Goaltending explained: how goalies play, and how to beat them
The goalie is the most important player on the ice and the least understood. Fans see the saves; they rarely see the positioning, skating and reading of the play that make the saves look easy. This guide explains how goaltending works in real hockey, then how the goalies in Brudvig Hockey use the same ideas, and what that means for scoring on them.
Everything we say about the game's goalies comes from how they're actually programmed, so you can use it.
Part 1: How real goalies play
Angles: the first principle
A puck travels in a straight line from the shooter's stick. Picture a triangle from the puck to the two goal posts. The goalie's job is to put his body in that triangle so it fills as much of the net as possible from where the puck is. Being "on your angle" means being centered on the line from the puck to the middle of the net. A goalie who's off his angle leaves one side open no matter how big he is.
Depth: how far out
Coming out of the net toward the shooter makes the goalie cover more of the net, the same way your hand covers more of a distant building when you hold it closer to your eye. But the farther out he is, the farther he has to move to get across for a pass or a rebound. So goalies adjust depth constantly: further out against a shooter with time and space, deeper when the puck is close or a pass across is likely.
Square to the puck
"Square" means facing the puck straight on, shoulders and pads turned toward it. A square goalie covers the most net and directs rebounds in front of him rather than off to the side.
The butterfly
Most modern goalies play a butterfly style: dropping to the knees with the pads flared out to the sides, sealing the bottom of the net, while the body, glove and blocker cover the middle and top. Because most goals in modern hockey are scored low or from close in, the butterfly takes away a lot. The trade-off is the top of the net, and the time it takes to move while down.
Post play
When the puck is behind the goal line or at a sharp angle, the shooter has almost no net to shoot at. Goalies seal the near post, often with a technique where one pad lies along the ice against the post and the other leg pushes off, so nothing squeaks in. The danger is the pass out front, so they must be ready to push off the post and get across.
Movement: shuffles and T-pushes
For small moves, goalies shuffle sideways while staying square. For big moves, like a pass across the crease, they use a T-push: turning the lead skate toward where they're going and pushing hard with the back leg. It's the fastest way across, but a goalie still moving when the shot comes is smaller and less set.
Tracking and reading the play
Goalies follow the puck with their eyes all the way onto the body, and they read the play: where can the puck go next, who's open, is the shooter going to shoot or pass? Good goalies seem to be in position early because they anticipated it.
Screens, tips and deflections
Anything that hides the puck or changes its direction late is a goalie's enemy. A screen is a player standing between the shooter and the goalie. A tip is a stick redirecting the shot on purpose. A deflection is the puck hitting something by accident. All three cut the goalie's reaction time.
More on beating goalies this way in screens, tips and deflections.
Rebound control
A save isn't finished until the puck is safe. Good goalies catch what they can, smother pucks in close, and steer the rest to the corners rather than back into the slot. Rebounds are where many goals come from.
Desperation saves
When the goalie is beaten on position, he throws whatever he can: stacking the pads across the ice, sprawling, reaching with the stick or glove. They're spectacular, and they leave him on the ice and vulnerable to the next shot.
Playing the puck
Goalies also handle the puck: stopping it behind the net, passing to defensemen, and smothering loose pucks to stop play. In arcade hockey without whistles, "covering" the puck means holding it briefly and then moving it.
Part 2: How Brudvig Hockey's goalies play
The computer plays both goalies in every Brudvig Hockey game. They're built on the same principles:
- On the angle. The goalie stays between the puck and the middle of his net.
- Depth changes with distance. He comes out to challenge a shooter from the slot and further out, and stays deeper when the puck is in tight.
- The butterfly in close. When a puck carrier gets close in front, he drops into the butterfly to take away the bottom of the net.
- Post play. When the puck goes below the goal line, he hugs the near post. When a carrier is in tight below the line, he drops a pad along the post.
- T-pushes across. On a pass across, he goes with the puck, pushing across. He's no faster than his legs, and slower getting across from the butterfly.
- Reaction time. On a shot, he reacts after a short delay, and picks a save for where it's going: standing tall, butterfly for low shots, glove or blocker for high ones.
- Slower through traffic. His reaction is later through a screen, on a tip or deflection, and against a player who's on fire.
- Desperation. If he can't get there in time, he throws a pad stack or a sprawl. That leaves him down for a moment, scrambling back up.
- Rebounds. Where a shot hits him, and how square he was, decides where the rebound goes. Glove saves are often caught and held.
- Playing the puck. He'll go out to grab a loose puck near the crease if he can get there first, and sometimes poke the puck off a carrier who comes too close. When he has it, he holds it a moment and then passes it out to a teammate.
- Nothing is certain. Even a save he's in position for can squeak through, more often on a very hard shot, a tip, a one-timer, a rebound, a screened shot, or a shot from a player on fire. From a very sharp angle, though, he's on the post and nothing squeaks through.
Honest notes on difficulty
The ⚙️ settings include a Difficulty choice (Easy, Medium or Hard) for games against the computer. On Easy, the computer's goalie lets in a bit more. And to keep games close, the computer's goalie sharpens up a little when you're ahead. We'd rather tell you than have you wonder.
Part 3: How to score on them
Every tip below follows from how the goalies work.
Make him move
The goalie is biggest when he's set and square. Make him slide. A pass across the front of the net forces a T-push, and a one-timer off that pass arrives while he's still moving and smaller. It's the best chance in the game. See drill 2: cross-ice one-timers.
Cut across the crease
Skating across the front of the net does the same thing on your own. He has to follow you, and a quick wrist shot back toward the side he left is hard to stop.
Go high on the butterfly
When he drops into the butterfly in close, the bottom of the net is sealed and the top is open. Slap shots and higher shots are your friend here.
Pick your side
Push the stick left or right as you shoot and the shot goes to that side of the net, as you see it. Leave it centered and your skater picks the opening himself. Off to one side, shooting across to the far side is usually best.
Use traffic
A teammate between you and the goalie is a screen: the goalie reacts later. A teammate at the net can also tip a shot, which redirects it late.
Follow up
Rebounds go in. After a shot, especially one that hits him in the body or pads, look for the loose puck. A shot right after a save catches him recovering.
Punish the desperation save
When he stacks or sprawls, he's down for a moment. If the puck stays loose, shoot again before he's up.
Don't bother from the corner
From a very sharp angle he's on the post, and nothing squeaks through. Pass it out front instead.
Get on fire
Score two in a row with the same skater and he catches fire. Goalies have trouble seeing his shots and more of them squeak through. Feed him the puck while it lasts.
What goalies teach everyone else
Understanding goaltending makes you a better shooter, in real hockey and in the game. Shooters who think like goalies don't shoot at the logo on the jersey; they move the puck, change the angle, and shoot while the goalie is still getting there. More on the real-ice side in how to shoot a hockey puck, and on the moves in famous hockey moves.
Goalie terms
- Angle: the line from the puck to the net the goalie lines up on.
- Blocker: the flat glove on the goalie's stick hand.
- Butterfly: knees down, pads flared.
- Five-hole: the gap between the goalie's legs.
- Glove side: the side with the catching glove.
- Post seal: pad tight against the post when the puck is at a sharp angle.
- Rebound: the loose puck after a save.
- Screen: a player blocking the goalie's view.
- Square: facing the puck straight on.
- T-push: the push across the crease.
More words in the hockey glossary.
Test it
Play Brudvig Hockey free and try the ideas one at a time: a cross-ice one-timer, a high shot on the butterfly, a screen, a rebound. Then see Brudvig Hockey tips for the rest of the game.