BY MATT STOUT 

It’s often said a composed goaltender reacts the same after making a big save as he does after allowing a goal. Quite simply, he doesn’t react at all. So you can see why there’s so much excitement around the future of Brian Foster – even if he’s the last one to partake in it.

Foster, a Pembroke native and freshman goalie on the No. 2-ranked University of New Hampshire men’s ice hockey team, kicked off his collegiate career in style on Nov. 18 when he shut out UMass-Lowell with 26 saves in a 4-0 win, his first start with the Wildcats.

Coupled with 6-minutes, 25 seconds of a scoreless relief appearance earlier in the year, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Foster had yet to allow a goal as a college netminder entering a game at Lowell on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

The hard part, it seems, is not knowing if Foster will cede a goal – which, ultimately, he will – but when. As a back-up to junior Kevin Regan, Foster’s starts will be sporadic.

UNH coach *** Umile said he doesn’t target certain dates to plug the rookie in net, so it’s difficult to tell when those nights will even come. Foster just waits for his chance with a cool demeanor.

“I would like to say he’s similar to Jeff Pietrasiak – their personalities are similar,” said senior defenseman Chris Murray, comparing Foster to the since-graduated UNH goalie. “He’s kind of a calm kid, quiet in the locker room. It’s kind of the way he plays on the ice – just calm. He’s kind of confident in his own way back there.”

A fifth-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers in the 2005 NHL entry draft, Foster has excelled wherever he’s gone.

As a member of the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs for two seasons, he posted a career record of 31-6-4. He was in net for the U.S. Under-17 team that won gold at the Five Nations tournament in 2003.

He also helped guide the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL to the Clark Cup Championship last season. And at each stop along the way, he remained poised, became comfortable and gained confidence.

“When he went out and tried out at the U.S. camp, he called me and said, ‘Hey coach, I made the U.S.A. team,’” said Rob Day, the Junior Monarchs’ goalie coach. “And then when he was at the tournament and he called me when he got back, he was like, ‘Hey coach, we won the gold medal.’ He wasn’t like, ‘You should have seen it!’ He wasn’t ranting and raving like some other guys would have. It was like, ‘Yeah we won the thing, it was fun, had a good time. OK.’”

Even now, a slight smile is the only indication Foster is keyed up to play for the team he grew up watching.

But don’t get him wrong. He is enjoying it.

“You go out there and you’re feeling good, and from that night it carries into practice and you feel good there,” Foster said of beginning his career with the shutout. “Everything just feels so much smoother and you feel so much better about yourself. And it makes you want to work even harder.”

“Maybe I’ve looked at it a little bit,” he said of highlighting games he may start. “But you have to prepare like you’re going to play. Anything can happen.”