Your goalie’s stance

You’re wondering what your goalie’s stance should look like and still convinced it’s the days of all leather pads and no masks. Hate to break it to you, but those days have past and goalies are adopting an entirely new style of play and a rather simple stance. So let’s get down to it.

The basic stance is one of the first things that a young goaltender needs to learn. A good stance allows the goalie to be ready to move and make saves. The goalie should be able to comfortably maintain their stance for long periods of time. The following are the key components to a good, solid stance:

Legs should be wider than shoulders
Knees slightly bent
Straight back with upper body leaned slightly forward
Blade of the stick lightly on the ice covering the five-hole, forward of the skates
Gloves in front of the body pointed towards the puck (catching glove open)
Chin tilted down so eyes are centered and focused on the puck
Weight divided equally on both skates on the balls of the feet
Upper body and arms relaxed
Stick held loosely but under control