When Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman earned his 100th career National Hockey League win last Saturday night with a 39-save performance in a 5-1 win over Carolina, the University of Maine became the leader for producing goalies with at least 100 NHL regular season victories.
Jimmy Howard tops the list with 246 victories followed by Ben Bishop with 222, Mike Dunham with 141, Garth Snow with 135 and Swayman, who picked up his 101st on Tuesday night in a 7-2 victory over New Jersey.
The University of Wisconsin is the only other Division I school to produce more than two 100-win NHL goalies. The Badgers have four in Curtis Joseph (454), Mike Richter (301), Brian Elliott (279) and Wayne Thomas (103).
Howard said Maine is “Goalie U” and gave a lot of credit to former 20-year UMaine assistant coach/goalie coach Grant Standbrook.
“And a lot of it stems back to Grant. It all stems from that man,” Howard said.
Howard, who went on to play for the Detroit Red Wings, would still hear from his former college coach about goaltending techniques and trends.
“He has always been a student of the game and is always checking in on his former players. You become one of his children,” Howard said about his former assistant coach.
Howard said first it was Scott King, who also played in the NHL, and then it was Dunham and Snow who “really stamped Maine on the map for being able to develop goalies.”
King played on UMaine’s first NCAA Tournament team in 1986-87 and first Frozen Four team a year later. Dunham and Snow combined to lead UMaine to its first NCAA title in 1992-93.
Howard decided to attend UMaine because Standbrook had coached all-time great Richter at Wisconsin. Howard said Richter “was my guy growing up.”
Howard went on to have a tremendous NHL career with the Red Wings. He is third all-time for the franchise in save percentage (.912) and games played (543) and 17th in goals-against average (2.62).
Bishop played for five different NHL teams after his time at UMaine. He called the school’s status as the top producer of NHL goalies “awesome” and added that it “says a lot” about Standbrook as well.
“Grant was also at Wisconsin [before UMaine]. It’s funny that the top two schools are where Grant was,” said Bishop, a three-time finalist for the Vezina Trophy (2014, ‘16, 19), which goes to the NHL’s top goalie.
After his time as an assistant at Wisconsin, Standbrook mentored the UMaine quartet of Howard, Bishop, Dunham and Snow.
“One of the biggest reasons I went to Maine was their goalie history,” said Bishop, noting that eight of the Black Bear goalies before him had played in the NHL. “So when they offered me a scholarship, it was a no-brainer.”
Bishop’s career 2.32 goals-against average is 16th best of all-time in the NHL. And his .921 save percentage is fourth best among goalies who made their debuts in 1955-56 or later.
“I was lucky enough to learn from Grant and become friends with Jimmy Howard,” said Bishop, who now works in player development for the Dallas Stars.
Current UMaine goalie coach Alfie Michaud, who had a brief stint in the NHL after leading UMaine to the NCAA championship in 1998-99, said Standbrook “kind of just had a way with [developing] players, not just goalies.”
He agreed with Bishop and Howard that Standbrook and UMaine established a “reputation for doing a good job with goalies.”
And the fact so many had gone on to play in the NHL was one of the primary sales pitches Standbrook used to recruit them.
“And I sell the crap out of that any time I talk to a [recruit], too,” said Michaud, who coached Swayman and Victor Ostman, who made his NHL debut for Seattle on Tuesday night against Utah.
Bishop, Michaud and Howard said they were well-prepared for their pro hockey careers at UMaine.
“The tradition and the atmosphere that you play in prepares you to be a pro hockey player. You get support from the entire state,” said Bishop. “You get used to the pressure. When you go there as a goalie, you expect to take the next step.”
Howard said that the track record of developing future NHL goalies then makes it easier to recruit. UMaine goalies become a close-knit fraternity and former goalies are always willing to help out the current ones, he added.
“I spent a lot of time on the phone with [Swayman] when he was at University of Maine deciding whether or not to turn pro. And when he turned pro, he had a lot of questions for me and I was always there to answer the call,” said Howard. “A lot of guys are like that.”
With that type of support from past players, “it makes a lot of sense” for goalies and other players to commit to play at UMaine, Howard said.
In addition to the quintet of 100-game winners, King, Michaud and Ostman, the other former Black Bear goalies who played in the NHL were Scott Darling, Mike Morrison, Matt Yeats and Matt DelGuidice.
