Siren and John Edwards responded to Carl Sussman's post about Brown
goalie Jeff Holowaty
 
Quite frequently, goaltenders are the most overlooked aspect of
a hockey team's practice regimen - there are still schools that
don't have any kind of goalie coach, voluntary or otherwise, and
I've seen practices where the goalies are viewed more as alternating
targets then pupils.
 
Brown, however, probably provides goalies with as much guidance
as they could ever want. For one thing, head coach Bob Gaudet was
a goalie. For another, top assistant Brian Durocher was also a
goalie. Gaudet generally leaves the goalie supervision to Durocher
and the two have gotten good results -- witness Geoff
Finch two years ago, then the nice Mike Parsons/Brian Audette
transition last year. I'm not surprised that Jeff Holowaty has
managed to play quite well in his first few varsity starts, nor
will I be surprised when (and if) either Parsons or Audette gets
another shot and comes through. Very few coaching staffs can
juggle three goalies effectively at any level, but Gaudet and
Durocher have proven fully capable of doing so.
 
Another example of the benefit goaltender coaching can bring -
Princeton in the Jim Higgins/Don Cahoon transition. Cahoon brought
in current Merrimack assistant Mike Garagosian to work with Craig
Fiander, who developed into a solid starter after floundering under
Higgins. Fiander replaced Garagosian as the Tigers voluntary goalie
coach. Also note the steady work of Tripp Tracy at Harvard this year
now that he has Chuckie Hughes around for some voluntary coaching.
 
On a related note, the Boston Globe reported that Hotchkiss goalie
J.P. Prestifillipo (spelling?) is headed to Harvard -- I presume
that means he was a) an early admit, or b) made up his mind but
won't know officially until April (and minds can always change --
ask Tommy Holmes :-)). Prestifilipo is supposed to be an ace,
meaning that Harvard will (once again) have two good ones with
current freshman Peter Zackowich already on board. The rich get
richer ...
 
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
 
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