07/06/2026
⚡️Here we see a U9 goalie executing a warm up drill:
1. Start on the goal line, centre of crease.
💡it’s useful for them to start by standing on their goal line, find the centre of the crease, and then begin the drill/challenge the puck - this ensures the proper angle is established from the start.
2. Begin by C-cutting into a glide, as if there is a play developing up ice with the potential for the offensive team to set up in the zone.
💡This should start to happen once the offensive team hits the redline.
3. From there, the goalie shuffles at the top of the crease - keeping their toes square, as if the threat is cutting into the middle.
💡When hunting a threat while shuffling, the biggest mistake goalies make is getting too ahead of the puck carrier and giving up the far side. Stay patient, imagine there is a string attaching your belly button to the puck - keep it as straight as possible.
4. The goalie follows a pass to a shooter that is just inside and at the top of the circle.
💡 the puck is moving from between the posts to outside of the posts, that means a goalie will need to rotate and go THRU the crease (not above/laterally) to hit their angle and manage depth - “thru the blue to get to the red”.
🔑Key details: hands are in front, eyes and shoulders are leading the way, square shuffles, pushes through the crease to hit the right angle for the shot, reads, tracks, and reacts to both shots really well.
A typical session at Crease Lightning Performance starts with skating - either edge work, crease skating, or 3/5-puck drills with a focus on hitting angles and being square to the puck. From there, warm up shots are incorporated, along with all the skating elements that were just practiced, to work on puck tracking and save selection.
