Five Hole

Hockey100 · Veteran Member

Five Hole

barry33 · Guru

Hockey100 wrote:

Can someone explain to me why our goalies always seem let in a soft goal through their legs because they don't keep their stick on the ice. Both goalies in our last two games allowed one in through their legs, and in both cases, the RDS commentators commented on the fact that their stick weren’t on the ice and/or between their legs.

It is like the old joke "Theo tried tgo commit suicide last night after the game by jumping in front of a bus, but he is ok. It went between his legs"

I can tell you that as a goalie, and now a coach. it is something that is drilled into goalies all the time. Last year I took a 20lb weight and taped it to my goalies stick in practice so that he would stop lifting it. Long story short...it only worked during practice

Traveling Hab · Veteran Member

Hey Barry,

As another goalie I can tell you that the weight on the goalie's stick will make him lazier with keeping it down since the weight does the job for him. What you need is good old fashioned suicides, butterflies, assandups, or whatever (depending on what your goalie needs work on and just how hard on him you want to be). Everytime you see him take his stick off the ice during a drill he has to do 20 butterflies. The players keep doing the drill around him to not disrupt the flow of practice. Every time he lets in a fivehole goal, he has to do a set of suicides (not the jump in front of a bus kind, the end to end kind) at the next practice.

Maybe I am too sadistic to be a coach, but this is the kind of stuff that worked for me.

As for Huet, I am sure Melanson notices too, and has the right solution

heet_150 · Guru

I am starting to think it has to do with a reliance on the padding on the top of their pads to close together and shut down the five hole (see photo). This (theoretically, I guess) would give a goaltender the option to raise their blocker arm and cut off more of the net.

davidb · Guru

I remember Howie Meeker (remember him) back in the 1970s saying the same thing about Dryden during a Rangers Habs game. It is something I have railed on for 2 years. Just watch some goailes go down. As they are dropping the puck goes 5 hole before they get the stick down.

barry33 · Guru

I really think I have the answer! My ex-wife could become a goalie coach..as she was an expert in "shutting the five hole".

davidb · Guru

Oh thats bad

AB Habman · Guru

How nasty!

adam13 · Member

I'm surprised that to counter the five hole shot more goalies don't use Brodeur's half butterfly/butterfly style?

Traveling Hab · Veteran Member

There is no butterfly problem with the five hole if you just keep your stick on the ice. There should be no "before you get your stick on the ice" since it should never come off it in the first place.

Many goalies get into the bad habit since the natural reaction when you drop to your knees is to wave your arms a little. Using the half butterfly won't fix that, since having your stick on the ice is still just as important, and you need to be in that habit for so many other situations.