The Wisconsin Badgers goaltending group has a new voice helping guide its development this season.
Steve Briere, the Badgers' director of goaltending development, brings decades of experience across multiple levels of hockey to Madison, but his approach is built around a fairly simple idea: focus on getting better one day at a time.
Briere has worked with goalies at the junior, collegiate, and NHL levels, including time in Seattle working with Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer. That experience has given him a wide range of situations to draw from as he works with Wisconsin's goaltenders.
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Rather than point
to one specific adjustment or claim to have completely changed the group's approach, Briere sees his role as bringing that experience into the room and helping the players continue to grow.
"I'm just trying to make sure I do my job and do it well," Briere said in an exclusive interview with Badger Wire's Jayd Serdy. "At the end of the day, I just worry about what I do."
For Briere, that work is a two-way process
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His experience can help build trust and give the goaltenders confidence in what he is teaching, but the players have to be willing to embrace it. He said Wisconsin's goalies have been especially receptive, describing them as hardworking players who want to improve and are open to listening and incorporating new things into their game.
"Unless you have a willing goaltender, a goaltender who's excited, who wants to learn, and a goaltender who's open to listening, then it's useless," Briere said. "They've been so amazing in terms of willingness to listen, to take on board new things and to work hard. They've been fantastic."
Briere's background also helps him understand the differences between developing goalies at the NHL and college levels. While he doesn't change his overall approach based on the level of competition, the schedule requires some adjustments.
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Welcome to Andy Brandt, Steve Briere and Joe Pavelskihttps://t.co/0sSDZu8C9F
College goaltenders have more opportunities to practice throughout the week before playing on weekends. That means finding the right balance between getting meaningful work in and making sure players aren't overdoing it. His experience at both levels helps him understand those demands, while the foundation of his approach remains the same.
Briere is also intentional about keeping the focus away from what comes next. For players hoping to reach the NHL, it can be easy to get caught up in the bigger picture. He wants Wisconsin's goaltenders to concentrate on the responsibilities directly in front of them.
"Take care of where you are today," Briere said. "Being the best person you can be today as a human being, being the best goalie you can be today, and the rest will take care of itself."
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That mindset is a major part of how Briere approaches development. Instead of allowing the possibility of moving up to become a distraction, he wants his players to build consistent habits through their daily work. Do that every day, he explained, and it becomes a habit of being a great person, a great worker, and a great goalie.
Briere's arrival in Madison also came with a familiar connection. He has known Wisconsin head coach Mike Hastings for 28 years, dating back to when Hastings coached him in junior hockey. After Briere retired as a player, Hastings gave him his first coaching opportunity in the USHL. That relationship, along with the opportunity to join a coaching staff he respects, made Wisconsin an easy decision.
"He's an unbelievable coach, an unbelievable communicator, and everywhere he goes, he has success," Briere said of Hastings. "They've got a great coaching staff here, really good people, and hardworking people. It's been a pretty easy decision to come to Madison."
Briere isn't interested in taking credit for every save or claiming his methods are the only way to develop a goaltender. He's more concerned with doing his job, building trust, and helping the players put in the work necessary to reach their goals.
And while the specific details of his goaltending system may remain his own, the philosophy behind it is straightforward: keep showing up, keep learning and take care of today. The rest can come later.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin hockey: Goaltending development starts with the daily work
