In the aftermath of his first NHL shutout Friday night, Jeremy Swayman was asked about the development of his game from his time at Maine to being a Bruins rookie phenom.
“I think the biggest thing is staying between my posts and keeping my feet in between my hips, not trying to get wide,” the 22-year-old said. “I do get wide at times, but I think the biggest thing is I’ve simplified a lot since my first games at Maine, and the experiences I had, obviously with Alfie Michaud teaching me along the way, the game gets faster every level you go up, and obviously this is the fastest you can get.
-
Ep 60: Vegas Takes Game 1; Panthers Set For Game 2; Cole Caufield
by Full Press Coverage on June 5, 2023 at 11:43 pm
Jim and Chris look at the Golden Knights Game 1 win and look ahead to Game […]
“So I’m making sure I’m trying to stay on my feet more and match the pace well. I think that’s the biggest thing that I can see the difference from my first game from Maine to now.”
If Michaud was watching the postgame press conference, he probably swelled with pride from the name drop. He was definitely watching Swayman make 25 saves against the New York Islanders because that’s what you do when you help a goalie climb from the college ranks to the NHL in one year.
From the start of Swayman’s NHL career a couple of weeks ago through this weekend, Michaud has witnessed a similar adjustment in the goalie’s game from the start to the present.
“The first game was pretty aggressive. I hadn’t seen that since his freshman year at Maine,” Michaud told Full Press Coverage by phone this week. “And then I felt like he made adjustments to his game, and I’m sure talking with [Bruins goalie coach] Bobby [Essensa], I’m sure they went and talked it out. It looked like he was much more controlled [after his first game], he picked his spots when to be very aggressive. And that’s going to be something, he’ll figure that out. You’ve got to play and be a part of it to figure out what you can and what you can’t do.”
Swayman figured it out at Maine by being the goalie the Black Bears leaned on for three seasons. He played in 100 games, compiling a .928 save percentage. He had a .933 save percentage in nine games as a first-year pro at Providence of the AHL this season before injuries forced the Bruins to summon him.
Now he’s 4-1-0 and rotating with Tuukka Rask and making people wonder where Jaroslav Halak will fit in when the veteran gets off the Covid-19 list.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy mentioned Saturday that Swayman’s giving the Bruins a chance to win games right now, but it remains to be how tough games are “going to affect him going forward.” Every goalie runs into bumps in the road, and Cassidy singled out Philadelphia’s Carter Hart and his 2020-21 season that’s been on and off the rails as a recent example.
Latest Bruins News
- NHL Rumors: Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers
- NHL Insights: New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames
- Three Game 7s Continue NHL Ratings Bonanza
- NHL Rumors: Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings
- Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook: All About The Road Cooking
Michaud says Swayman has characteristics that’ll help him stay on the right path even when he’s knocked off it a little bit.
“A big thing for him is to control what he can control and to trust himself and his ability. He’s done all those things and that’s a testament to the kid,” Michaud said. “He’s in such good hands with that organization with Mike Dunham and Bob Essensa. You talk about two guys that just get people, first off. And they’re so good at working with that and I’ve had the fortune to get to know them through this process because of Sway. He’s got two guys that’re perfect for him, how he is and how they mesh. He’s in a really, really good situation.”
Michaud, a veteran of more than 400 pro games, including two with the Vancouver Canucks, defers all the credit for Swayman’s success to the player. But Swayman’s comments Friday show he’s always thinking of his mentor, who he continues to keep in touch with regularly, and he seems more than willing to share some credit for his accomplishments with him.
“We always say, these kids do it all. We’re just here to hopefully guide and mentor and with me being an ex-pro, you share those experiences and you hope he takes them,” Michaud said. “But those kids got to play and they got to do everything, they’re putting in the time, the work.
“I always said it’s a proud uncle moment. I’ll never say I’m his papa because that’s Kenny Sway’s job, but I’m a proud uncle, that’s for sure.”
-
Ep 60: Vegas Takes Game 1; Panthers Set For Game 2; Cole Caufield
by Full Press Coverage on June 5, 2023 at 11:43 pm
Jim and Chris look at the Golden Knights Game 1 win and look ahead to Game […]
-
Ep 59: Stanley Cup Final Preview; Game 1 Thoughts
by Full Press Coverage on June 4, 2023 at 1:43 am
Jim and Chris give their thoughts on the Stanley Cup Final between Vegas […]
-
2023 Stanley Cup Final and Los Angeles Kings Talk with Dennis Bernstein
by Full Press Coverage on June 8, 2023 at 3:59 pm
Jim Biringer speaks with Dennis Bernstein of the FourthPeriod.com, Host of […]
-
2023 Stanley Cup Final Talk - Vegas Golden Knights with Willie G. Ramirez
by Full Press Coverage on June 5, 2023 at 12:39 am
Jim Biringer speaks with Willie G. Ramirez of ESPN Las Vegas, The Sporting […]
-
Ep 83: Stanley Cup Playoffs Are Here; Can Bruins Keep Up Pace?
by Full Press Coverage on April 17, 2023 at 4:06 pm
Ian and Chris are back to give their thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, […]
-
Ep 82: Bruins Set Wins Record, Pasta Hits 60, Playoffs Around The Corner
by Full Press Coverage on April 10, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Ian and Chris react to the Bruins 63rd win of the season, David Pastrnak's […]
-
The Hockey World Revolves Around Toronto
by Jim Biringer on May 23, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Jim is back for a fourth season of the Final Word on Hockey as he is […]
-
S4Ep28 - Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Final Preview
by Jim Biringer on May 16, 2023 at 7:28 pm
Jim is back for the fourth season of the Final Word on Hockey previewing […]
-
Golden Knights at Panthers
by Broken Controller Media on June 8, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Panthers at Golden Knights
by Broken Controller Media on June 5, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Panthers at Golden Knights
by Broken Controller Media on June 3, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Golden Knights at Stars
by Broken Controller Media on May 29, 2023 at 4:20 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Episode #141: Tend The Goal
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 2:24 pm
The 2023 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs have reached its final four teams, and […]
-
Episode #140: Stone Cold's 4th Line
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 1:41 pm
And then, there were four. The 2023 AHL Division Finals have concluded, […]
-
Full Press Blackhawks - Thursday, June 8th
by Full Press Coverage on June 8, 2023 at 4:00 pm
After Connor Bedard going #1, who are some prospects to look at for the […]
-
Full Press Kraken - Thursday, June 8th
by Full Press Coverage on June 8, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Areas of improvement, prospect look and AHL playoffs. Learn more about […]
-
Full Press Islanders - Wednesday, June 7th
by Full Press Coverage on June 7, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Lou Lamoriello holds a press conference yesterday we talk about what was […]
-
Renegades Of Puck Ep 770
by Charlie Saunier on June 6, 2023 at 7:13 pm
Ep 770 The Renegades Of Puck Recap Game 6 & Preview Calder Cup Final […]
-
Full Press Hurricanes - Tuesday, June 6th
by Full Press Coverage on June 6, 2023 at 5:20 pm
A brief look at game one of the Stanley Cup Final and potential draft […]
-
Full Press Blackhawks - Tuesday, April 6th
by Full Press Coverage on June 6, 2023 at 2:00 pm
It is the Connor Bedard show at the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. Will Connor […]
-
6/8 - Nuggets Dominate; PGA/LIV Merge
by Full Press Coverage on June 8, 2023 at 12:38 pm
Ian and John discuss the Nuggets Game 2 win over the Heat and the recent […]
-
6/6 - Golden Knights Cruise; NBA Final Heads To Miami
by Full Press Coverage on June 6, 2023 at 2:36 pm
Ian and John discuss the Golden Knights dominating win and look ahead to […]
-
6/5 - Heat Take Game 2; Golden Knights; Aaron Rodgers/Jordan Love
by Full Press Coverage on June 5, 2023 at 2:28 pm
Ian and John discuss the Heat's win over the Nuggets, the Golden Knights […]
-
6/2 - Nuggets Take Game 1, Barry Bonds, Stanley Cup Chat w/ Jim Biringer
by Full Press Coverage on June 2, 2023 at 2:03 pm
Ian and John discuss the Nuggets Game 1 win over the Heat, the upcoming […]