The divorce of the former Boston Bruins goaltending tandem, Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, was inevitable once their contracts were about to expire. There was no way the front office could justify paying both goaltenders over $8 million annually, and it made sense for the Bruins' front office to choose Swayman, who was younger and had more potential. However, things haven't been going too well for either goaltender.
Ullmark didn't have a terrible first season with the Ottawa Senators, but he battled injuries and then struggled in the first-round playoff matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs. It hasn't been as good a start to the second season as the Swedish netminder owns a 3.44 goals-against average and an .858 save percentage. The narrative is also starting to turn on Ullmark in the Senators' fanbase, and the fans didn't take too kindly to his recent comments.
""There was a little bit of immaturity today. It's not easy winning in this league. You can't go out there putting up seven two nights in a row and then expect to do it a third time. It has to come, especially in back-to-backs; there is a skill to playing in back-to-backs. It's really tough, especially when you travel as well. And there's a lot of things today I think that we could have done better. We just have to look at ourselves in the mirror and come to terms with what we did learn from it and move on." "Linus Ullmark
Bruce Garrioch's social media post with Ullmark's comments led to various responses from the fans, mostly telling the goaltender to look in the mirror, himself. The comments came on the heels of a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, where Ullmark allowed six goals on 25 shots, including three in the first period. If Ullmark wants to live up to the expectations of his four-year contract worth $8.25 million annually, he has to be better.
Jeremy Swayman's tough transition to No. 1
We all know about Jeremy Swayman's struggles in his first year as the No. 1. He couldn't bounce back from missing training camp with his contract holdout, and it ended in one of the most disappointing Bruins seasons in decades. The hope was that a whole training camp would help Swayman, but through seven games, he has a 3.45 goals-against average and a .886 save percentage.
Swayman will face even more adversity early this season as Joonas Korpisalo will get his second consecutive start after defeating the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. With the new coach not seeing anything to justify giving Swayman the start on Thursday night, it could be a bad sign for the goaltender. If he has lost the trust of Marco Sturm already, the rest of his tenure might not go as smoothly as he'd like.
While Bruins fans will never forget how the tandem known for the goalie hug stole their hearts over their years together, both goaltenders can only dream of returning to the form they were in when they were backing each other up.