Over the years I have often pondered why hockey players and goaltenders in particular rise above and make it to the NHL. Why do so many end up driving the ice resurfacer, selling value meals at a fast food restaurant, or eternally reminding the customer,"You must pay before you pump after 11:00 pm, Sir." (Not that those are bad career choices!) From the home office in Sioux City, Iowa here are the Top Ten Reasons for Success:

1) Want it more than your parents - You know who you are. Daddy hacks and whacks in the beer league. "I could've, should've, would've but…"
2) Ability to recognize and study successful peers.
3) Willing to experiment.
4) Able to handle praise and attention properly and with perspective.
5) Hockey is a healthy full-time obsession.
6) Able to work longer and harder than real or imagined peers. If you already work harder than anyone you know does, you must recognize that there is probably someone you don't know doing more than you. This is a powerful motivator.
7) Able to internalize confidence. Ask Brian Burke of the Vancouver Canucks if I was adept at this! Oh, you said internalize, not externalize. Show people how good you are, don't tell them.
8) Able to handle constructive criticism. If you are already that perfect why aren't you in the NHL? (I am starting to sound like Quent Rhia!) Just seeing if you read this stuff, Paul.
9) Continued practice on weakness. You must assess, recognize and accept weakness in certain areas. Develop and perfect weaknesses. Challenge weakness, don't ignore it.
10) Continued practice on skills already mastered. I always run into goalies that don't need to work on a certain element of the game because they already have it down. All goaltenders in the NHL continue to work on basics like movement, rebound control and recoveries.

     99% of current NHL players never made it there solely on the talent they were born with. They experienced benching, political team cuts, lost parental popularity contests, bad injuries, bad timing, bad teammates, bad coaches and a litany of other potential career stoppers. They rose above doubters, they rose above jealousy, and they rose above common and uncommon excuses for failure. Simply put, they single-handedly did it.

" Strive to determine every potential excuse for failure in your current situation. Systematically, and with vigor, refuse and refute each instance, determining that your upward path is entirely self-directed not externally determined."

     Every once in a while I get questions from readers about goalie related topics. I want to address some of the more common questions here.

1) I get really nervous before I play. What should I do?

     You are experiencing something every goalie goes through at some point, including NHLers. This nervousness is caused by fear of failure, embarrassment and perhaps ridicule. It manifests itself with a queasy stomach, sweaty palms, increased breathing and general feelings of dread. You undoubtedly are focused on either past failures or the fear of the unknown in the near future. The key to rise above this and put yourself in a "peak performance" zone is to recognize you are nervous initially. Once it has dawned on you that you are nervous you must do what great golfers do. You must think about the present. What is happening right now? If you think in the past, bad performances may come up. If worry about the upcoming overtime you will again trigger this nervousness.

     To really focus on the present try some of these ideas:
a) Think about your breathing and try to consciously slow it down.
b) Ask yourself questions about the present i.e./ what hand is that centreman?
c) Break the game into 2-minute mini periods. Try for success in each portion and mentally worry only about success in that little period.

2) My coach keeps telling me I go down too much.

     This has got to be the most common complaint I hear from coaches and parents. It is a situation that is almost universally handled incorrectly by the goalie's superiors.

Let me explain with an example: You have problem with math tests.
Solution: Do not write any more tests. Problem solved!

     This obviously a tongue in cheek example but it accurately portrays the problem with everybody telling a goalie he goes down too much. Don't go down. With out writing more math tests and practicing observed weaknesses you will remain an idiot in a small village the rest of you life. The key to this problem is realizing what the coach is trying to say. He really is indicating that you are doing three of the following things incorrectly: a) going down too early, b) going down back in the crease and/or c) not getting up rapidly enough. Does anyone think Hasek goes down too much? To fix this area of your game and placate the coach, practice your recoveries at home and try to be more selective when and where you leave your feet.

3) How often should I sharpen my skates?

     An old myth still lives that suggests goalies should use dull skates. This is wrong. Every goalie playing in the NHL uses sharp skates of various degrees. As your strength and edge control develops you can handle sharper skates. 99% of pro goalies use a hollow grind like a forward's skate and goalies like Jeff Hackett and Patrick Roy sharpen their skates before every game. The legendary goalie coach of Dominik Hasek once answered this question by saying, " If you use dull skates, you might as well be using rubber boots. You have no edge control and an inability to play outside your crease."

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     I placed a simple but powerful quote on a whiteboard during one of my summer camps several years ago.

     “To have the ultimate result of making the NHL you must systematically and with vigor identify all potential issues that could derail your career. Once each area is identified and addressed you are left with only one valid excuse for failure. You weren’t good enough.”

     I want to expand on my quote because within those words one can find the elusive secret to playing in the NHL. Making the NHL is a dream that everyone who plays the game has had and quite frankly is still festering in the minds of the 30 plus age group in the beer leagues.

     We all know the odds are slim but we still choose to believe that we are the chosen one; the one that will make our parents, our friends and our hometown proud. When it becomes evident that we aren’t the chosen one there are two types of people. Which are you?

     I have a unique perspective on this discussion because I have made the NHL twice in two distinct disciplines, over a span of time and without the benefit of a seamless transition from player to coach. The difficulty in the coaching role was not being able to take advantage of the old boy’s network that players with long playing careers use to leapfrog into management positions.

     In précis form here is a quick recap of both journeys. As a goaltender I made the NHL by stepping on the ice to play the New Jersey Devils in a NHL regular season game December 5, 1990. As a coach I made the NHL again in 2003 when I was named as the Goaltending Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Each journey was fraught with figurative peril and the destination was arrived at against truly tall odds.

     There are some key elements of my journey that directly apply to this exercise in determining legitimate excuses for failure. I think some of the more popular excuses I hear can serve as blueprint for us. These are the excuses you hear around the gym, the rink and at parties. All failed athletes will readily discuss which successful players they played with and against and typically let it be known they were just as good as the guy that made it. The could have, would have, should have group is a large one indeed. Indeed many of you reading this may recognize a little or a lot of these excuse traits within yourself.

     My intention is not to belittle failed attempts to make the big leagues but to critically analyze why people don’t make it so that those that still can make it don’t fall into those same excuse pitfalls.

Excuse # 1- Injuries ended any chances I had to make it.

     There are definitely legitimate cases of injuries that have certainly ended careers. Several players have broken necks and are paralyzed. This point is not about this miniscule yet tragic group. This is about players that are still able to play recreational hockey or at least function at a normal job. Every player that makes the NHL has had serious injuries and a majority of players have had surgeries of some sort. Players have overcome eye damage, concussions blown out knees and shoulders.

     My example is typical in some respects. I dislocated my left shoulder 15 times and my right shoulder 17 times, each dislocation requiring an ER visit to reduce the dislocation. As a result I had both shoulders repaired in major bilateral surgery by world renowned Dr. Richard Hawkins.

     I have had my left knee operated on, my left hip adductor muscle completely release from its insertion at my pelvis and coil up like a softball under my skin near my knee.

     I have had over a dozen concussions, 3 distinct and lengthy losses of consciousness on the ice including a point shot one timer the burrowed in and stuck in my Chris Osgood style college helmet.

     I have had floaters and retina issues but I still made it. The most convenient excuse for failure is because of injuries. It takes responsibility for the failed career out of the athlete’s hands. It allows for the ego comforting thought that “I was good enough to make it.”

     It is an extremely rare case where a doctor would say without equivocation that it is 100% impossible for an athlete to continue playing their sport. Injuries kill the will to overcome them more often than the injury kills the career.

Excuse # 2 - Politics and Nepotism killed my career

     This one is a go to excuse for many failed athletes. “The coach always picked his son for the team” and “my parents didn’t have the money to buy my way on to the top teams exposure-wise”.

     My father never coached any of my teams, doesn’t know how to skate and has been a hard working mechanic for over 40 years. We never had the resources to buy our way onto any teams and my father never had the ability to select me ahead of another kid.

     I had to play house league hockey until I was 13 because the banker’s son was the goalie on the travel team and in my mind I was far better. My parents didn’t drink and party so all the big parties at the banker’s house certainly gave me every opportunity to feel the sting of politics first hand. Many times “Fat Frankie” couldn’t get up from the ice without flopping over to his belly and climbing up the post yet who starts in the Silver Sticks?

     I welcomed this type of unfairness. I reveled in it. It gave me goose bumps then as it does as I write this. I was going to prove these people wrong and I make sure they heard from me when I overcame it and made the NHL. They all received calls shortly after December 5, 1990. Later I will discuss my “Doubter’s Diary”

Excuse # 3 – The scouts never saw me and I was overlooked.

     There are many examples of NHL players who made it in spite of being overlooked in the NHL and in some cases the Major Junior Draft. Clearly scouting is not an exact science and many athletes are overlooked. But this is not an excuse rather another can of gas to fuel your desire.

     I was not drafted to the OHL when I was draft eligible because all the press fell in love with guys like Jeff Hackett and others. As a junior B player, I knew I was better than Hackett but still the scouts ignored me. I was so upset that the London Knights didn’t draft me that I called their coach every day begging to let me come out to their practices to show them what I could do. They wouldn’t invite me so I showed up anyway at practice at the old London Gardens and got dressed in a bathroom. I attempted to sneak out on the ice but the coach refused and man handled me out of the player’s bench. That coach is now a good friend of mine and I see him frequently as we are both NHL scouts now. At the time however I was shaking with rage. I went straight home to Strathroy and began doing my hill sprints until I collapsed.

     While playing Junior B in Strathroy Mitch Korn from Miami University attended one of my games and was looking at offering a full scholarship to Jeff Hackett who had left Oshawa and come back to London. In this first viewing he witnessed me allow 7 goals but he must have saw something as he spoke to me after the game.

     My next game was the Western Junior B All Star game, which were not normally defensive gems in the 80’s. I was scheduled to play the first half of the game and ironically at the other end was Mr.Hackett. I allowed the first shot on goal to go in and it was at this point you find out what you are made of. I proceeded to stop the next 29 shots in my half of the game and after the game I was offered a full ride to Miami University.

     Scouts will see you and will hear about you if you are playing well at an appropriate level. If you dominate at the midget level you will play junior somewhere and so on up the hockey ladder.

     If you aren’t playing at the highest level you can be, find out what is wrong with your game and fix it. Don’t succumb to the common excuses for failure. If you ask any of the guys in the beer leagues this question I firmly believe I know what the honest answer is.

     “If you had it to do over again, could you have done anything differently?”

     If you did everything humanly and honestly possible to make the NHL you are left with the only acceptable excuse for failure. You weren’t good enough.

     It is a blow to our egos when we accept this but the reality is we are not all good enough. Not being good enough is a victory at some level if it exists in your world after all measures have been taken and all excuses ignored and overcome. Now you can hold your head high and look in the mirror.

My Doubter’s Diary

     From this article you may begin to sense my burning hatred of those that doubted me and my abilities. I wanted to make it more to prove people wrong than to make it for the sake of making it. No one could then and no one can today tell me I wasn’t good enough to play in the NHL. One of the key motivational tools I used and still have today is my Doubter’s Diary. In this binder I have written down the comments and names of EVERY person who has ever indicated that I wouldn’t make the NHL. It is quite ragged as you could imagine and has over a dozen pages. Everyone in this book has received a call or a visit after I made the NHL to “thank them” for motivating me. The people who doubted me ranged from coaches to GM’s to teammates. I will share with you my favorite one and the one who received my first phone call at 10:48 EST on December 5, 1990.

     During Second Grade we had a chance to tell Ms. McNeil what we were going to be when we grew up. This of course is common in all schools.

     “I will play in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stevie McKichan” The original words printed out quite messily with a dull large primary pencil.

     Ms. McNeil’s comments appear in red pen immediately below.

     “That will most likely never happen. You need to pick something possible like a firefighter, police officer or teacher.”

Oh it definitely was possible.

The goaltender’s stick is a crucial tool and in many cases is under-used and quite often used in an ill-advised manner.  There is typically more than one way to approach each save selection or game situation however, I have observed many issues related to stick use that need to be addressed.  For some undetermined reason, goalies today refuse or resist the use of their stick in simple situations that can easily keep pucks out of their net.

A) Cutting Passes – I don’t want my goalies lunging and committing their body in an attempt to intercept centering passes or cross crease lateral feeds with their sticks.  However, pucks passed within two feet of their body MUST be handled by getting their stick involved.  Too many goalies allow puck access within their limits and easy tap in goals are the result.  Allowing a preventable cross crease pass, for me, is as bad as allowing a floater in from centre ice.

B) Poke Checks – I don’t advocate a return to goaltending from the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s when goalies overused poke checks in my opinion.  The goalies in this era were commonly observed diving, lunging, and committing fully to some advised and some ill-advised poke checks.  The pendulum has now swung the other way and I now rarely, if ever, see a smart poke check deployed.  The actual technique and variety in poke checks can only be discussed in textbook sized chunks but I want to address the use of poke checks in general terms.  Allergies to poke checking will cause a few preventable issues.
i) Players can jump on tight loose puck rebounds and bury them as the poke-challenged goalie stares at the puck well within a stick length.
ii) On breakaways and shootouts, a goalie that never poke checks allows a comfort zone to appear a stick length directly in front of their stance. An attacker can bring a puck closely in this area without fear of a poke check.  A quick lateral deke from this comfort zone leaves the goalie little time to react.  Alternatively, if you are known to poke check an attacker will make his lateral deke BEFORE this area. This allows more time for you to react to the deke because he has to start the deke with greater separation from you.

C) Stick Involvement – For some reason, I have begun to see goalies over the last several years misusing their sticks when they butterfly.  The technical mistake occurs when the goalie places their stick blade on the ice angled back like a 9-iron.  It is disconcerting to see young goalies holding their stick incorrectly when they butterfly.(see left photo) When the stick is used in this manner pucks needlessly deflect up into the goaltender’s waist area or into their leg pads causing rebounds that are impossible to consistently control.  

The stick needs to be held with the blade close to a 3-iron angle.(see right photo)  This is the only way to properly use your stick to control rebounds when in the butterfly position. 

At the peril of joining the beer leagues sooner rather than later please begin to take advantage of a very important piece of equipment – your stick.