The Bruins' goalie coach since 2003 has guided backstops through the Mike Sullivan, Dave Lewis, Claude Julien, Bruce Cassidy, and Jim Montgomery tenures.
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Bob Essensa likes to come in guns blazing.
It’s the veteran goalie coach’s way of setting the tone for the day. There’s no angry connotation with his patented finger gesture, however. It’s just Essensa’s friendly/comedic trademark greeting. He’ll pull out the guns on the ice, in the meeting room, or even just walking down a hallway.
“He always comes in and does these little shooting guns at you and it’s just like, ‘All right cool, Bob’s here,’ ”
Jeremy Swayman said. “He’s hilarious.”
It’s one of the many ways the man known as “Goalie Bob” likes to keep things light through the course of what can be a grueling season. It’s also a nod to one of his favorite movies.
“Well, I mean it’s a little bit of ‘Happy Gilmore,’ the old Shooter [McGavin] thing. I go around and it’s my token greeting to people. I’ll give ‘em a couple shots hello,” said Essensa with a laugh. “So, for whatever reason it’s stuck in the last little while. But that’s kind of my go-to.”
It’s not all funny business for Essensa, the Bruins’ go-to goalie coach since 2003. He’s been coaching, guiding, and mentoring the Black and Gold backstops through the
Mike Sullivan,
Dave Lewis,
Claude Julien,
Bruce Cassidy, and
Jim Montgomery tenures.
“I always joke around that the only way I’ve survived all these different administrations is just turning your phone off every summer and showing up at training camp,” said a smiling Essensa. “But again, I think it kind of stems from the fact that I’ve been fortunate that we’ve had some really good goalies come through here, some that I’ve been involved with acquiring and then some that management’s done a good job in terms of bringing in and allowing me to have success with them.
“And I’ve also benefited from head coaches, from Sully to Claude to Butch, all guys that have a real strong defensive philosophy and allowing goalies to flourish under that philosophy. So, when you combine those two things, you fortunately have a little bit of success. And if your goalies are playing well, I guess management doesn’t feel the need to change anything around. So, I guess that’s how I’ve survived to this point.”
Coincidentally, it was another Bruins coach,
Rick Bowness, who bestowed the “Goalie Bob” moniker on Essensa after the goalie signed with Winnipeg and was assigned to its AHL affiliate in Moncton, New Brunswick, in 1987.
It began a relationship that remains strong today.
Following a 12-year NHL run as a player, with stints in Winnipeg, Detroit, Edmonton, Phoenix, Vancouver, and Buffalo, that ended in 2002, Essensa found himself back in the company of Bowness.
Essensa has been able to tailor his coaching style and philosophies to his pupils, and his success has been remarkable.
“I tend to gravitate toward a certain skill set and clearly everybody that gets to this level has certain aspects to their game that allow them to be successful,” said Essensa. “So, we certainly try to emphasize the ones that are working well to this point. And fortunately for me, there’s always going to be some deficiencies, as well. I tend to gravitate toward the guys that can beat the pass that have some foot speed.”
He’s had to alter some of his teaching points over the last two decades because of a big change in the game. Literally a big change.
“I think the trend certainly over the last decade or so is toward the bigger goalies. And there’s a reason why 20 years ago the big goalies couldn’t move nearly as well as they do today,” said Essensa. “But given the advances in equipment and training and what have you, and guys like myself all around the world that are treating these goalies earlier and better now, the guys that are 6-5 can move like the guys that were 5-6 20 years ago.”
Ullmark, who fits into the big guy category at 6-4, said he meshed with Essensa immediately. He acknowledged they don’t always see things the same way, but because they share the same goal (which, of course, is to not allow any), they always find common ground.
“I felt right at home as soon as I got here when it came to his and my personality,” said Ullmark. “Obviously, there are some things that we don’t always agree upon, and we never scream or anything. We don’t always agree on certain things, but what’s good about it is that we don’t fight. We understand what’s to be expected and then maybe he sees the situation differently toward what I am doing. And we have a discussion.”
Getting into a dustup with Essensa would be useless anyway, reported Ullmark.
“Man, is it hard to get angry with him. I just can’t,” said the reigning Vezina winner. “He’s just a lovable goofball.”
“Some goalie coaches want it their way or the highway,” said Swayman. “Others do it the way I like it, which is you don’t change your goalie, you just give them verbal cues. You help what his strengths are, you just keep improving him with experience and time. So, Bob’s done an incredible job of that. I mean, I love him away from the rink just as much as I do at the rink. So, it’s a pretty special relationship that we’ve gotten to develop, and we’ll continue to.”
It’s not just the technical side of coaching where Essensa excels. It’s also the personal side. Like baseball catchers, hockey goalies can be, well, quirky. As Essensa said, you can come across some “extreme personalities” in the cage.
“I guess I was just always one of those guys, even back in my playing days, that tended to get along with everybody regardless of where they came from or what nationality they were,” he said. “So, I try to keep that same approach coming into coaching. And the bottom line for me, I only have to work with one or two guys. I only have to get along with a couple guys, which is nice. But yeah, you definitely see some personalities and there’s a reason why all these guys are able to get to this level. They have a certain skill set or mental approach, so you just try to adapt as best you can to each one that comes along.”
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