Shot Blockers

Okay, I lied (you knew I was lying right?)

I had to share one of Justin Bourne's latest articles with you, this one on shot blockers.

He's right that guys whose bread and butter is blocking shots are a different breed. From my perspective, they're fascinating, because as much as I was drawn to a job that has pucks hurtling into my body, you couldn't pay me to stand in front of hard shots in player gear.

Goalie gear, heck yeah. I'm padded within an inch of my life. Player gear? No thank you.

One of my all time favorite shot blockers is Paul Albers, who played for the Aeros for a couple of years. I think there was some frustration on his part about not being allowed to play more of an offensive-defenseman role, but oh.my.god. was that guy fearless in front of his own net. If I had a dollar for every time I said, "Ouch!" watching him play, I could take us both to a fancy dinner.

I understand the Wild's Greg Zanon is cut from the same cloth, but these guys don't translate on TV. I hear raves from people who get to watch the Wild in person, but I've rarely noticed him. That's got to account partly for why these guys are under-appreciated.

But I can tell you, the goalies know exactly who they are. There's nothing that will endear a player to me more than watching them put their body between me and the puck while still allowing me to see the puck. It's a beautiful, black-and-blue art and those guys are my heroes.