With the signing of Antoni Kindler, Canterbury have shored up their goalkeeping department after the struggles and confusions of last season after they had gotten off to such a strong and dominant start. Amy Tran played for Canterbury women's in her playing career days, and Tom Sheridan was at Surbiton, but this is the latest of any North American field (to them!) hockey goalies playing in the British Isles (on the continent; mistaking Canadians for Americans is a little dicey culturally being so different as any nation - and person - differs, just like Aussies and Zealanders!). Ben Cowling has gone in the opposite direction (figuratively at least, although he's ended up down by the south coast rather than the eastern counties!) after the work/hockey/life decision to go down to Portsmouth and Havant, and Stubbings has been dropped from the starting spot for now as he rebuilds his confidence, game and hopefully form, with the implosion he faced post-January.
Simon Triggs is still around if they ever need a fill in for injury, and offers a very experienced and quality veteran presence and a mentoring role for both of the first and second choice options; Kindler still being young as a goalie. This itself is incredibly advantageous for himself, his nation and whoever he plays for! Seeing as he can only get better and better, according to how much he wants to be the best around. I'm not sure how long he will be in England, given the rules on overseas players. And the experience will be incredibly useful for him in spite of this, as this will be the highest level of club competition he has played him and will a good chance and place for him to learn as he goes and adjust to the level and speed of play.
With Canada not having qualified for the World Cup, Canterbury will have the luxury of having his services all season, as he will not be called up for this commitment and can therefore be available to commit all his time, energy and effort all season, with no commitment clashes. Kindler is therefore the "go to guy" for the Kent side, entrusting them to push for a strong finish after the wobble that happened last season. If they start strong and have Kindler to keep up the strong pace, then this is a distinct possibility and with his desire to prove himself and that fight and energy, I'm sure he can do so. He was very unfortunate to have lost out to Argentina at the final outing, for the London Olympics, otherwise Canada would have booked their place in the competition.
Kindler has that extra push to compete game in game out, and does so with panache, having fought to prise the number one shirt off Dave Carter early on as a young goalie at 21 (link), and could be Canada's starter for quite some time, which is incredibly important and essential for them to push for that Olympic placing in years to come. Without Kindler they just won't be able to do so. Not that he should be compared in a scenario of "the next Simon Mason" given that each goalkeeper is unique and therefore is not a carbon copy of someone who played before them (just like people; we're all different, have different approaches/qualities/styles/ways of doing things... sidetracking fail!). And with that friendly competition (a picture paints a thousand words, just check this out, very emotive! link), and a first/second choice goalie relationship is better without petty animosity and friendly rivalry, there is that desire to compete with each other to push yourself and therefore club/country, whereas the negativity present.
And this is not seen in the English system always, so Kindler can bring that with him across the seas, versus not having anyone to push you to do well and the pointless incumbent status i.e. proven self so current performances don't mater (as no competition and not everyone is so ambitious/self critical for improvement purposes and has that desire to be the best ever). But then again if Canterbury's management manage their goalies like pro football teams, so if he does falter, will be dropped in order to motivate his play, so there is that added motivation, not just from himself to prove his quality given the chance to play at this level.
He has all the attributes though to really compete and not just do well, but to really shine, at this level. He has good reflexes and reaction times, makes use of a good stance to move out from rather than limit himself and prohibit movements, is althetic and acrobatic, explosive and agile with his movements; quick to the first save and then up again and quickly across for the rebound save. As well as being happy to challenge and step out and attack, combined with the intelligent reading of the play and controlled redirects for ensuring no immediate second chance scoring opportunities. All of these important qualities are demonstrated in the clip below, where he shows all the signs of an eventual world class talent, which all young goalies (oldies too even!) should learn from.
This clip, from a training session with his national team mates also shows his elite level of athleticism, able to get across swiftly with precision to shots wide of him, combining hand-eye co-ordination with quickly executed agile athleticism, diving out wide to turn away shots with rhp and glove at lower body height, for example.
Equipment wise, he's a TK foam man and prefers the teeny ice hockey elbows (bordering on the junior size), being Canadian and from the land of ice hockey, I'm sure they're more easy to get hold of! But in all serious, this style of elbow pad is an insightful choice. With the , it protects the bone (which is incredibly fragile and will be disastrous for playing career injury wise, given its motion and ball joint versus an arm break) and also helps prevent turf burns and the skin shedding when sliding out across the playing surface on a slide tackle/block or dive. He only wears the one on the right arm and leaves the left free for more movement for glove saves across the body, like Pontifex and Stubbings even.
I'm not sure how things will pan out for Stubbings. Perhaps he'll be playing 2's for the season and hoping to reconstruct his mental strengths and game and start over next season. Many feel Stubbings "dropped the ball", to use the football analogy, which implies the literal and clangers caused, after he went from hero to zero in a sadly short space of time. Conceding six goals in a game is not what a coach expects when he puts a goalie's name on the team sheet and January onwards saw things go awry and haphazard after such a strong start by the newly promoted team. Cowling was brought in, and restored order for a little bit (with a clean sheet against EG most notably), although in the games that mattered for the Euro Hockey League qualifications, he struggled with the basics and arguably let his team down after all that effort to get into the for the first time in the existence of the EHL tournament.
As you can see here in the game against Reading in which Stubbings featured, the talent and ability is there, with some unbelievable saves, especially against Rich Mantell, but things just weren't to be, as the overweighing burdens of responsibility for the young goalie became a self fulfilling prophecy:
Triggs the wily veteran is still there in case things go bad this season, not that I expect them to. And he provides a useful option and serves an interesting role as third choice. Normally the third choice in any sport; football or hockey, is the upcoming youngster that will switch places with second choice within a season or two if they word hard and impress enough, and then on to starter. But here, he is seeing out the last days of his playing career, like a Brad Freidel scenario (although I'm sure he could play as well as Brad, if called upon to!). And brings with him a depth of experience and understanding of the specialist position of goalkeeper. He can offer the right goalie mentor relationship and advice, with his understanding, to help the transition of the next generation for Canterbury, whether for Antoni in the short term, or for Diccon as the projected expected long term future beween the posts.
For the upcoming season I think Canterbury and Kindler are a match made in heaven. Personally I think Kindler is the dogs balls (or a slightly less balshy phrase!); he's got all the raw talent that can be refined and utilised and put to good use at this level. I can see him pulling off what David Kettle managed with Surbiton last season and if they click, Canterbury should do much better than ever before in recent seasons, with a good combination and continuation across the whole season, carried through rather than just a strong start and wobbly finish. I'd love to see Kindler do so, and honestly think it can be done. It will be a good chance to see a talent like this in person, and hopefully I'll be able to get to a game to do so, to scout his performance and get some footage of his game play and style.
Simon Triggs is still around if they ever need a fill in for injury, and offers a very experienced and quality veteran presence and a mentoring role for both of the first and second choice options; Kindler still being young as a goalie. This itself is incredibly advantageous for himself, his nation and whoever he plays for! Seeing as he can only get better and better, according to how much he wants to be the best around. I'm not sure how long he will be in England, given the rules on overseas players. And the experience will be incredibly useful for him in spite of this, as this will be the highest level of club competition he has played him and will a good chance and place for him to learn as he goes and adjust to the level and speed of play.
With Canada not having qualified for the World Cup, Canterbury will have the luxury of having his services all season, as he will not be called up for this commitment and can therefore be available to commit all his time, energy and effort all season, with no commitment clashes. Kindler is therefore the "go to guy" for the Kent side, entrusting them to push for a strong finish after the wobble that happened last season. If they start strong and have Kindler to keep up the strong pace, then this is a distinct possibility and with his desire to prove himself and that fight and energy, I'm sure he can do so. He was very unfortunate to have lost out to Argentina at the final outing, for the London Olympics, otherwise Canada would have booked their place in the competition.
Kindler has that extra push to compete game in game out, and does so with panache, having fought to prise the number one shirt off Dave Carter early on as a young goalie at 21 (link), and could be Canada's starter for quite some time, which is incredibly important and essential for them to push for that Olympic placing in years to come. Without Kindler they just won't be able to do so. Not that he should be compared in a scenario of "the next Simon Mason" given that each goalkeeper is unique and therefore is not a carbon copy of someone who played before them (just like people; we're all different, have different approaches/qualities/styles/ways of doing things... sidetracking fail!). And with that friendly competition (a picture paints a thousand words, just check this out, very emotive! link), and a first/second choice goalie relationship is better without petty animosity and friendly rivalry, there is that desire to compete with each other to push yourself and therefore club/country, whereas the negativity present.
And this is not seen in the English system always, so Kindler can bring that with him across the seas, versus not having anyone to push you to do well and the pointless incumbent status i.e. proven self so current performances don't mater (as no competition and not everyone is so ambitious/self critical for improvement purposes and has that desire to be the best ever). But then again if Canterbury's management manage their goalies like pro football teams, so if he does falter, will be dropped in order to motivate his play, so there is that added motivation, not just from himself to prove his quality given the chance to play at this level.
He has all the attributes though to really compete and not just do well, but to really shine, at this level. He has good reflexes and reaction times, makes use of a good stance to move out from rather than limit himself and prohibit movements, is althetic and acrobatic, explosive and agile with his movements; quick to the first save and then up again and quickly across for the rebound save. As well as being happy to challenge and step out and attack, combined with the intelligent reading of the play and controlled redirects for ensuring no immediate second chance scoring opportunities. All of these important qualities are demonstrated in the clip below, where he shows all the signs of an eventual world class talent, which all young goalies (oldies too even!) should learn from.
This clip, from a training session with his national team mates also shows his elite level of athleticism, able to get across swiftly with precision to shots wide of him, combining hand-eye co-ordination with quickly executed agile athleticism, diving out wide to turn away shots with rhp and glove at lower body height, for example.
Equipment wise, he's a TK foam man and prefers the teeny ice hockey elbows (bordering on the junior size), being Canadian and from the land of ice hockey, I'm sure they're more easy to get hold of! But in all serious, this style of elbow pad is an insightful choice. With the , it protects the bone (which is incredibly fragile and will be disastrous for playing career injury wise, given its motion and ball joint versus an arm break) and also helps prevent turf burns and the skin shedding when sliding out across the playing surface on a slide tackle/block or dive. He only wears the one on the right arm and leaves the left free for more movement for glove saves across the body, like Pontifex and Stubbings even.
I'm not sure how things will pan out for Stubbings. Perhaps he'll be playing 2's for the season and hoping to reconstruct his mental strengths and game and start over next season. Many feel Stubbings "dropped the ball", to use the football analogy, which implies the literal and clangers caused, after he went from hero to zero in a sadly short space of time. Conceding six goals in a game is not what a coach expects when he puts a goalie's name on the team sheet and January onwards saw things go awry and haphazard after such a strong start by the newly promoted team. Cowling was brought in, and restored order for a little bit (with a clean sheet against EG most notably), although in the games that mattered for the Euro Hockey League qualifications, he struggled with the basics and arguably let his team down after all that effort to get into the for the first time in the existence of the EHL tournament.
As you can see here in the game against Reading in which Stubbings featured, the talent and ability is there, with some unbelievable saves, especially against Rich Mantell, but things just weren't to be, as the overweighing burdens of responsibility for the young goalie became a self fulfilling prophecy:
For the upcoming season I think Canterbury and Kindler are a match made in heaven. Personally I think Kindler is the dogs balls (or a slightly less balshy phrase!); he's got all the raw talent that can be refined and utilised and put to good use at this level. I can see him pulling off what David Kettle managed with Surbiton last season and if they click, Canterbury should do much better than ever before in recent seasons, with a good combination and continuation across the whole season, carried through rather than just a strong start and wobbly finish. I'd love to see Kindler do so, and honestly think it can be done. It will be a good chance to see a talent like this in person, and hopefully I'll be able to get to a game to do so, to scout his performance and get some footage of his game play and style.
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