Its no secret, when Ive been asked if I had to build a goaltender, what would it look like, the simplest reply I can offer is: Pekka Rinne. - 65 - unreal flexibility - elite lateral movement - great puckhandling - the Finnish relaxed but intense mental makeup - durability (can play 70 games in a season) - structure, but worries about stopping the puck by any means necessary - elite rebound control because he catches pucks - and this is why I believe Pekka and most Finnish goalies work to give themselves the edge There are a few reasons I am biased, one being I had the great fortune of playing with one of the most talented goaltenders Ive ever come across in Miikka Kiprusoff. Second, I had the opportunity to go to Finland three summers in a row and work with some of their goaltenders and the coaches involved in their development, and watch firsthand the philosophy and thought process behind what they believe to be important in the mechanics of goaltending. Its such an athletic position now. We know structure, patience, reads off the rush, every detail of goaltending is being worked on by every country, goaltender coach, and goaltender in todays world. Thats no secret. But after witnessing it firsthand, I understood the thought process behind a Finnish goaltender after seeing what was important to them during practice and development. When Miikka invited me over to Finland to work with him and his longtime goaltender coach Upi Ylonen, I jumped at the chance not only to work with Miikka in his summertime training regimen, but to see whats been ingrained in him and other Finnish goalies through their practice habits. In watching a lot of the movement drills early on, the emphasis certainly was on edge work, mechanics of moving in and out of your net, giving yourself a chance to make the save through angles and movement. But the single most important thing I learned about the thought process of Finnish goaltenders was rebound control. Every drill, every sequence, the focus was on limiting a second shot, no matter where it came from. The coaches were quite vocal and adamant that it was the goaltenders responsibility to not have any second chances on them. That meant catching everything that came near you, regardless of puck placement, whether it was close to the ice, high glove or cross-body blocker. The message was loud and clear. Most Finnish goaltenders are known for their great glove hands, and now I know why it is stressed. Every drill was executed with no second shot in mind, their movement was worked on separately with the thought process on movement before the shot, giving yourself a chance to be set, then the reactionary play with the glove; to catch it and control the play. One training session on the ice was with Mikko and Saku Koivu as well as Lauri Korpikoski literally taking one-timer slapshots from just above the hash marks on Kiprusoff, Antero Niittymaki and Fredrik Norrena. The whole time, Upi was in the background yelling in Finnish to catch pucks and limit rebounds. I remember asking Kipper, what is this guy yelling about, and he told me he was mad because we werent catching enough pucks. As an NHL goalie at that time, I remember thinking they were just lucky to get in the way of the one-timers, let alone catch them and control where the puck placement would be. The whole week I was there, every time we worked with the goaltender coaches, there was always some form in the drill that was designed so that catching the puck was involved. So in todays games, when I watch Pekka Rinne, Tuukka Rask, Antti Niemi, Kari Lehtonen, Niklas Backstrom, Antti Raanta or Kari Ramo try and make a cross-body catch that most goalies would use their blocker, or a save where the puck is close to the ice, I will hear in my head that goalie coach screaming in Finnish to catch pucks. I often wonder the impact catching pucks has on a goalies save percentage, when there are limited rebounds to be had, there is a lot less second shots and chances against, but that is another discussion altogether. Although I have talked about my Finnish experience, the NHL is full of goalies who incorporate the mindset. Here are my top 5 goalies who catch pucks consistently: Rinne, Jonathan Quick, Rask, Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fleury. Kd Basket Italia .com) - Damian Lillard poured in 40 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go along with 11 assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder, 115-111, in overtime on Tuesday. Air Max 720 Edizione Limitata . Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stood tall with 41 saves between the pipes, but it was defenceman Ryan McDonagh who got the first star of the game as he had a goal and an assist and now has two goals and four assists for six points in two games. http://www.airmaxshoponlineitalia.it/scontate-max-plus-outlet.html . "I knew it was gone. I mean, I felt it," the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year said. "I havent felt like that in a while. I havent got extension on a ball in a pretty long time. Air Max Plus Near Me . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. Scarpe Air Max Plus In Offerta . As the schedule flipped from November to December, they would go on to drop five straight, falling six games below the .500 mark before a franchise-altering trade turned them into an unrecognizable team. WASHINGTON -- Josh Smith overcame a slow start to score 22 points and Rodney Stuckey added 20 as the Detroit Pistons beat the Washington Wizards 104-98 on Saturday night. Greg Monroe had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Andre Drummond added 10 points and a game-high 13 boards as the Pistons outrebounded the Wizards 44-35. John Wall scored 34 points, including Washingtons last 10 over the final 6 minutes, as the Wizards snapped a three-game winning streak and failed to move past .500 for the first time in more than four years. It was the third time this year they lost at home with a chance to get over the .500 mark. Martell Webster had 15 points and Marcin Gortat added 10 points and 12 rebounds for Washington. The score was tied at 88-all when Wizards forward Nene hit two free throws with six minutes left. But Stuckey followed with a three-point play as the Pistons took the lead for good. He added two free throws and his jumper with 2:23 left put Detroit in charge, 97-90. Washington got no closer than three after that. It was a tale of two halves for Smith, who went 0 for 6 from the field in the first two quarters and then scored 20 in the second half. He also had eight boards for the NBAs top rebounding squad. Washinggton hit 10 of its first 15 shots and sprinted to a 26-16 lead.dddddddddddd. However, Detroit held Washington without a field goal in a 5:35 span of the second quarter and Stuckey scored eight points in a 16-3 run. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3-pointer to give the Pistons a 38-34 lead. The Wizards responded with two 3s from Webster and one from Wall over the final 2:08 of the half to regain the advantage, 54-46. Washington pushed its edge to 12 early in the third quarter. Smith then scored 12 points in the third to help Detroit move back ahead, 79-76. NOTES: Washington reserve Trevor Booker went to the locker room early in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle and didnt return. ... After sitting out the last two games, Jan Vesely was pressed into service and gave the Wizards a lift in the second quarter with six of his seven points. He also hit his first free throw since Dec. 2 ending a streak of 14 misses. ... Washington had reached the .500 mark two other times this season, but followed with losing streaks of four and three games, with only one of those games away from Verizon Center. ... The teams split the four-game season series. Detroit hasnt lost a series to Washington since 2005-06. ' ' '