It’s about 90 minutes before puck drop in Hamden as I make my way down to the doldrums of the TD Bank Center for my usual routine walk around before the game. I walk past Michael Garteig, who is warming up. I hit him with the usual “Go get em’ tonight, Garts” and he stops, says hello, and quickly gets back in the zone. This has become routine for Garteig and I, and for the senior goaltender, that’s not the only thing that has became routine this season. The starting goaltender for the Bobcats has became one of the most dominant players on the ice every night for Quinnipiac, resulting in being a current top 10 candidate for the 2016 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, awarding the year’s best college hockey player.
Garteig has started almost every game for the Bobcats this season and has accounted for all their wins as he has been a steadfast presence in net for the Bobcats since opening night. The numbers back it up.
Garteig has posted a 20-1-5 record for the Bobcats so far this season while posting a 1.62 GAA against his opponents. He has posted seven shutouts including becoming the first Quinnipiac goalie to post three straight in December. During that time, the British Columbia native ran up a scoreless streak that went for over 194 minutes until it was snapped in the lone blemish of the Bobcat’s season, a 4-1 loss to Boston University in December.
The three-time ECAC Hockey Goalie of the month has numbers that are all top ten in the nation amongst active goaltenders this season, but it’s what the goalie does that won’t show up on the score sheet that is most impressive.
After starting the night on the bench for the first time all season, Garteig was called on by Rand Pecknold in a game against the UConn Huskies in November where the Bobcats found themselves entering the first intermission down 2-1. Garteig was perfect soon as he entered the game in the middle stanza, deflecting away big opportunities by the Huskies and leading his team to a big come from behind victory by a score of 6-2.
Not to be outdone, just three nights later, Garteig stood on his head to bail out a Bobcat team that could not score during the next two games, recording 25 saves in a 1-1 tie against Clarkson and then turning around the following night to fan away all 26 of St. Lawrence shots as the teams skated to a 0-0 tie. It seems as if Garteig’s most impressive moments come in games where he may not get the win or look his best, But he buckles down and seems to quickly turn the momentum the other way, allowing the five men in front of him to get back into the game.
Garteig now stands in elite company at Quinnipiac as he currently holds the program record for career wins (66), goals against average (1.90), and shutouts (18).
For “Garts”, the end of the 2016 season may not end with a Hobey Baker Memorial Award for him, but if the goaltender continues to play the goal-denying, lights out, and elusive style that we have seen from him so far this year, he may find himself holding on to a much bigger award in Tampa come early April.
