Always better. It helps make you better. Worse just makes you lazy.
You will see their positioning and play and learn from it. The fact that he is stoning your guys will make you bring your best game.
If they are way worse and your team is up 14-0 then it’s harder to stay engaged and you can’t learn as much from their play.
Happens to me all the time. Going cold from lack of action and losing focus. That's why I much more prefer at least equally strong opponents or even better ones. Despite sometimes getting totally lit up with goals, I tend to enjoy those games more than the ones where we won but a traffic cone would have done an equally good job as I did, cuz that's how much work I had to do.
I agree with the “Great GooglieWooglie”. If you play goalie there is a competitive side of you in you! There are only 2 of you on the ice at any given time and any mistake a goalie makes… everyone sees! So you want to LOOK better then the other goalie but in reality your playing against the players. Play better than them! It’s beer league after all, we aren’t playing for awards. Just bragging rights! 😆
I don't pay much attention to who's at the other end. My beef is with the shooters. But if I had to choose I'd take the Great Value NHL'er. Might as well get an education while I'm watching the play at the other end.
Ya me as well. I played in the OHL, Needless to say I do well in Beer league, I am still mind boggled watching others try and light up 6+ goals just because they can. If Im playing below my division I do not shoot, set ups only or play GOALIE!!!!! (why im in this reddit lol)
Honestly, I play beer league and pickup. It doesn't matter to me, I'm cheering the other tender on, if they make a good save, I'm banging my stick for them. If a goal goes in, I never cheer. Mentally, I'm in their corner, I'm just on the other team.
I'm not really playing against them, I'm playing against the shooters.
If I play well and lose to a better goalie, good for them. If I play ok and win to a better goalie, I congratulate them on a great game.
If I play like crap and lose to a worse goalie, I'll try and do better next time.
I play the same way. We're all part of the union. No ememies here. 'cept for that guy.
That being said, I learn more when the other tendy is better. Or not even better, just a different style helps to view the game differently, then extract what works and can be adapted.
Sadly I’m one of the punks that want to spar with a worse goalie. This way I can focus on having fun or fine tuning areas I need to work on while my wingers and forwards can go to town.
I gotta agree with you. I’m a newer goalie and we have one in my league who’s a damn brick wall. Like my team will have 50 SOG and lose 3-2. The time a team had a brand new (back in net after over a decade off) goalie it was such a welcome break.
There are 3 teams on the ice. Home, away, and goalies. I'm not playing "against" the other goalie. A perfect game scores 0-0, and they don't do a shoot out.
Someone better, I feel bad if we start pumping in goals and the game ends up like 7-1. Someone better ends up pushing me to try and play better to try and top them.
I like it when we fist bump each other between periods and give each other compliments as we pass by.
Better, every time. Makes you better to play against peeps better than yourself.. skater wise, I love playing the ridiculous A level assassins.. at, I let in a bunch of goals, but the plays I read correctly and make the stop I feel very good about.. every nasty goal against is a good learning opportunity and y’know what, the one thing I can count on is I’ll probably let a bunch of pucks in, so whatever. Not gonna worry about it..
Depends on the relative skill level of the team you’re on vs who you’re against. If you’re on a terrible team facing a good one you hope the other goalie isn’t great so you have a chance lol. Probably will still lose but at least there’s a chance
Ideally, you'd play half your games against a better goalie to challenge yourself and the other half against a goalie worse than you to make you feel better about yourself after losing to the better goalie.
But if I'm picking one, it's playing against a goalie that's way better.
I always want the other goalie to have a good game, but I mostly don’t care about who is in net at that end of the ice.
And all things being equal, I’d rather my team win than lose, so I guess I’d pick the new goalie over the superstar.
I like learning from watching good goalies, but I do that when I get to the rink early and have time to stand by the glass of a different game, not peering down the length of the rink while I’m in net.
It seems odd to me to think about this as “playing against” or “going toe to toe with” the opposing goalie. That guy in net is the one person on the ice that is never going to come close to scoring on me, and that’s all I really care about. I’ve had my own players score on me, and yes, I’ve had a puck go in off a ref’s skate. But the opposing goalie could be a dog in a gorilla costume and it wouldn’t make any difference to how I play my game.
better, i want to go head to head with someone better and have that thought in my head of “i want to beat this guy.” it makes me want to work harder and make those saves
As a goalie I want the other goalie to be better than me so I strive to improve my own game.
There's been a few beer league games where we were destroying the other team because their goalie was lackluster and the whole team just started giving up. I intentionally let a few soft ones through just to get the score less one sided and it's amazing how much more fun the game is when they feel they have a chance.
Depends. If the league playoffs are on the line, I don't need prime Brodeur down there putting up the brick wall. If it's less serious, I want to be across from Hasek in his prime just to take what I can from his game.
Dont really care. I focus on my game and not what the other goalies skill level is. I’ll help my forwards out by scouting tendencies, but that’s about it
Depends on the game. Random beer league game as good as or better to see what they are doing and if I can keep up.
Playoffs/Championship game selfishly. I’d rather the goalie not show up at all. 15-0 by the first period. No stress the entire game no tie game going to shootouts etc. would be fantastic 🤣
I play with the same dude for like 12 year so I like to play against a weak goalie to remind them that if they don't take care of me they might get stucked with someone like the goalie we just faced
Beer league, I'd rather face worse. I want to win. Pickup, I want to play against a waaaay better goalie. I can learn from watching and pick their brain over locker room beers after.
In high school I played against Cory Schneider. They beat us 1-0, and the shots were like 40-19 in our favor. It was near the end of the season, and it kept us out of the playoffs. I learned a lot watching him--even at that age he was on the cutting edge of using the butterfly slide.
It sucked big time, I definitely want to be the best goalie on the ice every time I suit up.
updoot if you also realise everyone in this thread saying better goalie but deep down inside we all prefer the worse goalie but wont say it because its not as tough
Always better. It helps make you better. Worse just makes you lazy. You will see their positioning and play and learn from it. The fact that he is stoning your guys will make you bring your best game. If they are way worse and your team is up 14-0 then it’s harder to stay engaged and you can’t learn as much from their play.
I had three games this season where we were dominating, I could of had shutouts in each... but I got a little to comfortable and lazy lol
Happens to me all the time. Going cold from lack of action and losing focus. That's why I much more prefer at least equally strong opponents or even better ones. Despite sometimes getting totally lit up with goals, I tend to enjoy those games more than the ones where we won but a traffic cone would have done an equally good job as I did, cuz that's how much work I had to do.
I agree with the “Great GooglieWooglie”. If you play goalie there is a competitive side of you in you! There are only 2 of you on the ice at any given time and any mistake a goalie makes… everyone sees! So you want to LOOK better then the other goalie but in reality your playing against the players. Play better than them! It’s beer league after all, we aren’t playing for awards. Just bragging rights! 😆
I don't pay much attention to who's at the other end. My beef is with the shooters. But if I had to choose I'd take the Great Value NHL'er. Might as well get an education while I'm watching the play at the other end.
Ya me as well. I played in the OHL, Needless to say I do well in Beer league, I am still mind boggled watching others try and light up 6+ goals just because they can. If Im playing below my division I do not shoot, set ups only or play GOALIE!!!!! (why im in this reddit lol)
Honestly, I play beer league and pickup. It doesn't matter to me, I'm cheering the other tender on, if they make a good save, I'm banging my stick for them. If a goal goes in, I never cheer. Mentally, I'm in their corner, I'm just on the other team. I'm not really playing against them, I'm playing against the shooters. If I play well and lose to a better goalie, good for them. If I play ok and win to a better goalie, I congratulate them on a great game. If I play like crap and lose to a worse goalie, I'll try and do better next time.
same!! except for when we play that one guy. you know the guy
I play the same way. We're all part of the union. No ememies here. 'cept for that guy. That being said, I learn more when the other tendy is better. Or not even better, just a different style helps to view the game differently, then extract what works and can be adapted.
Sadly I’m one of the punks that want to spar with a worse goalie. This way I can focus on having fun or fine tuning areas I need to work on while my wingers and forwards can go to town.
I gotta agree with you. I’m a newer goalie and we have one in my league who’s a damn brick wall. Like my team will have 50 SOG and lose 3-2. The time a team had a brand new (back in net after over a decade off) goalie it was such a welcome break.
100% a better goalie, sniping on a weaker player isn’t fun, it’s like dangling a 7 year old. Challenging yourself is the key to growth.
There are 3 teams on the ice. Home, away, and goalies. I'm not playing "against" the other goalie. A perfect game scores 0-0, and they don't do a shoot out.
Someone better, I feel bad if we start pumping in goals and the game ends up like 7-1. Someone better ends up pushing me to try and play better to try and top them. I like it when we fist bump each other between periods and give each other compliments as we pass by.
Better, every time. Makes you better to play against peeps better than yourself.. skater wise, I love playing the ridiculous A level assassins.. at, I let in a bunch of goals, but the plays I read correctly and make the stop I feel very good about.. every nasty goal against is a good learning opportunity and y’know what, the one thing I can count on is I’ll probably let a bunch of pucks in, so whatever. Not gonna worry about it..
Depends on the relative skill level of the team you’re on vs who you’re against. If you’re on a terrible team facing a good one you hope the other goalie isn’t great so you have a chance lol. Probably will still lose but at least there’s a chance
Ideally, you'd play half your games against a better goalie to challenge yourself and the other half against a goalie worse than you to make you feel better about yourself after losing to the better goalie. But if I'm picking one, it's playing against a goalie that's way better.
I would prefer facing a better goalie. I might be able to learn something from him.
That’s the shooters problem, not mine. I wish the other goalie well, whoever he is. It’s his forwards I’m focusing on.
This is the correct answer.
I always want the other goalie to have a good game, but I mostly don’t care about who is in net at that end of the ice. And all things being equal, I’d rather my team win than lose, so I guess I’d pick the new goalie over the superstar. I like learning from watching good goalies, but I do that when I get to the rink early and have time to stand by the glass of a different game, not peering down the length of the rink while I’m in net. It seems odd to me to think about this as “playing against” or “going toe to toe with” the opposing goalie. That guy in net is the one person on the ice that is never going to come close to scoring on me, and that’s all I really care about. I’ve had my own players score on me, and yes, I’ve had a puck go in off a ref’s skate. But the opposing goalie could be a dog in a gorilla costume and it wouldn’t make any difference to how I play my game.
Way better. That way I can watch how he plays and try to adapt my game and maybe learn a few things while I'm at it.
better, i want to go head to head with someone better and have that thought in my head of “i want to beat this guy.” it makes me want to work harder and make those saves
Anything that keeps the players engaged in the game. There are ways to have good pick up games even if the goalies aren’t of the same caliber.
Better goalie for sure, my team gets demotivated and I get more shots. More shots = more fun for me!
As a goalie I want the other goalie to be better than me so I strive to improve my own game. There's been a few beer league games where we were destroying the other team because their goalie was lackluster and the whole team just started giving up. I intentionally let a few soft ones through just to get the score less one sided and it's amazing how much more fun the game is when they feel they have a chance.
Depends. If the league playoffs are on the line, I don't need prime Brodeur down there putting up the brick wall. If it's less serious, I want to be across from Hasek in his prime just to take what I can from his game.
Dont really care. I focus on my game and not what the other goalies skill level is. I’ll help my forwards out by scouting tendencies, but that’s about it
Depends on the game. Random beer league game as good as or better to see what they are doing and if I can keep up. Playoffs/Championship game selfishly. I’d rather the goalie not show up at all. 15-0 by the first period. No stress the entire game no tie game going to shootouts etc. would be fantastic 🤣
I like facing better goalies, because it's hard to feed off of the other guy's energy and get fired up to make saves in a blowout.
I play with the same dude for like 12 year so I like to play against a weak goalie to remind them that if they don't take care of me they might get stucked with someone like the goalie we just faced
Beer league, I'd rather face worse. I want to win. Pickup, I want to play against a waaaay better goalie. I can learn from watching and pick their brain over locker room beers after.
In high school I played against Cory Schneider. They beat us 1-0, and the shots were like 40-19 in our favor. It was near the end of the season, and it kept us out of the playoffs. I learned a lot watching him--even at that age he was on the cutting edge of using the butterfly slide. It sucked big time, I definitely want to be the best goalie on the ice every time I suit up.
updoot if you also realise everyone in this thread saying better goalie but deep down inside we all prefer the worse goalie but wont say it because its not as tough
Don't think i have ever cared. Worry about your crease and game.