Lindsey Johnson. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Chelmick.

How mindset drives performance in the net.

MacEwan University’s men’s and women’s hockey programs have found themselves backed by stellar performances between the pipes this season. 

Goaltenders Eric Ward and Lindsey Johnson have started the season strong, each putting up first-class numbers across the Canada West conference. Both goalies found their way onto the MacEwan Griffins’ “Three Stars of the Week” list, following an all too familiar match-up in the city of Edmonton. 

After a tough loss to crosstown rivals, the University of Alberta Golden Bears, on Oct.ober 10, Ward stepped into the crease the following night and turned aside 38 of 40 shots, stopping a penalty shot and six breakaways in a narrow 2–1 overtime loss. 

“Just resetting,” Ward said about bouncing back to performing at a high level. “Every day is a new day. You can’t really dread, or if you win the Friday, you can’t really stay on the high. You have to just try to find that happy medium where whatever happened the night before doesn’t really matter at all for the next day.”

His calm presence has been key for the Griffins early on. 

“Just staying in the moment, enjoying it,” Ward said. “That’s one of my big things, just always having fun. Tight games are always fun. They’re always super intense, and if you can just have fun while playing, it just helps you with staying calm in the moment.”

“Every day is a new day. You can’t really dread, or if you win the Friday, you can’t really stay on the high. You have to just try to find that happy medium where whatever happened the night before doesn’t really matter at all for the next day.”

– Eric Ward

That composure has translated to results. Ward currently sits second in save percentage (0.933) and fourth in goals-against average (2.38) in Canada West. “It’s nice to see that my work’s kind of paying off, and just trying to build off that,” he said. 

Ward credits the team’s defensive group for making his job easier, and he has high hopes for this year’s roster. “I just know if I can keep the goals against low, I know we’re probably going to win that game. Especially with our D-corps this year, we have a pretty good one, I think, especially the two brothers [Logan and Keaton Dowhaniuk] help out a lot, and a couple good returning vets as well. Brett Bamber, who came in this year too, huge addition.”

When it comes to handling the high-pressure rivalry games against the Golden Bears, Ward has a lot more on his mind than just the game. When it comes to facing childhood friends and other familiar faces, in front of a crowd who will go after you personally, Ward admits, “I get a little bit more fired up, because I just want to win those ones.”

For the women’s team, Lindsey Johnson has shown the same poise and consistency going into her fourth year with the team. Against the U of A Pandas, Johnson made 27 saves on 30 shots, with the final goal coming in at under a minute to go. It marked the closest the Griffins have ever come to beating the Pandas since joining Canada West. 

“I really hope to be the first goalie to get a win, and [to be] part of a program that can win against the U of A.”

– Lindsey Johnson

Breaking through against the U of A’s defence was a big moment for Johnson, who said it was “amazing” to see the team finally generate offence and find the back of the net. “I really hope to be the first goalie to get a win, and [to be] part of a program that can win against the U of A.”

Fluke goals or bad bounces are bound to happen in any hockey game, but Johnson has learned to reset quickly. “I use a reframing technique,” she said. “You’ll see in games, I’ll throw my water into the air and watch the droplets come down, and for me, that’s a good reset routine.”

This technique was applied recently after a stick deflection squeezed past her in a matchup against Mount Royal University. Johnson leaned on the mentality she had learned from assistant coach Izzy Cropper. 

“That’s not going to break me,” she said. “I still had at that point two periods to play, so [I just] keep going and pretend like that didn’t happen. Memory of a goldfish, and all the Ted Lasso quotes.”

For both goalies, consistency and confidence remain the focus as the season continues, but the crowd is where that energy is drawn from. “Keep coming out,” Ward said. “We have a good team this year. If we can host the playoff game too, that’ll be really nice to have a lot of students out there for that.” 

Johnson added, “Even if you’ve never seen a game before, you can still understand what’s going on.