He\u2019s simply \u201cGoalie Bob,\u201d and when it comes to the Bruins, \u201cGoalie Bob\u201d has seen it all.<\/p>\n
Following his playing career, which included 173 wins, Essensa embarked on a coaching journey at the suggestion of one-time Bruins coach Rick Bowness. So, he rang up former Coyotes teammate Mike Sullivan and joined the fledgling Bruins coach\u2019s staff in 2003.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been a Bostonian ever since.<\/p>\n
Through the regimes of Sullivan, Dave Lewis, Claude Julien, Bruce Cassidy, Jim Montgomery, Joe Sacco, and now Marco Sturm, Essensa has been the mainstay, guiding a host of outstanding netminders, including a couple of Vezina Trophy winners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, fortunately, Sturmy is lucky No. 7 for me. And fortunately for me, I knew Sturmy before, obviously, as a player when he was here. So, I had a preconceived idea of what he\u2019s going to be like as a coach and whatnot. And sure enough, that\u2019s held fairly true,\u201d Essensa told the Globe recently. \u201cIt was probably the same for Butchy. I knew Butchy when he was down in Providence, so I knew him before he came in and Monty was probably one of the few that I probably didn\u2019t know until he came in and made his presence known quickly. But for me, I just appreciate the fact that whoever\u2019s grabbing the helm, they just let me do my thing with my guys. And I think most of them realize that goaltending can be a coach killer if it doesn\u2019t go well. So, they\u2019ve kind of let me do my thing. I\u2019m sorry we lost six in the process, but for the most part, they let me work my way.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Goalies never talk too much about strategy, usually their mindset is pretty one track: stop the puck. Subtle system changes on offense or defense aren\u2019t going to affect the guys charged with building a wall in front of the net. It\u2019s kind of the same philosophy for goalie coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, there\u2019s going to be nuances to every system. For us here, Claude\u2019s system kind of bled into Butchy\u2019s system and even Monty\u2019s system,\u201d said Essensa. \u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of a difference this year. Obviously, Sturmy brought some of his LA King philosophies with him, which are a little bit different, but that\u2019s just the league. So, our guys are going to see maybe a few more puck handles, a few more dumps than maybe they\u2019ve seen in recent years, and you adjust accordingly. But at the end of the day, nothing really changes for these guys. They just got to keep the puck out or that, regardless of what the guys are doing in front of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essensa is known for his quick wit and sense of humor \u2014 \u201cHe knows how to keep things light,\u201d said team president Cam Neely \u2014 and is an essential part of the game day routine. From prescout before morning skate to the final buzzer, his hands are full.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to provide our guys with some feedback as to where goalies are getting beat. We\u2019ll have our loops going in the locker room to show them where they\u2019ve given up their last dozen goals and the last half dozen shootout attempts,\u201d said Essensa. \u201cWe try to educate our token shootout guys where [opposing goalies] can get exploited if indeed we go to a shootout.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then it\u2019s more information for his own goalies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to pick apart where opposition teams are good, especially on their power play, where they\u2019re having success and who\u2019s the most dangerous guys,\u201d said Essensa. \u201cAnd then we hop on the ice, get our guys hopefully to feel good, and get them ready for that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the puck drops, Essensa watches from the ninth floor but is in frequent contact with fellow assistant Steve Spott on the bench.<\/p>\n
The view gives him a different perspective. Oftentimes he can see things an ice-level coach might miss.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, if there\u2019s a goal we didn\u2019t like, sometimes we bark at the player, but [Bob] will jump in and say, \u2018No, it\u2019s the goalie, this is what he has to do better.\u2019 So, something like that,\u201d said Sturm.<\/p>\n
Essensa has helped guide three Vezina Trophy winners during his Bruins tenure \u2014 Tim Thomas, Tuukka Rask, and Linus Ullmark \u2014 and has left his mark on countless others.<\/p>\n
This season, he has helped Jeremy Swayman rebound<\/a> from a rough 2024-25 season. Swayman entered the Christmas break with 14 of Boston\u2019s 20 wins.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at last year, you miss all the training camp, quite honestly, I don\u2019t care who you are, you miss all training camp, there\u2019s going to be catch up, especially for goalies timing wise,\u201d said Essensa. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not to give him an excuse for the way things went, but he has a standard that he\u2019d like to keep. He\u2019s got a view of where he should be in terms of his play and where his stature is in the league and it is justified. He has that sort of skill set. So, this year, obviously Olympic year, maybe a little extra attention to those details \u2014 not that he wouldn\u2019t have had them anyway. But he\u2019s very focused, very focused on putting last year behind him and getting off to a good start, having a good camp and all having it bleed into the regular season. So not that we\u2019re seeing a different Jeremy Swayman, but we\u2019re just seeing a good pro.\u201d<\/p>\n Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @globejimmcbride<\/a>.<\/p>\n