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Steven Ellis / Euro Hockey
When her campaign with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association was coming to an end earlier this year, Katie Burt didn’t know where she would play next.
He knew he was ready to continue, he knew he needed the consistency of a regular schedule with the set games and drills that PHF could offer, and he even knew what he hoped he could wear. A native of Massachusetts who acted in Boston College and played his first post-NCAA season at Boston Pride, he wanted to play black and yellow again.
But when Burt called Pride coach Paul Mara in the spring, he wasn’t sure how that would match. Their duo had made a bond three years earlier during Burt’s lonely season in Boston, and Mara had respected and supported her decision to go to PWHPA before through 2019-2020, but Pride has just won the Isobel Cup. to restore the championship winner duo to win the championship. For good reason, Burt had uncertainty about whether Mara would want to carry three goalkeepers.
It turned out he didn’t need much persuasion to pick up the NCAA history winning goalkeeper. “Katie is a top goalkeeper not just in our league but in the world,” Mara said. “Adding a player of this caliber to our team is one of the things we couldn’t miss.”
This is not to say that the door was opened wide for Burt to step straight into the top job. Loyalty to his goalkeeper is important to Mara, and he had no plans to send Lovisa Selander, who won the league’s best goalkeeper honor in the season since Burt left, or Victoria Hanson behind the line. And Burt wouldn’t have expected – or wanted – it to be in any other way. “I’m one of the most competitive people I think you’ll ever meet. All I do is compete. It’s not up to me to decide if it’s good or bad, ”Burt laughed. “I knew I wasn’t going to start. There was no promising time or anything like that. You have to earn every second. And honestly, I welcomed it. It directly feeds the type of player I am, the type of person I am. ”
This attitude was evident in the training camp. Mara noted the growth she saw in Burt off ice, a new maturity that comes with her seasons outside of college play, and said the 24-year-old was “much better” than standing in the blue of Boston. During the 2018-19 campaign.
More specifically, Mara mentioned Burt’s intensity – sounds pretty much right – and how hard he fought with each one he got on his way to the Shot. The changes Mara has seen in Burt are also not weaving. Burt has made several changes to his game, adjusting it to become the kind of goalkeeper he thinks he should be. This means improving his posture, changing the depth of wrinkles and fine-tuning the details. But the technical side is just one aspect.
“I think my game has grown exponentially,” he said. – I’m starting to understand the game more. It smells like being a goalkeeper, the only way to learn it is by watching hockey or playing hockey and doing repetitions, which is why goalkeepers usually develop a little later. But I really feel like I’ve reached my step with this understanding of the intelligence quotient of the game and hockey.
For the most part, Burt relies on the development of her technical and intellectual game thanks to her work at Stop It Goaltending, where she serves as a leader in women’s goalie development and recently took on a role in hockey operations.
Not only has it provided him with the extra ice time he could find in this area, but his focus on everything from goalkeepers has also allowed for a deeper understanding of his position. “Understanding is one thing,” he said, “but being able to explain it secularly to anyone from a tick to a 25-year-old is a completely different skill and concept.”
And if the proof is pudding, Burt made it clear how prepared he was to live back in PHF when he played 27 fights in his first game in three years. The 1-0 win, a rematch of the Isobel Cup final against the Minnesota Whitecaps, came the day after the teams had exchanged bets for a Pride win 6-4.
“It was a really rough win from our team, and we were estimating a ton of shots, and everyone put it on the line to get a win,” Burt said. “Being a part of it was really special. I was not given anything. I had to earn every second I played that game. I had to deserve that start. Earning that profit was really rewarding for me, and closing it was the most important thing.
However, she understands well that one lock is not going to win her a season job, and Mara isn’t going to name a clear one when no one is forcing her hand. The Pride coach joked that there was no manual to guide the three goalkeeper rounds and he had no idea how he was going to manage the trio as the season progressed. Burt, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to sweat it. Whether it’s a spectator in the stands as a third net guard or playing multiple matches on a bounce, his goal is still unique.
“I just want to go out and give our team a chance to win every game I play.”
he said. – I want to help our team win games. Whatever my role, whatever the end of the year, it will be decided, but every time I step on the ice, I want to give our team a chance to win the game.
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