Bruins Goalie Jeremy Swayman’s Normalcy Might Actually Make Him Weird

It takes a special kind of athlete to set up between the pipes as an NHL goalie. Most around the sport refer to players in the position as being weird.

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman told Chris and Dan Powers of the “Empty Netters” podcast that he doesn’t fall into that category and he is, well, normal.

“It’s self-proclaimed, right,” Swayman told the brothers. “Hopefully, if you ask my teammates they would say the same thing. I don’t know, I just kind of go with the flow.”

The 24-year-old Alaskan native added when it comes to game time, goalies and hockey players in general, have their routines and superstitions they rely on but he just focuses on enjoying the process and not feeling the pressure of being in the net.

“We all have our routines and stuff, but say your headphones die, it’s not the end of the world,” Swayman said. “You just kind of laugh and move on. That’s all you can control. That’s why I claim to be a not weird goalie, but I’m sure the boys would say otherwise at times. Hopefully, that’s a good reputation.”

The Powers brothers pointed out that Swayman being normal actually makes him weird.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Swayman said. “I can’t win.”

Entering his second full NHL season with the Bruins, Swayman knows the locker room won’t quite be the same without newly retired forwards Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, but expects other veterans like Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy to step up in the room and on the ice.

Swayman said he hopes Bergeron will be around the rink a lot in the upcoming season even if he won’t be pulling on the Spoked-B jersey and one of the best times he had this summer was watching Bergeron dance with Marchand at McAvoy’s Aug. 5 wedding at Boston Public Library.

“That was hilarious,” Swayman said. “By the way, their dance, it was Charlie Coyle’s choreographed wedding dance — to the T. They remembered it, to the T. It was incredible. It was kind of like a jab, but at the same time, it was so well done. They’re just studs. Those guys are the best. It was awesome. When they broke that out, I was in tears.”

Marchand will have to find a new dance partner on the ice when the Bruins hit training camp on Sept. 20 before the centennial season begins.