Coach punishes goalies by replacing them after every goal, until one final refuses to play
When things aren't going your teams way sometimes you need to try something outside of the box. That's exactly what the Head Coach, Juhani Matikainen of Kiruna AIF decided he would do to shake things up. His team, who play in Sweden's third tier, had lost nine consecutive games heading into Sunday's action.
According to the coach he wanted to create some sort of emotional reaction from his team. After the game he told AftonBladet that he'd made the decision before the game to replace his goaltender after every goal. Unfortunately he didn't tell that to his team or his goaltender. This led to Matikainen replacing his starting goalie after 3 minutes.
The two goalies would switch 3 more times until his backup goalie refused to go back into the game, which he respected.
It was pretty much settled then. Heiskanen said he would not be in goal again and I respected that," said Matikainen
The strategy unfortunately didn't work and his team went onto a tenth consecutive loss losing 6-1. Matikainen had this to say after the loss.
I wanted to show that there are consequences if we don't backcheck and don't block shots. That's why I did that yesterday.
I do whatever it takes to get our players to react. Maybe it makes them feel bad about how the goalkeepers are treated. It's a bit embarrassing for them, so I wanted to get the players to do more. To block shots and be stronger defensively. That was my only purpose for the changes.
I do whatever it takes to get our players to react. Maybe it makes them feel bad about how the goalkeepers are treated. It's a bit embarrassing for them, so I wanted to get the players to do more. To block shots and be stronger defensively. That was my only purpose for the changes.
So what did his goalies think of the strategy?
"Hugo, who started the game, was really shocked. He wondered what was going on and why I substituted him," he said. "I quickly explained to him on the bench that if we let in another goal, he would have to go out again. But I've talked to the goalkeepers in more detail today and explained why I did that. It was an extreme situation and I've never done it before."
This will likely be the last time he tries this strategy.
Source: MarkerZone
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