Being a back-up isn't the end of the world

Tyler Stilling's superb prep school career didn't translate to
college, but that didn't stop him from being a great teammate.

Hi gang,

If there was ever the perfect example of the importance of having a quality back-up, Super Bowl 52 was it.

Yes, I was rooting for my hometown New England Patriots, but there's no denying that the Philadelphia Eagles and their MVP quarterback, Nick Foles (yes, a back -up to Carson Wentz) were deserving champions.

All too often we get hung up on a team's stars, forgetting that it's still a "team" game. There's only one QB, just like there's only one goaltender, that plays at any given time. But everyone on the team plays a critical role. My friend Tyler Stillings is proof. Let me know what you think ...

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Being a back-up isn't the end of the world

I come today to praise that time-honored and often under-appreciated teammate – the back-up goaltender.

Talk about a thankless job. The back-up goalie's chief responsibility, during games, is opening and closing the bench door. Or being chief cheerleader while teammates are gasping for air. You've got to be ready to play, at your best, even though you rarely know if you're actually getting into the game.

In practice, the back-up is typically the pin cushion, the target who absorbs all the extra shots after the starter calls off the dogs. Yet no one embodies the bedrock truths of this remarkable game – hard work, teamwork, perseverance, humility, and sacrifice – more than the back-up goalie.

Almost nobody sets out to be the second-string goalie. I say "almost," because I've met players who are more than content to be on the team, without worrying about the requisite pressures of being a starter. This column isn't about them.

Instead, I'm writing to those kids who have every intention of grabbing the crease, but fall short due to any number of circumstances. They're an inch too small, a second too slow, a year too young. No matter what the reason – whether timing or talent – these goalies don't become starters. But they're members of the team nonetheless.

I recently read an article in a national hockey magazine about "non-stars." The author contended that every player – even the kids on the end of the bench – has an important role in a team's success. And parents need to appreciate that their son and/or daughter, no matter whether they're a stud or fourth-line winger, is "an integral part of the hockey team," he wrote.

The irony is that the article's author owns a development program that's Exhibit No. 1 in a youth hockey culture that deifies these pre-teen "stars." The program's ads – in print and on television – are specifically designed to feed the parental mindset that, if you want your kids to be great, they need the extra edge that the program offers.

Of course, the author isn't alone. Plenty of camps and skills programs do this, as do "select" teams. I see it over and over and over again. God forbid your child isn't on a particular program's "Tier I" team; you'll quickly discover what it's like to be a second-class skater despite paying a first-class fee. But that's another column. The point is that all these organization fuel "the dream." I get it. It's a business.

(To be fair, the author does mention several great attributes of those "non-stars," such as being vocal and supportive on the bench and in the locker room, being a leader regardless of playing time, being the first on the ice and the last off during practices, and always putting the team goals before individual accolades. I'm on board with all of those.)

For goaltenders, there's definitely merit to playing. All things being equal, game experience is the single biggest delineation between "good" and "great" players. The prevailing wisdom is, find the highest level of play that guarantees your child plenty of game time. Which leads to this crazy contest of musical chairs, with goalies constantly changing teams and programs to find the "right fit."

Now, I'm Old School. I'm OK with the high school model where you earn your starting spot. That means, unless you're a freshman with all-world talent (in reality, not just your parents' minds), you pay your dues. All things being equal, I'm giving the starting nod to the upperclassmen. They've been in the trenches for two-plus years. They deserve that shot.

A few years back, I had a very promising young goalie try out for his school team as a freshman. Ahead of him were two solid netminders, a junior and a senior, who were virtually interchangeable in the coach's mind. On any given day, any of the goalies could have been the best at practice. But the freshman never got a start, and he chafed at that snub. I counseled patience, pointing out that he was steadily improving, and the coaches could see that. His time would come.

But after his first year, this goalie realized he'd still be sharing the job with the junior, who would now be a senior. So he bolted for a prep school, and got the playing time he craved. I hope it works out. It's a solid school, in a decent league with good academics.

Still, part of me worries this young man may one day regret not playing with his childhood buddies. And he better hope he's always "the man." Prep schools recruit, and the coaching staff won't think twice about bringing in a younger, better goaltender.

Conversely, I really hope coaches make the effort to let their second- and third-string goalies know how valuable they are. That's important for several reasons. One, the coaching staff is just an injury away from having to rely on that back-up goalie (a big reason why I'm a proponent of finding game time for all goalies, any time you can).

Two, coaches can't forget that their raison d'être (literally "reason for being") is not simply winning games, but developing young men and women. That brings me to Tyler Stillings. For the past five years, I've had the pleasure of working with Tyler, who played at the Brooks School in Massachusetts before moving on to Assumption College. But Tyler's career with the Greyhounds didn't go as planned. Injuries and poor play limited his game time.

During our Stop It summer camps, Tyler was one of my favorites. He was never the most talented player on the ice, but he worked his tail off. He could get frustrated, and sometimes "over thought" the position. But Tyler played with heart, and almost always a smile. It was impossible not to root for him.

After his senior year, when he again rode the pine, Tyler wrote about his experiences. He acknowledged that he lived and breathed hockey as a teenager, but eventually learned, like 98 percent of youth players, there was more to life than the game. At Assumption, he became an orientation leader, an alumni ambassador and a tutor in the academic support center.

"Hockey will always be a large part of who I am," wrote Tyler. "But it is just that: part of a complicated human being. At the end of this weird journey, Tyler Stillings the college hockey player may be considered a failure. But Tyler Stillings the person certainly won't be. I’m excited to see where he goes next."

I quickly reached out to Tyler, and told him that he wasn't even remotely close to being a failure in my eyes. He responded with a laugh, saying "underachieved is probably more mature diction."

Wrong again. Tyler Stillings was and is a hockey player. Period. He was a great teammate, who led by word and deed. Being a hockey player is not a separate entity. It is part of who Tyler is. That made him a success by any measure. Even as a back-up goalie.

FINIS

Bringing the goalie coach on board for team practices

Goalies need a coach who understands the position,
and how the position fits into the team concepts.

Hi gang,

My annual mid-season campaign to encourage hockey teams -- at every level -- to incorporate a goalie coach into their team practices. This is such an important part of overall team success, yet is ignored time and time again. The hesitancy to have a goalie coach work with the head coach and staff absolute mystifies me. Winning programs do this, which is one of the reasons they're winning programs.

Let me know what you think ...

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Bringing the goalie coach on board for team practices

So, coaches, we're now a full month (or more) into the season. How's your goaltending situation holding up? I hope it's faring better than I have.

This has been a particularly challenging season so far for me, as I recover from November surgery to fix a pair of herniated discs and arthritis-induced nerve damage (my rough-and-tumble lifestyle, and 45 years of playing goal, finally caught up to me). I haven't been on the ice since early August. Frankly, it's driving me nuts.

But the forced time off allowed me to reassess the position, and the role of the goalie coach. I've watched numerous games, from the World Cup of Hockey to the NHL to college tilts to U-19 fall girls hockey. This past weekend, my daughter's high school squad launched its season with a tournament at a local prep school. Brynne's team had mixed results, winning once and losing twice. They gave up 15 goals in those three games, which is not a recipe for success.

My chief frustration, following the tournament, was that I couldn't get on the ice to work with the team's young goaltender (she's a sophomore, having picked up the position just two years ago). More importantly, I knew I couldn't work with the team. Because not all 15 goals were on the goalie.

Sitting in the stands reinforced my firm belief that a goalie coach needs to be an integral part of a team's coaching staff. I saw numerous mistakes, made by the goalie, made by the defense, and made by the forwards (like changing lines during an opponent's odd-man rush). Last year, as a volunteer coach, I could plan with the staff to incorporate certain drills to help improve defensive zone play in general, and more specifically make sure the goalie and positional players were working together.

But since I'm officially "on the shelf," I can't even make suggestions. That's just reality of a coach who isn't on the ice. And I don't mean to suggest I have all the answers. I don't. What I mean is that there's one less voice – and the goalie's perspective – being taken into account.

I'm one of those goalie coaches who doesn't mind pulling back the curtain on that man in the corner. Goalie coaching can be very, very intricate, depending on the level your team is playing at, but it's not quantum physics. Seriously. The basics are, well, pretty basic. Anytime a goalie "expert" tries to convince you that it's rocket science, you should see a giant red flag.

This is one of my annual appeals to coaches. Please, please don't treat goalie coaches like some weird appendage to your staff. Don't separate them; bring them on board. Don't treat goalie coaches like the doctor you send your starting netminder to in order to repair a high ankle sprain or knee injury. Because, let's be honest, you don't care if you ever actually see that doctor. You just want the doctor to fix your goalie, and get him (or her) back between the pipes as soon as safely possible.

But the really, really good doctors are involved. Over the past two months, I emailed my surgeon – Dr. Russell Brummett of Concord Orthopaedics in New Hampshire – regular updates about my progress. Being a writer, I provided more detail than he probably cared for. But he always replied, always offering words of encouragement. Once, when five days went by without any exchange, he reached out to me. Just to check in. How cool is that?

Not all surgeons are like Dr. Brummett, unfortunately. Many (probably most) simply move on to the next patient. Don't get me wrong. They want to know whether the surgery was a success. They'll dutifully follow up – at one month, three months, one year – to make sure things are A-OK. Basically, they're happy if you're happy.

The better analogy, to my way of thinking, is a good family counselor. A good counselor is far more vested in your development, and the family's development, day in and day out, individually and as a group. A good counselor keeps close tabs on your progress and, perhaps more importantly, the times you slip up. A good counselor understands the value of communication. A good counselor is a confidante a well as a coach, someone who understands that integrating a group of people into a single entity can be a complex and wonderful thing. Much like a hockey team.

Most of my colleagues at Stop It Goaltending work with college, high school, and junior programs. One of the recurring themes that crops up is the inability of those coaches without goaltending experience to understand the many facets of the position, and the number of things that can lead to a scoring opportunity. A common question is, "How did that goal go it?" Sometimes the answer is simple. Sometimes it's purely on the goalie. They're human. They make errors.

But oftentimes the breakdowns that lead to a quality scoring chance happen two, three, or more moves beforehand. A bad line change, a bad read, a bad gap, a missed assignment. As goalies, we've spent years watching the game come to us. In other words, we see things. When we see a mistake, we like to have it addressed. It's often more than "just stopping the puck." That integrated approach makes for better team defense.

Here's another reason for having a goalie coach on board that's worth repeating. Better goalie drills make for better shooters. Every summer, the college and junior shooters who work our Stop It camps always remark how learning more about goaltending makes them better scorers. There's another win/win.

So my plea is that coaches, and programs, do more to bring goalie coaches into the fold, sharing ice and ideas. Yes, I understand that often comes with an added expense (more than individual sessions at a mini-ice). Talk to your boosters. Talk to your athletic director, and your parents. Would you rather have fancy new warm-up suits, or an airtight defense? Having a goalie coach on staff won't do much for the former, but can get you much closer to the latter.

Just remember: Defense wins championships.

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Postscript: Here's a special shout out to Minnesota's Tony Bruns, a senior and four-year starter at Morris/Benson High. Bruns tallied 98 saves in a 12-0 loss to Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato two tdays after Thanksgiving. That's 110 shots altogether! The 98 saves set a state and national record (breaking Michigan's Jamey Ramsey's national mark from 1987 by 14 saves).

Of course, that wasn’t enough for some "media" clowns who don't understand hockey, or goaltending. One bonehead panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn" actually disparaged Bruns's effort, saying it amounted to "only" a .890 save percentage. What this goofball didn't mention is that all those shots came in a 51-minute game (17-minute periods). That's more than two shots per minute, not to mention all the work that goes into preparing for each shot. It was, to be kind, a shooting gallery.

Dalen Jones, a former youth hockey goaltender, was one of the official scorekeepers counting shots. "The guy played out of his mind," Jones told Minnesota's StarTribune. "It was ridiculous. I was getting sore just watching him."

Me too. Bruns ought to be proud of his accomplishment, no matter the final score.

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