‘Goalie love is the best love’ - Jeremy Swayman & Linus Ullmark talk camaraderie, competition … & that postgame hug

Win or lose, the final minutes of a contest held on the ice or parquet at TD Garden tend to follow a familiar script, at least for the thousands packed into the barn on Causeway Street.

For the unfortunate lot who have experienced the pain of trying to escape the labyrinth that is downtown Boston amid of sea of fellow compatriots adorned in black-and-gold or green garments, an early exodus from the arena is often a must. 

So it comes as no surprise that when the final minutes begin to tick off the clock, the lower bowl of the Garden is often about as serene as Haymarket Square at 5 p.m. on a Friday.  

That is, until this season.

These days, instead of Rocky Balboa-esque sprints up the stairs to the concourse, few spectators in the stands move a muscle as Dirty Water begins to blare from the speakers above.

On the ice, the Bruins have done their part, securing another two points in the standings following a hard-fought victory. The show might be over, but the atmosphere in the stands is brewing with bottled-up anticipation— akin to a crowd awaiting an encore performance. 

And, as has been the case for months now, both Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark are more than happy to oblige.

“They have this, whatever they do at the end of the game,” Bruce Cassidy said of his goalie corps’ postgame tradition. "I see it on Twitter or whatever. Those two have really hit it off.”

The Bruins’ post-victory routine varies from player to player as they all make their way toward whichever netminder is situated between the pipes. Some offer an bucket tap, others a fist bump.

But when it gets to the end of the line, both Ullmark and Swayman know what to expect. Sure, the routine welcomes some improvisation of its own. Sometimes Ullmark offers some words of encouragement, other times both goalies look across the ice, as if their fellow battery-mate had suddenly vanished in front of them.

But the ceremony always ends on a similar note — with both goalies embracing with a generous hug as the thousands still situated in the Garden stands roar in approval.

For a postgame custom that has become so beloved in such a short amount of time, you’d think that there would be a grand origin story behind Swayman and Ullmark’s celebration. 

Not entirely. 

“Maybe we keep it mysterious for (the fans), right,” Swayman said with a laugh when asked of how their postgame hug manifested. “I think it was just one of those natural things that happened at my first game at home. It's just become more and more sentimental. It's so awesome.”

Then again, it’s almost more fitting that Swayman and Ullmark — two goalies separated by five years in age and over 3,800 miles between their hometowns — cooked up such a celly on the fly. 

For as much as even the most effective and healthy goalie partnerships are often anchored and fueled by the natural competition between two athletes vying for the same reps in net, the Swayman-Ullmark tandem has served as a refreshing rebuttal.

"It just came naturally for us as the people that we are,” Ullmark told BostonSportsJournal.com of their postgame hug. “It's nice that we put a little imprint on how you don't have to be so overly competitive and be sour whenever the other guy plays.

“Because at the end of the day, we're playing for the same team. There's absolutely no reason to be sour or pissed whenever that guy is playing because you want your team to win, and that's the most important part — you have to put the team's success in front of your own. And if the team is successful, you will be successful yourself. … Whenever we are around each other, it's like we've known each other for so long. I never thought it would be like that coming in here.”

Swayman puts it a bit more succinctly. 

“Goalie love is the best love.”

———

For as much as the Bruins viewed Tuukka Rask’s second-half return as a potential ace in the hole this season, the club wanted to ensure that it had its bases covered with the tandem of Ullmark and Swayman in place.

Both netminders offered plenty of potential and intrigue, with Swayman coming off of a sterling 10-game stint up with Boston in 2021, and Ullmark’s strong numbers on a rebuilding Sabres club offering plenty of optimism for even stronger returns on a Bruins team lauded for its defensive structure. 

Still, be it the potential messy confluence that came with Rask’s looming return, or the dynamics of an established veteran vying for the same reps as a rookie — striking that tranquil equilibrium between two pro athletes is an endeavor that all clubs hope to achieve over the course of a season. But it's often easier said than done.

But from the moment Ullmark inked his four-year contract with Boston back in July — and promptly texted Swayman to express his excitement about sharing the net with him — the Bruins haven’t had to fret about the dynamic formed between their two relatively new pillars between the pipes. 

Although Ullmark and Swayman might differ in terms of their respective origins — one hails from the small town of Lungvik, Sweden (population, 500+) and the other from Anchorage, Alaska (population: 295,000) — and their contrasting playing styles in net, both found out in record time that their off-ice approach and emphasis on communication and breezy candor were closely aligned. 

“The thing about Sway is, first of all, he's an Alaskan guy, so he knows how to work hard,” Ullmark said of Swayman. “That's a given. … But when it comes to everything else around him — he's very down to earth, I would say. There are not a lot of things that put him in a bad mood. So he's very easy to be around with when it comes to that, because he always comes in and he has a lot of energy.

“And whenever I feel that I am a little bit sluggish or so, he's right there and just has a smile on his face…. So those are characteristics that I do appreciate in people, because it's not always going to feel like sunshine and flowers, whatever. But when you have a guy like that, it's certainly is a lot easier to think like that.”

———

Sure enough, things haven’t always been "sunshine and flowers" this season — especially as it pertains to Boston’s goaltending situation. 

Although both Ullmark and Swayman now remain entrenched up with Boston following Rask’s retirement (no more phantom hugs down in Providence for Swayman), the Bruins are gaining steam as the playoffs approach — and the time is coming for more reps to be allocated to whatever goalie is giving the club the best chance to win on a regular basis.

As of right now, it appears as though Swayman is in the lead as Boston’s de-facto No. 1 netminder, posting an 8-1-1 record and a .940 save percentage over his last 10 games. Ullmark, posting a 2-3-1 record with a .890 save percentage over that same stretch, has seen his reps dwindle as the calendar turns toward the spring. 

Ideally, the Bruins have both netminders operating at a high level by the end of April, giving Cassidy and his staff a good problem to have when it comes to committing to one netminder for a playoff push.

But even at this current juncture of the season in which Ullmark has seen his partner begin to run away with the top spot on the depth chart, Cassidy hasn’t had to worry about any icy sentiment forming between his two netminders as the competitive juices start flowing.

"Linus comes in in a good frame of mind,” Cassidy said. “He's positive, he wants to work. Today, they had a good goalie practice — he stayed out after to get the extra work. I think he understands that he's in a battle to get the net, especially with the way Jeremy is going…  But to say it again, he has been very good, very positive, and he's trying to work on his game to get to that level and is supporting Swayman every step of the way. So that's a good relationship.”

And even if their roles had been reversed and Swayman found himself staring at an uphill climb for regular starts against Ullmark, the rookie stressed that the dynamic between them wouldn’t be any different at all. 

“He's just always supportive, always positive,” Swayman told BostonSportsJournal.com about Ullmark’s impact. “And him and I are just super good about communicating with each other — during games, after games. It's always gonna be a new day and I’m so excited coming to work every day, knowing that he's gonna bring that attitude and just thrive off each other, it means so much. And it just, it really helps us as a goalie tandem as a team as a whole.”

———

Ullmark and Swayman’s bearhug might have been a spur-of-the-moment creation, but other goalie tandems across the country are seemingly taking note.

Over the last month, Swayman and Ullmark’s social-media channels have been inundated with videos of goalie duos mimicking their postgame celly — be it in the youth-hockey ranks or even in juniors up in Canada. 

"The outreach — I mean, Linus and I go back and forth about sharing stories and who sends stuff,” Swayman said. “It's actually unbelievable. It's really cool to have that feeling that something that we created has been spread out to the goalie community and the hockey community as a whole.”

In a vacuum, Swayman and Ullmark’s postgame pomp and circumstance might stand as nothing more than just a light-hearted bit of levity that has become as synonymous with a Bruins win as that late-night gridlock on Causeway. 

Ullmark will be the first to push back on such an assertion, of course.

For the candid veteran, even something as small as an embrace of a teammate can go a long way — both for one another, and for the thousands planted in those Garden seats, roaring in approval from behind the glass. 

"There's so much stuff going around nowadays in the world — war, everything else, just things that are just out of our control. And it's nice that we can put a little smile on everybody's faces with a small act of kindness towards each other,” Ullmark said. “And it's genuine. Like we didn't talk about this beforehand, we didn't go through the, 'Okay, we're gonna do this or do that.' It just comes naturally. 

“And that's what I love about it — it starts becoming a routine. And it's like, you want to do it. You have that feeling of embracing one of your closest friends. And it's the best thing in the world. And then to get the reaction from the crowd or the fans. — it's just a bonus. We're doing it for each other. And we're not trying to put on a show or something like that. But if we can inspire more people to treat each other with respect and kindness? I am all for it.”