Red Wings goaltending prospect Rudy Guimond spoke with the media at Detroit’s annual Summer Development Camp on Tuesday afternoon.
The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker noted that Guimond was inspired to play goal by a certain Jimmy Howard…
“I met Jimmy Howard yesterday, and he was the reason I got into the goaltending,” Guimond said following the second day of Red Wings Development Camp. “He had these Vaughn pads with Icebergs on them, and as a kid, you kind of look at what you see, right?”
While Howard initially began his professional career wearing Reebok pads, he switched to the eye-popping Iceberg design from Vaughn, a popular brand that Chris Osgood wore for much of his career.
Howard kept that design from 2009 through 2014, and it became known as his signature look. While Guimond wasn’t able to convince his father to pay for customized pads as a youngster, Howard’s gear still left an indelible impression on him.
“I thought it was really cool and wanted to get into goaltending,” he said. “Obviously, my dad didn’t want to pay for custom stuff when I was that age, so I never got those Vaughn Iceberg pads.”
But Whitaker points out that Guimond is building his own reputation as an excellent goaltender…
Appearing in 50 games [with the Moncton Wildcats], Guimond led all QMJHL goaltenders with 40 victories while posting a league-best 2.27 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage, eventually earning the Patrick-Roy Trophy as Goaltender of the Year.
And the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses Guimond’s playing future:
Originally, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Guimond committed to play in the NCAA at Yale University. Harvard though got the final say and their interest in the goalie helped with that decision.
“With Yale, not being able to return if I were to go back to Moncton, I had to go elsewhere, and I picked Harvard,” Guimond said. “You watch movies and stuff, and they’re ‘Harvard man’ or ‘Yale man.’ it’s really cool to be able to say that you are a Harvard man.”
The Red Wings’ development camp looked slightly different for goalies this year. Instead of practicing with everyone, they had their own separate clinic.
Representing Team Howe, this is Guimond’s fourth year attending the development camp. He said it’s a change that works for him because of how it is geared more towards goalies.
“It’s probably Brian Daccord-esque,” Guimond said of the former NHL goalie. “I mean, he runs the Stop It camps in Massachusetts, and it’s very similar to those. It’s been great. I feel like every year they’re improving and improving the way they do things here.”
Here’s Guimond’s 7-minute press conference:
