The goalie has to be an active participant in the game and puck control becomes one of the key issues on helping his/her team.

Ways to control the puck better:

The first and very basic level of puck control comes from solid basic saves where the rebounds are well controlled and the goalie knows where he/she is deflecting the puck. The aim is to direct the puck to the corners and out of the danger zone straight from the saves. Very basic puck control starts with proper basic saves where a goalie deflects the puck to the corners like in this blocker example. The goaltender's own team will also benefit a great deal from goaltending with well-controlled rebounds, as they know where they need to go to get the puck and they don't need to fight for loose pucks in front of the goal too often.

Typical puck control opportunities for the goalie:

High/mid high shots straight at the goalie. What's there to control? Let's see; Why do a lot of goalies let these pucks hit them and bounce out right in front of their net? This is a very common problem today and caused by the heavy emphasis on the butterfly style, where goalies often leave their catch glove too far back, even in their stance, and can't move it fast enough to the front of their body. Here you see the goalie controlling the shot with his catch glove instead of kicking it out for a rebound.Solid fundamentals are so important and in this case the basic stance. If you don't have the proper stance you will not be able to control the pucks as well as you should and therefore, will give too many unnecessary rebounds. The most typical area for this mistake is knee high shots straight at the pads. Most young goalies are happy just to kick those pucks out for rebounds simply because nobody has been teaching them the right way and they don't feel comfortable trying to play those pucks with their catch glove because it is A) Too far behind in their stance and/or B) They have not been practicing it.

Puck control using your catch glove. Anything shot to your catch glove side should be, in most cases, playable with the glove and when the goalie does this he/she will have control of the puck. Think, for example, of a situation where the shot is a low one to the catch glove corner. Most goalies would just get the pad out and kick the rebound out. Notice the balance and how this goalie stops the shot with his catch glove in front of his pad instead of kicking it out for a rebound. Whether you kick the rebound out or actually control the puck with your catch glove, this will make a difference. Being down in a kick save position will make the goalie real vulnerable when he/she gives a rebound already being down on the ice.