Waltham High goaltender Garo Gebeyan receives Boston Bruins-MIAA Sportsmanship Award

When Waltham High School sophomore Garo Gebeyan arrived for the first day of school in September, he hadn’t put on the hockey goalie pads in about a decade.

Fast forward six months, and Gebeyan found himself shaking hands with Boston Bruins President and hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely as one of the Bruins-MIAA Sportsmanship Award winners after an excellent season in net. Gebeyan was recognized as the Merrimack Valley Conference/Dual County League Division 2 recipient of the honor at the Bruins game against the Buffalo Sabres on March 17. The nods are doled out each year for hockey players throughout the state who exemplify a distinguished level of leadership and dedication over the course of the season.

“It was a unanimous decision from the coaches in our league to have Garo get the award this year, which was awesome,” said longtime Hawks head coach John Maguire.

Gebeyan was a defenseman on the junior varsity team during the 2023-24 season and was set to move up to varsity to play the same position this winter. However, the Hawks needed a goaltender and Gebeyan stepped up to fill the void. Where most goalies receive constant training between the pipes from a young age, Gebeyan filled in a massive role without any trepidation. The only formal training he received leading up to tryouts was a camp over Thanksgiving Day weekend.

“He embraced it,” said Maguire, who announced his retirement last month. “It’s just a great story how he was willing to make that sacrifice for the team. He had no experience other than rotating around as a 6- or 7-year-old when everyone has a chance to play in goal. It is pretty amazing, to be honest.”

Watching the Hawks play this year, you would have never thought that Gebeyan was a novice in goal. His 1.90 goals against average upstaged much of the competition throughout the state and he led Waltham to a scintillating start.

“We have had some goaltenders who have been phenomenal, all-scholastic types, trained as goalies for a long time who have not had that kind of goals against average,” Maguire said. “It is awesome and surprising to be honest with you. He worked hard.”

Gebeyan was one of 16 boys in Massachusetts to receive the acclaim. It is a true showing of the amount of respect those around the league had for the goaltender and the manner in which he handled himself during the year.

“It is one of those awards that is so deserved,” said Steve LaForest, Waltham High athletic director. “He volunteered to put the goalie pads on for the betterment of the team and it couldn’t have worked out any better. He played really well and the team rallied around him. Sometimes, you see kids make decisions that are best for themselves and not the team. This is the complete opposite.”