After two seasons, 40 games, 10 points and three goals with his “hometown” college, the Edina native found himself in search of a new team in June. The Gophers didn’t have a place for him going forward, and Wait had no guarantees of what the future would hold. He didn’t know it at the time, but Wait had someone watching out for him.
“I’ve seen Garrett for years and had been a fan of his ability to make a play, his ability to think the game,” said UMass assistant coach Jared DeMichiel. “Researching him and talking to other people, I was told he’s a good kid and a good person, and he’s willing to be coached. As soon as he hit the (transfer) portal, I was refreshing that thing every other second, and as soon as he got on that thing, I got his number and gave him a call.”
Amherst, Mass., is a long, long way from what Wait had known in Minnesota, and for two seasons in Iowa when he played in juniors in the United States Hockey League. But a teammate from his Waterloo Blackhawks days, Bobby Trivigno, played for UMass. Trivigno told Wait about the culture among the Minutemen, who were in the 2019 NCAA title game and were contenders in 2020, before COVID-19 shut down college hockey.
“I reached out to Trivigno ... and he told me about it,” Wait recalled. “I kind of took a leap of faith on what they were saying. I really enjoyed what they were saying about being a family here and the culture, that everyone strives to take off the walls.”
Wait went to UMass with no guarantees, and the coaching staff there was brutally honest about his transition period to life in Hockey East.
“Even when he got to campus I didn’t know if he was going to be able to play for us,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel, after Thursday’s Frozen Four semifinal win over Minnesota Duluth, in which Wait scored the overtime winner. “We really pushed him. He needed to condition. He needed to learn how to play our style. And he's a real good kid and he's very coachable and he accepted being challenged.”
Massachusetts forward Garrett Wait (12) shoots the puck on goal against Zach Stejskal (35) of Minnesota Duluth in overtime during the NCAA Frozen Four semifinal game at PPG Paints Arena Thursday, April 8, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Wait scored the game winning goal on the play. (Clint Austin / caustin@duluthnews.com)
Work to do upon arrival
DeMichiel said the biggest adjustment for Wait when he got to UMass was in conditioning. With the abrupt cancellation of the 2020 playoffs, and rinks in Minnesota shut down until the summer, Wait was huffing and puffing notably on the ice with the Minutemen in his first few practices. He was a “fifth line” player, meaning unlikely to crack the game lineup, at the start, but worked his way into better condition, and to more playing time.
That conditioning, for Wait and all the Minutemen, was obvious in the overtime on Thursday. Held to 15 shots in the game’s first 60 minutes, UMass was completely dominant past regulation, putting 13 shots on the Bulldogs net in 14 minutes of overtime. The last one slipped over the goal line, ending Minnesota Duluth’s quest for an unprecedented fourth straight title game trip.
Wait was originally recruited to the Gophers by coach Don Lucia. In his slow start for the U of M, Carvel saw a pretty typical example of what can happen when a player winds up in a system different of the one he was recruited to.
“I think he scored 27 goals in USHL,” Carvel said, overestimating Wait’s production by three goals. “I’ve never coached a player at this level that’s scored 27 goals in USHL. I was excited for that. And he has the ability to score.”
Finishing touch vs. Bulldogs
Thursday’s goal versus the Bulldogs was the ninth of the season for Wait, who went to the net while Trivigno chased down the puck and got it to the crease. Wait was there, perfectly positioned to knock in a rebound and send the Minutemen back to the NCAA title game.
“I saw Trivigno take it around the net, and I decided to stop on the back post, and put my stick on the ice,” Wait said later. “And lucky enough it found my stick. And Trigs made a great play.”
For Carvel, it was validation of the chemistry he saw in western Massachusetts between former eastern Iowa teammates.
“I think it was a third of the way into the year or maybe a little more that I realized that I want to see if he had some chemistry with Trivigno, and they have,” Carvel said. “He's a nice complement on that line. He's got really good hands on the net. (Wait) has a ways to go. He'll be an even better player next year when he has the summer to go home and train and know what's expected of him. He's been a great addition.”
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