Dealing With a Bad Game: How to Flush It and Move On

By Eldon 'Pokey' Reddick | Hockey Horizons Mentor & Former NHL Goaltender

Every goalie has bad games. Every single one — from the kids playing Tier 3 junior on a Tuesday night to the starters in the NHL getting pulled in the second period. Bad games are not the problem. How you respond to them is either the problem or the solution. That response — your reset process — is one of the most important skills you can build as a competitive goaltender.

I know what a bad game feels like. I know the walk to the locker room when the goals have been coming and you can't seem to stop anything. I know the feeling after the game when you're replaying every puck that went past you. That mental replay is natural. The question is how long you let it run. Goalies who get stuck in the replay loop — who carry a bad game into the next practice, the next week, the next start — are sabotaging their own development. You have to find a way to close the file.

Here's a process that works: right after the game, give yourself a defined window — maybe twenty minutes on the bus ride home — to think through what happened. Not to punish yourself, but to honestly assess. What went wrong? Was it technical? Was it positional? Was it mental? Then, when that window closes, the analysis is done. You're not allowed to reopen it. Tomorrow is a new day. The next practice is a clean slate.

Talk to Someone

Don't carry bad games alone. Talk to a coach, a goalie coach, a mentor, a trusted parent. Processing out loud what happened is far more effective than letting it loop in your head. At Hockey Horizons, this is part of what we do — help young goalies work through the mental and emotional side of a demanding position. You don't have to figure it out alone.

At Hockey Horizons, we understand that goaltending is its own world — technically, mentally, and strategically. Pokey Reddick works directly with goaltenders and their families to navigate development, team selection, and the junior and college recruiting process. If you're serious about your goalie's future, reach out to us at hockeyhorizons.com.

For guidance on the complete development picture, visit us at hockeyhorizons.com.