Humiliating Victory

[Little Fox]

Just got back from a game. We won 7-5 and I faced about... 8-9 shots total the ENTIRE game. The rest of the team was PHENOMENAL. Always had control of the puck. But the few times they didn't, I just couldn't pull through for them. I faced 1 shot all of first period and it flies in right over my shoulder. Basically the tune of the entire game for me.

I was embarrassed, frustrated to no end with myself. Which I know doesn't help anything. How do you keep your head in times like that?

[mtbgoalie35]

always happens to me when the team plays good, i-i cant decribe it!

[leaferguy]

1) Don't quit
2) Don't sulk
3) Remember that there will be another game

After the game, man up and let them know you **** the bed. It provides some weird sense of relief to fall on the sword in between periods, but it doesn't give the right message, IMO. Just keep fighting it as best as you can until the final buzzer and then vent.

If it's a solid group, they'll understand and eventually get over it (unless it's a win-or-go-home game ).

[Wonder Train]

Originally Posted by leaferguy

1) Don't quit
2) Don't sulk
3) Remember that there will be another game

After the game, man up and let them know you **** the bed. It provides some weird sense of relief to fall on the sword in between periods, but it doesn't give the right message, IMO. Just keep fighting it as best as you can until the final buzzer and then vent.

If it's a solid group, they'll understand and eventually get over it (unless it's a win-or-go-home game ).

I find it really help if the team won because they are more focused on the goal or assist they scored they'll just shake it off
IE)
Goalie -"sorry guys I **** the bed"

Player -"Ahh no worries, yo did you see that sweet dangle I pulled off"

Player 2 -"Yeah man that was sweet, how about that nice feed......"


See no worries.

[Dolanster]

Yah, I've rarely seen a team worry about their goaltender's performance after a W. It's in your head or you wouldn't have made the post, but I'd advise you that it will do you no help to keep thinking about it. Forget it, be glad you won. Move on. Be better next time. Steal a game you should have lost and I guarantee not a single skater will remember your performance in the win.

[Scotthayes11b]

I had the same issue in a 12-6 win last week. It's hard to get in a rythym durring games like that.
I pulled a great 7-2 win last night. The more I face the better I am. Let it go this isn't the pros. We win great. We lose oh well there's next week. In our slaughter wins I always ask the other keep if he wants to switch. It's out of courtesy I do that. If we have the dominant team I hate to see the other guy drilled into the dirt.

[Wonder Train]

If you want an excuse for why you couldn't do well go with a good one such as...

There was this ghost see, and he kept distracting me, and when the puck came towards the net he tipped it with his ghost stick. That's why it appeared that it went straight through when really, it was a ghost. :/

Or it could that since you had almost no shots you just kept getting cold in the net and your body wasn't ready for the shot every time. Also your mind can really get our of the zone when your team pretty much has the game in hand. I have trouble keeping my mind in one place in a regular situation it starts playing episodes of 'friends' or catchy jingles I heard on the radio during the ride over. 'doo doo doo call me maybe!'

Don't worry about it all is well, just play that much better the next game.

[gp34]

had the same kind of game on wednesday. we won 4-3 with the game winning goal scored at 22 seconds left in the game. first goal I let in I cheated so hard playing a pass instead of a shot on a 2 on 1, third was deflected off of one of my defencemen but it was the second goal that made me just lose control. I pulled a great Patrick Roy moment by thinking a goal was in and started to skate away from the crease only to hear the ref yell, "NO NO NO NOOO, LOOSE PUCK!!!" I turn and see it sitting in the crease and sure enough after a nasty, quick scramble it is in the net. I lose my mind. do the slam the stick on the wall, yelling and swearing at myself, but my captain told me to keep it together and that they would get it back. I have heard that line at least a thousand times. but as we entered the third tied at three I buckled down and focused on myself. sure enough, stopped everything in the third including two breakaway.

after the win I apologized to the team, their answer was not to worry, just don't beat yourself up and the team will not let you down!

thats it, play as a team, win, lose or draw. be the best you can be for the team, that is what they ask of us!

[Little Fox]

The second goal, I skated out to play it and pass it to the D. Ended up passing it to the other team's centre, I slipped, fell on my ***, useless as I watched the shot fly by me into the net.

[Alan#35]

I hate these games. I always think, "Geez the team plays so well I could get a shutout finally, and I still find a way to make it close for them!"
...It's even worse when you lose though.
Just remember you're generally there to bail them out, so they really don't mind when they have to bail you out.

The other thing I always remind myself of is that I'm a goalie that likes to play hot: that is I'm better when facing fifty shots as opposed to 5 shots. Some goalies get no work and they are able to stay focused, but my brain is a cesspool of...no that sounds bad...a forum! of ideas, however useless they all are, and if I have nothing to focus on, those ideas begin to take over. It goes something like this:

"Ok focus focus focus puck puck puck ooo shiney hey what's that red thing over there, oh did someone just enter the arena? Hey a fan, I like fans I wish we had more fans uh oh play's coming this way better hey did someone just walk in again? oh no just my imagination, oh hey play's in my end what do I want for dinner oops goal ok shake it off focus focus focus puck puck why is it called a puck anyways and for that matter why is it hockey? Tennis has a tennis ball, football has a football soccer has a...well a soccer ball but in Europe it's called football so I wonder what they call the ball over there in Italy mmmmm pizza oops ok play is coming. I wonder what else they eat in Italy besides pizza do they like hockey or should I call it puckey oooo shiney oh darn goal oops" etc etc. One time I solved the global warming crisis but then they scored again and I forgot what the solution was.

[HoboMaster]

People nailed it when they said that it's actually harder to play well when you don't see many shots.

Some advice on this: find ways to keep your head in the game and find ways to keep yourself warm and your muscles moving. I've found that if I'm really not seeing many shots, mentally becoming involved in the offensive side of the game helps a lot. Yell things to your forwards (ie- "point!" or "slot!" or whatever makes sense for what's going on). There's little chance they actually hear you, but it keeps your head in the game and if they do what you were yelling and it turns into a goal, you can tell yourself you helped the play.

The other side is moving as much as possible. During every play stoppage, I'll skate around my end. Skating hard is the key. You need to keep your blood pumping and your muscles warm. Standing still for a long time makes it nearly impossible to move when you need to. I like to do loops and crossovers, so it lets me feel my edges as well. My teammates joke about the icecapades happening during stoppage. Dropping into butterfly, pushing laterally and recovering a few times helps a lot as well. Keeps your motions fresh.

Most importantly, don't cheat when the puck does come into the zone. Come out and play the puck aggressively. Get yourself involved in the play. It becomes extremely easy to sit back continue to let your team do the work. My guess is that if you got beat over the shoulder, this is why. I would even say play more aggressively than usual, since you will need to compensate for your natural tendency to sit back a bit. The other team will also be more likely to shoot than pass if they're not getting shots on goal, because they won't want to waste the rare chance when they finally get it.

[grizzlygoalie]

Just tell the team you had to let in those goals to make the other team feel better about getting dominated and so there wasn't the worry of the game getting out of hand and mercy rule. you paid for a full game and didn't want to lose out on ice time because of run clock.


then have a beer or 5

[CoopALoop1234]

Originally Posted by grizzlygoalie

Just tell the team you had to let in those goals to make the other team feel better about getting dominated and so there wasn't the worry of the game getting out of hand and mercy rule. you paid for a full game and didn't want to lose out on ice time because of run clock.


then have a beer or 5

I like this guy.

I'd allow him to be my backup anytime.

[toddamus]

I had a game similar to this not too long ago during a Vegas beer league tourney. The first two games I played well, the third game was different. Let me preface that game by saying I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and panic. Because of that I take a medication that's analogous to long acting Xanax. The third game was around 11am and I took my normal dose of meds before I left the hotel. Ordinarily the games are in the evening and by then the largest effect of the meds have worn off. This a game was different, I played right in the sweet spot for effectiveness of this med. Because of this I played absolutely awful. To top it off we needed to win this game to get to the final. Fortunately we were playing the worst team which is maybe why despite my performance we won 6-5. I was basically in slow motion the whole game, I basically played a game while on Xanax. It was terrible, I was horribly embarrassed and had a difficult time explaining to my teammates my performance. Because of that game I lost their confidence and the next game was the title game. They were nervous. The title game was at noon the next day and this time I held off on the meds until after the game. I played well and we ended up winning 3-2 in OT.

I didn't deal with the bad win well, I tried to explain it away but the whole story never got across. The way the story is told now I was hungover, which probably sounds better anyway. I'd say keep you're head down and try to play better. If its a fluke people will forgive you and forget about it.

In my case my head was in the game just I was in slower motion and everyone else wasn't. But I'd say if you're having a hard time settling in be sure to track every puck and try to be as square and tall as possible. Sometimes playing a more blocking style can help those weird games out.

[Dolanster]

Originally Posted by toddamus

Let me preface that game by saying I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and panic.

Not really a good condition for a goalie to have. Have you considered playing out?