Cool as Ice: Golf Pro moonlights as Avs practice goalie

With golf and hockey, Eric Schaupeter thinks he has the best of both worlds

By Mike Chambers

The assistant professional at the University of Denver Golf Club at Highlands Ranch plays the links nearly every day at a 2-handicap. And when he gets lucky during Avalanche season – often the days he can’t golf because of inclement weather — he gets the call to try to stop shots by the best NHL players around.

The 54-year-old Detroit native is the veteran among Avalanche emergency practice goalies. He steps in the crease when one of the club’s two goalies is injured or taking what is referred as a “maintenance” day. Schaupeter was first “hired” by legendary Avs goalie Patrick Roy in the spring of 1997, a couple years after they met at Castle Pines Golf Club, where Schaupeter was working as a caddie master.

Roy was golfing with his agent. Schaupeter and another employee made it a foursome.

“I rode with Patrick. I knew, obviously, who Patrick was, and being a goalie, I’m riding with Patrick,” Schaupeter demanded. “Spending four hours with him on the golf course and talking to him, asking questions, and telling him my history about hockey growing up in Detroit, is where that all started.”

Schaupeter, 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, says he skates with the Avs 15-30 times a season when available. The contacts in his cell phone includes a litany of current and former Avs – men he has golfed with or given lessons to their family members for more than 25 years.

“You get to know them and they all find out that I’m a golf pro and they’re all golfers,” Schaupeter said. “They want to do what I’m doing and I want to do what they’re doing. That’s the funniest part. It’s amazing because that was the connection.”

Schaupeter was golfing with Roy at Cherry Creek Country Club in April of 2003, two days before the 2006 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee publicly announced his retirement. Roy told Schaupeter “he was done” before he informed many other teammates and friends. And Schaupeter was golfing with former Avs goalie Peter Budaj in 2011 at Heritage Eagle Bend Golf Club when his agent called to tell him his free-agent signing with the Montreal Canadiens was finalized.

“I’ve seen a lot on the golf course with these guys,” Schaupeter said. “It’s like being on the inside of the inside with the team.”

Schaupeter gets extra attention at hockey practices because his goalie mask is painted with a golf ball. “It’s Titleist. It’s got the PGA logo on it,” he said. “They loved it and I became the golf guy. ‘Can I come see you? Yeah, here’s my card.’ It was an instant segue to everybody. The new guys would come in and get to know me as the golf guy — the practice goalie who is a golf pro.”

Schaupeter began his first stint at Highlands Ranch Golf Club in 1998 and held similar positions at Meridian Golf Club and Red Rocks Country Club before becoming the head pro at Heritage Eagle Bend. He has forged deep bonds in golf and hockey with retired Avs such as Milan Hejduk and Brett Clark. They are among a large group of former NHLers still living in the area.

Schaupeter sat next to Hejduk at the Avs’ practice facility in Centennial throughout the star forward’s 14-year career.

“It’s a seat with an obstructed view but right next to Milan, who was on the end. That was his spot forever, so that’s how I got to know Milan so well,” Schaupeter said.

“He was awesome,” said Hejduk, who lives in the Denver suburbs. “We welcomed anyone Patty recommended. You don’t want to shoot on an empty net. He made some saves here and there. He’s a great guy, obviously, and we’ve become really good friends.”

A successful NHL goalie has a save percentage above .900. Hejduk said Schaupeter’s average success was “.400 or .500, maybe higher.”

“But we’re just happy he’s there and you don’t have to put a Shooter Tutor up.”

Clark, the defenseman who began a six-year stint with the Avs in 2003, is a member at DU Golf Club at Highlands Ranch. He and Schaupeter are inseparable at the course.

“My first memory of Schaupy was when I was an extra (black ace) in the playoffs with the Avalanche and here walks in this goalie and the young kid I am, I’m ‘Who’s this guy.’ Then he comes around and introduces himself and we’re just like, ‘This is going to be an easy day,’” Clark said. “He makes a couple glove saves on us and then he starts ripping into me, saying ‘Jeepers, I thought you could actually play in this league.’ The bantering goes back and forth, and that’s where the competition and friendship began with Schaupy.”

He added: “We’d always go out every day after practice in the golf world. He was working out at Eagle Bend and he would let us come out and play. And we’d help him out when he wanted to go to hockey games. We kept that connection with hockey and golf. His work ethic is next to none. I’ve learned from him throughout my career the amount of work he put in to get better in hockey and golf.”

Schaupeter’s first skate with the Avs was in the spring of 1997 following three consecutive losses. Roy anticipated that coach Bob Hartley was going to punish his players with a “bag skate.” So Roy announced that he wouldn’t practice and summoned Schaupeter.

“We did the full 45-minute practice and Hartley skates down to my end and says, ‘Hey, I’m going to skate these guys for a little bit because we’ve lost three games in a row and they need a little attention-getting, so if you want to jump off you don’t have to do this,’” Schaupeter said.

“So I skate off and sit on the bench, just resting, but Footie (defenseman Adam Foote) skates over and says, ‘When you practice with the team we’re not done yet.’ So I got off the bench, climbed over the boards and Hartley skates by and says, ‘I thought you might change your mind.’

“Well, this bag skate lasted 45 minutes. It was unbelievable. I was so tired. That was my first experience with the guys, and afterward in the locker room, they all came up high-fiving me, congratulating me, saying ‘Way to go, you didn’t die.’”

Indeed, the Golf Guy has been with the Avalanche ever since.

Mike Chambers lives in Denver and covered the Colorado Avalanche for the Denver Post 

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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