A New Way to Manage Rebounds

[SlapshotWrangler 864]

CALGARY - Jacques Lafontaine has been struggling lately and he has currently made a change to help him get back on track. He got pads developed to allow the puck to go farther. Vasilevskiy was the first major goaltender to introduce the idea of making leg pads cause longer rebounds. While people think they’re horrible rebounds when they happen, they are actually intentional.

 

“Yeah, I thought it was a crazy idea. It makes it harder to glove the puck and control the rebound but it does buy me some time. Besides, while it does increase the chance that the opponent gets the puck, the puck usually rebounds so hard and fast that it can be hard for the players to pick up the rebound. Or so we think. I’ll try it out for now and if I like it, I’ll keep it.”

 

We’ll see if it pays off but for now, get used to seeing Jacques Lafontaine adjusting his play style.