Practice for the Colgate men’s hockey team was over, but a bunch of players stayed on the ice and ran more drills. They jawed back and forth, laughed at errant shots, and shook their heads after some big-time stops from one of the guys playing between the pipes.

When Thursday’s session finally came to a close, Robert Esche flopped down on his goalie pads, gathered up pucks, and tossed them in a bucket.

Yes, that Robert Esche, the six-year NHL veteran who last year took the Philadelphia Flyers to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference finals before the team fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

This year, there is no NHL season.

This year, Esche is lighting up the eyes of Raiders players who talk about his incredible quickness and the thrill of having a pro goaltender work out with them. Esche practiced – wearing a Colgate jersey with his Flyers gear –  with the team Wednesday and Thursday.

And unless the NHL and players agree to a new labor deal and begin play this year, which is unlikely, he will remain with the team throughout the season as a volunteer assistant coach.

“You notice right away that guys are staying on the ice much longer, just to get a chance at him and to hear what he has to say. He knows so much. It’s been great for us so far, and it’s just been two days,” said Jon Smyth, a junior forward.

But if you listen to Esche, sitting in the locker room after practice, trading verbal jabs with Dmitry Yashin and other players like he’s been with the team all year, he’s the one who is lucky.

Robert Esche talks with Anthony Masotto, a senior forward, at practice. (Photo by Timothy Sofranko)

“I feel really fortunate that I’ve been given this opportunity to come out and work with the goalies and get some work myself,” he said.

Wednesday’s practice was the first time he’d been on the ice, other than for charity events, in a long time.

“Just to be back in a routine, to be back with guys who are in a race and are trying to win every game, the structure, the practice, it’s a lot of fun,” said the 26-year-old Esche.

The Raiders (15-5-0, 7-1-0 ECACHL) jumped into the top 10 in two national polls this week after beating Harvard and Brown on the road over the weekend.

Esche will be attending both away games this weekend when Colgate plays ECAC rivals Union College and RPI.

Esche, a player rep for the Flyers, believes that the NHL season soon will be officially cancelled. He’s disappointed and angry with the owners, who have locked out the players as both sides wrangle over a new collective bargaining agreement.

So he anticipates working for Colgate coach Don Vaughan for the rest of the Raiders’ season.

“I’m looking forward to getting on the road with them, going over video with goalies, adding my two cents, and talking to defensemen and forwards as far as defensive zone play goes,” said Esche.

At Thursday’s practice, he skated with the team during drills but observed much of the formal practice from the bench. He offered suggestions during breaks and at the end of the practice, working hard with first-year goalies Justin Kowalkoski and Mark Dekanich.

First-years Ben Camper and Jesse Winchester and seniors Justin Spencer and Yashin peppered the goalies, including Esche, after practice, running through a series of drills.

“He’s playing in the best league in the world and he obviously has the skills. But the thing that will really help our goalies is that he’s able to express himself in a way that they’ll be able to learn from,” said Vaughan.

Seniors Adam Mitchell (left) and Darryl McKinnon talk strategy with Robert Esche during Thursday's practice. (Photo by Timothy Sofranko)

The Raiders’ No. 1 goalie, Steve Silverthorn, couldn’t believe how quick Esche was in the nets as his teammates fired pucks at him after practice.

Silverthorn said the “little” suggestions Esche gave him have already made a big difference.

“He’s in the NHL, so he’s told us things that he’s been through. He talked about staying within a certain area in the crease, that you don’t need to move that much,” said Silverthorn.

Esche called Silverthorn, who was just named the ECAC Hockey League goaltender of the week on Monday, an “awfully talented goalie.”

Vaughan said players are not the only people to benefit from having Esche around.

After talking hockey for some two hours on Wednesday, Esche watched videotape of the Raiders and noticed some things that Vaughan and his staff hadn’t seen before.

Vaughan called Esche’s coach -- Ken Hitchcock -- one of the best strategists in all of hockey, and he’s looking forward to talking with Esche about some of his coaching methods.

Esche grew up in Whitesboro and now lives in Westmoreland, about 20 minutes from Colgate. He talked recently with Joe Nieuwendyk of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who has been practicing with the hockey team at Cornell University, where he starred as a player.

When the possibility of playing for in an independent AHL team in Chicago fell through, Esche started exploring the idea of doing something similar to what Nieuwendyk was doing.

There was a Colgate link already established: Vaughan knows Esche’s dad, Robin. For the past four years they have put together a team that travels to Canada to compete in a summer hockey league.

Off the ice, Esche has been keeping busy with Save of the Day Foundation, a charitable organization he founded a couple years ago that helps Mohawk Valley children with life-threatening illnesses.

A four-on-four tournament he organized in November, which drew more than 30 NHL players including Niewenduyk, Keith Primeau, and Dominik Hasek, raised $120,000 for his organization. Games were played at the Clinton Arena and the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

He also will be working on a new state initiative targeting childhood obesity that Gov. George Pataki announced in his State of the State Address on Jan. 5.

Esche attended the address and was recognized by the governor as he detailed  the Active-8 Kids program, which will encourage children to be active, healthy and physically fit.

Esche will be working with Olympic gold medal swimmer Janet Evans on the initiative.

Tim O'Keeffe
Office of Communications and Public Relations
315.228.6634