Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Bachman: “For me, I started playing hockey when I was six. I lived in a small town in upstate New York called Saranac Lake. The first year I played was basically the 1996 season, and I had just moved from Colorado to New York. It was the first season the Nordiques moved to Colorado, so I was a big fan of the Avalanche just by nature of being from Colorado. I was pretty lucky that they had Patrick Roy in there, so I had someone pretty special in net to watch while I was growing up. I played forward for a few years and everything, but for some reason, I always wanted to try goalie. I think a lot of it had to do with watching Roy and a little bit about the pads and the mask and that whole deal. So when I was about eight years old, the organization I played for actually needed a goalie for the team I played on. So they just offered if anyone wanted to try it, they covered the cost for all the pads and everything so I was just like why not. I remember the first skate getting on the ice, I mean I could barely move in those pads and stuff, but one of the first shots I took was glove side, and I caught it. So from there it kind of stuck, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do is play goalie. So that’s how I became a goalie. Then I would just watch any NHL games I could and I was lucky in Lake Placid because the Islanders would come out there. Garth Snow was up there signing autographs and he was a great guy so I wanted to be a goalie even more after meeting a couple of those guys and watching them play.” Goldman: Speaking of Roy, he’s influenced so many goalies over his playing career. Is there anything specific that you remember about how he influenced who you are as a goalie today? Bachman: “I think when I first started out, just being able to watch him play and idolize him, and from watching him on TV, I would kind of mimic his same moves in my living room. Sometimes I’d throw on the pads and when he’d make a save, I’d kind of do the same thing. So from that standpoint I think it helped my technique when I was younger, without even knowing it. I was actually fortunate enough when I moved back to Colorado that his son played in the same organization as me in Littleton. So I was able to meet him and work with him on the ice a few times. He was so good at teaching positioning and reading plays, and he would talk to us and show us technique, and he was all over you if your pads weren’t flat on the ice and stuff. He was a little hard on you at times, but it kind of gave me that discipline to make sure I was doing everything correct from an early age. The other areas he’s influenced my career is just watching him compete when they went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996 and then won it again in 2001. Just seeing how well he played when it mattered most was huge for me. He stepped up to the plate and threw the team on his back when they needed him the most. He wasn’t perfect all the time, but he’d make one or two of those big saves that changed the momentum or kept them in the game, and you realize from seeing him do that how important it is to winning championships.” Goldman: I also had the opportunity to watch Roy as well when I was living in Colorado, and it was always his crazy focus and determination that fascinated me. Do you think that because you interacted with Roy on the ice, you have tried to reflect a lot of his same traits and mannerisms when you are playing? Bachman: “Yeah absolutely, I think that’s such a huge mindset for a goalie to have. For a while in my career, I don’t know if it was superstition or not, but I almost wouldn’t tell myself I was going to stop every puck. And then probably over the past five or six years, I’ve developed that mindset that I’m not going to be scored on. I don’t think it goes so far to say that if I do get scored on that I let it affect me, but my mindset from watching him is that every shot I face, I’m going to save. I’m going to stop everything, and that’s a huge part of the game, is being confident. He gives me the mindset where you don’t have to be perfect all the time, but you want to be able to stop every shot in games and in practices. You don’t just turn it on and off, it’s a mindset you need to have every time you’re on the ice.” Goldman: Dominik Hasek and Patrick Roy seem to be the two iconic goalies that were known for being as competitive in practices as they were in games. Talk a little bit about how you mentally approach practices and how it influence your game? Bachman: “I think working hard in practice and not letting the guys score reflects on the goalie himself as a competitor, as wanting to get better, and I think the players on your team feed off that. And because of that, they have a little more confidence in you heading into a game. That’s what you need - you need them to be confident in you to get the job done and when they are, they do their job a little better because they’re not worried about their goalie. As far as in practices, for me, I take my warm-ups and stuff, and even then, for me, it’s all about feeling the puck, but I want to stop as many as I can too. As we get going, I’ll even say in my head that they’re not scoring in this drill at all, and I’ll kind of keep track and that will be my goal for a specific drill. That helps you not only get better and work on your technique and all that, but it really works on the mental game. Then dialing it in and focusing for that amount of time allows you to transfer it into a game.” Goldman: When you’re in a practice or game, every goalie knows that it’s really important to send yourself positive mental messages. How important is that to you, to keep things positive, in practice? Bachman: “For me, practice is all about competing and not wanting to get scored on. But part of practice is that positive reinforcement where my goal is to not let them score, but at the same time, I’ll tell myself ‘let’s be good on rebounds here,’ and play messages like, ‘okay, any blocker shots are going to the corners’ in my mind. That kind of stuff I think helps you become mentally stronger while making saves, but it also teaches you how to become a better goalie and work on what you need to work on in your game. So positive messages in practice is important, but I also think you need to spend some time and think a little more to get your technique down and constantly improve and sharpen those areas your game. Moving into the game, I do a number of different things where I think it actually helps me not to think too much, but it also keeps me positive and focused at the same time.” Goldman: What are some of those things? Bachman: “A lot of it starts the night before the game. I will just visualize myself making saves and imagine how it feels. As the game gets going, basically for me, before the puck drops, I’ll go through in my head and just say things like, ‘alright, be on my toes, be aggressive, keep it simple, have fun, and then worry about the next shot.’ So there’s like five things right there I’ll tell myself as the puck drops. As the play develops, all of that leaves, and then it’s just focusing on that puck and how plays develop.”