Markstrom has used the narrower stance to take some of the tension out of his game that used to lead to early goals, often because pucks leaked through him.
"In the beginning of a game, you have a tendency to want it too much, be too aggressive and get too wide," he said. "When I narrow my stance, I feel like I am more in control and it's so much easier to move."
Playing narrower and more upright with the chest also makes it easier to keep the hands out in front and active, something that helped Bobrovsky, who used to be so hunched over with the Philadelphia Flyers that his hands were up by his ears, after adopting Clark's three-stance system in Columbus. Having the right stance can also improve tracking, and how well a goalie can see and access the puck while dropping to the ice by altering the mechanics of how that movement is initiated. Finding the right stance, and trusting in it, can even help a goalie's psyche during a season.
"It helped so much because anytime I would falter, I had something to fall back on, I had the confidence built into the foundation," Hellebuyck said. "It wasn't feel anymore, it was, 'I know what I am doing and I just need to continue to do it,' and I can fall back on the foundational details every single day, and that foundation is the pelvic tilt, stance and balance."