Here’s a modern approach to goalie-specific training

A goalie works on single-leg training at Stadium Performance.

A couple weeks ago, I was having lunch with my wife on a Sunday before the Stanley Cup Final and I received a phone call from a high-profile NHL agent. He was headed to Las Vegas to attend an arbitration hearing and wanted to discuss one of his goalie prospects in respect to his training. “I just want to make sure he’s doing goalie-specific exercises,” he said. I thought to myself, and responded, “He’s doing goalie-specific movement patterns — there’s a difference.”

A few weeks prior, I brought a couple of my goalies together for a quick water-cooler discussion. Both goalies are draft eligible and more than likely will end up in an NHL system. “How has single-leg, eccentric and explosive training changed your game?” They both agreed that prior to fully understanding the value of training to improve movement patterns and to oppose injury, their training regimen was primarily flexibility complemented by strength training. Now, their core principles revolve around strength training, and they complement that with flexibility.