Angles: A goalie will position himself/herself to decrease the amount of the net that a shooter can see.

Backdoor: When the goalie is at one side of the net, the empty side that he/she is not covering is referred to as the backdoor.

Backstop: Another name for the goaltender.

Back-up Goaltender: The goaltender who is not playing and is sitting on the bench with the players.

Between the Pipes: A goaltender who is standing in his/her crease is said to be standing "between the pipes"; another name for the goalie net.

Blocker: The large glove with a paddle on the the backhand that the goalie wears on the hand that holds his/her goalie stick.

Brick Wall: A term for a goalie who is stopping everything that is shot at him/her.

Butterfly: A goaltender style of play where the goaltender goes down on their knees causing each of their pads to butterfly out to the sides. This is great for covering the bottom portion of the net.

Challenging: In general, it is the goalies attempt to "cut the angle" by playing at the top of the blue crease (or above) to limit the amount of net seen by the shooter.

Chest Protector: The large piece of padding and protection that a goalie wears over their chest, body, and arm to protect against the puck.

Crease: The painted area in front of the goalie net.

Cutting Down the Angle: The over-all use of challenging, front door, back door, being square to the puck and reading the situation so the goalie can maximize his/her position.

Doorstop: The area directly in front of the goaltender, usually referred to a player right in front of the goal line being on the 'doorstop".

Facemask: Another name for the goalie helmet.

Falling off the Puck: When a goalie makes a save selection and the majority of his/her body moves away from the puck side.

Five-Hole: The area that opens up between the goaltender's legs whenever he/she is moving from high-to-low or side-to-side. When a goalie lets in a goal between his/her legs a player has scored through the five-hole.

Freeze the Puck: When a goalie puts his/her hand over the puck or keeps the puck in his pads to stop the play.

Front Door: When a goalie challenges a shooter, that shooter is considered the "front door." The goalie must learn to balance the trade off between "front door" and "back door" through reading the situation.

Glove: The catching glove that the goalie wears in his/her non-stick hand.

Goal Crease: The painted area in front of the net is the domain of the goaltender.

Goaltender Interference: A penalty is called on a player if he bumps or hits the goalie inside or outside the net.

Goal Line: The small red line that runs from one end of the boards to the opposite side and which the goalie net is placed on. A puck must completely cross the goal line and go into the net to count as a goal.

Goal Mouth: Another name for the area in front on the net.

Goalie Pads: The large pads that the goalie wears on his/her legs for protection and helping stop the puck.

Goalie Stick: The special type of stick featuring a large paddle that a goalie uses.

Goose Egg: A term for getting a shutout or zero goals against.

Half Butterfly: Probably the most used save. A half butterfly is the extension of one pad, while the other pad firmly supports the body. This should be able to be accomplished while stationary, moving forward, backward, laterally, from a shuffle, and while turning to remain square using the "Y" theory.

Hugging the Post: When a goalie is up tight against the post with his/her arm and leg touching it, and making sure that no puck can get in between him/her and the post.

Holes: The areas that form in between the goalies limbs or posts where players aim to shoot to score their goals.

Iron: A nickname for the metal post of the net.

Lateral Movement: When a goalie moves from side-to-side or from one side of the net to the other.

Mesh: The netting that surrounds the metal frame of the net.

Net: What the goalie is protecting from players shooting the puck into.

Netminder: Another name for the goaltender.

Paddle down: Making sure that the goalie stick blade is on the ice to prevent pucks from scoring along the ice.

Puck: The black piece of vulcanized rubber that is used to score goals.

Pull the Goalie: When a team takes the goalie out of the net near the end of the game and puts on an extra attacker on the ice in hopes of scoring a goal.

Razor Sharp: When a goalie is playing extremely well making really hard saves.

Rebound: When the puck hits the goalie and bounces back out into the play. The goalie is trying to limit their size of rebound or direct them into the corner of the rink.

Red Light: When a goal is scored a 'red light' will come on indicating that the puck has crossed the goal line.

Reading the Play: A goalie is tracking the puck and trying to anticipate where it will go and when the puck will be shot on net.

Reverse VH: Reverse Vertical Horizontal

Ricochet: When a puck deflects off one or a few skates, sticks, lets, or other body parts.

Roof: The top part of the net.

Save: When a puck is shot at the goalie and the goalie prevents it from going into the net.

Screen: When a player is standing in front of the goalie so he/she cannot see the puck or shot about to come.

Shuffle: The goalie's skating motion when he/she moves side to side without turning the skates (T-push). This move is used to consistently stay "square" to the puck.

Shutout: When a goalie lets in zero goals over the course of the whole game.

Sieve: A goalie who is not playing well and is letting in a lot of goals which were stoppable.

Slot: The area in front of the net that extends from the top of the crease to the top of the face.

Square to the Puck: The positioning of the goalie where he will be facing a shooter head-on so that the shooter will have the minimum amount of net to shoot at from his position on the ice.

T-Push: Skating motion used laterally to get across the net or back to the post.

Trapezoid: The area behind the net where the goalie is allowed to play the puck when the puck goes behind the goal line to the end boards.

Trapper: A nickname for the goalie glove.

VH: Vertical Horizontal

Y-Theory: The most efficient use of telescoping, staying square and using the proper save selections.

 

Sources: www.hockeyanswered.com; www.usahockeymagazine.com