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Our Views on Martin Brodeur & the Butterfly Brodeur is recognized as one of the all time greatest
goaltenders in the game and is on pace to become the
winningest goaltender in NHL history and at an even earlier
age then Patrick Roy did it. His 3 Stanley Cups in 6 years,
Vezina and Calder Trophies, Olympic Gold medal, and
countless statistical records, certainly justify his praises
and prove his worth. He is also recognized as a gentleman
and as a player, who clearly enjoys the game, you will often
see him laughing and smiling during the game, he has fun, he
clearly enjoys his ‘job’. Hockey is supposed to be fun,
even at the elite level. To us at Puckstoppers, Martin Brodeur personifies what a good
goaltender should be. His style of play is much more suited
to what we believe is the way most goalies should be
taught. Brodeur is NOT a typical butterfly style goaltender,
although he is very capable and often will use the butterfly
position to make a save, he does not reply on it as his only
save technique. We certainly teach the butterfly as part of our school
curriculum, it is a very important part of today’s game!
But we also teach a wide variety of other save techniques,
so the goaltender can develop a ‘tool box’ of save
selections. Once a player has developed the muscle memory to
perfect a variety of save selections, they will flow
automatically as the situation dictates. Our school caters
to elite goaltenders that generally possess superior
conditioning and desire (Intensity) as well as everyday
goalies that just want to get better to fulfill their
enjoyment of the game. Teaching each goalie to know their
own strengths, abilities and limitations is much more
effective than trying to build ‘clones’. The ‘Quebec Butterfly’ is a fantastic style of play and
one we believe in…to a point. However, to play this style
a goaltender must possess superior leg, hip and knee muscle
strength as well as exceptional control, something that many
younger players do not have. In addition, this style of play
requires superior discipline, both the discipline, mind set
and physical aspects are qualities that many players (of all
ages) do not have, and to be frank, something many simply do
not have the desire or ability to achieve. There is
absolutely nothing wrong with this. Hockey is a pastime and the real reason to attend a goalie or
hockey school is to simply improve ones ability,
fundamentals and technical skills so that the game becomes
more enjoyable. Please read that again; You should strive to
improve yourself, so you enjoy the game more, it’s that
simple! Anyone who claims to be able to turn you into a
‘pro’ is misleading you, The desire to attain this level
comes from within, the technical skills can be fine tuned
and honed by a trained instructor and coach, such as we
provide, but no one can make you into a pro. And not
to burst anyone’s bubble but the chances of making the
pros are less than ½ a percent!! So play for the love of
the game and to improve yourself. Improved play, higher
levels of competition a great mind set, plus solid training
and a lot of luck will help you reach those goals, but no
one can promise you a career, so work hard and approach your
training with lofty goals in mind, but don’t base your
life on making it to ‘the show’. It is unlikely that that many goalies will spend the time to
achieve a ‘perfect butterfly’. I can’t tell you how
many times I have seen or worked with a goaltender that told
me they were a ‘butterfly goalie’, but when the training
started I quickly found that they didn’t even have the
physical ability to rotate their hips into a proper
butterfly position. These players regularly get scored on
while trying to be something they are not, with a little
advice and direction they quickly learn that they can be
much more effective utilizing their abilities in a way that
builds on their strengths and helps them learn what their
limitations are. Martin Brodeur is a perfect example of a goaltender that
doesn’t make the same move on every shot, he isn’t
predictable which makes him very effective. Look back at the
last 10 or more years of Stanley Cup history, the only true
butterfly goaltender to actually win the cup is Roy and we
all know that he is in a class by himself, the guy is widely
recognized as the greatest goaltender of all time. Other
butterfly goalies have come close to the cup, but none has
won. Let’s look at why this is the case. In 2002 J.S. Giguere
took the playoffs by storm, posting win after win. He was
heralded as the next big time butterfly goaltender “as
good as Roy” blah blah blah. There have been many ‘Next
Patrick Roy’ come and go and we’re sure there will be
others. Great goaltenders in the regular season, but not Cup
winners. Why? Because in the regular season scouting is not
so intense, but when the playoffs arrive, scouts are sent to
look just at the impact player, often the goaltender, and
they figure out how to score on him. With a butterfly
goaltender this is much easier, the players all know that
when goalie goes down, look high or wide. Perfect
positioning is only effective when the shot is released, if
the players can create movement during the goalies butterfly
drop, he’s dead in the water. Why was J.S.Giguere suddenly unbeatable? He was playing
awesome, that’s for sure, but he was an unknown when the
playoffs started. The first 3 rounds he took everyone by
surprise, but when it counted, the Devils scouted the Ducks
and found a way to beat him, while Brodeur was his usual
self, well scouted, unpredictable and the big winner in the
end. Martin Brodeur continues to win 30 or 40 games a season,
continues to win Stanley Cups, continues to have some of the
most impressive stats ever, why? Because his style is not
predictable, he is an exceptional talent, plus, he really
enjoys his job and it shows. His style is to use ‘all the
tools’ to make the save. This is exactly what we teach.
His style is not ‘the flavour of the week’, nor is he
programmed to do exactly the same thing on every shot. He
does what needs to be done and is free to alter the
‘programming’ as needed. Chris Dyson |
