Butterfly style

In ice hockey, "butterfly style" is a technique of goaltending distinguished by the goaltender guarding the lower part of the net by dropping to the knees to block attempts to score. The butterfly style derives its name from the resemblance of the spread goal pads and hands to a butterfly's wings. The butterfly style is contrasted with stand-up style, where most shots on a goal are stopped with the goaltender on their feet. Many factors helped make it a de facto standard style of play today, including the popularization of the goalie mask by Jacques Plante, Vladislav Tretiak's outstanding use of the style at the 1972 Canada–USSR Summit Series, the National Hockey League (NHL) emergence of Tony Esposito in the 1970s and Patrick Roy in the 1980s, the development of lightweight materials for pads and the influence of professional goaltending coaches such as Warren Strelow, Benoit and François Allaire. There are few who exclusively employ a stand-up style in the NHL.

Although it is effective and popular among goaltenders, the butterfly style can leave the upper portion of the net more vulnerable to scoring attempts. The modern "profly" derivative was made most popular by Roy and is the style most commonly used and taught. Although most modern goaltending coaches argure that the butterfly is not a style but save selection.

Glenn Hall is generally thought to be the first goaltender to react to shots by dropping to his knees. This was remarkable because he did it without a mask. Other contemporaries, such as Terry Sawchuk and Jacques Plante (who, while not having invented the goalie mask, is credited with having popularized it) relied mostly on the stand-up style. Plante actually tried the butterfly style when sharing goaltending duties with Glenn Hall in St. Louis, but cautioned others against its use except under certain types of screened shots. Hall's innovation was improved upon later in the 1960s and 70s by Roger Crozier and Tony Esposito. In spite of their success, the butterfly fell out of favour until the emergence of Patrick Roy in the mid-1980s. This new, modern butterfly style has been referred to as the "profly" style.

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