Unmasked: Rest key for goalies with condensed schedule
The Buffalo Sabres have carried three goalies since Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen returned from injury, serving as the backup Oct. 24 and starting his first game Oct. 25. The Sabres haven’t seemed as deliberate in their use of the extra goalie in games since, though Alex Lyon did get a night off completely last week after starting 10 of the first 13, with Colten Ellis backing up Luukkonen against the St Louis Blues on Nov. 6.
For Daccord, not having to dress as the backup for games he’s not starting helps beyond avoiding his modified pregame preparation. It also helps him rest and recover properly.
“Any person who does a workout at 10 p.m. and then tries to go to bed at 11, you’re just not going to sleep as well,” he said. “And if you do fall asleep, it’s not quality sleep, so that’s the biggest one. The second thing is I’m able to schedule my weeks out so I can plan when I can get workouts in, bike rides in, not be worried about, ‘Hey, I might have to play tomorrow.’ It helps me structure all my in-season training so I can stay in top fitness.”
Having an extra goalie on the roster also can make it easier to manage workload in practice by allowing the No. 1 to avoid some of the less goalie-friendly parts that add needless saves and butterfly drops, something most teams count specifically as a measurement of workload. They can get on the ice and do position-specific work with a goalie coach, then get off before the team portion of practice starts, usually with rush drills.
It’s how Devan Dubnyk managed to start 38 straight games for the Minnesota Wild during the 2014-15 season, with Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom handling most of the practices.
The Canadiens took advantage of having two practice rinks and three goalies during 2023-24.
“So instead of just having a guy waiting in the corner, every practice would be 20 minutes on the other side with the goalie coach,” Montembeault said. “When it’s all flow drills you just get shots but you don’t really work on your game, so we’d have one goalie do 20 minutes on the other side with the goalie coach. It gave us a lot more time to work with our goalie coach.”
Some teams bring in practice goalies to accomplish the same thing, but too much practice time hasn’t been a problem during this season’s condensed schedule. The opposite, in fact, is true, which is why Daccord makes saves in virtual reality to supplement the extra time off.
“I love getting practice time when we can have it, but rest is probably most important,” he said. “I didn’t skate for two days (Oct. 21-22) because of back to back, then a travel day, so I just did (NHL) Sense Arena both days and then played (at the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 23), and felt like I was seeing the puck just like I’d practiced those two days.”
