JUNE 2022 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM
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When It Comes To Debunking The Big
Goalie Myth, Smaller Netminders
Swat Away Arguments Like
Shots On Goal
SIZING
UP THE
SITUATION
MADDIE ROONEY doesn't quite understand why the hockey
world makes such a big deal about the size of its goaltenders. If you
can stop a puck, you can stop a puck. And Rooney has proven time and
again she can stop a puck.
Who could forget her performance in the gold medal shootout
against Canada at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang? Or the silver
medal she won this winter in Beijing?
"It's always fun to prove the stereotype wrong," said
Rooney, a 5-foot-5 native of Andover, Minn., who
previously starred at the University of Minnesota-
Duluth. "[Team USA g oalie partner] Nicole
Hensley and I look at all these hug e NHL
goalies and we always kind of joke around and
say 'You don't have to be that tall to keep the
puck out of the net. Look at us.' We take a lot of
pride in it."
Still, size has become an issue with talent evalu-
ators, some of whom won't even scout goaltenders
who measure less than 6-foot-4. That mindset has
trickled down to the lower levels as well.
You don't have
to be that tall to
keep the puck out of
the net. Look at us."
MADDIE
ROONEY
BY J I M L E I T N E R
