Members Login

A GOALIE’S SURVIVAL GUIDE TO THE SCOTIABANK PRO-AM

By: Dan Berlin, Pro-Am Blogger - 26/04/2013

For fundraising forwards and defensemen alike, playing in the Scotiabank Pro-Am for Alzheimer’s hockey tournament is about as fun as it gets. Over three hundred players from across Toronto are each offered the rare opportunity to be teammates with one of their hockey heroes, skating alongside legendary hall-of-famers like Doug Gilmour, Marcel Dionne, and Ray Bourque, to name just a few.

01

Wingers enjoy receiving feathery saucer passes from former NHL stars, while centres revel in setting up some of the league’s all-time greatest scorers. For most participants, it’s the thrill of a lifetime.

But the same can’t be said for the Pro-Am goalies. Facing former NHLers is a daunting task.

Most pro goaltenders have a tough enough time trying to stop these super-skilled professionals on a nightly basis in the NHL. So, what chance does your friendly neighbourhood recreational goalie have against these hockey gurus?

For the answer to that question and other keys to a goalie’s success in the tournament, we caught up with Scotiabank Pro-Am veteran net-minder Ron Fine, who’ll be strapping on the pads this year for OfficialGamePuck.com. Follow his lead, and you might just have a chance to rob one of your hockey heroes on a breakaway in this year’s event.

Dan Berlin:  What do you look for when you face some of these legendary snipers… have you been able to detect any shooting patterns?

Ron Fine:  I’ve played former NHLers before, and it’s always the same strategy. The first shot is always hard along the ice between the legs. They’re testing to make sure your stick is there. They’re trying to embarrass you. So if you can stop that one, they come back and try low and off the post. If they miss or you stop that one, THEN IT’S ON!!!

DB:  That sounds like trouble. So what do they fire at you next?

RF:  Then it’s like crossbar down, they come in and spin around, lift the puck on the blade of their stick… anything to make you look like the amateur that you are.

DB:  Is there any one NHL player in particular who you’ve had success against, or on the flipside, who’s really exposed you out there?

RF:  I’ve played against “Mayday” (Brad May) a few times and have had a fair amount of success against him, but Wendel Clark was the one who really took me to school. After I stopped him with the stick and then made the glove save, he decided to uncork this 75-footer that was just a laser off the crossbar. I’m like, “are you serious?”  I didn’t even see it come off his stick.

DB:  It’s clear these former pros still have a lot of pride out there and can score pretty much whenever they feel like it.

RF:  These guys are playing at 25 per cent of the speed they played at in the NHL, and it’s still deadly. Any one of these guys can make me look like a fool. It’s really who has the most resolve to do so.

DB:  I guess some guys really want to put on a show for charity.

RF:  At the Scotiabank Pro-Am event launch at Baycrest, Marcel Dionne made me look like a pylon. He was firing pucks on me from everywhere.

DB:  Do you have any plans for this year’s tournament to help give you an edge?

RF:  I was thinking of going with fishing nets under the sleeve… tying a string from my wrist to my waist so that when I raise my arm, I can create that flying squirrel effect.

DB:  Ahhhh… the ol’ Tony Esposito special!

RF:   I’m still debating whether or not I’m going to pull that one out of the arsenal.

DB:  Either way, good luck to you. You’re gonna need it.

RF:  Gee, thanks!

Come see Ron in action as he tries to stone some of your hockey heroes at the 2013 Scotiabank Pro-Am for Alzheimer’s, May 2-4 at Canlan Ice Sports at York University in Toronto. It’s for a great cause - the event, now in its eighth year, has raised over $20 million for Alzheimer’s research at Baycrest.