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His grandfather won 4 Stanley Cups as a forward, but William Rousseau has found his way in hockey as a goaltender
Iowa Heartlanders rookie has been terrific this ECHL season, including in Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Tahoe
Jan. 19, 2025 7:05 pm, Updated: Jan. 20, 2025 6:32 pm
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CORALVILLE - How many guys in the hockey world have a grandfather who won four Stanley Cups? William Rousseau does.
The Iowa Heartlanders rookie doesn’t play forward like gramps did. Somehow he ended up a goaltender.
Bobby Rousseau got into not quite 1,000 games in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars and New York Rangers. He won his four Cups with Montreal (1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969).
“Honestly having a grandfather (like him) while I was growing up and was young was quite nice,” William Rousseau said Sunday, after the Heartlanders lost in overtime to the Tahoe Knight Monsters, 3-2. “I know somebody in my family who did it, so that inspired me. All his talking was motivation.”
William Rousseau made 38 saves here to help Iowa get a standings point. The Heartlanders (21-11-4-2, 49 points) took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals from T.J. Walsh and Jules Boscq (shorthanded), but Tahoe scored on a breakaway in the second period, a rebound in the third, with the winner coming from Jett Jones 2:02 into the three-on-three extra session when he was left all alone in front of the net.
Tahoe outshot the Heartlanders, 41-22.
“They had 18 shots in the second period and only had one goal,” said Heartlanders Coach Derek Damon. “That shows (Rousseau) was really good. He’s a good goaltender.”
A good goaltender who was the CHL goalie of the year last season, encompassing the three major junior leagues in Canada (QMJHL, OHL, WHL). The Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, native had offers to play college hockey (what they call U Sports) in Canada but had a relationship with Minnesota Wild goaltending coach Frederic Chabot, which led to him signing an ECHL contract with the Heartlanders.
He has been one of the league’s top netminders, fashioning a 9-2-3 record, a 2.18 goals against average and save percentage of around .930. The Wild think enough of him to keep him in their system via an American Hockey League contract he recently signed with their top minor-league farm club, the Iowa Wild in Des Moines (a two-way deal the rest of this season and a one-way deal next season).
Rousseau, 22, has played well in two AHL games but is back in Coralville because there is a goalie logjam in the Wild system and he needs to play regularly for development purposes.
“It’s an opportunity for me,” Rousseau said. “The Minnesota Wild, they probably see something in me. I’ve got a lot of work to do for that, (but) they know my potential is quite high. I hope to see that, too. I’ve got the rest of the season to be better, be a better goaltender. The offseason, too, to go in on that one-way contract and be ready next year.”
By the way, Rousseau said he gravitated towards goaltending because he wasn’t a good skater or playmaker. And, he kidded, he could stay on his feet despite wearing all of that goalie equipment.
“I feel like I’ve always been on that steady curve (upward),” he said. “The East Coast (ECHL) has been a good opportunity for me to get some shots in, some older guys’ shots. Just stick to my game, what I’ve been doing through the years and what I’ve been learning through my coaches and everything. It’s just been working.”
Iowa beat Tahoe on Friday night and lost Saturday night in a shootout. It has earned at least one standings point in eight straight game to climb into second place in the ECHL’s Central Division, five back of front-running Toledo.
“I was just saying to the team ‘Is it OK that we got a point tonight? Yeah.’ But I expect more from this team,” Damon said. “As we go along here in the season, the games get tighter, the teams get better. The ones that are sharper and more detailed and focused are the ones that are going to have success. We need to make sure we are dialed in.”
Damon said an ill-advised attempt at a line change led to Tahoe’s second-period goal that got it back into the game.
“We can’t make those mental mistakes, where we try to change when the other team has possession of the puck in the neutral zone. That’s just something we can’t do,” he said.
The Heartlanders have another three-in-three weekend upcoming, this one on the road at Cincinnati (Friday night) and Toledo (Saturday and Sunday nights).
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
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