Quick Hits: Deep thoughts on Goaltending, Clutterbuck
I found this fascinating blog devoted to Kari Lehtonen. He's a goalie not much on my radar, but hey, you never know when goalie love is going to stick to you like superglue, so I dig it.
Anyway, a post yesterday about the mental process of goaltending kinda stuck out to me as interesting even out of the Lehtonen context:
However if we speak about goalies it’s impossible for them to remove all the negative statements from their mind since their game duty is to generate negative messages for opposing team. Once Kari confessed to the media that he enjoyed making a guest arena silenced with his game (can’t find exact quote). That’s a difficult emotional task – being outward-negative to stay inward-positive . Perhaps, this ambivalence makes goalies more self-centered, more complicated and different from other players, but that is the part of their game.I think that just blew my mind (not difficult). Fellow goalies, does this ring a bell?
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Puck Daddy has a whole post on this shootout goal by Nazem Kadri. I don't see what the big deal is. The old deke and tuck. Guy's probably been doing that since he was 9. More amazing is that Curry bit on the deke, but hey, you can't win 'em all.
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Bold Prediction: Matt Beaudoin will play some regular season NHL games this year for Dallas.
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Great Clutterbuck article by Russo today. Though have you ever read a bad Clutterbuck article? Kid's a great story and a great quote. He's a beat writer's dream come true, but of course, Russo rocks it extra hard because that's just what he does.
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11 comments:
You only like the C-buck article because it mentioned the Calder campaign. ;)
And how exactly do you have an entire blog dedicated to one goalie? Ouch.
Easily, Buddha. You just aren't obsessive enough to understand. :)
Kadri's SO goal was just the culmination of an amazing performance. The talking heads all assumed he would be back to juniors, but he was out every other shift and one of the few forwards who was always a threat to score...and boy the SO move was so slick, like the puck was glue to his stick.
Oh, and you need an entire blog to dedicate to Lehtinen to keep track of all his injuries.
Oh...deleted... and we were sooo looking forward to Matt against the Aeros here all the time ;-) sigh, will have to drive up to Dallas afterall..Hyatt here we come.
wow.Matt is really climbing the ladder of success!!
what makes you think matt beaudoin is going to play nhl games?
just curious ;)
Answer #1: Bold predictions implicitly do not require explanation.
Answer #2: But to be nice, it's because I've follow the Dallas Stars beat writer's blog and seeing his name a lot from Dallas camp. He's making a great impression up there.
ohhhh.:)
ok,makes sense & I will be sure not to question your bold predictions in the future LOL
Ms.C, I'd say that at a glance the Kadri goal might seem pretty standard but I'll take a stab at the great, yet subtle, things about. JL (does Jacque Lemaire really comment on your blog?) already mentioned the media aspect of it, which actually kinda supports your BFD feelings about it. But Kadri's age and draft position make do aid in the wow-factor. Then again, he was up against a rookie goalie.
For me it's the combination of smooth, salmon-like skating with the ginsu chef hands. Yeah, a fish with ginsu hands. I just wrote that. Oy.
Anyway, check out the close up of the wrists in the slow-mo replay followed by how up-close-and-personal he gets with Curry before the smooth deke--again, like salmon.
Maybe I'm just hungry. :\
I'm in TEARS laughing at how much you just compared a hockey player to a fish. TEARS!
Give me a moment...
Okay... So I watched again. I see the wrists... I guess it would be more impressive if some low-drafted stone-hander did that, but that's exactly the stuff I expect from a high pick like that kid was. I mean, that's his job is to do that shit right there. He's done it a gazillion times. And with no defenders, it doesn't matter that he's 155 lbs soaking wet.
Curry's not that much of a rookie by my estimation. 4 years at BU and this is his third year pro. He's a decent goalie who's stopped that shot a gazillion times, too.
But then maybe I'm just harder on goalies. *aaaaaand there it is!*
A goalie friend of mine captured the joy of goaltending perfectly:
The skater coming towards you, he's like a little kid at Christmas. He's SO SURE he's going to score (get a present). So excited he can hardly stand it. So he shoots ... and comes up with nothing. All because of you.
It's a lot of fun to be the Grinch on Christmas.
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