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ON TOP WORLD THE OF him," said the Milford, Conn., native, who pointed to Richter's competitiveness as one of the qualities he admired most. Howard, who posted his best season to "I grew up a Rangers fan. I saw a lot of date in his third full year with the Detroit Red Wings in 2011-12, shared Quick's admiration for the Abington, Pa., native. "When I was growing up, I was a big Mike Richter fan," said the Syracuse, N.Y., born goaltender. "I idolized him with everything that he did." Miller got an up-close look at several NHL goaltenders growing up watching his cousin Kelly Miller's games. "There was a time when Kelly was play- ing with the Rangers and being able to pay close attention to Richter and go back fur- ther to Vanbiesbrouck, guys like that got me interested in the position," said Miller, who also won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's best player in 2001. Just like the players that idolized him, Richter had an American role model to look to for inspiration in his younger days. "[If] you have somebody, I can remem- ber even reading about Jim Craig when he was at Boston University and that gives you something to shoot for," Richter said of the man who backstopped the Miracle on Ice in 1980. "We happened to have this single figure who was a great role model. I think that's a big part of it." Now the current generation of American netminders is in a unique position to inspire the NHL stars of tomorrow. Mike Ayers, USA Hockey's nation- al goaltending coach, important their success has been. "I think it's great because you have somebody to put a face with in regards to shared just how 16 AUGUST.2012 the younger kids," he said. "Now they have a chance to watch these [American NHL goalies] in action and learn from them, and I think that's an important piece to it." While inspiration is a key factor in attracting new goaltenders, a lot more goes into creating an elite goalie. "I think we've got some really solid noted guys that are out there in the field that are good coaches that are working with American goalies," said Vanbiesbrouck, who won the Vezina Trophy in 1986 as a member of the Rangers. Not only are there great coaches, but the way goalies are being trained has fundamentally changed in recent years, according to Joe Exter, assistant coach for the men's ice hockey team at The Ohio State University and former USA Hockey national goaltending coach. "Before, when you were growing up, the goalie's job was just to stop the puck," Exter said. "That's how everybody would like to describe it, but that has changed. "Everybody realized that there's no way USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM Current goaltenders, such as Jimmy Howard, above, attribute former goaltenders such as Mike Richter, top left, Tom Barrasso, third from left, and John Vanbiesbrouck, far right, with providing their inspiration. Jim Craig, second from left, set the table with his heroics at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. you're going to learn if it's just, 'hey, stop the puck.' It's a fundamentally trained and advanced position that you have to acquire. We want them to stop the puck, now let's teach them how to do it in the most efficient way." Additionally, training the mental aspects of goaltending such as focus, competitive- ness and confidence has become a priority according to Exter and the current crop of American goaltenders in the NHL is showing why it should be. "The best thing about all of those goal- ies is that they're all different," Exter said. "But the most common thing that they've shown is their 'moment focus' – their abil- ity to, when everything rises, stay straight toward what's the process at hand." PHOTOS COURTESY OF USA Hockey Magazine; Getty Images