When it comes to stopping pucks, there is no such thing as senioritis for senior goaltender Chelsea Laden. In seven regular season starts, Laden has a nation-leading five shutouts for the Bobcats. In more than 400 minutes of play, only two pucks have seen the back of the net when she’s in the crease.
Laden was named the ECAC Hockey Women’s Goaltender of the Month for October. She is second in the nation in save percentage behind Krista Manzanares of Holy Cross, who has only gotten one start this season.
“It’s pretty cool I think every goalie likes to have the good stats,” Laden said. “Every goalie likes to have a lot of wins. It looks good statistically. I don’t think the stats are indicative of necessarily how great I’m performing or how amazing I’m performing, I think it’s more of an indication or a result of how great my team’s playing and how disciplined and consistent they’re playing. I’m just fortunate enough and blessed enough to be the goalie that’s behind them.”
Her pad-stacking ability isn’t the only thing keeping other teams off the board. Laden has only faced 78 shots in seven games, so the story of Chelsea Laden expands beyond the crease and into the defensive core in front of her.
Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey currently leads the nation in team defense with a 0.38 goals against average. The second team in the nation, Mercyhurst, comes in at 1.09 goals against per game. Each defenseman’s ability to block shots and stop plays in the defensive zone has reflected in Laden’s goaltending. Their efforts do not go unnoticed.
“I think compared to previous years, in the D-zone in general, we’re a lot more confident, a lot more consistent,” Laden said. “I think we take a lot more of the details to heart. I think everyone is buying into the system. It’s playing a huge role in the energy in the D-zone. With that confidence we’re able to make more powerful, more consistent plays that we weren’t able to make in the past. I wouldn’t even call them defense sometimes. I like to think of them as five other goalies out there because we take great pride in blocking shots.”
With Quinnipiac’s defense shutting down the majority of opposing team’s offense, it almost becomes an issue for a goaltender. On average Laden sees about 11 shots per game, does this hinder her goaltending capabilities throughout the 60 minutes? Averaging a little more than three shots a period, how does a goaltender manage to stay alert?
“I think actually, warm-ups play a huge role in my preparation for the games now. I feel like goalies play their best when they’re in their rhythm,” Laden said. “A lot of goalies get their rhythm from a big save, or multiple saves, easy saves, saves to the chest. And you know I don’t have that. […] I don’t get those big time saves to get my adrenaline going. I don’t get those three shots in a row to get my confidence built up so I personally take my warm-ups really seriously and I’m glad that my team does too.”
A goaltender’s stats extend beyond the crease. From the forwards to the defenseman, when it comes to the Quinnipiac women’s hockey team, it’s a team effort.
