SDHL Goalie Gear Chat: Skellefteå AIK's Camryn Drever, "Look good, feel good"

Name: Camryn Drever

Date of Birth: November 12, 2000

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Previous Team: University of Saskatechewan (USports)

Mask

Brand and model: CCM Axis helmet, white, white straps.

Painted by: No one.  It is a mask wrap.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

Chest Protector

Brand and Model: Vaughn V8 Pro Carbon

Tucked or Untucked? Untucked, no suspenders. 

Customizations: Equipment manager taped some of the yellow stripes black because they showed through our white jerseys. Some of the tape has come off and I haven’t bothered to take the rest off. Other than that, no customizations!

Pads

Brand and model: CCM Eflex 6

Size: 33 + 2

Strapping: Velcro straps on knee and calf. Three leather straps, one on the thigh rise and two on lower leg. Initially had a boot strap, but removed it.

Toe Ties: Standard lace

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

Gloves

Brand and model: CCM Eflex 6

Break: 590 break

Skate lace or normal lace: Combination. Skate lace on either side of the pocket, nylon lace down the middle.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

Sticks and Tape Job

Brand and model: CCM XF Pro

Size: 26 inch paddle

Tape: None on the grip. Simple knob with a reminder to myself written in black ink. Full coverage of the blade.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

Skates

Brand and model: Bauer Supreme 190s. No customizations.

Miscellaneous

Any equipment you wear for luck?

Honestly I don’t have any pieces of equipment that I wear for luck. I used to not wash my under gear during the season but when I got to university they forced me to wash my stuff. I do however tend to wear the same dress clothes from games that I have won or felt I played well. Look good, feel good.

Do you have any game day superstitions?

I wouldn’t say these are superstitions, but maybe some other people would disagree: I like to go on a game day walk and I usually listen to the same songs. I take a pre-game nap depending on the time of the game that day. I like to show up early to the games, so I have time to tape my stick and complete my warmup ball routine. When I tape my stick I always stand on a corner of the arena of the side that my team will warm up on. I always finish taping my stick to the song “Lose Yourself” by Eminem. I always do my ball juggling routine to the same three songs in the same order: “You Make Me Feel” by Cobra Starship and Sabi, then “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, and lastly “Hey Brother” by Avicii. Finally, when I am playing, and I take a sip of my water I always hit my fist on the cross bar twice before putting my blocker back on.

I like to think of these as routines and not superstitions, because they are things that make me feel comfortable and ready to go. I try to remind myself that if some of these things are not possible or something comes up that I can’t control, that it is not the end of the world and there are still other things that are in my control that can allow me to be ready for a game.

Favourite goalie when you were a kid:

My favourite goalies growing up were Marc-André Fleury and Shannon Szabados. I love watching Fleury play; he is so athletic and makes unorthodox saves when he needs to. He is also just a great role model for players and just watching him I can see how much he loves the game. I love his approach to playing. He is always so carefree and just enjoys his time in the net and I aspire to be like that too. Watching Team Canada growing up, I loved seeing Shannon Szabados. She just made everything look so easy and her being from Edmonton, my hometown, just made me want to try and follow in her footsteps and play like her.

Favourite set you have ever worn:

My favourite equipment set up would have to be my second set I wore with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. My goalie coach wanted me to put some darker colours in the setup and so I decided to go really dark and ended up loving it and I’ll never go back to gear that has a lot of white in it.

Why did you become a goalie?

I became a goalie at a young age. I think it was in Atom, around age 11 or 12. At that age everyone still took turns playing goalie. My team was very good and when it was my turn to play goalie I just got to lay on the ice and watch them skate around. When the puck came into my zone I would stand up and then when they would get it out I would lay back down. I thought it was the best position ever because I just got to lay down and watch. After that I borrowed some gear from the female organisation I was part of and decided to remain a goalie. Soon after, I realised there was more to being a goalie than just lying on the ice! I really enjoyed being the last person back and getting to make all the highlight reel saves to keep my team in the game.

What goalie, other than yourself, has the best style in the SDHL?

Either [Skellefteå teammate] Miranda Dahlgren or [Djurgården’s] Ida Boman.