Which conversation would have been remarkably cheering to Toby could he have overheard it at the moment. But he didn’t. What he did hear just then was Arnold telling him to “Hold still, you chump! I know it hurts, but this is good for it.” Whereupon Arnold rubbed the injured wrist harder and Toby grinned stoically.
CHAPTER X
WITH THE FIRST TEAM
The second team was made up the following Thursday with Grover Beech in charge as captain. Toby and Warren were retained as goal-tends and ten other youths, among them Sid Creel, made up the squad. The first team squad was cut that same day to fifteen, and about a dozen unsuccessful aspirants departed to private life, or, in some cases, to seek glory on their class teams. Toby was delighted with his good fortune and turned all his thought and endeavors to the task of making himself first-choice for the position. To that end, he read every scrap of information he could find on the subject of a goal-tend’s duties, ransacking the school library and borrowing wherever he heard of a book that promised information. But it was surprising what a lot of perfectly good authors had failed to deal with this absorbing subject. Why, you could drag your finger over card after card in the library index without finding a thing worth reading! Scott, Thackeray, Lytton, Dickens, Boswell, Stevenson—not a work of advice as to how to play goal on a hockey team! Still, Toby did manage to discover a fair amount of hockey literature, and he read it all avidly and, could the position of first team goal-tend have been awarded by a competitive examination, either oral or written, Toby would have won hands-down! When he had assimilated all the information he had read he took a blue-book and wrote down what was practically a summary of it. That was Toby’s scheme for registering indelibly on his brain anything that he wanted particularly to remember. And it was a very excellent scheme, too. Perhaps Toby’s summary may be of interest to you. It will if you play hockey or expect to play it, and especially if your ambition looks toward the position of goal-tend. Anyway, here it is, just as he wrote it.
“The goal-tend’s position is probably the most responsible of all. If he fails the opponents score, but if another of his team fails the opponent only wins an advantage which may not result in a score. A goal-tender should be cool-headed, plucky and very quick. Quickness is very important. He should be quick to see a shot coming, to judge where it is coming and to put himself into position to stop it. A goal-tender need not be much of a skater or stick-handler, if he has those other qualifications.
“The goal-tend must guard a space six feet long by four feet high and so it will not do for him to stay in one position all the time. If the play is in front of the net he should stand in the middle of the net, but if the play is at one side he should stand at that side of the net and steady his knee against the goal-post. The rules forbid kneeling or lying on the ice and so if the puck is near the goal he should assume a crouching posture, thus bringing as much of himself as possible near the ice. The larger a goal-tend is the less space he has to look after, because a shot is more likely to hit a fat fellow than a skinny one. He should wear leg-guards that come well above the knees and the bigger they are the better it is, because by bringing his legs together he can then present a considerable surface in case of a low shot. He should also have his shoulders, thighs and elbows padded, both to protect him from injury and to increase his size.
“He ought not to use his stick to stop a shot with, unless the puck is coming to him on the ice and slowly. He should try to put his body in front of the puck or catch it with his hand. The hardest shot to stop is one which is about knee-high. The goal-tend should watch the puck every minute. He must never leave his goal unless he is sure that he can reach the puck before any player of the opposing team can reach it and there is no player on his own side to do it. When he has stopped the puck he should sweep it aside and behind his goal if possible, but never shoot it ahead of him because a player of the other team might get it and shoot it before he was in position to stop it. When the puck is behind the goal he should never take his eyes off of it and when it approaches one side of the goal he should stand at that side and be ready in case a player tries to hook it in. If there is a scrimmage in front of the goal he should turn his skates out wide and keep his stick on the ice also. In that way he can cover about twenty-four inches of the goal. But if the puck comes toward him at either side he must be ready to stop it with a skate or his stick.
“Goal-tend should be warmly dressed because he does not get so much exercise as the other players. Moleskin trousers are better than khaki or cotton because warmer. He should wear a light sweater and have well-padded gloves. A goal-tend’s stick should be short with a broad blade. Some players prefer a built-up stick, but it must not be more than three inches wide at any place.”