Career transitions in ice hockey goaltending
Manskinen, Otto (2025)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025050910288
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025050910288
Tiivistelmä
The background of this thesis originates in January 2023, when the author contacted the Finnish Ice Hockey Association (FIHA), the governing body of ice hockey in Finland, to inquire whether they had a current and relevant thesis topic about developing goaltending coaching in Finland.
The objective of the thesis was proposed by FIHA. They suggested that the author could create a guide on how to help adolescent goaltenders succeed in making their anticipated career transitions, such as junior to senior, and club to national team transitions. In addition, FIHA wished to identify what goaltending coaches currently do well when they assist goaltenders to make career transitions, and which areas could be identified for further development.
After the literature review, scope of the thesis was limited to normative athletic career transitions. Two suitable theoretical frameworks were found for the purposes of the thesis. The first was the Athletic Talent Development Model (ATDE) that describes an athlete’s talent development environment in a holistic and ecological way. The second framework was the TDEQ-5 questionnaire that is designed to assess an athlete’s talent development environment.
Based on the theoretical framework, a survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine Finnish goaltenders’ talent development environments. A total of 12 goaltenders from 11 Finnish ice hockey clubs participated in the survey and in addition, four goaltenders from four different clubs were interviewed.
The main outcome of the thesis is a guide, which was created based on the theoretical framework and the results of the surveys and the interviews. The guide includes an explanation of the theoretical framework of career transitions in sports, a translated version of the TDEQ-5, the summary from the survey, and tools for goaltending coaches to utilize when they help goaltenders to make successful career transitions.
The guide was sent to FIHA, and they will utilize the findings of the product in their coaching development. The guide helps goaltending coaches to understand the athlete’s development environment in a holistic way, and it gives them concrete tools to assist their athletes on the way to successful career transitions.
The objective of the thesis was proposed by FIHA. They suggested that the author could create a guide on how to help adolescent goaltenders succeed in making their anticipated career transitions, such as junior to senior, and club to national team transitions. In addition, FIHA wished to identify what goaltending coaches currently do well when they assist goaltenders to make career transitions, and which areas could be identified for further development.
After the literature review, scope of the thesis was limited to normative athletic career transitions. Two suitable theoretical frameworks were found for the purposes of the thesis. The first was the Athletic Talent Development Model (ATDE) that describes an athlete’s talent development environment in a holistic and ecological way. The second framework was the TDEQ-5 questionnaire that is designed to assess an athlete’s talent development environment.
Based on the theoretical framework, a survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine Finnish goaltenders’ talent development environments. A total of 12 goaltenders from 11 Finnish ice hockey clubs participated in the survey and in addition, four goaltenders from four different clubs were interviewed.
The main outcome of the thesis is a guide, which was created based on the theoretical framework and the results of the surveys and the interviews. The guide includes an explanation of the theoretical framework of career transitions in sports, a translated version of the TDEQ-5, the summary from the survey, and tools for goaltending coaches to utilize when they help goaltenders to make successful career transitions.
The guide was sent to FIHA, and they will utilize the findings of the product in their coaching development. The guide helps goaltending coaches to understand the athlete’s development environment in a holistic way, and it gives them concrete tools to assist their athletes on the way to successful career transitions.