Life Behind Bars

Hi gang,

Here's a sneak peek at my September column for The Goalie Guru in the New England Hockey Journal, on the importance of a good mask for goaltenders, and how much they've improved since I first took up the position four decades ago. If you get a chance, let me know what you think.

LIFE BEHIND BARS

I love watching those old grainy, black & white games from yesteryear that the NHL Network pulls out of the archives every now and then. My 12-year-old hockey-playing daughter Brynne is amazed that these guys played without helmets. But when she sees that goalies once played without masks, her reaction is almost disbelief. Me too.

Hockey without helmets was commonplace in my youth, but I never once got between the pipes – not on the streets and certainly not on the ice – without some sort of facial protection. And I'm glad I did. Like most goalies, I have my own tales of on-ice accidents and frightening near-misses.

Shortly after my clan relocated to Manchester, N.H., in my first practice with my new high school team in November of 1974, I learned firsthand just how important a good goalie mask was. Some of the team wise guys obviously decided they were going to find out if the new kid from New Jersey had the stones to play net. We had a big winger named Ivan Bellemare who had a hard, heavy shot. During warm-ups – warm-ups! – Ivan unloaded a rocket from just above the left face-off dot, hitting me squarely between the eyes. I had an old Cooper helmet/cage combo in those days; Ivan's shot separated the cage from the helmet and sent me reeling. The back of my head smacked into the crossbar, transporting me into la-la land.

When I finally came around, I looked at my cage, and the straight bar running from my forehead to my nose was bent perfectly at a 45-degree angle. In fact, when I show people the cage (yes, I kept it, the only high school memento I still have!), most think it was designed that way. Until I show them where all the welds are cracked. That mask, I'm convinced, literally saved my life.

I promptly switched to a Jacques Plante-style fiberglass mask, which looked cool but had it's own shortcomings. The mask was designed to prevent "serious" injury, which it did commendably, but garden-variety shots to my face would still sting like crazy (that's ol' Jacques in the photo above, donning his first rudimentary mask after getting his nose sliced open in a game against the Rangers). Today, though, there's no excuse for goalies to feel like they're not adequately protected from the neck up. The new cage/helmet masks combine the best design elements, making sure the contact points are both raised from the face, and adequately cushioned.

"Masks have benefited from higher certification standards and better materials," says Bauer Hockey's Henry Breslin. "Goalies will always suffer a few bumps and bruises on their body, due to the nature of the position, but now their heads are better protected.

"The position has evolved where most goalies go down to make a save, which makes the head more vulnerable, but the masks have become better at all levels and have helped minimize head injuries."

Breslin is right on the money. The butterfly technique, especially among younger, smaller goaltenders, leaves the head more exposed (high school and college shooters, in the tradition of Bobby Hull, will even buzz a few pucks past the goalie's ear just to see if they can "soften" him up). Yet I still see many youngsters with inferior, or ill-fitting, masks. And I'm not the only one to notice this trend.

"Another huge mistake I see all the time is a parent investing literally thousands of dollars in fancy, custom-colored gear with the big brand names on them, all the most expensive gear from their child's feet to their shoulders, and then look around the shop and say 'What's the cheapest mask you have?'" says Matt Garland of ProMasque and the Goalie Barn in Wilmington. "I courteously remind them that they've started at the wrong end. A properly fitted mask made with the best available materials is the absolute first place to invest their money.

"A bruise on their knee simply does not compare to what damage can be caused with an inferior mask," says Garland.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that buying a good mask is enough. That's akin to the government throwing money at social problems, instead of finding viable, long-term solutions. Goalies, and their parents, need to make sure the mask fits correctly. "It's important to adjust the straps when you try a mask on – that's why they're there," says Breslin. "There shouldn't be a significant gap between the shell and back plate when the mask is on. Finding a mask that is comfortable and fits your head is critical."

Garland agrees wholeheartedly. "A loose fitting mask is an accident waiting to happen," he says. "The mask must fit properly and make contact all around the head and face. Gaps can cause serious 'stingers' or even concussions."

Garland is also a stickler of masks that are designed properly. Like Breslin, he believes masks should properly placed safety straps to keep the mask on the goalie's head, and defective "ridges" to disperse the impact of a shot. "Goalies [and their parents] should be leery of masks that have 'flat spots' in the center of the forehead," says Garland. "This allows for no deflection of the puck, and the goalie will take the full brunt of the shot's G-forces in the head."

In the same vein, you need to make sure the mask can handle the types of shots your young netminder will face. "As the young goaltenders grow and begin to play at a higher level, goalie mask materials must also match their level of play," says Garland. "Many customers are unaware that many masks are made of plastic, or a plastic-composite 'sandwich.' These are very flexible masks that should not be worn much past elite Pee Wee play. The best mask for an elite goaltender is a handmade, hand laminated, fiberglass and bulletproof Kevlar mask."

Likewise, be aware that not all goalie masks at your local shop have cages that are approved for all levels of play. The popular pro-model "cat-eye" cage and the square cage sported by Tim Thomas last year aren't allowed in most amateur leagues, from college on down through Mites. If you're not a beer-league player, look for CSA, CE, and HECC certification.

"An uncomfortable mask will consistently take away from a goalie's ability to focus and hurt performance," says Rob Lauri of GoalieMonkey.com. "Good vision is also a must when choosing a mask, as well as the different cage styles that are available on most masks today."

Last, once you make sure the mask fits, you then have to be diligent that it's worn properly. All the time. This responsibility normally falls to the parents, but needs to be shared by coaches as well. At the Stop It Goaltending camps I worked this summer, we were constantly reminding kids to keep their masks down over their face.

"Many young goaltenders like to emulate their favorite pros, and pop the mask up on their head to get a drink, then just nod their head lightly and the mask falls down onto their face again," says Garland. "That's cool to watch, but very dangerous in reality. If a goalie can easily pop his mask up and down on his head, his opponents can knock it off just as easily in a collision. One need look no further than the accident involving Joe Exter from Merrimack College a few years back. The results can be horrific."

On March 8, 2003, Exter was playing in the Hockey East playoffs against Boston College when he went racing for a loose puck with Eagles' forward Patrick Eaves. The two collided, Eaves' knee striking Exter in the head, knocking his helmet off. Exter's unprotected head slammed into the ice, fracturing his skull. He was diagnosed with a serious concussion, put into an induced coma, and endured a series of operations.

Exter's story has a happy ending. He recovered, played professionally for a brief time, and recently left his position as coordinator of the Warren Strelow National Goaltending Mentor Program to become an assistant coach at Ohio State. I've talked with Exter, and know for a fact how fortunate he feels to have escaped a more devastating outcome. Parents need to take make sure their young goalies don't have to rely on Lady Luck.

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Measuring a man's heart

Hi gang,

Here's my August column for The Goalie Guru in the New England Hockey Journal. After the amazing championship run by Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins this past spring, I took some time to reflect on this remarkable competitor.

THERE'S NO WAY TO MEASURE HEART

No one, it seems, has a lukewarm opinion about Bruin's goaltender Tim Thomas. For some reason, the NHL's reigning Vezina Trophy winner as the league's best goaltender elicits strong opinions, and not all of them are kind.

People either love or hate the acrobatic netminder from Flint, Michigan. I can understand why folks enjoy watching the 37-year-old perform his game-time acts of legerdemain. The ones I can't figure out are those who ridicule Thomas, calling him undisciplined, unpredictable, or mocking his dietary habits with taunts of "Tubby." Who are these people?

It's easy to dismiss the bandwagon-jumping, pink hat fans who derided Thomas when, a year removed from his first Vezina campaign in 2008-09, muddled through a middling 2009-10 campaign. Thomas and the Bruins prevailed in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park that year, but by season's end, young Tuukka Rask, Thomas's fabulous Finnish understudy, had become the darling of the know-it-all set.

But even during his remarkable bounce-back 2010-11 season, Thomas had serious detractors among hockey's cognoscenti, people who supposedly are intimately familiar not only with the game, but also the singular position of goaltending. Many goalies, and goalie coaches, sniffed at the media for heaping praise on Thomas, arguing that most ink-stained wretches don't really know the game, or that Thomas benefits from a strong defense that specializes in keeping opponent shots to the outside. They delight in the occasional howler that Thomas gives up, conveniently forgetting that almost every goalie does the same.

Even among my coaching colleagues, Thomas is the guy that drives almost everyone nuts. The reasons why were eerily similar to those that kept Thomas from breaking through the NHL barrier in the first place. He's not a cookie-cutter stylist like the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist. In fact, Thomas's style was a distinct absence of style. To say that Thomas is unconventional is pure overstatement. While we typically teach a calm, compact approach, Thomas is all frenetic energy, with flailing arms and legs and stick.

But there is a method to Thomas's goalmouth madness. He plays the game organically, with an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time, a sure sign that he can read the play. His lateral quickness is extraordinary, perhaps better than anyone playing the game right now. In a game predicated on getting the goalie to move, in order to open up net, Thomas's knack to get centered on the puck at the precise moment the shot arrives is exceptional.

But that hasn't stopped his detractors. Thomas can't skate, they said. He's a hot head. He's too erratic. Through all the criticism, Thomas never once stopped believing in himself, and that proved contagious, to his teammates, and to many fans.

I've always rooted for Thomas. Maybe that's because I've always been a fan of the underdog, and Thomas's tortuous road to NHL stardom certainly qualifies him for the role. More than anything, I love the guy's heart. Did I have him pegged as an NHL All-Star when he was toiling away for the Providence Bruins? Not a chance. But I can honestly say, with a straight face and my hand on a stack of Bibles, that I liked him. A lot.

The guy simply won everywhere he's played. Why are people so quick to overlook that fact? He won at the University of Vermont, he won as a minor leaguer, he won in Finland, and he won in the best league on the planet. He did it with a frenetic, scrambling style that stymied shooters as often as it stressed coaches and GMs. And he did it with his heart on his sleeve, a heart that drove him to reach levels that his physical gifts couldn't reach alone.

As a kid growing up in New Jersey, I always found myself cheering for goalies who overcame long odds, and did it with a pugnacious nature. New York Ranger Hall of Famer Eddie Giacomin was told to give up the sport as a youngster after he suffered serious burns in a kitchen accident (in the days of the Original Six, with only a half-dozen goalie spots in the entire NHL). Battlin' Billy Smith, one of the original New York Islanders who also ended up in the Hall, endured brutal expansion seasons but hung tough to become the backbone of the four-time Stanley Cup champs.

Plus, what a lot of naysayers fail to appreciate about Thomas is that, despite the chaos that surrounds his net, the puck rarely winds up in it. Does Thomas give up some bad goals? No question. In fact, he's given up some brutal tallies as recently as the Montreal series this past spring. When he did, Thomas's critics were quick to pounce. And, just like he's done all his life, Thomas shut them up, not with barbed retorts or snarky Twitter postings, but with his play between the pipes.

Not surprisingly, the majority of the hockey press was effusive in its praise of Thomas. NHL goalies Marty Turco and Kevin Weekes raved about his playoff performance. The following nugget, by my friend James Murphy of ESPNBoston, captures Thomas, and his 2010-11 season succinctly and fittingly.

"What Thomas was able to accomplish this past season after having off-season hip surgery and being peddled around the trade rumor circuit is simply amazing" wrote Murphy in his season recap, in which he gave Thomas an A+ grade. "Always one to thrive off adversity, Thomas persevered again and this time his perseverance rubbed off on his teammates, who took on the identity of one of the most resilient teams in recent memory. Thomas was 35-11-9 with and led the NHL in GAA (2.00), save percentage (.938) and had nine shutouts in the regular season.

"But Thomas was far from done, as he just got better when the playoffs arrived and was clutch for the Bruins, even as some in the media and a certain opposing goalie questioned his style. He was 16-9 with a 1.98 GAA, .940 save percentage and led the NHL in playoff shutouts with four. Just as he did in the regular season on so many occasions, Thomas put the team on his back and took them all the way to the Cup."

Watching Thomas hoist the Cup, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, was indeed one of the most satisfying things I've witnessed in my 45 years of hockey. His second Vezina Trophy, which he received a week later in Las Vegas, was sweet frosting on the cake. Oh, and did I mention his two ESPY's for Best NHL Player and Best Championship Performance?

Murphy chose the word "perseverance," but I prefer "desire." Thomas, through sheer heart and determination, willed himself into an NHL caliber goaltender, and a Stanley Cup champion. He did it with a steely resolve that overcame incredible odds, constant rejection and career-threatening hip surgery (which, I have to add, he never once used as an excuse!).

That's how he plays the game. The key to Thomas's performance lies in his passion. He is a relentless competitor who simply doesn't quit. Ever. Many aspiring goaltenders think they have that trait, but it's rare. And it's almost impossible to teach.

This past month, while coaching with Stop It Goaltending at Merrimack College, I watched a young Casey DeSmith, who is heading to the University of New Hampshire, make a near-impossible save during our "game time." These end-of-practice contests pit shooters against goalies, usually 4-on-4, with no defense. Shooters can fire away at any net. Left stranded by a cross-ice pass, with a shooter looking at a wide-open net, DeSmith dug in and flew across the net, blocking the shot.

"That was a heck of a save," I told DeSmith. "It was lucky," he replied, smiling. "No, it wasn't," I said, "You might have been lucky to get a piece of it, but there was nothing lucky at all about the effort. Nine goalies out of 10 wouldn't have done that. Tim Thomas would be proud."

DeSmith just laughed. He probably had no idea that, in my book, there's no greater compliment.

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