[the_rickster]

if he's a LH shot, he has better shooting angles playing on the RW, as the puck will be positioned closer to the middle of the ice, giving the shooter more of a target. however, if the winger is not skilled, it will be more difficult for him to receive passes as he'll have to take them on the backhand. the other downside is passing. he better be good at backhand saucers, or everyone on the ice will know when he's looking to pass the puck. including goalies. what i'm saying is that there is more disadvantage to playing off wing if you are not a skilled player. yes you may get the angles, but if you cant receive passes on your back hand or break out on the off wing, you'll seldom get a chance to use your positioning to get a shot on goal.

so even though you're asking questions pertaining to goaltending, its good to keep that in mind. if a RH player is coming in on the RW, you have to position yourself so that your angle blocks (his) left side of the net, giving him only your glove side to shoot at. if he tries to go far side (your blocker), he'll either miss the net completely or you'll make an easy pad/blocker save. i'm RH and if im coming on on the right side, i usually try to go low far side, hoping for a big rebound off your pad for my trailing winger or centre to pick up and bury.

if you're facing a player coming in on his off wing (LH playing RW or RH playing LW), you have to be much more aware of your positioning and angle as he has essentially the entire net to shoot at. thats when you try to give him a spot to shoot at to sucker him into taking a shot as opposed to deke (give him 5 hole, and as soon as he brings the puck into shooting position, close it).

the most important thing is realizing the skill of your opponents as opposed to your personal skill and that of your teammates.

the best thing a goalie can do is watch the other team during warm ups to see who does what.