The keeper of the great and holy expanse between the
crossbar,
posts and the back of the
net.
Soccer goalies are attired as the rest of the
players, except that they usually wear
gloves, as they are the only ones allowed to use their
hands in the normal course of
play.
Hockey goalies are a different matter entirely. They are attired with special
helmets,
sticks, a glove and blocker ,and
shin-pads that look like pillows, but which are reinforced with
steel. The hockey goalie is an intimidating character.
All goalies, however, tend to share a certain
psychology or
spirit. Simply put, goaltenders are
crazy kids--completely and totally
nuts. You almost have to be, really, to
volunteer to throw yourself in front of speeding
projectiles for the sake of a
game. Because of this, goalies tend to be some of the more interesting members of a
hockey team
Many goaltenders are very
superstitious.
Patrick Roy, for example, jumps the
blue lines and the
red line whenever he skates on or off the
ice. Some goalies talk to the
goalposts, or their
stick. A signed
glove, or other piece of equiptment is
lucky, and many professional players write the names of their families or children underneath the tape on their sticks.
Other superstitions include dressing in a certain manner,
paranoia about who touches their
equiptment, and systems of stretches, pole-tapping, and mental preparation.
Despite the
superstitions, a goaltender needs to be the most
athletic and
fit player on the ice. Goalies usually play between 30 and 60 minutes of a 60-minute game, not including all the time they spend on the ice during stoppages. Contrary to popular belief, almost none of this time is
rest. A good goalie is always watching the game: the players of both teams, the patterns and
plays working out, but mostly the
puck. The puck is the goalie's
best friend and
worst enemy. You want it to come to you, to imbed itself in the soft
leather of your
glove, but you also
distrust it. If, for a single moment, you
let down your guard, it will slip past you into the Forbidden Space between the crossbars. A goalie must ever be vigilant!
Goalie
training usually includes
strength,
flexibility,
quickness and, most of all,
endurance. It wouldn't do much good to anyone if a goalie had the fastest glove in the
NHL, but could only stay in
peak condition for a 90 second
shift (Which is a standard-length shift for
forwards and
defensemen.)