Episode 58 Bob Essensa, Trade Deadline and PadSkinz
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Boston Bruins goaltending coach Bob Essensa explains that Tuukka Rask's preference for 'shin on post' on sharp-angle plays is a recurring subject of criticism from other goaltending coaches each summer. Essensa, who played for six NHL teams over 12 seasons, defends the technique as a deliberate, informed choice — not a flaw. Essensa also reflects on playing through the 'fear factor' era when shots genuinely hurt, and how equipment evolved to allow pads to actually rotate in the butterfly.
- Bob Essensa explains that Tuukka Rask's 'shin on post' technique on sharp-angle plays is a deliberate coaching choice that other NHL goaltending coaches frequently question.
- Essensa played through the 'fear factor' era of goaltending, when equipment offered far less protection, and witnessed the evolution to pads that rotate in the butterfly.
- PadSkinz offer an easy DIY method to change pad and glove colours without replacing equipment — relevant after trade-deadline moves like Jack Campbell's shift from Los Angeles to Toronto.
- David Ayres' emergency backup goaltender performance for the Carolina Hurricanes in Toronto raised questions about how the NHL should handle EBUG situations going forward.
- Staying current as a goaltending coach means defending unconventional individual techniques backed by results, even when peer criticism from around the league is persistent.
we catch up with Bob Essensa to talk about everything from a playing career that started, as so many do, as the little brother that was forced into the net and ended with six NHL teams over 12 seasons before becoming the Boston Bruins goaltending coach in 2003. The man they call Goalie Bob shares insights as a goalie who played in the “fear factor” era, when shots really hurt, and through the evolution to equipment that not only better protected you, but also pads that actually rotated in the butterfly. He talks about staying current in an ever shifting coaching environment, and working with a future Hall of Fame goaltender like Tuukka Rask, including all the questions and criticisms he gets from other goaltending coaches in the summer about Rask’s preference for “shin on post” on sharp-angle plays. The answer is revealing.
In The Hockey Shop’s Gear Segment we speak with Cam about the PadSkinz, the easy-to-apply do-it-yourself way to change up your pad and glove colors and graphics if you find yourself changing teams for spring or summer hockey, and a perfectly timed segment given the NHL trade deadline left goalies like Jack Campbell doing the same to transform his Los Angeles Kings equipment into Toronto Maple Leafs colours.
Speaking of trades, Dad, Woody and Daren discuss the moves that happened — and maybe more pointedly, some of the ones that didn’t — ahead of this week’s deadline, as well as the EBUG heroics of David Ayres for the Carolina Hurricanes in Toronto over the weekend, and what it might mean for how the NHL handles similar situations in the future.
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