Episode 44: Steve Valiquette

In this Episode of the InGoal Radio Podcast presented by The Hockey Shop Source for Sports , we sit down with former NHL goaltender and current New York Rangers TV analyst Steven Valiquette, who is also the CEO of Clear Sight Analytics, a company that is changing how we measure shot quality in the NHL, including playing an active role in helping the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup. Our conversation with Valiquette is long and fascinating, and touches on everything from almost having his career end in junior because of a house party, to figuring out things on his own as a young pro without any goalie coaching help, to the impact of, and specific lessons from, current Anaheim Ducks goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj and New York Rangers goalie coaching legend Benoit Allaire. Valiquette talks about playing with, and now analyzing Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist, which leads us into a fascinating conversation about properly measuring goalie performance with Clear Sight Analytics, and a few surprises as he shares some of their proprietary numbers so far this season, and how coaches can use that data to help their goaltenders, or in the case of the Capitals, exploit others by changing how they attack. In the gear segment, we give Cam at the Hockey Shop the week off as he prepares the store for a massive Black Friday Sale (more specific details on what’s available next week), and use the time to catch up instead with Adam Micheletti, vice president of hockey for Vizual Edge, the web-based vision training program that Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart told us about using regularly in Episode 39.