The D: You guys just came off a pretty successful weekend. How's the season going so far?
Mike Devine '08: I think we were off to a pretty strong start, but then we lost focus a bit. We lost a few games in a row against some good teams and just couldn't figure out how to close out games. Over the last few weeks, we've regained our focus and played some good hockey. Hopefully that continues down the stretch.
TD: What are you guys going to have to do down the stretch to get yourselves into the NCAA tournament?
MD: Winning the ECAC tournament in March would get us an auto-bid to the NCAA's. That's our goal. At this point, in order to get an at-large bid, we'd have to rely on some outside help. So our concentration right now is to get on a roll leading up to the playoffs and win the ECAC tournament.
TD: That would be quite an accomplishment. So, you're going to be spending a lot of time in net down the stretch. When the puck's at the other end of the ice, what do you think about?
MD: [Laughs} I don't really know, I've never really thought about it. I guess I just hope the puck stays down there as long as possible.
TD: Well whatever it is, it seems to be working. You racked up 35 saves on Saturday. They couldn't all have been glove saves. Does getting pelted with a hard piece of rubber ever get old?
MD: Not during games. It does during practice though. There's not too many times in games where shots end up hurting but it happens basically daily during practice. I get hit in the collarbone a lot and that usually leaves some nice bruises. Getting hit in the lower body area doesn't feel too great either. Sometimes guys think it's funny to shoot pucks at the goalie when we're not looking, so that's not cool. But we're goalies for a reason so I guess we just have to deal with it.
TD: I saw that you got to take Friday night off, and Joe Grossman '10 earned his first collegiate victory. Is that a competitive relationship, or do you guys commiserate over getting plunked unexpectedly in practice?
MD: It's definitely competitive because we all have been used to being the starter our whole lives prior to Dartmouth. Everyone wants to play, so there's competition every day in practice. But we're all good buddies, too. It's a good balance.
TD: Taking this in a slightly different direction, I have an etiquette question. Generally, it seems understood that goalies are to be left alone by the forwards and defensemen of the opposition. Hence, the goalie fight. My question is, how do you know when a fight merits you skating out to center ice? Is there some kind of objective metric, or is it a feel thing?
MD: I wouldn't know. I've never gotten into a fight with the other goalie, which I'm pretty bummed about. Other players, yeah, but never the other goalie. I don't see that happening in college hockey unfortunately, seeing that there is a two game suspension for fighting. But if the opportunity ever presents itself, it would be fun to give it a go.
Usually the only time a goalie fight breaks out is when there's a line brawl, and one goalie usually skates down to the other end. Grossman got into one in juniors, so he's probably better to ask than me.
TD: Ok, in baseball, there's a pretty clear division between every day players and pitchers. Is there that same kind of split in hockey between goalies and the rest of the team?
MD: No not at all. I like to think that we have pretty normal goalies on our team. If you ask the guys on our team, I'm sure they'd agree. We all have to do the same things off the ice with lifting, running, etc. There isn't any division on our team between the different positions, which is pretty cool.
TD: Finally what's painted on your helmet and why?
MD: It's the Grinch on the top with brick wall sides. I wanted to incorporate Dartmouth somehow when I first got here and I figured I'd put the Grinch on it since Dr. Seuss went here. So this year when I had the chance to get a new mask I basically got the same thing because I liked how it turned out the first time. It was pretty cool when I first got here to be able to design my own helmet. Then on the back of my helmet, I had a Sabres and Bills logo put on there since I'm from Buffalo.
