The butterfly is a style of goaltending that emerged from the province of Quebec and has quickly become the method of choice for goalies at all levels of play. Before the modern era of the NHL (commonly considered pre-1967, the year the NHL expanded to the west) goaltending was very different then it is today. In the earliest days of goaltending dropping to your knees was not even a legal play.

Today goaltending is much different. The rules have changed, and goalies are faster, wear better gear, and can take advantage of new technologies that allow them to improve their reflexes and critique their own play. The butterfly style is a result of the combining of the innovations that have graced the game over the past 15 years or so.

In 1984 a young goaltender named Patrick Roy emerged on the NHL scene with the Montreal Canadians. Drafted 51st overall, Roy made an immediate impact with the Habs and the game was forever changed. Today Roy has retired and JS Giguere, an idol of Roy's, has claimed the spotlight for his stunning goaltending displays. But how do goalies like Roy and Giguere do what they do? What makes the butterfly THE style to have? This month we will take a closer look at the butterfly and provide a few pointers for goalies of all levels.

BEGINNER:

The most important thing about the Butterfly is positioning. There is a bit more to it than just locking your legs in an upside down "V". When positioning yourself in the butterfly the first thing to do is set your feet slightly more then shoulder width apart. Place your stick several inches in front of your feet, creating a triangle. When the puck is in your zone you do not want to be leaning on your stick, but put some pressure on it and make sure that it remains on the ground. The most common mistake beginning goaltenders will make is lifting your stick off the ground. Because of the nature of a rather large five hole (the space between a goaltenders legs) that comes with the butterfly style lifting your stick can lead to some embarrassing goals. With your stick sitting in front of you, your blocker hand should naturally move out in front of your body a bit, but if it doesn't, get it there. Your glove hand should be set out about the same distance from your body as your blocker. Both gloves should be slightly above the top of your leg pads. If this causes your stick to sit at an angle with the heel on the surface but the toe lifting off, you are probably using a stick that's too big, or it doesn't have a proper lie to suit your size and style of goaltending. For more information on stick selection check out our stick shopping guide HERE. Now I know that this month we're focusing on the legs but the upper body is an important part of the butterfly style. This was highlighted in this years playoffs by J.S Giguere, who has made making the safe upper body save an art. This is something that most goaltenders neglect the most, but it can cause you a world of trouble. Your upper body should be tall, your back should be straight, and you should be positioned as if sitting in a chair with your legs set in front of the rest of your body (this takes lots of practice and conditioning). Your thighs will be sore the first few months, but if you stick with it your game will improve immensely. Working on the butterfly is easy. You don't even need to be at the rink. Just grab your glove, blocker and stick while you're watching games on TV and practice staying in your stance.

INTERMEDIATE:

The basic positioning of the butterfly style is all fine and dandy, but it's useless if you can't move around the crease. Up until this point all the things I've discussed have been universal for both ice and roller hockey goaltenders, but due to the differences between the two surfaces the method of movement will be different. The roller hockey tips discussed here can be used for ice hockey, but I strongly recommend that ice hockey goalies take advantage of their surface and use the ice techniques suggested below.

For Roller Hockey goaltenders there are two main ways of moving laterally around the crease, the shuffle step and the T glide. Most literature on the subject seems to lean towards the shuffle step as the best way for a roller goalie to get into position. The primary advantage is that it keeps the face of your leg pads in a better position then the T glide.

To execute the Shuffle steps simply start out in the butterfly position. Begin the maneuver by lifting the foot on the opposite side from the direction you want to move (example: your right foot if you want to move to the left) and bring it in to your other foot so that your pads are together. Then begin moving in the direction you want to by lifting the foot that you had kept planted earlier and moving it in the direction you want to go. After that simply shuffle over and over again, making sure your steps aren't too big. Bigger steps will result in arriving at your destination slightly quicker but they leave your five hole open to shooters. With practice this can become an effective way of moving around the crease.

The other method for roller hockey goaltenders to get around is called the T Glide. I find that it provides you with more options and doesn't commit you to any one direction for quite as long as the shuffle does. To execute the T glide take your foot on the side you want to move to and turn it so that the skate is pointing in the direction you want to go. This should create a T with your other stationary skate. Push off from the skate you left stationary and glide on one foot in the direction you want to go. Once you get to the spot you want to be at, drop your foot that you pushed off with back down and do a sharp C cut with your other foot.

When doing either of these maneuvers its important to make sure that the rest of your body stays in position with your stick down and your hands out in front of you.

Both ice and roller hockey goaltenders move forward and backwards by using various sized C cuts. A C cut works just like it sounds. By making C like motions with your feet a goalie can move forward and backward rapidly and still maintain sound positioning. This technique is pretty simple but difficult to explain. Check out the diagram to the right and you should get a pretty good idea of what is required.

As I mentioned earlier, ice hockey goaltenders have another option when moving around the crease. Because of the slick surface, ice hockey goaltenders, when equipped with the proper hollow on their skate blade, can move laterally without taking their skates off the ground. This is the ideal method of motion for the ice hockey goaltender and gives them a clear advantage over their roller counterparts.

Now that you know how to move around the crease it might be good to know how to react to shots if they should come your way (and being a goalie, it's a petty good bet that its going to happen). Going down into the butterfly is the most common move. In one motion you should drop to your knees and fan out your legs so that they create a wall along the surface of the rink. Your knees should come together to close off any holes between your legs. Your upper body position should stay the same, with your chest up and your arms out in the same position they were in before. You're now in the basic butterfly position. One of the most common mistakes a goaltender will make when learning the butterfly is dropping into this position too early. This will leave you vulnerable to being caught out of position if the shooter decides to hold the puck and move to a different angle. To get back up and follow the play you should throw your weight back and up, jamming your legs under your body. This can take weeks, even months to master, so don't get discouraged if you don't have immediate success getting out of the butterfly.

ADVANCED:

Of course, like everything in hockey the butterfly has many variations. Half butterflies are the most common variant that a goaltender will use to make the save. Rarely will a shooter take shots right at your chest or your five hole. Most of the time they will try to get around you with a shot, not go through you. Unless their name is Al MacInnis, in which case just let him score. It's really not worth it. Just ask Jocelyn Thibault (broken hand) and Chris Osgood (broken hand/sprained wrist). Here are a few variations of the butterfly to try out.

The Half Butterfly Blocker Side:

The Half butterfly to the blocker side is a common way to handle low and mid level shots that come in on the blocker side. To execute the save you begin going down same as you would in a normal butterfly but instead of keeping both your knees under you kick out with your blocker side leg. When going down be sure to maintain good upper body posture, with your gloves set a few inches in front of the front of your pads.

The Half Butterfly Glove Side:

This save is identical to the half butterfly to the blocker side but this time you simply want to kick out to the glove side. The half butterfly to the glove side has a few distinct advantages over the blocker side.

When executing any of the half butterfly positions it is important to keep a few things in mind. First of all, don't jump. It's a common problem among beginning goaltenders. Why would you want to jump up when you're trying to going down? It takes up valuable time and creates unnecessary easy scoring opportunities. It's also good to remember to work at both half butterflies in practice. Goaltenders, especially in roller hockey, will often kick out to the half butterfly on the blocker side only. This is a result of not enough attention spent working with the blocker (which, lets face it, just ain't as cool as the trapper) and the surface that roller hockey players skate on.

HELPFUL EQUIPMENT TIPS OF THE MONTH:

Since we're on the topic of the butterfly and using your legs, this month we're taking a look at Leg Pads. The leg pad has evolved with the goaltenders. From humble beginnings of deer hair and leather to the current advanced Air Pack systems and Clarino lightweight substitutes. When looking at getting new leg pads there are a few things to consider. If you have decided not to go for the butterfly and instead choose to play "stand up" style then there are a few things to look for in a leg pad. Rounded tops on the inside corner of the pads prevent overlap and keep your legs in position better then squared off butterfly pads do. However, if you're playing butterfly style a squared off pad is very important. If you get a rounded pad you'll have an easier time when standing up but when you go down into the butterfly you'll have a hole to contend with. This may not seem like a big deal if your stick is in position, but that's not always the case. Another thing to consider when purchasing goal pads for the butterfly style are thigh guards. Some pads, like the Heaton H10 series have them built on, while other pads don't have them at all. This isn't really that big a deal. Some goaltenders feel constricted by the extra pad, while others prefer the extra security. If you're unsure what you want, or if you have found some pads that don't have thigh guards but you wish they did, they can be purchased later on down the line.

Well, that concludes this month's installment of the Goalies Corner. Next month we will be taking a look at Catch Gloves and Blockers, and offering some tips on how to use them more effectively.