"You don't have to be crazy to be goalie," said Hall of Fame goaltender Bernie Parent, "but it helps." You have to wonder about anyone who would voluntarily face a firing squad of 100-mph hockey pucks. Regardless of any suspicions about the prototypical goalie's psychological profile, however, there can be no doubt that certain physical skills are indispensable, most importantly the ability to wield a flat stick lightning-quick. In order to hone this trait, a group of young goalies in Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT) will be cross-training in table tennis for the next six weeks. A novel partnership between Hockey NWT and Table Tennis North will give eight juniors a crash course in table tennis fundamentals. While this may be a fun change of pace from blocking slap shots with their faces, the kids will also be providing valuable scientific data. A high-speed camera will record their progress in both sports, the results to be analyzed by Canada's Sport Information Resource Centre. A positive correlation may lead to further cross-training research with other sports. "It is so great to see it all unfold," says Thorsten Gohl of Table Tennis North. "The goal for table tennis is to enhance the skills of any athletes, support them, give them the tools, experiences and crazy ‘out-of-the-box’ fun ideas in becoming amazing human beings and role models for our communities." Kyle Kugler, the executive director of Hockey NWT, called it a "great initiative to help develop transferable skills between table tennis and hockey goaltenders." Table Tennis Canada president (and former ITTF president) Adham Sharara cites the program as a "great example of cooperation between sports." You don't have to practice table tennis to play goalie, but it helps. In fact, you'd be crazy not to.

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