Grabowski now among nation’s best
By: Justin Feil
Lindsay Grabowski was 8 years old when she first put on the goaltenders gear to help out the Tiger Lilies girls’ ice hockey team.
"My dad kind of volunteered me for it," Grabowski said of her humble beginnings. "My older sister, Annie, was playing for the Tiger Lilies and they needed another goalie for practice. My dad volunteered me. I just borrowed equipment, and then I got my own."
Ten years later, she’ll be attending the USA Hockey National Girls Goaltenders Camp that begins July 26 in Rochester, N.Y., as one of the 14 premier goalies in the country, and the only one from the Atlantic District.
"I was hoping I might make national camp," said Grabowski, a Princeton resident. "I wasn’t counting on it though. It was a pleasant surprise."
Just like the surprise she found in how much she enjoyed the goaltender position from a young age. Grabowski did try skating as a forward for a couple years, but before she was 11, she had made up her mind.
"I decided I wanted to be a full-time goalie," said Grabowski.
And whatever Grabowski decides to do, it typically turns out pretty well. She graduated from Stuart Country Day this spring with numerous academic awards and was active as president of Model United Nations among several extracurricular activities, all while balancing a full plate of athletic endeavors.
Besides being a standout goaltender for Stuart, she also skated for the Tiger Lilies, and was a member of the team when it finished sixth in the national tournament in 1997 and 1998. She also minded the net for the past four years for the Nassau Midget boys’ team. She has been chosen for the Atlantic District Select 34 ice hockey camp for each of the past three years, and only missed it last year to attend Governors School for International Issues.
Outside of skating between the pipes, Grabowski has been figure skating for 10 years, and is at the senior skating level. In August, she’ll compete in the national collegiate championships, where she’ll represent for the first time Amherst College. In the fall, she’ll join Annie, a junior there, on the Amherst women’s ice hockey team, where she hopes to compete for a starting job in goal.
Being selected to the goaltenders camp couldn’t come at a better time.
"I hope to get experience playing with the kinds of girls I’ll be playing with in college," said the 18-year-old. "I don’t really know what that level is like. It’s important to get that experience. I’ve seen some of Annie’s games, but you really have to experience it. It’s definitely faster paced than high school, but maybe not more than boys. But there’s a lot more finesse than the boys I’ve played with."
Making this national camp experience all the more valuable is the considerable attention that Grabowski will receive in Rochester. Ben Smith, the USA women’s Olympic team head coach, selects the coaches who will work the camp. Among them is Olympic team goaltender coach Tim Gerrish, who is in charge of much of the day-to-day activities at the camp. The weeklong camp, for 16- to 19-year-olds, focuses solely on improving each attendee’s play.
"It’s strictly goaltending," said Jayne McDonald, the USA Hockey women’s section director from the Atlantic District. "They bring in shooters for three days, and the coaches shoot on them. They’ll be taught movements, like how to butterfly and how to cover the whole net. If she went to a normal camp, she’d just be a goaltender in the net with a bunch of players around.
"It’s definitely a technical camp for goaltenders. She will be with the top goaltenders in the country."
Grabowski was selected after trying out in May for the Select 34 team. From her tryout, McDonald and the Atlantic District sent a recommendation to Smith and the goaltenders camp organizers, and Grabowski was selected based on that recommendation.
"We sent one to Colorado last year and she did well," McDonald said. "Lindsay is the only one going this year. There have been years we didn’t send one. There have been years that our recommendation hasn’t been taken. This makes four of the last seven years that we’ve had one."
In the past, girls and boys attended the Dave Peterson Goalie Camp. This is the first year that USA Hockey has designated a camp only for female goaltenders.
"Competition is getting harder and harder with the growth of women’s hockey the last couple of years," said Emily Tonniges, administrative assistant for youth hockey for USA Hockey. "Dave Peterson was hugely involved in youth hockey. They felt like it was losing focus, but they wanted to keep the girls’ aspect of it. So they made up the National Girls Goaltenders Camp. It’s definitely here to stay. The girls’ aspect will be around for a long time."
Among the attendees this year are girls from established hockey states such as Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, as well as a representative of the growing girls’ hockey circle, a native of Georgia. Grabowski couldn’t be happier that she’s among the elite chosen.
"I’m a little nervous, too," said Grabowski, who was attending Select 34 camp at the Lawrenceville School this week. "It’s a weeklong program and I don’t really know the specifics. It’s pretty intense training.
"I don’t know what exactly I’ve gotten into," she added. "I hope to get a lot out of it, though."
Everyone who’s known Grabowski expects she’ll get plenty out of the national camp, at least as much as any other girl there.
"Particularly, for where she is, it’s perfect," said Kevin Cunningham, the Atlantic District Player Development Director who oversees the Select 34 camp. "She’s making the jump to college. She’ll take any advantage she can get so she can potentially compete for a starting job. I can’t think of a kid who would milk it more for all it’s worth. Because she’s so eager to learn, she’s a natural for the camp."
In serving the Select 34 camp since it’s inception, Cunningham has been around long enough to see how Grabowski has taken advantage of similar opportunities. It’s part of why she is a national-caliber goaltender.
"I think she’s progressed tremendously," he said. "Her understanding of the game and her anticipation, she’s had great growth in both those areas. Because she’s so coachable, she’s going to continue to improve. She’s doing whatever she can. I’m at the (Lawrenceville) rink to tie up some loose ends, and I see her there at another camp. A lot of kids would just say, ‘I’m at my goal. I’m in college now. I’ve made it.’ She continues to work, and it really shows. She’s taken great strides and I think she’ll keep getting better. Every time she steps on the ice, she wants to come off better."
Some would discount Grabowski with one look, if nothing more than she stands just 5 feet tall, a height that Cunningham even says may be stretching it. Grabowski makes up for that with her ever-sharpening goalie instincts and what she calls her biggest strength, one with which few goalies can compare.
"I would say my skating ability is my biggest strength," she said. "That’s definitely been helped by my figure skating. It’s made an impact not only with movements, but it helps me always stay square to the puck."
Grabowski, who’s been figure skating since she was 7, still has difficulty labeling hockey or skating a favorite. It depends on the day. But in committing to play college hockey, she’s turning away from figure skating.
It’s with good reason, however, as she’s reaching new heights on the national girls’ ice hockey scene. Lindsay Grabowski is at a level that she never really dreamed about 10 years ago, a level that’s not too bad when she thinks about her starting days.
"I definitely didn’t think I’d end up where I ended up," she said. "I never thought about where it would take me. It’s definitely nice it landed me there."