Blue Jackets goalies doing best to stay ready

As it turns out, there's really no way to replicate someone rifling a frozen chunk of rubber at 90 miles per hour toward your body from just 30 feet away.

This makes a lot of sense, of course, but it's something Blue Jackets goaltenders Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo have learned firsthand from home over the past few weeks since the NHL season went into pause because of the coronavirus pandemic.

So while NHL players are finding ways to get creative to stay in shape during the various stay at home orders across the world, goaltenders are in their own little world.

That's often said about anyone who would willingly stand in front of said chunk of rubber, but it's especially true right now. Not only are goalies unable like their skating counterparts to put on the blades and hit the ice, it's also pretty much impossible to come up with a way to simulate what their job is like.

"Good question," Korpisalo said recently when asked how he's trying to work on his craft from his home in Finland. "It's a little bit different as a goalie. Being a player, you can go out and shoot pucks and stuff like that, but there's not a lot to do, you know? How can I mimic the goaltending stuff off the ice?

"I've been trying to throw tennis balls at the wall and keep my hand-eye coordination in shape and stuff like this. Mainly hand-eye coordination, that's something I've been trying to maintain."

Merzlikins remains in Columbus but says he's in a similar boat.

"I'm doing my goalie stuff here at home, and I bought a slide board so I am doing my goalie stuff more here at home," he said. "I was thinking to try to buy the machine which shoots the tennis balls, so I am trying to stay busy. So yeah, I am running, I am doing my drills that I can do here at home, but I really miss the ice and I'm really missing the rink."

Of course, even buying a tennis ball machine to fire projectiles at their bodies wouldn't quite be the same as far as mimicking what it's like to have pucks coming from all sorts of different angles during games, not to mention deflections, screens and more.

Of all the positions in hockey, there might not be one with more nuance than goaltending, as positioning and movement are as important as the lightning-quick physical reactions that lead to saves. So it's a difficult situation for goalies at the moment with no chance to get on the ice and see pucks, but the Blue Jackets netminders are doing their best.

"First of all, I'm working daily, not being on the ice because there's no chance to do it, but off the ice working every day, staying in shape, lots of different stuff," Korpisalo said. "I hope the season is going to continue, but it's probably going to take a couple of weeks for guys to get back on the ice and get back together and start working out from there."

Korpisalo added that he's spent a lot of time during the pause watching video clips to visualize some of the good moments he had during the season.

The good news for the goalies is that any resumption of play would come after a chance to get back on the ice with players and teams. The most recent NHL/NHLPA joint statement on the pause said that players might be able to return to small group activities in club training facilities in mid-to-late May depending on how things are going, so there could be a chance to get back to hockey-related activities around then.

There remains uncertainty, but what we do know is players will have ample time to work before any games are played. As for any differences between how goalies and players will prepare to get back, Merzlikins said that's hard to tell but has an idea how long it would take him to be ready.

"I think it depends from player to player," Merzlikins said. "It can take maybe a week or two, but still, you have to understand your body, you have to feel your body, you have to feel the puck. It depends. I don't know. I've never had this kind of experience in my life, so I think there's a first time for everybody. It depends. But I think I should be fine in maybe two weeks."

In the meantime, Merzlikins' competitive juices have found one outlet. Whether he's gaming online with teammates or playing NHL 20 with fans as part of the launch of CBJ Gaming, Merzlikins has been busy on the sticks.

"I am trying to compete on PlayStation right now," he said with a laugh. "I am competing with players from around the world on PlayStation so that is one area I can compete somehow. But yeah, I miss it. I am really missing the hockey. There is nothing else to say."