The Pressure, The Numbers, The Expectations and The Bullshit: Draft Year As A Goaltender 

Projecting players is what scouts do. It’s the job. It’s not an exact science, it’s very subjective. I’m just being brutally honest by writing this, but I’ve been wrong before and I’ll probably be wrong again especially when it comes to projecting young goaltenders. I’m not a goalie guy, I know lookfors when assessing and projecting a goaltending prospect, but I’ll never forget the rush to judgment I made in my first year as a regional scout with the QMJHL and you know something I continue to carry that with me every time I evaluate and project young draft eligible goaltenders. 

I was only five months into my tenure as a regional scout with the Q and U18 AAA Atlantic’s that year were in Miramichi. 

My wife’s family live in that region so we made a weekend out of it and I attended the event. I’ll never forget watching a game sitting next to a hockey lifer and longtime scout. I had picked his brain millions of times over the last five months and he was gracious and patient enough to help me. We were watching two good teams go at it, but my attention was mostly being paid to a netminder that was fighting the puck and didn’t look the greatest that game. The goaltender was already drafted into the Q and there was a lot of buzz surrounding him. 

“I don’t know what all the buzz is about,” I said. “He doesn’t look that good and is fighting it a lot.”

The longtime scout just looked at me and said, “Oh, Craiger, you think so eh, just be patient, he’s a really good goaltender.” 

I learned a few very valuable lessons that day. First and foremost, I had a lot to learn about the scouting craft. Second don’t jump to conclusions about players especially goaltenders and last but certainly not least experience and learning from your mistakes in the world of scouting is paramount. 

The goaltender that was fighting the puck that game recently made his NHL debut, his name was Colten Ellis and the scout that I was sitting beside just so happened to be scouting for the team that eventually acquired him in a trade and I guess you could say the rest is history. 

I’ve written a lot about goaltending over the years, but that certainly doesn’t make me a “goalie guy.” Like I said before, I know the lookfors, when evaluating goaltenders, but unfortunately that doesn’t take you inside their mind. It’s easy to see their compete and battle and how they handle adversity, but game in game out you can’t judge or project where a young netminder might be in a month let alone a year or two, because it’s totally different and you want to know something just saying that and realizing that is half the battle. 

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One can only imagine what kind of f&$ked up pressure a draft eligible goalie and their family must bring experiencing, imagine being the optimum word there, because people don’t have a clue. You want to know something, they don’t have a clue about the position or they don’t have a clue about the pressure and how screwed up the expectations are and probably never will. 

Everyone in hockey knows that goaltenders need time, they need reps and that they all develop differently. Nevertheless, you would be pretty hard pressed to find an organization in junior hockey or even minor hockey that have a solid track record for developing goalies and that really accept their individual process and give them time to grow and develop.

“Stop the F&$king Puck” 

I don’t care who you are or what level you’re playing, but that last phrase is exactly what every coach has in the back of their minds when it comes to goaltending. They would never say it publicly, but you know damn well they’re thinking it. 

A goaltending prospect at 13 or 14 is just that, a prospect, a ton of shit can happen over the next six months that can either strengthen their overall game and separate them from others or bring them hurdling back down to reality or rock bottom. 

You see that’s the life of a goaltender and their family. It’s like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded, you know there’s going to be ups and downs, but you have no idea how fast or when they are going to happen. 

The pressure is one thing, the expectations are the other, then there’s the numbers. 

Numbers don’t lie right? Wrong. You see that’s all bullshit to. Over the years I’ve seen young goaltenders with great numbers that are sieves. They hide behind their numbers because of the team in front of them. When all of the scouts come to town for big showcase tournaments they were all anxious to see their potential because they studied their numbers or looked at some film. It’s all bullshit, because unless you have played the position or have studied it or coached it you really don’t know what that young backstop is going through. Goaltenders and their parents use the “numbers” to promote, showcase and justify their overall performance, but that still isn’t the be all end all or it certainly isn’t an indicator of future success at the next level. Numbers are just numbers, and you want to know something, I’ve seen some goalies that had shit numbers in U18 AAA go on to have pretty solid careers at the next level because they were accustomed to facing a ton of rubber because of the team that they had in front of them. 

What makes a goaltender a solid goaltending prospect? 

Well, that’s a pretty loaded question isn’t it. 

How many goaltenders have been selected in the first three rounds of the QMJHL draft over the last five years? 

How many of them have played four years in the Q? 

How many of them have gone on to play college or university hockey? 

How many of them have gone on to play pro hockey? 

How many teams across the Q can honestly say they develop goaltenders? 

If you look at the Q draft history most goaltenders are selected in the 5th or 6th round, that’s when teams and organizations feel comfortable drafting them because the cost benefit analysis makes sense in those rounds. Of course you going to have the “one offs” those netminders that go earlier in the draft, but even then those teams are shitting their pants with all of the “what if” scenarios because they know that their 16 yr old goaltender of the future isn’t anywhere close to playing 20 to 30 games in the league.  That’s scary, but that’s the reality of it. 

Could you imagine what’s going through the mind of a young goaltender in their draft year? 

How do they showcase what they can do in a back up role with their U18 team? 

How do they navigate the pressure, the expectations, the numbers and all of the bullshit? 

How do they process the “stop the fucking puck” mentality from their coaches? 

How do they know what the scouts are looking for? 

Oh yeah what if their U18 team doesn’t have any formal goalie coaching or development options? Then what are they supposed to do? 

Goaltenders and their families are always caught between a rock and a hard place, but that’s the reality of living life in the crease.