Rowat responds to challenge
Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, February 14, 2008
Regina Pats goaltender Linden Rowat is back hitting on all cylinders.
All he needed was a tune-up.
Rowat was "challenged" by the coaching staff last week in conjunction with a visit from goalie consultant Ryan Cyr, who helped the 18-year-old make some minor tweaks to his game.
How did Rowat respond? By stopping 67 of 71 shots -- earning first-star honours twice -- during a home-and-home sweep of the arch-rival Moose Jaw Warriors.
"Give Rosie credit," offered Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "We challenged him a little bit and he's a guy who faces those head on. He doesn't always like what he hears but he has been accountable to it and I give him credit for that because it's not easy to do when you face the fire."
The Pats were on the hot seat when they took a three-game losing streak into their first-place showdown with the Warriors, who entered the weekend just two points behind the East Division front-runners. When the dust cleared, Regina had posted a 4-3 shootout win in Moose Jaw and a 2-1 decision at the Brandt Centre to move five points up on the Warriors.
"Coming off a bad streak, I took it upon myself where I knew I had to play my best hockey," said Rowat. "I guess a lot of guys in the room took it upon themselves because we turned it around and everyone played really great. Hopefully we can carry it on to our road trip."
Rowat hadn't been playing poorly before the weekend, but there had been a dropoff due to what he called brief "mental lapses." Those lapses could occasionally result in weak goals.
"I knew I had to play better," said Rowat. "I went in and had some talks (with the coaches). They showed me some video clips on where I made my mistakes so all week I was working on coming out of the paint, staying a half-foot or a foot out (of the crease), making sure I'm taking away as much of the net as possible, having a good angle and positioning and just trusting my D-men to cover the back door. That worked really well for us."
Cyr's monthly visits typically help Rowat regain his focus while also providing a refresher on technical aspects of the game that only a fellow goaltender can provide. Rowat finds those feedback sessions to be invaluable.
"He'll teach me some things, we'll work on it, he'll see me play a couple games and then we'll go back and watch all the games," said Rowat. "He'll remind me of little things. I try to keep reminding myself and when we do video it shows. I just build off it and try to be more consistent with the habits."
Rowat's focus will be tested again during a six-game road trip which begins Friday against the Kootenay Ice. The veteran goalie knows there will be "no room for error" in his play.
"It's a lot of travel and there's a lot of distractions so you have to make sure you're mentally prepared for every game," he added. "You have to keep your routine and keep focused because little lapses could cost you the hockey game. With 14 games left, it's going to be a battle. The division is so close. I've had a couple good games, so I'm feeling good. I'm feeling like I'm seeing the puck really well. I just need to carry that on for the rest of the season and into playoffs so we can have success."
Rowat's numbers are among the top-half of WHL starting goalies: 26 wins (third), 2.58 GAA (eighth), .906 save percentage (tied for 13th), two shutouts (tied for fifth) and four shootout wins (tied for first).
With Rowat expected to carry the majority of the load the rest of the way, the Pats know they'll only go as far as their No. 1 goaltender will take them.
"It's the most important position in sport," added Hunt. "Linden has played extremely well. He has worked hard and he needs to continue to work hard. In the end you need goaltending to have any kind of success. That's not pressure, that's just reality."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
Rowat responds to challenge
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