Sagittarius A* wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:39 pm
MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 9:49 am
I agree, but I was never able to get any of the kids I coached to do so, including my son when he decided to switch to the net in 8th grade. They don't want to be slowed down. (and of course have a screw or two loose as it is). He did finally start to wear some baggy sweats, recognizing that gave him a little more protection, especially when he went down to the ground, and also could catch a few shots in the folds.
The stupidity of having players in shorts in the freezing cold, though, always blew my mind...really, really dumb. my son had a college coach like that.
You seem to have both played goalie and coached the position. I'm just wondering what you think has been the problem(s) with the Jay's goaltending all these years since pretty much Bassett graduated. Has it been a lack of talent, over coaching, too much pressure? I'm just wondering what your take is on our goalie woes.
I believe Junior can improve the offense and Keosterer can put together a passable defense, albeit with a clear lack of experience there. However, I'm still a little worried about the goal tending moving forward. Is this a situation that can be remedied?
I've posted about this a few times over the years, Sag.
I'm too far away from the specific experience goalies have had this past decade
at Hopkins to think that I know for sure. There have certainly been reports (squashed quickly back in LP days by the mods) of coaching style that was potentially quite adverse to the nurturing and development of goalies. The kind of harsh critique directed at players that has everyone 'squeezing the stick too tight'. I dunno if that's true, but certainly could have been. It's not uncommon in some coaches.
I did not think that the addition of goalie specific coach, even one with the superb personal career in the net, was going to suddenly change the trajectory of goalie development but I allowed as to how it might help, especially if it changed the general tone to more supportive (if that was the trouble). I could see from the stands various technical aspects that a coach could tweak, but it was difficult to say whether those were more mental disciplines or lack of training...either way, the right coach can help build the skills and the confidence in those skills.
I've also come to realize that as much as I've been a student of the position, when I've watched my son coach the position I've been blown away by how much more conscious he is in his coaching and analysis of players. Very detailed on all the little disciplines, the philosophy of each movement. His eye is much better than mine. Like me, he had limited physical talents, so made up for it by focus on the little elements that add up to reduce angles, improve probabilities, as well as the mental aspects, quieting one's mind in the moment to pure focus, while also exhibiting all the leadership skills that make such a difference to the defense. It's not about how loud one is (though there's certainly lots of directing) but rather the resilience, the 'next shot, next play' attitude. Defenses respond to this, especially when things get rough...as they inevitably will. And of course, defenses love it when their goalie bails them out with a big inside save. Trust is super important.
Where I
did have more insight, or at least had more basis for such, was in the recruitment process. What was objectively observable was that in several successive years, Hopkins was the first announced goalie commitment. Way, way too early IMO to tell whether a goalie would ultimately develop into a highly competitive college tender. Way too much time between their play in 8th and 9th and even 10th grade to truly know where their psyches would be as they matured further. The recruiting of tenders in that era (by lots of coaches who didn't really know the position) was based on observable athleticism. Which can be markedly different based on physical maturation. what I didn't see among many of those tenders was clear steadiness under pressure, disciplines of stick position, footwork, etc. Just athleticism against lesser shots...
But even more importantly, perhaps, year after year that announced first pick by Hopkins 'blew up', either while still in HS and never made it to Hopkins or stopped their development or never made the jump once they got to Hop. This meant last minute shuffles. I was watching a lot of these kids over those years as my own son was playing the position, so I saw a lot of them play in summer ball etc. For whatever reason, the kids I thought showed the most promise longer term weren't the ones chosen by Hopkins. Were these just the wrong picks, too early? Or just bad luck? But certainly Hopkins was not alone in whiffing, but it was a long stretch. Not that the tenders ultimately on the field weren't capable players, just for some reason they fell short of the excellence necessary to lift the team.
One data point that was disturbing was that the 5th year grad transfer played far less well for Hopkins than at his former Big 10 school...
So, back to the development and psychological nurturing of the guys you have...it takes a lot of conscious work.
I'd be generally optimistic, at this point, that Hopkins will have some strong goaltending over the next decade.
Gotta say, though, that those of us who have watched Hopkins over the generations have been a bit 'spoiled' by so many truly outstanding players...
yes, I tend to be wordy. 
