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Every NHL team have one goalie on the rink, he plays an important role. Without him, the team may lose the match or may have difficulty to win the game. The goaltender's primary job is to stop opponents from scoring. A goaltender can do this different ways, but the primary style is called the butterfly. When a goalie uses the butterfly style, he places his upper legs together and his feet out in an inverted "V" form. This leaves an opening between the legs and the shooter often tries to hit the opening. However, when using the butterfly, the goalie drops to his knees to close out that opening. When the goalie drops to his knees, his feet spread out to the corners of the goal. That allows him to block low shots to either side. When an opposing skater gets behind the defense and skates in alone on the goaltender with the puck, he has a prime scoring opportunity. From the shooter's perspective, he does not have to worry about the defense altering his path to the goal or blocking his shot. He just has to beat the goalie one-on-one. Despite this advantage for the shooter, many goaltenders find a way to win this battle. One of the primary techniques is to leave the crease and cut off the shooter's view of the net. This is called cutting off the angle. When a goalie cuts off the angle, he can be at risk if the shooter fakes or dekes him out of position and goes around. However if the shooter makes the first move, the goaltender can react quickly regain the advantage. When goaltenders prepare for games, they must get used to stopping a lot of shots. The team often helps goaltender prepare by lining up at the blue line and taking shots at him. In this drill, about 15 to 20 players have pucks and the player on the far right will start the drill by winding up and taking a slap shot, snap shot or wrist shot. The drill progresses until all players in line have taken at least two shots. More information in Vancouver Canucks
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