A few minutes with...Brett Jaeger and Joe Palmer

The Brahmas' netminders talk continuous improvement

The Texas Brahmas are fortunate to have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league. Like the rest of the team, Brett Jaeger and Joe Palmer have had some difficult games, but with performances like we’ve seen in the last several games, there’s obviously no need for concern as the whole team continues to improve.

One of the things I’ve always noticed in talking with Brett Jaeger is his mantra of continuous improvement, a tenet he is actively working on with rookie net minder Joe Palmer.

I spoke to the two briefly after a recent game. Here is our conversation.

Insider: The Brahmas have had a difficult start but all positions seem to be coming together and getting past a particularly tough schedule thus far. What are your thoughts on how the goaltending has been?

Brett: At the beginning, we got off to a tough start. It’s a team game and obviously when a team isn’t playing well, it makes our jobs tougher. (We’ve been) finding ways to battle through it. Usually it won’t last all year, so things can only get better.

Insider: Does it get into your head sometimes, when you’ve suffered a couple of losses?

Brett: Yeah, I mean, losing sucks but there’s got to be a winner and a loser and there’s a pretty fine line between winning and losing. Usually, it’s something small that causes a loss for a team and for a goalie too. Usually, it’s the small things.

Insider: The Brahmas have a great tandem with you and Joe. What do you think of this kid?

Brett: He’s a great worker, uh, I wish I had a couple of inches in size; it takes a lot of the net up. He’s very technical, which is great and he has pretty good rebound control. He’s a great guy and easy to get along with. He doesn’t snore, so that’s a good thing on the road (laughing).

Joe: He’s the snorer.

Brett: Yeah, I’m the snorer (laughing). Everything is positive and I’m pushing him every day in practice.

Insider: Right back at you; what’s your opinion on working with Brett thus far?

Joe: Like I’ve said before…it’s great to work with a guy like him every day. The team might have been struggling a bit in the beginning and it directly correlated to his mentality going into practice. You know, he just never stops working hard and the whole team just kept battling and it’s great to kind of learn that right off the start. You don’t want to get into bad habits early in your career…and to work with a guy like him every day is really good.

Insider: You’ve come in and have had a fair number of starts. How do you feel about how you’ve done so far?

Joe: I think there was a couple of games in there, and a couple of goals obviously in those games I would like to have back. You’ve just got to continue working hard and getting better every night and every day. You’ve just got to keep building. You can’t be satisfied with what might have happened and you can’t be discouraged with what might have happened. You’ve just got to keep building and keep trying to get better.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith