Building Elite Level Goaltenders: A Goaltending Blue Print From Minor Hockey to Professional

By Pasco Valana

There is a reason why the best goaltenders in the world were able to separate themselves from the rest. Now you can do the same. This book contains the most effective, time tested secrets of the position and the newest tactics used by the most successful goaltenders in the game today. If you are absolutely committed to being among the next stars in the game, this book contains the details of where to spend your time.

This book is for goaltenders, goalie coaches, head coaches and general managers and scouts. If you are a parent of an aspiring goaltender, this book is a blueprint for success in goal. Every chapter speaks directly to you and answers the following:

What it is
When to use it
Why it works
Where it's best applied
How to do it

This book is a must-have for any goaltender who is serious about playing professional hockey. It is best supported by the "Game Plan" Workbook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: May 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9780228831150

Pasco Valana

Pasco Valana is a goaltending coach who specializes in developing goaltending assets from Minor Hockey to the National Hockey League. Fluent in all goaltending styles from around the world, Pasco has a unique way of building confident, effective, intelligent goaltenders who win championships at every level. Pasco is a member of Hockey Canada's Goaltending Advisory Board, is a goaltending coach in Canada's National Program and has worked with several National Team Goaltenders from around the world. Pasco is an author of 2 books; "Building Elite Level Goaltenders" and the "Game Plan Work Book", sharing some of the most coveted goaltending secrets in the game, pushing himself to be a committed and forever student of the game. Pasco is a regular presenter at Network Goaltending Symposium, BC Hockey and Hockey Canada and is actively working with goaltenders at the home of his company, Elite Goalies, at the Richmond Olympic Oval with his partner Mike Valley. He has developed over 100 goaltenders from minor hockey through to Junior and College, with 17 goaltenders drafted into the National Hockey League.

Book preview

Building Elite Level Goaltenders

A Goaltending Blue Print

from Minor Hockey to Professional

Pasco Valana

Building Elite Level Goaltenders

Copyright © 2020 by Pasco Valana

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-3114-3 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-3115-0 (eBook)

Table of Contents

Dedication

Introduction & Acknowledgement

1So…you want to play professional hockey?

2Role of the Player, Parent and Coach

3How to select your Goaltending Coaches

4Phase 1 Developmental Priorities

5Phase 2 Developmental Priorities

6Phase 3 Development Identification of Assets

7Developing a Professional Game Plan

84 Areas of Control

9Depth Management A B C D

10Developing Pro Level Goalie Sense Tracking & Processing Speed

11Puck Proximity & Puck Trajectory & Box Control

12Fitness Made Simple

13How to Advance Your Career

14Time to Take Action

Dedication

Pasco Valana has been coaching goaltenders for over 27 years and specializes in training elite-level goaltenders on a personal coaching basis. Pasco has coached Minor hockey, Junior, University and Professional hockey and has worked on developing a goaltending curriculum for Hockey Canada. His 3-person approach to working with the athlete, parent and coach has produced tremendous results. This book is perfect for the goaltending family or a goaltending coach looking to fast track their clients to success. This book now shares that advice with you. My goal with this book is to clearly define your path for success in hockey and then engage you in working backwards or reverse engineering your journey. I will take you step by step through your minor hockey career helping you to make the best decisions possible so that you can maximize your development, minimize distractions, and avoid wasting valuable time and money.

Will your journey be without ups and downs? No of course not! If it was that easy, then achieving your goal wouldn’t be special would it…everyone could achieve it. It’s special because it’s difficult because only the truly committed and mentally tough make it. This book is dedicated to those who are committed to chasing their dreams and giving themselves the best opportunity to do so. By knowing the odds, building a work ethic, cultivating a passion, and having a plan, you will bring yourself the closest that you can achieving that goal. Make no mistake about it, I am going to come at you with the expectation that you are excited about moving forward, carefully study this book and follow the plan to the best of your ability. You will not get closer by purchasing this book and never getting past this page, or worse, reading everything and following nothing. It’s hard, but not impossible. To date, I have managed to help guide over 100 athletes to college scholarships and 25 goaltenders to NHL opportunities. All these athletes, their families and I sat across from each other at Starbucks, in a boardroom at their father’s office, on Skype, or in their homes.

BUILDING ELITE GOALIES is a book for Coaches, Goaltenders and their families who have committed to achieving their dream of playing hockey at the highest levels. I wanted to write this book so that there was a clear and understandable method for coaches, players, and their families to follow and achieve what they set out to do. No fluff, no confusing statements, just say it exactly how it needs to be done. I will take you through the chapters and answer all our questions while laying out the plan for your success. It is important to remember that the game is always changing, evolving, and improving and therefore as a coach we must also be committed student of the game. The finish line on this journey simply does not exist.

As a dedicated and obsessed student of the game, I can tell you that I have been truly blessed firstly by having an amazing and completely supportive, understanding, and loving hockey wife Marianna and my 2 kids, twins Zach and Sabrina. Without their sacrifice, I would not have been able to satisfy my ferocious appetite for the position. All the travelling, the missing family vacations so that I could attend seminars and deliver countless clinics, private sessions and work with coaches and teams from Minor Hockey to the NHL. Through their sacrifice, I have been fortunate to have worked with, studied, and been mentored by incredible human beings. Marianna, my beautiful and ever-loving wife, thank you for being the most amazing woman, mother, and best friend that I could ever ask for …I love you beyond words and I will prove it to you until I die. At the end of this book, you will see the names of several coaches and people that impacted my life and ultimately lead me to write this goaltending blueprint that I know every coach, goaltending coach and goaltender will benefit from. The building of Elite Goalies started with the obsession with the game and the position. My room was plastered with pictures of NHL goalies, I watched every game, drew pictures of goaltenders, wrote affirmations that still echo in my head today and literally lived and breathed the game. Coming from the small city of Trail where the 1961 Trail Smoke Eaters were World Champions and were forever etched in the city’s pride it was impossible to ignore the passion. Endless players were being picked up by the NHL such as Raymond Ferraro, Adam Deadmarsh, Tim Lenarden, Danny and Ernie Gare, Steve Tambellini, Mike Zanier and many more. As a child I ached to make the NHL, it burned so hotly inside me that it forced me to wake up in the morning and not want to go to sleep at night.

My parents were born in Italy, English was a second language, and their serving and loving sprit was something that I will never live up to the example was far too strong and I can only pray to be slightly in their shadows. The sacrifice, which I like most kids never understood until my 40s, which was so unbearable to even comprehend. They always put themselves second to my sister Maria and me. They found ways to make enough money to allow me to follow my dream and I owe all that I am to them. I am so sorry that I could not be greater in a shorter time so that my father Tony (who died from Alzheimer’s August 25, 2019), and my mother Ida (who still serves people around her) will never remember who and what I have become. The only thing that I love about his disease is that I tell him that I love him every chance that I can. You see…they adopted me…I was born in their heart versus in the womb and they treated me like I was handed from God himself. Thank you and I love you endlessly for saving me. This one’s for you Mom and Dad (rest in peace Dad) …I love you. xoxo

Introduction & Acknowledgement

GIVING YOU A 30 YEAR HEAD START

We have been blessed by the incredible talents of goaltenders that have come before us. We have marveled over the guidance of the goalie coaches that inspire greatness and confidence within the stars of the NHL. We admire the problem-solving tactics of the true creators of the position…all goaltenders around the world.

Goaltending has come a long way over the past 30 seasons, from the changes in the equipment from head to toe to the technical and tactical aspects which brings me to deliver a new phrase Goalie Sense (Hockey intelligence) for goaltenders. The past 3 decades have witnessed goaltenders playing deeper in the net, playing a stand up type game often encouraging goaltenders to do what comes naturally to them. To move their bodies away from the puck to create space for their gloves and blockers to catch or deflect the puck. Further, goaltenders would open their bodies up to use skate saves to stop and steer pucks to the corners often making them a one and done breed of goaltender. Players became much smarter, studying the natural and most common movements that goaltenders would make, quickly identifying the holes in their game and forcing goaltenders to move in a consistent manner to take advantage of the predictable movement. There lies the cat and mouse game between the players and the goaltenders, between the skills coaches and the goaltending coaches. We pushed each other to become greater, to always challenge each other to be one step ahead of each other.

When the student is ready … the teacher will appear

The next phase brought us to the introduction of the butterfly where goaltending forged a new chapter in development with a long list of NHL goaltenders that adopted into their game, introducing confidence, discipline, and identity in the game as a difference-maker. Another common focus introduced the concept of getting closer to the puck, sealing the ice, and using the body to stop pucks. This concept essentially removed the need to activate skates within a save cycle but more of a positional driver or mover so that the goaltender could arrive at the position and release their blades from underneath them into a butterfly. The shape of the goaltender from in front of and above became a triangle, allowing goaltenders to make the save with better-controlled rebounds with more time to recover from the shot.

Goaltenders took this butterfly technique and invented many forms giving birth to several save selections that revolutionized the position for over 30 years. Here are