from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

The PAD Boston, as Daccord calls it, is a one-stop shop revolving around the goalie: on-ice training, cognitive training, off-ice fitness, yoga, physical therapy, and vision training. The PAD Boston, which opened in September, serves youth hockey goalies to NHLers such as Cory Schneider, one of Daccord’s longtime pupils. It is a place where goalies can learn, train, and explore new ideas that might develop into the next go-to technique.

The heart of the facility is its 60-by-50-foot ice surface. The sheet features 14 creases, although Daccord’s preferred maximum is eight goalies working at one time.

The theory is simple. A goalie doesn’t need a 200-by-85 rink. It would be counterintuitive to chase pucks around the ice when all a goalie needs is space behind the net, a crease, and a workable radius. This way, a coach can be right next to the goalie to issue corrections and film him or her with the iPads on rolling stands that Daccord considers critical tools.

A goalie’s success, after all, comes through coaching and repetition. The idea is to practice proper technique to the point at which movements become habit.

“When that puck goes off his blocker and into the corner, he can’t even try not to follow it. Can’t even try,” Daccord said. “His myelin is so wrapped — his muscle memory is so wrapped the way we want it to be wrapped — that he’s got to try to do it wrong.”

more including other hockey topics...