World Junior Championship 2018: Maple Leafs intrigued by Carter Hart's strange obsession

Dave McCarthy

World Junior Championship 2018: Maple Leafs intrigued by Carter Hart's strange obsession image

If Team Canada goaltender Carter Hart has made one thing clear so far at the World Junior Hockey Championship, it’s that he has remarkable patience.

During Canada’s quarter final against Switzerland, he found himself in a standoff with Swiss backup goaltender Matteo Ritz after the first period. You see, Hart admitted earlier in the tournament after a similar standoff on Boxing Day in the tournament opener against Finland, that he always likes to be the last player off the ice. He says it’s something he’s always done.

Finally after ten minutes of waiting, long after the zambonis had begun resurfacing the ice, Hart departed down the tunnel but only just far enough so he would be out of sight to Ritz. Once he got the signal from some staff members on the bench that Ritz had left, Hart returned for a quick loop on the ice before finally heading back to the dressing room with the moral victory in hand.

Hart said after the game that he “really didn’t care.” The fact that he ultimately made a point of returning after Ritz had left suggests otherwise. Canada wound up winning the game comfortably 8-2, but Hart did allow goals in the second and third period following the standoff.

 

Did this bizarre gamesmanship throw him off? Who knows? It’s worth a try at least as an opponent, especially deploying your backup goalie who really is in no rush to be anywhere if the chance exists that you could disrupt the focus of the other team’s starting goalie.

But is it really necessary to preoccupy yourself to that extent especially as the starting goaltender? Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen certainly does not think so. He smirked when asked about Hart’s obsession.

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“I don’t know if that’s a smart thing to be the difference if you can stop the puck or not, but I mean, whatever works for him,” said Andersen, who is so relaxed he previously told the Sporting News in November that he’s fine with people saying ‘shutout’ while he has a shutout going, usually a cardinal sin to most goaltenders. “It’s definitely nothing I’d try to add to my routine if I was him. You see the guys are obviously trying to disturb him a little bit.”

Curtis McElhinney, Andersen’s back up with the Maple Leafs, feels now that Hart’s secret is out, he better get used to teams trying to mess with him.

“He might end up having to hang out on the ice for the whole intermission, just stay out there,” said McElhinney. “I don’t know, it’s a little silly but if that’s your routine, good luck with it.”

Will the Czech Republic, Canada’s next opponent in the semi finals on Thursday, resort to similar gamesmanship? We’ll have to wait and see but Hart said he is willing to outwait anybody who tries to upset his routine.

"Sure, if they want to, I'll just do what I did (Tuesday) night," said Hart.

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Sounds like the challenge has been issued, doesn’t it?

Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk, who said he never had any bizarre superstitions to that degree, offered a piece of veteran advice to Hart.

“That might have been one he’d have wanted to play a little closer to his chest,” said van Riemsdyk.

With an answer like that, perhaps van Riemsdyk is just savvy enough not to admit to any of his own obsessions, lest he make it easier for opponents to aggravate him. After all, van Riemsdyk was nearly downright giddy at the thought of being able to throw off an opponent’s starting goaltender with something as simple as having someone outwait him on the ice. He did not think he would be alone in that way of thinking either.

“Oh 100%, you could see that happening for sure,” said van Riemsdyk. “He might be needing a chair to sit on the ice for the whole intermission. I mean he’s going to have to deal a lot with that if he makes it to the NHL, I’m sure there’s going to be lots of guys messing with him at that point. It’s funny, everyone has their own little quirks so whatever works for him. Obviously he’s had a lot of success, he’s a good player so whatever works.”

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Defenseman Connor Carrick agreed a goaltender having such an obvious crutch would get exploited as much as possible.

“Especially at that position, guys are dying to get a piece of those guys in any way they can,” said Carrick. “Everyone’s got their things, goaltenders tend to have their stereotype. I’ve met a lot of good ones, but there’s certainly enough of them holding down that concept that they’re different cats.”

There’s not only Hart’s mindset at play here though, but that of his teammates, too, who admitted they began wondering where Hart was during the first intermission. Captain Dillon Dube claimed it did not bother anybody and that it was a good boost for team morale.

"He came into the dressing room and started laughing," said Dube after the game. "It didn't throw him it off at all. He's not too worried about it, I don't think it's a superstition, it's a routine.”

Superstition? Routine? What’s the difference? One way or the other it seems like it’s something that’s pretty important to Hart.

Carrick said a big part of what he feels makes a goaltender successful is the confidence he inspires in the rest of the group. Playing with Andersen, he said, leaves the rest of the group calm because of the way Andersen approaches his job. He’s as dependable and predictable as they come.

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“Freddie is as even-keel as they come as a goalie,” said Carrick. “He’s professional; he comes in, does his job and goes home. You don’t see a whole ton of wavering from him which is what you want from your starting goaltender. I think I’ve seen him maybe get angry twice in the years I’ve played with him. His emotional maturity is great as he’s continued to grow in the league.”

Earlier in his career, forward Matt Martin said he also liked being the last player off the ice but eventually gave up on it.

“I used to like to be last off the ice but as I got older, I stopped worrying about superstitions as much,” said Martin.

He figures Hart, a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, will eventually have to follow suit.

“It might be something he’ll have to break when he gets to higher levels,” said Martin.

As Martin was sharing his thoughts on the matter, forward Connor Brown – who sits next to Martin – wandered into the dressing room after practice and began eavesdropping. Like van Riemsdyk, he could barely contain his enthusiasm for the chance to psyche out the other team’s goalie.

“Oh for sure,” said Brown, when asked if think opponents would exploit Hart’s routine. “If I was a coach I’d tell one of my guys to stay out there as long as possible, don’t worry about the meeting. I’d get the richest guy on the team (in case the league fines them) and say that’s why we pay you the big bucks.”

Carrick said he had all kinds of superstitions that controlled him earlier in his career that he has since abandoned now that he has realized they did nothing to help him.

“I remember one year I was wearing flip-flops when the weather changed and I had a bad practice so I wore flip-flops for like six more weeks even when it was freezing outside,” he said. “I was just convinced I wouldn’t have a good practice if I stopped wearing them.”

 

When he was with the Washington Capitals, Carrick used to like flipping pucks onto the roof of the net at practice. He remembered the exact moment when he gave up on that one.

“I remember Braden Holtby, all-star goalie, coming over and saying, ‘what are you doing? You look lost here.’ That was the last time I ever did that,” said Carrick.

Perhaps it’s a thing younger players are more likely to get consumed by as the work to find their own identity and figure out what works for them and what doesn’t. At the end of the day, your routine is something that is supposed to enhance your ability. You shouldn’t become a slave to it. If you do, is it still really helping you?

“As you get older, like a duck, more rolls off your back. You figure out ways to stay out of your own way and just play the game,” said Carrick. “I remember hearing Nik Lidstrom when I was growing up when someone asked him if he had a superstition and he said, ‘no, I have a routine but the whole idea is it should help you, not throw you off’. Honestly, I used to be a perfectionist about everything but at some point it gets exhausting. You can’t wear yourself out like that, the game is hard enough.”

Dave McCarthy