Local High School Goalie Practices with Flyers and Phantoms Players

By Brad Park
SJSports Staff Writer

With the end of summer comes the beginning of the Flyers Rookie Camp at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. They were in need of a goalie for their scrimmage, so they asked Eastern High School and Bantam AA goalie Bryan "Teebs" Williams to participate. Only two current Flyers were on the ice, Marty Murray (on the ice the entire time) and Eric Desjardins (appearing at the end), joined by ex-Flyer Peter White. One of the players from the Phantoms was Joe Depenta, who stayed around and stood in front of Williams for some nice photos by Pedro Cancel.

Bryan's father, Scot, said "Bryan stopped Marty Murray on the first breakaway, but on the next one, Marty made a move to his backhand. Bryan did what he was supposed to do, but Marty put the puck in the top of the net."

We had some question and answer time with Bryan " Teebs" Williams:

SJSports: How did you get invited to play with the pro players?
Teebs: My coach, Jack Lyons, who is close with most of the Flyers, noticed they were missing a goalie and asked them if I could come out and they said sure.

SJSports: What player gave you the hardest shot and did any of the shots hurt?
Teebs: None of the shots hurt, but Marty Murray had a few good breakaways that I found tough to stop...

SJSports: Your dad said you stopped Marty Murray on the first breakaway, but on the second, you moved like you were in position to make the save and he roofed it on you, and you looked around like "how did he do it"...is this true?
Teebs: Mmm... no, I stopped all of his shots. Well, actually it is true, but he got lucky.

SJSports: What player(s) impressed you the most?
Teebs: Marty Murray again, but I knew he was good. I thought the 15 year old was a great player for his age.

SJSports: We noticed that you were talking to the other 15 year old player? His name is Bobby Ryan (in yellow USA jersey). What did you guys talk about?
Teebs: Where we were playing next year, mainly. I asked him how he got to be there and it turns out his parents are good friends with the Clarke family.

SJSports: Was the speed a lot faster then what you are used to?
Teebs: No! It wasn't that much faster; they were not skating as hard as they could.

SJSports: Did any of the players give you tips or talk to you?
Teebs: The only thing anyone said to me was "nice glove hand", so not really.

SJSports: Did you stone or rob any player?
Teebs: I made a few good saves but they were mainly scoring on me. They were good.

SJSports: Did the players take it easy?
Teebs: Yea, a little. I think that was because it wasn't that serious. It was just kind of a free ice time.

SJSports: We noticed a banner at the rink with your name on it. It said "2001-2002 Bantam AA Regional Silver Sticks Champions, Skate Zone - Thanksgiving "AA" Champions, DVHL Champions, Atlantic District Champions, Regional Champions, and National Championship Participant". What was that like; playing in all the events and traveling around the USA?
Teebs: That was something that I won't forget. Sadly, we didn't do as well in that tournament as we would have liked. We are hoping to get back there next year. I think that the other teams around the US are not that much better then the teams we have hear in NJ.

SJSports: Why do your family and friends call you "Teebs"?
Teebs: Well, they call me Teebs because I used to idolize goalie Thibault (currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks) and my friends started it. It kind of just grew on me.

Photos by Pedro Cancel

Photos by Michele Roemer and Jamie Roemer