Two Pad Stacks

by Darren Hersh

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Make the Most Out of Practice  The Two-Pad Stack The Little Things The Two-Pad Stack Returns! Essential Drills Part I Essential Drills Part II Goalie Quotes

It seems to be a dying art, but if you look closer, you will see even "butterfly" goalies in the NHL making two-pad stack saves every now and then.  We've heard of other goalie coaches not even teaching the stack anymore.  True, the times when the stack are to be used are often few and far between, especially if you are playing your position skillfully and are anticipating well.  But even with those things going for you, the speed of this game at all levels requires that you will be out of position at some point and the best maneuver to use in desperation is often the two pad stack.

Don't believe me that your favorite NHL "Butterfly" goalie uses the stack at some point?  Pictures don't lie.

When and Where to Use It

The two pad stack may be used about 2% of the time throughout an entire season, but the moment does arise where the move can and should be executed.

The move should be used in desperation situations.  Desperation situations are those when the net is basically empty and the shooter is about to shoot at the vacant cage.  This occurs most often on pass plays very close to the goal mouth. This situation can also arise on breakaways if the forward makes an excellent move that leaves the goalie needing to cover a lot of space in a little time.  

Also, the move should be executed when the shooter is in close proximity to the net.  Because the stack is difficult to recover from and the move leaves the top portion of the net open, it should be used in situations where it is extremely difficult for the forward to lift the puck over the leg pads.   These situations are again when the shooter is close to the net and on "bang-bang" plays, where the shooter has little time to execute.

How to Execute It

To execute the move, you should start by pivoting the shoulders in the direction you wish to move. Then, open the skate in a T-Push position in the direction you wish to complete the slide and push hard.

While in motion, go down into an extended butterfly maneuver, allow your upper body to fall to the ice and then kick the bottom leg through building a wall with your legs stacked on top of each other.

Be sure that the body is completely flush to the ice surface with the arm pit also flat on the ice.  To ensure that the arm pit stays down, the goalie can also tilt the head downward onto the shoulder.  Also be sure that the catch glove or blocker (depending on which side you perform the move) is also on top of the pads to extend the "wall" and cover the upper portions of the net.

One problem that some young goalies have while making the stack is that they sometimes fall over forward or backward.  This problem is due to the fact that they are not leaving any contour in the body for balance.  Make sure that the hops are slightly bent and that your "drag" arm is more perpendicular to the body.  These two tricks will ensure your balance during the save.  By having the "drag" arm perpendicular to the body, the goalie may also be able to intercept passing attempts, control rebounds and cover up loose pucks!

Another note is to begin the save by keeping the legs stacked directly on top of one another.  As you can see in the pictures above, some of the pros have the top leg high in the air.  This move should be done if the goalie is certain that the shot is going over his/her pads.  This is a reaction move within a blocking or percentage type save. So do the move properly first (Thibeault, Joseph, & Roy pictures) before lifting the leg to try to block high shots (Potvin, Hasek, Boucher, & Belfour pictures).

How to Recover From It

This is the biggest disadvantage of the stack move.  Because the move leaves the goalie prone to the ice, the goalie is not in a very good position should a rebound result from the save.  This being the case, goalies should spend extra time working on the recovery from the save.

• To recover from the stack, simply reverse the motions that got you into the save:

• Push your torso up with your arm.

• Bend your bottom leg back at the knee.

• Return to the extended butterfly position and get to your skate blade.

• Move to a kneeling position and then recover fully to the feet.

Again, work often on recovery from the stack so that the fear of recovery from the move doesn't dissuade you from using it.

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