Just when I think I'm out, they suck me back in.

Goalies talk to selves to keep calm, focus under pressure

It isn't weird for an NHL goalie to be talking to himself during a game.Actually, it would be stranger to find one who doesn't do it.

www.nhl.com

Some goalies use nonverbal techniques to refocus – Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals and Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers will spray water into the air and focus on a drop falling to the ice, and others have reminders written on equipment – but talking in the crease is as normal as a butterfly drop. 

“When my daughter is watching ‘Frozen’ she loves to sing ‘Let It Go,’ and I think that’s a very good catchphrase also for goalies,” Antti Raanta said. “Just let it go and focus on the next thing that happens. Sometimes when you have a bad game and you come home and my daughter is singing that, and it’s like, ‘OK, maybe I should just let it go.’”

“It varies guy to guy and (depends on) maybe how intense they are,” Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk said. “I think we all do it. For me, I guess it depends on what you know just transpired in the game. If a play happened, and maybe I don’t get scored on that play, but I know I was vulnerable because of something I didn’t do properly, you just to kind of talk yourself through it. Like, 'Hey, you’ve got to get those feet set, you’ve got to get your shoulder turned, don’t go down early, or maybe stay on your feet on this push, don’t slide into it.’ Even if it didn’t cost you, I always know.”

New Jersey Devils veteran Cory Schneider kept the same message on the inside cuff of his blocker – first written himself, and later embroidered by CCM - from his NCAA career at Boston College: “Don’t fear failure. Compete 100%. Enjoy the process. Play for others.”

Vancouver Canucks goalie prospect Michael DiPietro has a message written on the inside of his blocker, but it changes. […] he used the anagram “ABC,” which stood for, “[Be] Aware, Breathe, Choose,” as a way to prevent his focus from drifting in a high-pressure environment, something he got from Vancouver’s mental performance consultant, Ryan Hamilton. […] By the time he was called up to the Canucks from Utica of the American Hockey League three months ago, DiPietro had a new blocker and a new message: “WIN,” or “What’s Important Now.”

“I’ve been probably saying the same things for seven, eight, nine years,” Raanta said. “It’s pretty simple, a couple things like, 'You can do it, you’ve been there before, you’re here for a reason,’ and things like that. It’s just something that calms you down and brings you back to a calm place. It’s more about just reminding yourself that, 'Hey, everything is OK, don’t worry about it, you have made millions of saves, so just forget it and let it go.’”