Two-headed goalie good for USU, bad for foes
Great goalie play has been one of the constants for USU hockey this year as they marched to a 18-8-2 record and number six ranking in the ACHA’s West division.
Whether Greg “The Force” Finatti or Scottie Beard is in nets for the Aggies, opponents haven’t been able to count on scoring a lot of goals.
It’s unusual for a hockey team to have one excellent goalie, let alone two. But with Beard and Finatti, USU has two options equally adept at shutting down the opposing offense.
Team co-Captain Robert Hashimoto said, “Good teams have two solid goalies. Scottie Beard could definitely start on another team.”
Finatti said he and Beard are “pretty much the exact same goalie.” Both play the butterfly style and both have no perceptible holes in their games.
Team co-Captain Scotty John said Finatti plays a flashier style. “When Scotty Beard is playing his game, his fundamentals are really sound. No showboat type of stuff. When Finatti is on his game, he’ll get put out of position by another player and he’ll make some miraculous save. He’ll be standing on his head and he’ll make a glove save or a pad save and that’s when the crowd goes crazy,” John said.
Hashi also said Beard is a strong fundamental goalie, whose strength is “stopping breakaways and cutting off the angles,” while Finatti is the showtime goalie: “Finatti is unbelievable. He stretches his legs out. He makes incredible saves, he makes rebound saves and shuts down second and third attempts too. That’s pretty rare in a hockey game.”
In 1917, the rules of hockey penalized goaltenders for falling to the ice to make a save. When this rule was changed in 1918, it became the last rule change that favored goaltenders, every rule change since then has favored the offense, leading up to sweeping rule changes eliminating obstruction fouls starting in the 2005-2006 season. With the new, wide-open rules favoring high-scoring games, goalie is now not just the most important position in hockey, but in all sports.
The Aggies have proved their ability to put up enough goals on offense to make the goalie position an afterthought, but against the top competition when every goal counts, both Beard and Finatti have come through with huge performances.
For Beard, his defining performance in-goal was against Colorado State, when Hashi said he proved himself to the team. Finatti was concussed against Colorado University and unable to go, and with an 0-3 road trip staring USU in the face, Beard stepped into the goal and helped the Aggies beat the Rams on their home ice.
“Scottie Beard proved himself when we beat Colorado State at Colorado State,” Hashi said. “None of the players are afraid, if Finatti is tired, to put Scottie in. Finatti is our man, he’s our backbone. But we’re not afraid to play Beard either.”
Rotating goalies helps keep both players fresh, which Hashi said is a great benefit, although Finatti hardly needs the rest: “I don’t know if Finatti can get worn down. He seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t get tired. He’s the Force.”
Both Captains said they believe USU has the best goalie tandem in the ACHA West region, if not the country.
“Other teams may have two good goalies, but I don’t think there’s another team in the region and maybe the nation that has two goalies that are this rock-solid. We’re very lucky to have two goalies we can rely on,” John said, while Hashi concurred, “We probably have the best one-two punch in the west. I can’t say enough about those guys. It’s the best combo we’ve ever had at USU.”
Beard said, “The best teams always have two good goaltenders, because if one of them gets hurt they want to have another one that’s equally as good so they can keep winning.”
Two talented players competing for playing time can be a recipe for animosity. Yet Finatti said this hasn’t happened with himself and Beard.
“We get along pretty well. We hang out away from hockey so there’s no tension,” Finatti said.
“This is the first team that I’ve been on that there’s not tension between the goalies,” Beard said. “We both know that we want to win and whoever is playing well is going to play.”
Team chemistry is a big concern for a team captains like John and Hashi, but John said he has never worried about Finatti and Beard.
“The thing about those two goaltenders is they’re pretty much best friends,” John said. “They have a little bit of a rivalry between them but it’s friendly.”
-graham@cc.usu.edu