How Jeremy Swayman Learned to Control his Net
- Swayman used external posts and string drills in practice to visually understand how small adjustments in his positioning already covered shooting angles without over-extending.
- Goalie coach Alfie Michaud applied Box Control concepts at Maine to teach Swayman to stop unnecessary butterfly slides that took him outside his post.
- Swayman went 10-2 in his first 12 professional games, posting a .947 save percentage in his NHL debut stretch with the Boston Bruins.
- A barre ballet routine was part of Swayman's development at Maine and contributed to his athleticism and body control as he won the Mike Richter Award.
- Tall goalies with a big frame can reduce unnecessary movement by trusting their size — Swayman's development shows that net control often beats acrobatic saves.
Jeremy Swayman hasn’t look out of play since turning pro this season, in part because he spent a lot of time learning the importance of his place on the ice in college.
The 22-year-old Alaska native won his second straight start with the Boston Bruins on Thursday, following up an impressive 40-save debut in a win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday with 31 saves in a win over the Washington Capitals to improve his save percentage to .947 before finally losing 3-2 to the Flyers on Saturday. Add in an 8-1-0 record and .933 save percentage in his first taste of the AHL this season, and the University of Maine graduate has won 10 of his first 12 games as a professional goalie.
The InGoal audience will already be familiar with Swayman from his appearance on the podcast last summer alongside Alfie Michaud, his goalie coach at Maine. Premium members also remember Swayman for sharing the barre ballet routine that helped accelerate his path to winning the Mike Richter Award as the top goalie in the NCAA last season.
With Swayman in the NHL spotlight in Boston, we figured it was a good time to share one of his on-ice development keys at Maine: How Michaud used strings, a set of moveable posts and the concepts of Box Control to teach Swayman to stop reaching and start controlling his net. Michaud was kind enough to share videos of some of the drills that Swayman credits.
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