Welcome to the Pros, Rookie
(Adjustment begins for goalie Shields)
 
by Kevin Oklobzija
9/15 Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
(Reprinted without permission)
 
WHEATFIELD, NY -
        Steve Shields stood at the edge of his goal crease, waiting
for defenseman Dave Cooper to start shooting pucks from  straight
out in the slot.
        "How many are you gonna stop?" Rochester Americans
coach John Van Boxmeer asked.
        "Nine of 10," the winningest goalie in NCAA history said
boldly, and without hesitation.
        "Nine?" Van Boxmeer. "OK".
        Let the shooting begin.
        Shot one: off the right leg. Shot two: skate save. Shot three:
left leg.
        And so on, and so on. Nine times in a row. He basically let
Cooper score on the 10th.
        "OK, now you get to face a real shooter," Van Boxmeer
said, ushering in winger Viktor Gordiouk.
        Shot one: directly into the bottom right corner of the net.
        But it was the only puck to find the net. Nine more big
saves, end of yesterday's practice at Sabreland.
        "Confidence is big, very big for goalies," Shields said
afterward. "I'm not the fastest guy, and sometimes I'm not
the most technical, so I need an intangible.
        "As long as I go out there with confidence, then I feel I
have the advantage."
        Eventually, Shields may have a big advantage. The Buffalo
Sabres, who selected him in the fifth round of the 1991 draft,
believe he has the potentail to be a dominant goalie.
        But first, the 1994 second-team All-American from the
University of Michigan must prove he can adapt to pro hockey.
He'll do that with the Amerks in the American Hockey League.
        "He's a big man who is mobile; he's a real confident guy,
and he's a real competitor, and those are all good things," Van
Boxmeer said. "But the guys he his facing now are bigger, faster
and they shoot the puck better than he's used to."
        Shields, a 22-year old Toronto native, is prepared for
the challenge.
        "The big difference is that everyone can shoot the
puck," he said. "In college, some guys you're not worried about.
        "But here, you can never relax."
        Shields', biggest attribute is his size. He is 6-foot-3,
210 pounds, and when he moves out of the net to challenge
a shooter, there's not much net open. Now, he must use his
size to his advantage.
        "I'd like to see him be patient and stand up, because
when you're that big there aren't a lot of holes. But you start
moving around and guessing, and now there are holes, and
pucks start going through you," Van Boxmeer said.
        Shields first pro game will probably be Saturday, when
the Amerks play the Cleveland Lumberjacks at 7:30 p.m. at
the Richfield, Ohio, Coliseum. The teams meet again at 7:30 p.m.
Monday at Sabreland.
        He is anxious to play, because he missed a week of
practice with a knee ingury. He twisted his left knee during a
camp in Colorado Springs.
        "Every day you miss, you fall further behind," he said. "You
don't want to be sitting out, you feel like you should be out
there proving yourself."
 
--end of article
 
 
Chris Lerch
EDS
RIT '84 & '91
 
RIT Tigers...1993-94 ECAC West Champions!