livescience.com — Scientists in Canada have discovered the exact spots hockey goalies need to watch to successfully block shots. The researchers say these findings could help goalies improve even if they are already playing at an elite level.
Oct 26, 2006 View in Crawl 4
lavaOct 27, 2006
yeah, I know. Its just that when I clicked on this story there were no comments on it. It was like a blank canvas, and what's better to put on a blank canvas than boobies?Plus I was wondering how many people read Fark here.
jgreene777Oct 27, 2006
Now that they have the important stuff out of the way, maybe they'll have time to work on things like Cancer and Diabetes...
xtmno3Oct 27, 2006
Enough people here read Fark to know why it should not become Fark.
jatlasbOct 27, 2006
All "This is really obvious" stuff aside...I'm not sure what this is talking about. Did they just have a guy shooting at the goalie from a given spot? A situation where a shooter is stationary and shooting at a goalie with out any kind of pressure is almost unheard of in an actual game of hockey. As a goalie, I'm pretty sure that advising somebody stare at a puck for a second is pretty much useless information in an actual game situation. Where were the shots taken from? Most of the time you don't even have a second to decide where the shot is going. You only have that much time on the huge wind-up of a slapshot--whicch are what a defenseman uses from the point. And slapshots aren't the most accurate shots anyways.. Forwards usually use quick wrist or snap shots, and unless you're already in posistion, you're NEVER going to respond fast enough to catch the puck. You can get a good wrist shot of in a half second or less, easy.When the puck is moving, it's another thing altogether. Dekes and speed and such make those kinds of fakes mean you can't stare at the puck. And then there's traffic in the slot. Staring a the puck and knowing where it will be don't help you much if it's redirected along the way. This paper is seriously dugg down. It doesn't just tell you things that are obvious...it tells you things that are USELESS in an actual game.
smozomaOct 27, 2006
The reason they found that the goalies were looking at the puck for a whole second before it was shot is because the goalies can tell where the shot is going before it even leaves the stick, subconsciously, by the motion of the player and stick (or something.. I'm really not sure how it works!).When I was playing goalie, the hardest time I ever had was when a player on my team forgot his stick for a practice and used someone else's stick that was the wrong hand for him.. I couldn't tell at all where the puck was going when he was shooting. It's also hard to stop a shot when the player fans on the shot, because you start moving to stop the shot the player intended to make, put the puck goes somewhere else (usually between your legs along the ice).
pogue_mahoneOct 27, 2006
Actually, goalie pads haven't weight 45-60lbs for about 15 years, at least. At most pro goalies are packing 20-30lbs of equipment, possibly less. I played goal up until age 17, and my bag would weigh easily 60 lbs at the end of a game. I've kept track of goalie gear over time since then (roughly 12 years) and the difference is night and day. I would have played 10x better if I could have used the equipment from today back then.That's not to take away from today's goalies - the demands put on a hockey goalie are certainly unique in pro sports, and I personally think there's no position in any other major sport (North American) that requires as much pure athletic-quickness (not to mention mental toughness) as the hockey goalie. That said, equipment improvement over the last 20 years has made it a MUCH easier position to play.
cprincipeOct 27, 2006
And Andy Raycroft.
redsox32Oct 29, 2006
Yea and when the golies is so focused then one of his own, or the other teams, players skates in front of him, it can totally throw him off. Also, faking can mess up the goalie and get him flustered. Also, Be french Canadian, last i checked Dominik is Czech and he's the best in the buisness besides Brodour.
ashchristopherNov 10, 2006
Like you should be complaining about Hockey. In football you get 6 points for a touchdown. WTF? Does making the score higher make it more exciting?Does 18-12 really sound more exciting than 3-2?
hurricaneNov 11, 2006
HOW MANY TIMES do we have to see an article on Digg about the goalie study?I have read at least 5 stories linked from Digg about how scientists have figured out the most efficient areas of the goal to guard.
jenpJul 25, 2007
LOL. wow weve come along way! keep ur eye on the puck is a "newly found" formula to the goalies success. i got this memo on peekamo a while back. i wonder whi funded the research?