Gildenregeln » after being a reliever the past 5 years. Colorado has won

Puckhandling - from a goaltenders standpoint - is an underrated skill that can be more valuable than people realize. Tony La Russa . When it comes to exiting the zone cleanly, youre always aware of the way a team forechecks against you and the routes your defencemen run when coming back in. This week, Im looking at it from a starters standpoint - its the starter who handles the bulk of the games and the skaters get used to tendencies of the guy whos back there the most. My first ever goaltending partner in the NHL was Ron Hextall. He was - and still is to this day - the greatest puckhandling goalie of all time. Not only did he revolutionize the position, he singlehandedly changed the way goalies play (and are expected to play) when it comes to handling the puck and playing dump-ins. When I played with Ron, we would chart how many touches he had in a period with the puck outside the net. Then we kept track of how many positive and negative plays that were made with the puck. On average, I remembered him handling the puck anywhere from 15 to 20 times per period. And he had about an 80 per cent success rate on his decision-making - pretty impressive for someone who handles the puck that much. Now keep in mind - this is someone who literally had a better slap shot than some of our teammates and re-strung his catchers glove so that he could get a better grip on his stick. And that stick was curved with a blowtorch and shaved along the blade with a file - an unreal process to see in person. Hexys puckhandling was a lot different than your general leave it or play it decisions. He cleared the zone down the ice when we were killing penalties or made a saucer pass to hit someone at centre ice on a transition play to catch the other team on a change. Some high rate goaltenders today are certainly capable of doing it, but Ive never seen it with the consistency that Hextall had. That being said, there are really four generic plays that goaltenders use when it comes to getting out and stopping the puck behind the net or making a play/exchange with your blueliners. LEAVE IT: This is simply stopping the puck it and leaving it for the defenceman to come back and make a play with it. This ensures the puck a) isnt stuck against the boards on the edge and that b) youre leaving it in an area where a defenceman has options to turn up, cut the net for a clear exit or ring it hard around the boards for the winger. Thats usually communicated between the defeneeman in the goalie with the words, leave it. PLAY IT OR RING IT: Its where the goalie just rings it hard around the boards. Ninety-five per cent of it is done on the strong side - meaning a forehand shot thats usually up on the glass. The purpose is to beat the first forechecker, who most likely has pressure on the defence and is trying to cut the boards off. If you ring it hard on the forehand, youll likely get it past this first forechecker and the strong side winger will come back to retrieve it on the half wall. The worst-case scenario is a 50-50 battle with an opposing defenceman whos potentially pinching. This is usually communicated between defencemen and the goalie with the words, play it or ring it. REVERSE OR OVER: This is a reverse play where the defenceman will fan off to the other side of the net and the goalie draws a forechecker to him. Then the goaltender makes a snooker play - banking the play off the boards so that a defenceman still receives it where he can make an up-ice play where he doesnt have to dig it off the dasher of the boards. The call on this is usually the words, reverse or over. PASS IT: This is for the advanced goaltenders - a direct pass to a winger or centreman past the first forechecker. This is usually when the first defenceman back has drawn a forechecker very close to him. When that happens, theres a lane to get directly to the boards. This is more high risk and most goalie coaches will frown on that play - unless his starter is capable of making it consistently. There are certainly other set plays from team to team, depending on the starting goaltenders skill. But if the starter of your favourite team is consistent with these calls and strong with his exchanges with his blueliners, then puckhandling can become a very reliable source in exiting the zone cleanly. That said, there are different styles of puckhandlers as well: THE QUARTERBACK: These are guys who really skilled with the puck and are capable of making complex plays and direct passes. They can clear the zone in a penalty killing situation and are generally the best in the business in handling pucks. Were talking about Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Arizonas Mike Smith, Washingtons Braden Holtby, Steve Mason of the Flyers, Pekka Rinne in Nashville and Montreals Carey Price. THE DISHER: These goalies are above-average at handling the puck, but dont play a risky game with it and usually stay within their comfort zone. Thats Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars, Torontos Jonathan Bernier, Ottawas Craig Anderson, Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh, Anaheims Frederik Anderson and Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins. STOP AND LEAVE: Theyre very efficient at making the first three plays listed above. Their focus is to get in and out of the net very quickly, with average skills and puckhandling. This applies to Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, Chicagos Corey Crawford, Semyon Varlamov of Colorado, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, Carolinas Cam Ward, Brian Elliott in St. Louis, New Jerseys Cory Schneider, Detroits Jimmy Howard, Ryan Miller of the Canucks and Minnesotas Darcy Kuemper. THE MINIMAL TOUCH: These goaltenders have limited puckhandling skills, as their focus is on stopping the puck and not handling it outside the net. Its just not a strength of their game. Starters under this category include Floridas Roberto Luongo, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Ben Scrivens of the Oilers, Islanders netminder Jaroslav Halak, San Joses Antti Niemi, Ondrej Pavelec of the Winnipeg Jets, Calgarys Jonas Hiller and Buffalos Michael Neuvirth. Once again, this is one of the most important team skills that doesnt get enough attention consistently. Carlos Martinez . American Lindsey Jacobellis was third, while Japans Yuka Fujimori finished just off the podium. Maltais, from Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., earned bronze at the 2006 Olympic Games and is set to return to the Games this February in Sochi, Russia. Tony Cingrani . In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic stunned Canada, 5-4 in a shootout. Dominik Simon scored the deciding goal in the tiebreaker. The United States scored its first three goals on power plays. "Overall, I love to see the power-play goals we were able to get tonight," said U. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/custom-john-brebbia-jersey-large-811q.html . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week. ARLINGTON, Texas -- With one swing in the first inning, Nolan Arenado quickly took the drama out of whether he would match Colorados record hitting streak and set the Rockies up for another rout over Texas. Arenados two-run double in the first extended his hitting streak to 27 games, matching teammate Michael Cuddyers record streak from last year. It also put Colorado ahead to stay on way to its third lopsided victory over the Rangers in as many nights, 9-2 on Wednesday. "Nolan is one of those guys thats really locked in right now, and it was good to see him get that hit in the first at-bat," manager Walt Weiss said. "I think that kind of set the tone." That was the first of three hits for Arenado, who is hitting .364 (39 of 107) in the streak that started a month ago Friday. His streak is the longest for anyone 23 years or younger since Albert Pujols had a 30-gamer in 2003 when he was 23. "Its pretty cool, pretty cool," Arenado said. "Im trying to stay within myself, Im not trying to get too big, or trying to hit the home run. Im just trying to hit the ball hard. Im going to keep on saying that until the year is over." Carlos Gonzalez homered for Colorado, which has outscored Texas 29-5 in three games this week. The Rockies won 8-2 and 12-1 at home with a combined 34 hits before the teams shifted to Texas for two games. "Weve got to ride this wave while its going good," said Weiss, whose teams 22 wins are tied for the most in the majors. Every starter had a hit for the Rockies, who finished with 16 and got 12 of them in 3 2-3 innings off Colby Lewis (2-2). Jorge De La Rosa (4-3) struck out four and walked three. The lefty gave up two runs over six innings while winning its fourth consecutive start. Adrian Beltre homered for Texas and became only the fifth player in major league history with 100 home runs for three different teams. After not getting a hit until his fifth plate appearance Tuesday night, Arenado wasted no time Wednesday. His double followed consecutive two-out hits by MLB-leading hitter Troy Tulowitzki (.414) and Gonzalez. Lewis got the first two batters out in each of the first three innings before allowing multiple hits each time.. Alex Reyes. But the Rockies failed to score in the second and again in the third, when Arenado was tagged out halfway between third and home by first baseman Prince Fielder after Colorado had two runners caught between bases. The last nine batters faced by Lewis had six singles in a row and consecutive sacrifice flies by Corey Dickerson and Tulowitzki before Gonzalez homered, his seventh of the season capping a five-run fourth to make it 7-0. Lewis had allowed 12 hits twice before, including against Colorado at home two years ago. "I got beat. Thats all there is to it," Lewis said. "I think Colorado just needs to leave town." Colorado had 13 hits before Texas finally got Michael Choices one-out single in the fourth. Beltre followed with his homer to straightaway centre, his second this season after hitting the first a night earlier. Beltre, in his fourth season with Texas, previously hit 147 homers for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004) and 103 homers for Seattle (2005-09). The other players with 100 homers for three different teams are Darrell Evans (Atlanta, San Francisco and Detroit), Reggie Jackson (Kansas City/Oakland, New York Yankees, California), Alex Rodriguez (Seattle, Texas and Yankees) and Jim Thome (Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago White Sox). Scott Baker, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Round Rock earlier Wednesday, pitched the final 5 1-3 innings for Texas. It was only Bakers fifth relief appearance in 167 career major league games, most with the Minnesota Twins from 2005-11 before the right-hander had Tommy John surgery in April 2012. He made three starts for the Chicago Cubs last September. "He came in and gave us a chance," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He settled in and started getting some outs, but we wasnt able to get to them." NOTES: Rangers 2B Donnie Murphy left the game with a neck strain after tripping over first base trying to beat out a grounder to end the sixth. ... Colorado throws another lefty Thursday in Franklin Morales (3-1, 5.05 ERA). Weiss said Morales is finding his rhythm as a starter again after being a reliever the past 5 years. Colorado has won his last four starts after losing his first two. ' ' '