MOVEMBER in Rungsted

I hope this post finds you enjoying the start of your hockey season wherever you may be competing around the world.

Here in Denmark, the first stretch of the season is completed and we players have already had our first "national team" break. During this break from league play, a few players are invited to represent their respective home countries in several international tournaments scattered around Europe. A couple of these invitationals include teams in the Under-18, Under-20, and Men's National divisions.

I am proud to say that one of the players selected from my squad is also my roommate Lauris Bajaruns who hails from Ventspils, Latvia. He was chosen to represent the Latvian men's National team in a November tournament that took place in nearby Norway.

Lauris, sporting his Rungsted colors in Danish Metal Ligaen action.

The Euro Ice Hockey Challenge in Stavanger, Norway consisted of the national teams from Latvia, Norway, Denmark and France. In three games at the tournament, Lauris finished with two goals, including the game-winner against Denmark (their team consisted of many players from our league - the Danish Metal Ligaen)!

A great player and an even better guy, Lauris is also participating in our team's MOVEMBER challenge, a yearly event which has many hockey players growing moustaches and other ridiculous facial hair patterns in order to raise money and awareness for men's health issues such as prostate cancer.

My roommate showing his attempt at a moustache.

It's for a great cause so please join us and DONATE! When you click the link, it will open a new page, where you'll find the orange 'DONATE' tab at the top of the page (click 'English' to translate the page if it somehow shows up in Danish). Our team appreciates your support!

I chose to go with the handle-bar moustache. 

Along with grooming my moustache, I have been trying to completely relish the opportunities in Europe, both on and off the ice. I'm glad to say that this month, I was lucky enough to check off two other very special things that were on my "to-do" list this season...

Attempting to have a playoff mentality early in the season... 

The first thing I got to check off my list was to touch part of the Berlin Wall. Rungsted is just a short 6-hour car (and ferry) ride from one of the most breathtaking cities in the world, so some of my teammates and I decided to take a road trip during our break. All goalies who aspire to become "brick walls" should visit this historic site if they ever get the chance to travel to Germany...

Here I am with the Wall. I finally decided to shave for this picture.

The second item that I was fortunate enough to complete was starting in my 100th career professional game in Europe. It took me the better part of three seasons, but it was definitely worth it. Believe me when I tell you, there's no better job out there (that I know about) than stopping pucks. I make it a habit to remind myself how privileged I am to still play the sport I love. I especially try to remember this after the games that don't go as planned. The "roller coaster" of winning and losing throughout the season can be unnerving at times, but the experiences hockey affords me and the friends that it has introduced to me makes it all worthwhile.

Stay tuned, goalies! I will post again soon with a 'Q & A' session with one of my former college goalie partners who recently attended NHL training camp this past September. Can you guess who?

??? - Be on the lookout for my next blog post for the answer

Potential vs Experience

So here's a question to consider...if you were the GM of a hockey team, who would you want in the pipes as your starting goaltender?

More generally, what type of goaltender would you want as your #1 guy? A young, energetic goaltender with tons of potential... or the proven, experienced veteran who has a track record of winning?

A couple of recent happenings prompted some thought on this topic, one of which was the New Jersey Devils' recent contract extension of Cory Schneider; and the team's decision to not re-sign NHL legend Martin Brodeur. Another newsworthy event is something a little bit more local to me in Europe...

This past week, I watched a few highlights from the newly formed Champions Hockey League. The league is essentially a season-long tournament consisting of teams from various top-tier leagues scattered around Europe. The teams play interleague games throughout the year when there are openings in their regular season schedules. The tourney is currently in its preliminary round-robin stage (eleven groups of four teams). After the initial pool-play stage, the top 16 teams will advance to compete in a single-elimination "bracket" to decide who gets to raise the European Trophy in early February. There are three different ways that a team can qualify for the Champions League explained in detail on the league's wikipedia page.

The European "Champions Hockey League" tournament consists of 44 teams from 11 different leagues. There are 8 teams each from Sweden's and Finland's top leagues; 6 teams each from Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Germany; 4 teams from Austria's top league (including one team from Italy); 2 teams from Norway's Ligaen; and 1 team each from the top leagues in Denmark (Metal Ligaen), Slovakia (Extraliga), United Kingdom (EIHL), and France (Ligue Magnus).

After browsing the league's webpage and looking at some of their rosters, I noticed a few familiar names. Some of you may recognize a few of the former NHL goaltenders as well... guys like Martin Gerber, Jussi Markkanen, Sebastien Caron, and Mikael Tellqvist to name a few.

#OldGoalies trending ???

I did some number crunching. I found the average age of the starting goaltenders in the Champions League was well above 30 years old. The average age of forwards and defensemen was about 25...

That's five full years younger than the average starting netminder!

Jussi Markkanen during the playoff run in 2006. Markkanen was one of three Oilers' goalies to play in the Stanley Cup Final series that year. The 39-year old currently plays for Saimaan Pallo (SaiPa) in Finland's Liiga.

Martin Gerber sporting his all black "Darth Vader" mask for the Ottawa Senators during the 2007-08 season. The 40-year old netminder played 229 games in the NHL and is now backstopping the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss NLA.

Markkanen and "Darth" Gerber are both in their fourth decade on earth (ages courtesy of eliteprospects.com), so they definitely were not the youngest guys on the goalie market this summer. So why did top European teams offer very generous salaries to these over-the-hill athletes?

It could be for the same reason that Martin Brodeur brought his sixth-seeded team to the Stanely Cup Final nearing the ripe age of 40 just three years ago. And why the then 37-year young Tim Thomas, in 2011, won the Conn Smythe trophy as his team secured the Stanley Cup in a seven game series against the Vancouver Canucks... These goalies have experience. They've been there before, and they know how to win in high pressure situations.

On the other hand, it's very possible that a young goalie can do the same. Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden, and Cam Ward each won the Stanley Cup during his rookie season. But these types of goalies are a rarity. General managers in the European circuit are now banking on the guys with "big game" experience more times than not.

So remember, goalies: think of the art/science of goaltending as a marathon, not a sprint. Don't be discouraged if you have a rough few games or even a challenging year. It is all part of the learning process that will make you a better goaltender in the long run. Goaltenders can find out a lot about themselves and their weaknesses when they lose, so sometimes losing is a necessary evil in order to learn what needs improvement. But that's only half the battle. Your persistence and effort in refining your craft of stopping pucks must come next, and as you develop you'll turn losing into winning.

Letter from Denmark

Hello, goalies! (In Danish... "Hilsner, målmænd!")

We have just started week three of European training camp. I am now playing for Rungsted in Denmark's top division, the Metal Ligaen. There are ten teams in the league, all located in the beautiful Scandinavian country. Our team's rink is located just 26 km (about 16 miles) from the capital city of Copenhagen.

Above: View of Copenhagen from the top of the Rundetårn. You can barely make out the Øresund Bridge to Sweden in the far left background.

Here I am sitting beside my game jersey, wearing a very comfortable Great Saves Goaltending sweatshirt. This is a "transformation" picture of sorts...making the change again from goalie coach to goaltender!  It's just a shame that we will wear Rangers' colors (Go Devils)! 

As much as I enjoy coming home for the off-season to work with all you young goaltenders, it's nice to get back to Europe for the hockey season and start training with teammates in the march toward the Danish Cup. The other North American players and I are patiently awaiting our immigration and work permits so that we can legally compete in games, but the good news is that my new goalie equipment has arrived!

Welcome the new Reebok Premier XLT's. I switched from Bauer this season because our team has a sponsorship deal with Reebok/CCM. I hope they have a few more saves in them!

After wearing the pads a few times, I have to say that I love the new model so far. I now get a bigger "kick" to my rebounds and can better control where I place pucks off the pad. The size I use is 34" + 2". Because the pad size restrictions in Denmark aren't as strict as the NHL's, I considered choosing leg pads that were an inch or two larger.

A big reason for my consideration was watching former teammate Dustin Tokarski have success in recent NHL playoff action with the Montreal Canadiens. He couldn't eliminate the Rangers, but he had some huge saves and gave his team a chance to win every game. I remembered that he always preferred to wear bigger gear before the NHL introduced its current restrictions. Tokarski wore XL pants with 35" + 3" leg pads when we both played for the Tampa Bay Lightning's "farm" team. Since we are roughly the same height (I'm listed as 5'11" -- on a good day), it got me thinking that I could change to larger equipment.

Here's an oldie...Tampa Bay Lightning prospect camp, July 2010. 

Tokarski's (40) blue gear is a bit more attractive than my (37) Princeton orange.

Ultimately, I chose to keep the same pad size that I used last season. The main reason is that I would lose some mobility if I made the change to "go bigger". I like to be mobile, and the style that I play forces me to have to make some acrobatic saves from time to time. Sadly, if it happens too much, it probably means I'm being too aggressive and am getting caught out of position. But needless to say, no goalie is perfect and it does happen... so I chose the freedom that the "smaller" pads afford me. This way I can rely more on my skating agility and reflexes, rather than just my size.

Goaltenders should use their talents to their advantage... Play to your strengths! If you're a smaller, mobile goaltender and are a good skater, then you can be more aggressive. If you're a bigger, blocking style goaltender, you can take that extra step back in your crease and play a more positional game. It's not always black and white though. By playing in many different leagues (and different countries), I've learned that it's not always possible that I get away with a particular save selection that I can somewhere else. Goalies have to make adjustments as the tempo of the play changes.

Playing in Europe the past two seasons on the bigger ice surface, I've found that I have to stay on my feet a little bit longer, rather than just automatically butterflying and assuming there's going to be a shot. There's more skating and deliberation to the game here across the Atlantic. The minor pro leagues in North America were on smaller ice surfaces and players relied more on their shot than their skating/deking. On the big ice surfaces, there is a bit more time for players to make moves, so goalies must stay patient!

Rungsted's Saxo Bank Arena. Most European rinks like this one are 200' x 100'.  North American style rinks are only 85' wide.

As a wise man once told me, goaltenders need technique before they can develop style. To this end, we goaltenders need to constantly work on the foundation: SKATING. If you are not a good skater these days, it is very tough to move around that blue paint and make saves. So for you young goalies, build your leg muscles and work on your skating every time you hit the ice. Lateral movement, backwards, forwards, power legs, recovering to your feet...all these skills are what you can work on during practice when you're not seeing shots. Use the ice time that you have wisely... and build your legs!

Until next time...

Med venlig hilsen "Kind regards",

Zane