Dunham, shootouts ... and tattoos

Thursday, October 12, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry

If you're reading this, you must have seen the movie, "Slap Shot." You must remember the scene where the goalie comes stumbling back into the dressing room, punch-drunk from a barrage of shots in the first period. In the movie, the fictional French-Canadian stopper was still waving his arms wildly as he collapsed into his locker stall.

I thought of that scene after the first period of the Isles-Ducks game Wednesday night at the Honda Center (formally known to us hockey fans as The Pond). I figured that's what veteran Islanders goalie Mike Dunham must have felt like after the Ducks pelted him with 17 first-period shots. With some skill and a little luck (always a goalie's best friend), Dunham managed to turn back 16 of those 17 shots to keep his team in the game.  
 

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  • E.J. Hradek E.J. Hradek

    E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989. The following year, he beat the Stars to Dallas (by three years), taking over as the editor of Beckett Hockey Monthly. When the Stars finally did arrive in Big D, he hosted a weekly hockey radio show and tried (unsuccessfully) to convert ESPN's Skip Bayless to the greatest game on ice.

    In 1996, Hradek left Dallas, but not the Stars. Relocating back to the New York area, he became a part-time pro scout for the club, seeing more than 100 NHL/AHL games for each of the next two seasons. The scouting gig was a great learning experience, offering a different view of the game.

    Hradek grew up in Tuckahoe, N.Y., about a 40-minute train ride from New York City. Despite the proximity to the Rangers, Hradek embraced the Islanders when the expansion franchise debuted in 1972. Eight years later, he was part of the sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum that witnessed the Islanders' first Stanley Cup championship.


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