The first play that springs to mind after writing that headline is Ty Conklin behind the Edmonton Oilers net in Game 1 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. The Oilers had already coughed up a 3-0 lead after their inevitable Conn Smythe winner, Dwayne Roloson, left the game after being plowed into by Marc-André Bergeron and Andrew Ladd.
It's 4-4, 30 seconds left on the clock, and Conklin seized up playing the puck behind the net, but I'm choosing to blame the defenceman in order to suit the narrative of this post. Carolina scored to secure the Game 1 victory and eventual Stanley Cup. Who scored? Rod Brind'Amour, of course. Carolina won another Cup in 2026, driven by Brind'Amour once again. So yeah, still stings.
Anyways, to avoid that disaster and two decades of anxiety, let's get your communication with your goalies dialled in before the playoffs, before the stretch drive, and before preseason starts. When the goalie comes out to play the puck behind the net, your defencemen should be hollering one of the following:
UP: pass the puck back up the strong side, the side from whence it came
OVER: keep the puck going behind the net, pass or rim it out the opposite side
LEAVE IT: I got this, you're a goalie, set it and leave it and I'll do the rest
I would love if young goalies knew this, or at least a version of it, before coming to my teams. I think you can run this with players as young as eight or nine. Why not? Turn it into a game, add points for the amount of consecutive goalie calls.
Description
- Green passes take place first to get the drill started.
- Coach passes to D on point, who fakes a shot and rounds the puck behind the net.
- Fake shot is to keep the goalie honest.
- First call is UP, so puck gets passed back up the strong side to D, who passes off the boards to the original D.
- D-to-D pass and shot, then repeat from the other side.
- Do the same thing for the OVER call from both sides.
- On Leave it, strong side D calls Leave It and picks up puck and passes to either point
