quick tip to help you remember. Imagine you’re Superman. Superman? Superman is the Man of Steel. When someone shoots a gun at him, what does he do? Does he twist his body to the side to avoid the bullets? Does he turn around or side step to dodge the bullets? Of course not. Superman puffs his chest up and points it right at the oncoming bullets. He stays square to the shooter and lets the shots him right in the chest. By doing so, he maximizes the blocking surface available to stop the bullets, is able to watch what the shooter is going to do next, and intimidates the shooter with how calm and composed he is.
So the next time you’re out on the ice, go ahead and take a page from the Superman playbook. Imagine you’re invincible, keep your chest pointing at the shooter, put your body between the puck and the center of the net, and show the shooters what you’re made of.
