Goalies put a lot of wear and tear on their bodies. So what can we do about it?

Goaltending is the most unique position in hockey.

Goalies need to prepare in a completely different way than forwards or defencemen, and consequently, we need to pay special attention to them.

Brian Daccord, who spoke at our 2020 Virtual Hockey Summit, knows this well.

The Arizona Coyotes’ special assistant to the GM and director of goaltending operations, Daccord has an impressive resume, having also previously worked with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and with Adler Mannheim in Germany.

One of the key issues we need to pay more attention to, Daccord says, is keeping our goalies healthy.

“With a goaltender you think about what is needed for them to get so good at their position,” Daccord said. “The amount of butterflies, the amount of RVH, the amount of stress, and wear and tear they put on their bodies to get so good. If you think about all the practices and all the games, and year after year of this force, this trauma, that’s happening to their body, the compounding impact or the effects it’s going to have on them, and the price that their body’s going to have to pay.

“So what we’ve got to do as coaches, we’ve got to look at this and then we’ve got to decide, how are we going to help? What are we going to do about it?”

Daccord answers that question and a whole lot more during his 28-minute presentation.