It is currently 7:24AM here in Helsinki, and I am sitting in the only Starbucks I can find in the city, working on this blog. I honestly find it amazingly calming and reflective to start my day writing, as an English major this is something I should've realized a long time ago but if it took a trip to Finland to discover this I'm all for it. It is a rainy Wednesday unfortunately, bad luck for the guys in the camp because the rink set up is unique. Our locker room is in a building crossed the parking lot, so we have to walk over on large rubber mats that are constantly swept. I've made the mistake of not wearing skate guards over and stepped on a small pebble that nicked my blade up pretty good.
Yesterday at camp I felt way more comfortable on the ice talking to goaltenders. I'm not as concerned about the language barrier, if they see I'm here to help them get better we will both find a way to get the message crossed. The on ice sessions were awesome because I picked up a few techniques that I want to keep in mind when working with my own goaltenders. For instance, the pro guys were working with a long shuffle to move long distance cross the crease. Pretty interesting to say the least because normally goaltenders utilize the t-push which opens up their body allowing for holes. With the long shuffle it can be just as quick when mastered and you are square the puck. Next, I picked up on using your outside leg to stop on rush plays from the side, again just allows you to be more square to the shot.
Something really cool that is being tested at this camp is a multi-camera system that allows goaltenders to review their game in a 360 degree video. This is technology by Vulcan Vision, check out their website, it's awesome stuff and going to change how goaltenders are able to critique their own game.
The owner of GoaliePro, Jukka Ropponen, invited the staff and pro guys over for a barbecue at his house last night. I quickly learned that goaltending is a lot like food, all these guys love it and we don't need to use the same language to talk about how good the chicken, steak and pork was. Lots of protein at the meal and I loved it, I was stuffed at the end of the night but it was well worth it to share good food, stories and jokes.
Yesterday at camp I felt way more comfortable on the ice talking to goaltenders. I'm not as concerned about the language barrier, if they see I'm here to help them get better we will both find a way to get the message crossed. The on ice sessions were awesome because I picked up a few techniques that I want to keep in mind when working with my own goaltenders. For instance, the pro guys were working with a long shuffle to move long distance cross the crease. Pretty interesting to say the least because normally goaltenders utilize the t-push which opens up their body allowing for holes. With the long shuffle it can be just as quick when mastered and you are square the puck. Next, I picked up on using your outside leg to stop on rush plays from the side, again just allows you to be more square to the shot.
Something really cool that is being tested at this camp is a multi-camera system that allows goaltenders to review their game in a 360 degree video. This is technology by Vulcan Vision, check out their website, it's awesome stuff and going to change how goaltenders are able to critique their own game.
The owner of GoaliePro, Jukka Ropponen, invited the staff and pro guys over for a barbecue at his house last night. I quickly learned that goaltending is a lot like food, all these guys love it and we don't need to use the same language to talk about how good the chicken, steak and pork was. Lots of protein at the meal and I loved it, I was stuffed at the end of the night but it was well worth it to share good food, stories and jokes.