The goaltender ( also known colloquially as goalie or netminder ) in ice hockey is the player who defends his team 's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team 's net , thus stopping the other team from scoring . The goaltender ( also known colloquially as the goalie , goaler or netminder , or from football : goalkeeper or keeper ) in ice hockey is the player who defends his team 's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team 's net , thus preventing the opposing team from scoring .