SAINT PAUL — There’s an age-old adage that says “success breeds success” and, while that may be true, it also has a way of breeding nearly as much contempt. The University of St. Thomas experienced both sides of that coin over the course of several decades of athletic dominance at the Division III level.

But a new era has dawned for St. Thomas, which now faces the reality of playing the role of David in a world of Goliaths at the Division I level beginning with the 2021-22 sports season. With the puck having already dropped on both the Tommies men’s and women’s hockey seasons, it’s a role the school, the players and its fans have already embraced.

Both teams went from the frying pan and into the fire in their respective opening weekends.

The women opened on the road against Ohio State, the NCAA’s current No. 3-ranked team, and were swept by the Buckeyes. The Tommies bounced back the following weekend at home against Bemidji State, winning the second game of the series 2-1 on Luci Bianchi’s third-period goal for its first Division I win and a series split.

The men, meanwhile, faced second-ranked St. Cloud State in a home-and-home series culminating with the Tommies hosting the Huskies at Xcel Energy Center. The Tommies got themselves in penalty trouble in St. Cloud, falling 12-2 thanks in no small part to seven Husky power-play goals. The following night was a different story as St. Thomas played a more disciplined game and hung in there with St. Cloud State before falling by a 2-0 margin in front of 4,261 mostly Tommie fans. 

St. Thomas coach Rico Blasi, who led Miami (Ohio) University to 10 NCAA tournament and two Frozen Four appearances, including one championship game, took note of the fan support and even singled out the student section. 

“I’m super excited for our program, I’m super excited for our university,” Blasi said. “All the people have been working extremely hard for this transition and to have that kind of support is really going to show you what St. Thomas is going to be all about.”

The post Tommies Take Center Stage appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Darwtiz finds balance with hockey and family

Former Gopher and Olympian Natalie Darwitz is, and always has been, a winner. Sometimes it can take longer to ascend to the top, but inevitably in her charmed hockey career Darwitz always makes there.

She’s won two national titles with the Gophers and two silver medals at the Olympics as a player and she made it to the state tournament as a coach at Lakeville South last season. She even dabbled as a broadcaster for NBC during the 2014 Winter Olympics — and was well thought of by her peers.

Now Darwitz has a new challenge, as the head hockey coach at Hamline University.

“I want to help grow women’s hockey,” Darwtiz told me by phone. “My goal is to continue to grow the game any way possible.”

Even by Twitter, which is how this foray into coaching began.

“I knew something was up when the Athletic Director at Hamline (Jason Verdugo) followed me on Twitter,” Darwitz said with a giggle.

A follow up phone call led to a lunch, which led to her hire and the chance to become an ambassador for the game that she loves. With the job in hand she immediately realized the magnitude of the task ahead of her.

Simply getting the word out about Division III hockey would be a job in itself. But it’s a labor of love. Darwitz hopes to be able to play games at different places around the state just to try and reach players who might not see Division III women’s college hockey as an option.

“There are a lot of good players that could step in right now and make an impact on a D-III team,” Darwitz says. “And they think, ‘Ummm, I am just going to go into medicine and be a regular student.’ That’s a little disheartening. Because the one thing I try to tell those kids is that, ‘You have the rest of your life to be an average Joe. You can squeeze in four more years to be a student-athlete.’”

When she’s not trying to inform recruits of the enjoyment of playing college hockey, she’s trying to convince others that the level at which you do it shouldn’t matter.

Natalie Darwitz (Photo courtesy of Hamline University Athletics)

“So often there is a perception that I have to do D-1 and that playing D-III is a knock to my ego,” Darwitz explains. “It’s not; you just lack some skill or hockey awareness to not be on a D-1 roster.”

Teaching that skill is also a big part of her job. A lot her players at Hamline are still learning how to take their game to the next level. And while Darwtiz was one of — if not the— best of her time in women’s ice hockey, teaching others to be like her is not easy and, frankly, not her goal. Instead she focuses on going back to the basics and eventually building up.

“It takes a lot of ingredients to make cookies. Same thing when you play a 5-on-5 game,” she explains. “You have to do it first 1-on-0, 1-on-1, so we’re breaking stuff down.”

While this next step in her coaching career wasn’t necessarily planned, it will be where she stays for a while. Darwtiz and her husband Chris just had their first child over the summer and she is enjoying being able to be home with Joseph during the day while continuing to be around the game she loves.

“What resonated with me is that division III hockey would allow me to be at home when my son was born and be a stay at home mom and then allow me a couple of hours a day to be coaching,” she says. “It just kind of gives me a little more balance and stability in life.”

But when you’re arguably the most famous name in the game in which you’re coaching, people constantly want to know when or if you’ll try to coach at the highest level. But Natalie Darwitz knows that coaching at the highest level comes with the highest level of time commitment, something she is just not ready to commit to at this point in her life.

“Hockey is always going to be a part of my life, it’s just a matter of what percentage of my day is it going to take up,” says Darwtiz. “When my son gets older and hopefully plays, will I have to take a step back? I don’t know. The last thing I want to do is to be so busy helping other kids that I don’t get to see my own kid play.”

For now, she is excited about the task ahead of her at Hamline and the balance it provides between her two greatest loves; hockey and family, both of which she is committed to turning into winners.

The post Schwartz: The best of both worlds appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Trio of Minnesotans enjoy homecoming at NCAA Division III Frozen Four

Minneapolis — While no Minnesota team played at the recent NCAA Division III Frozen Four in Minneapolis, three players returned to their home state in competing for a national title.

One of them, Brandon Jaeger, nearly took his team the distance. The former Champlin Park Rebels hockey standout led the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point to the national title game on Saturday, March 28.

Jaeger, UWSP’s all-time winningest goaltender, made it tough for opponents to score all season with a .914 save percentage and a 2.20 goals allowed average. The Pointers made their second-straight appearance in the championship game but game up short again in a 5-2 loss against Trinity College (Conn.) at Ridder Arena.

Jaeger helped the Pointers stay close trailing 3-2 before the Bantams put the game out of reach with a couple of empty netters. The senior goalie ended his stellar career with 63 wins and signed a pro contract the following day with the Missouri Mavericks of the East Coast Hockey League.

“Brandon’s preparation and attention to detail, everything that he does is what separates him from being a good goalie to being a great goalie,” Pointers coach Chris Brooks said. “There’s a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people just don’t see that played a big part in his success.”

Jaeger drew some extra fans for the strong Pointers fan contingent with Champlin being just 25 minutes from the University of Minnesota. The Pointers played out east for the Division III final last year.

“It’s really special having the support that we do,” Jaeger said. “This tournament being so close to our hometown and Stevens Point, it’s been a great experience.”

Crookston native Mark Bittner stepped up on defense for Division III runner-up UW-Stevens Point this season. (Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com)

Beside Jaeger, former Crookston hockey standout Mark Bittner also helped the Pointers make another big run. Bittner played for the Crookston Pirates throughout high school and earned all-state honorable mention twice.

“It was unbelievable to be playing at the U,” Bittner said. “They have top-of-the-line people, staff and facilities there, and it was a blessing to play close to home. It was just a bus ride away instead of a flight all the way out to Maine last year.”

Bittner had a long journey though in bouncing back from injury last season and making this year’s roster. His offseason training paid off with a successful sophomore season playing regular shifts on defense.

“It took him a year to develop,” Brooks said. “That development, he used it the right way. He was a huge, huge part of our team this year”

When Jaeger and Bittner took the ice for the Pointers in the Frozen Four semifinal on Friday, March 27, it became a mini Minnesota get together with another native on the opposing side. Brooklyn Park native Thomas Lindstrom helped get things going for Amherst College (Mass.) with an assist on the first goal of the game. The former Breck hockey standout had 15 points overall going into the Frozen Four as a freshman.

“He played an important role for us all year-long,” Lord Jeffs coach Jack Arena said of Lindstrom.

With an assist in Amherst’s national semifinal loss to UW-Stevens Point, Brooklyn Park’s Thomas Lindstrom tallied 16 points (5-11—16) as a freshman for the Lord Jeffs. (Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com)

Lindstrom helped Breck reach three Class A state tournaments during high school. He went on to play junior hockey for a year before going to Amherst.

Minnesotans playing for Amherst has been anything but an anomaly. Arena has brought in many players from the State of Hockey. That’s included players from Edina, Minnetonka, Breck and Blake.

“Pretty much every year, we’ve had a few in the program,” Arena said. “This year, is just one, which is actually very low for us.”

Being on the east coast and near Canada gives Arena plenty of hockey talent to draw from of course, but he sees several things that standout with Minnesota players.

“They usually have a pretty good skill level,” Arena said. “We’ve had some of our best players come from here.”

While Lindstrom gave Amherst an edge early, UWSP ultimately prevailed with a five-goal third period.   Though the loss made for a brief and disappointing trip, Lindstrom likewise enjoyed the homecoming as his UWSP counterparts did with family and friends in the stands.

“It was a lot fun to play in front of them,” Lindstrom said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done, but I have to thank them for coming out and supporting me.”

The post There’s no place like home appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Historic turnaround carries Hamline into NCAAs

By Matthew Webb
Contributor, D3hockey.com

The 2010-11 season proved a high-water mark for the Hamline men’s hockey program. Coming off three straight 16-win seasons under then-head coach Scott Bell, the Pipers posted a 17-7-5 mark and claimed MIAC regular and postseason titles en route to their first NCAA tournament appearance.

In just his first season at Hamline head coach Cory Laylin has engineered a remarkable turnaround.
Photo: Cory Chuchna for d3photography.com

Hamline also garnered its first NCAA tournament win that year as it won an opening round contest at UW-Superior. Though the Pipers fell to eventual national champion St. Norbert the following weekend, the season remains the most successful in school history.

The face of the program shifted dramatically mere weeks later as Bell resigned and was replaced by Hamline alum Scott Steffen. In Steffen’s lone season behind the Pipers’ bench the team posted a 10-14-2 mark and things tailed off dramatically from there as over the following two seasons the Pipers went 3-41-6 under new head man Doc DelCastillo. It was the worst record of any team in the nation over that span.

Entering the 2014-15 season, DelCastillo was out and new head coach Cory Laylin was in. A 1992 graduate of the University of Minnesota and four-year letterwinner for the Golden Gophers, Laylin brought a significant amount of collegiate and professional playing experience to table and had spent the prior two seasons as head coach of the Brookings Blizzard of the North American Hockey League. He had also spent two years as an assistant at Hamline under Bell.

Despite the ample experience, Laylin had a formidable challenge on his hands as he was the program’s third coach in four seasons and had just taken over a program that had notched just three wins in the previous 32 months.

“I got the job in April and it was kind of a last second deal where I had to put things together, and ‘woosh,'” Laylin said. “I had to change the way things were going here and had to make some kind of drastic moves. We’re playing with eight freshman right now and the guys who stayed have been rejuvenated and everyone is staying within the system and doing what we’re asking.”

Hamline opened its 2014-15 campaign with a game in the MIAC Showcase against Saint John’s and the first 60 minutes of the Laylin Era didn’t go quite as well as those in the Hamline camp had hoped it might. The Pipers fell behind 2-0 after one period, 5-0 after two and ultimately suffered a 6-2 setback at the hands of the Johnnies.

However, Laylin points to the fallout of that season-opening loss as the first sign the new-look Pipers were buying into his vision and that positive change was closer on the horizon than perhaps anyone expected.

“That first game of the year we got beat by Saint John’s and we had a sit down with our captains,” Laylin said. “The next night we went out and beat St. Thomas and our guys started to believe. That’s when we started exploring who we are and it’s been a journey. As things have evolved the guys have really stepped up — it’s just a really good group. Especially some of the guys who have been though the dark times.”

One of the players who experienced those dark times is senior captain Joe Rubbelke. A defenseman from North Saint Paul, Minn., Rubbelke has had an exceedingly productive individual career despite the fact that for his first three collegiate seasons team success did not always follow.

A three-time MIAC all-conference selection who also garnered honorable mention honors as a freshman, Rubbelke has posted 15 goals and 56 assists for 71 points in 96 games with the Pipers. Despite the individual success, Rubbelke admits that playing for three coaches in a span of four years presented its fair share of challenges for the team.

“It’s not something you wish for,” Rubbelke said. “It’s tough going through seasons and getting used to new things year after year and not being able to build off what you’ve done. It’s been difficult but the guys that have been through it and have been around for it embrace it, and you know, it’s been a fun ride.”

Senior captain Joe Rubbelke has seen his share of ups and downs over the past four seasons.
Photo: Cory Chuchna for d3photography.com

As Laylin and his staff worked to continue to right the ship, success came in modest chunks in the weeks that followed and a 2-0 win over UW-Superior on November 15 ran the Pipers’ record to 3-3, which meant that in a span of just 16 days they had matched their combined win total of the previous two seasons.

Hamline went 1-1-3 over the remainder of the first semester and stood at 4-4-3 overall at the holiday layoff. While not an earth-shattering start by any stretch, considering the track record of the previous few years it was a start that had raised eyebrows around the MIAC and much of the West Region.

“It was a little bit of a surprise if you look back on the past couple of seasons, “Rubbelke said. “Winning three games was pretty tough for us and were in a lot of games but we just couldn’t figure out how to get a win. Coming into this season when Coach Laylin got the job he brought in a new energy and excitement right away. He went out and recruited a lot of guys and have a lot of new freshmen in this year that have done a great job for us, and also a couple of transfers who are juniors who have helped out a lot.”

While the start to the season was certainly encouraging in its own right, Laylin and Rubbelke were both quick to mention that it was the first weekend following the break that proved to be a turning point for the team. Not only in terms of success on the ice but perhaps more importantly in terms of establishing confidence in the belief that this year’s team might actually be capable of accomplishing something special.

“It happened on the weekend we played Lake Forest and UW-Stevens Point,” Laylin said. “We came back from a 4-1 deficit against Lake Forest, had a great third period and tied those guys. Then the next night we came out and beat Stevens Point at home here and that was a great weekend for our guys. We’ve just kind of springboarded from there.”

Four third period goals, capped off by a natural hat trick by junior forward Kevin Novakovich, paced the comeback that forged the eventially 5-5 (ot) tie with the Foresters, while a goal by junior forward Brandon Zurn 7:36 into the third period proved the game-winner in the Pipers’ 5-4 win over Stevens Point.

“I think we all had a feeling right after break when we had a series with Lake Forest, who has been a good team this year, and then obviously the game against Stevens Point,” Rubbelke added. “Those gave us a good kickstart to the second semester and a lot of confidence knowing we could hang with a really good team like Stevens Point.”

“Those were a real eye opener and turning point for us this year.”

Hamline ultimately posted a 7-6-1 mark after the New Year and finished the regular season 11-10-4 overall Its 7-6-3 MIAC record proved enough to sneak it into the five-team MIAC postseason as the number five seed. Come the playoffs, it took a three third period goals to eek out a 4-3 win at Augsburg in the opening round, while just two nights later the Pipers again scored three times in the third as they scored a 6-3 semifinal upset win at nationally-ranked and top-seeded St. Thomas.

The win over the Tommies set up a showdown for the league title at Saint Mary’s — the same Saint Mary’s that had scored a weekend sweep with a pair of one-goal wins over the Pipers just three weeks prior. A third Cardinals’ win was not in the cards however, as Hamline again won the third period by scoring twice to break a 2-2 deadlock and claim the MIAC championship with a 4-2 win.

“Those previous games [against Saint Mary’s] could have gone either way, to be honest,” Laylin said. “We outshot them pretty heavily in one of the two, and in the title game we were very opportunistic and finished our chances. I thought we played real well in the third period of the final game — we blocked shots and did what we needed to do. Our kids are gritty and they did what they had to to get the results.”

Can the Pipers pull of yet another postseason road upset?
Photo: Cory Chuchna for d3photography.com

The victory also, against all odds, sent Hamline to the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history where they will hit the road for the fourth time this postseason for a quarterfinal against the same Stevens Point team they beat on January 10. The Pointers enter the contest as the No. 3 ranked team in the D3hockey.com Men’s Top 15, while the Pipers again stand as underdogs in the eyes of many.

“I think they’re the best team we played all year, even though we won that one,” Laylin said. “They’re four lines deep, they have really, really good defenseman — four of the best around. We’re going to have to play our best game to be in that game.”

“We think very highly of them and they’re probably the best team we’ve played all year,” Rubbelke added. “For us it’s going to come down to just playing a good road game. Keep it simple — don’t go out there and try to win the game in the first period. Keep it simple in the defensive zone and hopefully that ultimately leads to scoring opportunities and we score on those opportunities that we do get.”

One thing is certain: Hamline now sits just one win away from winning its way to a Frozen Four that is being hosted right in its own backyard. Laylin repeatedly praised the work ethic and the gritty nature of this year’s team and whether those features, and perhaps some more third period prowess, will be enough to upend Stevens Point on Saturday night remains to be seen.

But does whether the Pipers manage to win yet another playoff road game even really matter? In some ways of course it does, but to the fact that what they have accomplished this season will go in the books as one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Division III men’s hockey history, it likely doesn’t.

“We’re young and we have such a great group of guys that want to play for each other with such a blue collar mentality,” Laylin said. “It’s a joy to coach these guys because they just won’t quit. From what we’ve come from to see where we are now, there has been no more enjoyable time in my coaching career than to see this group form the way it has.”

From 1-19-5 in 2012-13 and 2-22-1 in 2013-14 to the brink of Division III’s biggest stage, the 2014-15 Pipers are a classic illustration of the fact that perhaps sometimes these things aren’t as difficult as many make them out to be.

After all, measurable progress was attained by the end of the season’s first weekend, and all it took was the right mix of a dedicated new coach and his staff, and the right blend of old and new talent — some of which had been through the darkest years in program history and were eager and willing to do whatever it took to get things turned around in a hurry.

Which is exactly what Hamline has just done.

“This group is the closest group I’ve ever played with at Hamline here,” Rubbelke said. “With guys always hanging out, being together, having each other’s backs — it’s just been fun to be able to be around each other. We’re just a super close team which has helped us be successful.”

“We’re hungry to win and everybody is excited to bring the program back up to where it has been and where we know it can be.”

The post Pipers go from worst to first appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference has selected St. Mary’s University’s Phil Heinle and Bethel University’s Kathryn Larson as its Men’s and Women’s Hockey Athletes-of-the-Week. Details on the selections from the MIAC release are below:

MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week

Phil Heinle, Saint Mary’s
York, Pa. / Amarillo Bulls 

The Saint Mary’s men’s hockey team had an impressive split with Gustavus over the weekend thanks largely to the tremendous play in goal by Phil Heinle (York, Pa.). The Cardinal sophomore nearly helped his team earn a split, as he recorded his first collegiate shutout and allowed just two goals in 124:51 of ice time. He stopped 75 of 77 shots for a .974 save percentage and a goals against average of 1.85. For his performance, the MIAC sports information directors honored Heinle Saturday with his second MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week award of the season.

Heinle was spectacular in front of the home fans Friday as he stopped all 32 shots he faced and notched his first college shutout in a 3-0 victory over the Gusties. Though his team lost late in overtime the following day in St. Peter, Heinle was great again with 43 saves and just the two goals allowed. This season, Heinle is 6-6-2 in goal and he ranks second in the MIAC in wins and saves (428), fourth in save percentage (.928) and fifth in goals against average (2.33). In conference games, he leads the MIAC in saves (264), save percentage (.936) and minutes (493:48) and ranks fourth in goals against average (2.19).

MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week

Kathryn Larson, Bethel
Shoreview, Minn. / Mounds View

In a high-scoring weekend for the Bethel women’s hockey team, sophomore Kathryn Larson (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) was the brightest star. The Royals’ forward had a seven-point weekend with four goals and three assists to help her team put up a total of 14 goals – seven in each game – in a MIAC sweep of St. Olaf. For her high-scoring performance, the MIAC sports information directors honored Larson Monday with her second MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week award of the 2014-15 season.

Larson and the Royals opened the weekend with a statement win on their home ice as they cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Oles. Larson had a hand in four of the seven goals as she scored three herself for a hat trick, and assisted on one more. Saturday, Bethel completed the sweep in Northfield with a 7-4 victory, and Larson added one more goal and two more assists to her impressive weekend totals. This season, Larson leads the MIAC with 22 points and 12 goals and her 10 assists rank third in the league. In MIAC games only, Larson ranks first in goals (six), fourth in points (11) and ninth in assists (five).

The post MIAC Athletes of the Week appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

A hockey-centric version of the MIAC Weekly Notebook

BETHEL | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Bethel alum leads U-18 Women’s Hockey team to gold Back in mid-June USA Hockey announced that Bethel University alum Joel Johnson was named the head coach for the 2015 U.S. Women’s National U-18 Team. Just under seven months later Johnson and those competing on the squad made international headlines by defeating rival Canada in the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women’s World Championship at HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, N.Y. Read more

CONCORDIA | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | A shutout, a sweep, and a lead in the MIAC A pair of goals in each of the second and third periods led to a 4-0 win for Concordia over No.14-ranked St. John’s and the first sweep of the Johnnies since 2000. The Cobbers received goals from three freshmen and a senior in their ninth overall win of the season. First-year players Dalton Mills,Jon Grebosky and Zach Doerring all continued their outstanding play in their first collegiate seasons while Andrew Deters showed why he is the team’s leading scorer. The win is the third straight for the Cobbers. CC is now 9-5-3 on the year which is the most overall wins for any conference team. The win also moves the Cobbers into first place in the league standings. Concordia is 4-2-2 in the MIAC and has 15 league points.

GUSTAVUS | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Gusties capture Golden Shovel A team made up of former Gustavus Adolphus College women’s hockey players captured the coveted Golden Shovel in the Women’s Division of the 2015 Labatt Blue U.S. Pond Hockey Championships held Jan. 15-18 on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. The team “Consistently Cuatro” made up of Gusties Sara Yungner ’11, Mollie Carroll ’12, Gina DeNucci ’12, Grace Olson ’12, Allie Schwab ’12, Jenna Christensen ’13, Kelsey Kennedy ’13, and Meagan Wanecke ’13 earned earn a berth in the Women’s Division Championship after recording 12 points in pool play with an unblemished record of 4-0-0. On the Mountain Khakis rink Sunday afternoon, Consistently Cuatro faced off against Shenanigans – a team that also entered the championship game with a record of 4-0-0 following pool play. With clear skies over Lake Nokomis and temperatures dancing around an ideal 35 degrees, the flannel-clad Gusties skated to an 11-7 victory to claim the Golden Shovel on what was the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships.

HAMLINE | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Men’s hockey remains undefeated in MIAC play Thanks to some yeoman work by goalie John Sellie-Hanson, the HU men’s pucksters remained the lone team to be unbeaten in MIAC play. Hamline improved to 3-0-3 and a tie for second place (7-4-4 overall) after a 4-2, 3-0 sweep of St. Olaf. Sellie-Hanson stopped 33 the first night. That’s a nice number but it paled in comparison to the next night when he swept aside 44 for the shutout. It is believed to be the most saves ever for a HU goalie in a shutout effort. The three MIAC wins is one more than Hamline had the past two seasons. Verleye leads women’s hockey to three-point weekend It was a weekend that Hamline senior forward Jordan Verleye… and St. Olaf … may not forget for a long while. In the opener of the two-game series, the senior’s breakaway goal in OT lifted the Pipers to a 3-2 win, their first MIAC victory of the season. The next night, Verleye had two goals and two assists in a 4-4 OT tie. In the process, she moved into eight place all-time in school history with 59 points.

SAINT CATHERINE | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Wildcats tie defending MIAC Champs After St. Thomas snapped a five-game losing streak by beating St. Kate’s 4-0 Friday, the Wildcat hockey team rebounded by again flexing its power play muscles with a goal from Karly Nelson in the first period. The Tommies scored with 0.2 seconds remaining in the opening period to force at 1-1 tie. Abbi White had a career-best 35 saves in goal for the Wildcats.

SAINT JOHN’S | MIAC Member Page | Athletics home page | Young line fuels SJU to win Down five starters due to injury for a non-conference, weeknight game against Wisconsin-Stout, SJU head coach Doug Schueller turned to a number of underclassmen to step up, and step up they did in a 4-2 win. The Johnnies’ fourth line consisting of sophomores Ross Stecklein (Roseville, Minn.) and Dan Voce (Princeton, Minn.), and freshman Sam Valerius (Maple Grove, Minn.), entered the game with a combined one point in 12 varsity games, but was responsible for the team’s first goal and the game-winning tally. All three are high-school recruits that did not play junior hockey prior to enrolling at SJU.

SAINT MARY’S | MIAC Member Page | Athletics home page | There’s hot, and then there’s Gruse-hot Martin Gruse (Trenton, Mich.) scored a career-high four goals in the Cardinal men’s hockey team’s sweep-clinching 5-2 win over Bethel last Saturday. Gruse’s four-goal effort was the Cardinals’ more since Mike Glaesmer netted four against Hamline on Dec. 6, 2008. With his five points vs. the Royals, Gruse—the conference’s leading scorer—has now recorded 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) in his last six contests. Home sweet home With their 1-0 win over Bethel at the Saint Mary’s Ice Arena last Saturday, the Cardinal women’s hockey team improved to 4-0-1 in their last five home games against the Royals—with all five games being decided by one goal or less.

SAINT THOMAS | MIAC Member Page| Athletics home page | Hot streak Over the last eight weeks, St. Thomas is a combined 27-0-1 in the sports of men’s basketball (10-0), women’s basketball (11-0) and men’s hockey (6-0-1), including five victories over nationally-ranked teams during that span. That includes a 15-0 record in January. The Tommies are ranked nationally in all three sports at No. 3 (men’s hoops), No. 4 (women’s hoops) and No. 12 (men’s hockey). St. Paul-Paloooza It will be a lively weekend in St. Paul. Saturday alone there’s the Winter Carnival parade, Crashed Ice competition, Garrison Keillor radio show, a Sam Smith concert, and even the Saintly City Cat Show. The MIAC will contribute to the fun as Tommie-Johnnie basketball tips off at 3 p.m. Saturday at Schoenecker Arena; Hamline and UST have interesting men’s and women’s hockey games Friday and Saturday nights (St. Paul’s Oscar Johnson Arena, suburban Mendota Heights).

LEGENDARY GUSTAVUS MEN’S TENNIS COACH STEVE WILKINSON DIES Steve Wilkinson, longtime men’s tennis coach at Gustavus Adolphus College and founder of Tennis and Life Camps, passed away on Wednesday, January 21 at the age of 73 after courageously living with cancer for nearly seven years. Wilkinson spent 39 years (1971-2009) at the helm of the Gustavus men’s tennis program. His teams compiled 929 wins overall, the most victories in the history of collegiate men’s tennis. Wilkinson’s squads won two NCAA Division III titles (1980 and 1982) as well as 35 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) titles. His teams compiled an overall record of 929-278 (.769) and an MIAC mark of 334-1 (.997). In addition, his players claimed six national doubles titles, and four national singles titles. He coached 46 players to 87 ITA All-America honors, 103 players to 226 All-Conference honors, and five CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. He was named NAIA National Coach of the Year twice (1974 and 1984) and Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Coach of the Year three times (1982, 2001, and 2003). Full Story

MIAC HONORS RECORD NUMBER OF FALL ACADEMIC-ALL CONFERENCE SELECTIONS Two of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (MIAC) four core values are Quality Athletics and Academics and, Thursday, the conference celebrated those tenets with the announcement of the 2014 Fall Academic All-Conference team. Despite two sports moving their honor from fall to spring, the MIAC still recognized the most Fall Academic All-Conference honorees in conference history. This fall, a total of 356 student-athletes earned the prestigious honor, which recognizes combined excellence in academics and athletics. The previous record of 334 was established just one year ago (2013) and included men’s and women’s golf selections. This year, MIAC administrators voted to alter golf’s athletic requirement and move the honor to the spring, so the MIAC racked up 22 more Fall Academic All-Conference honorees despite two fewer sports included this time around. | Full Story & Academic All-Conference List |Academic All-Conference Archive |

MIAC ATHLETES-OF-THE-WEEK The MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week awards honor the top performances in each conference sport throughout the regular season. The awards are nominated and selected by the MIAC sports information directors. The MIAC will recognize Athletes-of-the-Week in each sport throughout the 2014-15 season. Throughout the winter, basketball and hockey will be announced each Monday with swimming and diving to follow on Tuesday and indoor track and field on Wednesday. | Men’s Hockey | Women’s Hockey |

MIAC WEEKLY Each week, Host Mike Gallagher delivers a new episode of “MIAC Weekly.” The podcast covers all the top news, scores and standings from around the league, and features guest appearances each week from MIAC coaches, student-athletes and administrators. All episodes are archived on the MIAC Weekly home page, and the podcast is also available on iTunes.

Episode 86 – 1.15.15

The latest edition of the MIAC Weekly podcast takes to the ice, as Host Mike Gallagher welcomes first-year Hamline Head Men’s Hockey Coach Cory Laylin to talk about his team’s big improvement. Mike also takes his usual look at the top stories throughout the conference.

MIAC MEDIA MIAC Media is an online initiative devoted to providing additional multimedia coverage of the conference through. The three main MIAC Media features are the MIAC Media Weekly Podcast (more info above), theMIAC Media Blog, and the MIAC Media Video series, which can be found on the MIAC YouTube Channel.

CONNECT TO THE CONFERENCE The MIAC’s new web site – MIACathletics.com – offers several new ways fans can stay connected to the conference. Visit the MIAC scoreboard on game days to follow all the action, and download the MIAC mobile app to have all the information with you anywhere you travel. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages for updates and interaction throughout the 2014-15 season. The MIAC also just joined Instagram and will share photos through that new social media site.

The post MIAC Hockey Notebook appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week
Jon Grebosky, Concordia Oakdale, Pa. / West Allegheny

The Concordia men’s hockey team swept its way into first place in the MIAC standing with a pair wins over then-No.13/14-ranked Saint John’s. Cobber rookie Jon Grebosky had a breakout weekend with a hand in five of Concordia’s seven goals with three goals and two assists, and he delivered the overtime game-winner in Friday’s 3-2 victory. For his performance, the MIAC sports information directors honored Grebosky Monday with the MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week award.

Grebosky starred in Friday’s thriller, which was capped off with his unassisted game-winner 2:47 into the overtime period. He also assisted on the first goal of the game and scored the Cobbers’ second, as he factored into all three goals in the win. A day later, he helped put away a 4-0 win to cement Concordia’s first sweep of SJU since 2000, as he assisted on the second goal and scored the third to end any hopes of a Johnnie comeback. This season, Grebosky ranks fifth in the MIAC in goals (nine) and he also has five assists for a total of 14 points, and he has a season rating of plus-seven.

MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week
Tori Herrmann, Saint Mary’s Elk River, Minn. / Elk River

Saint Mary’s entered last weekend tied with Bethel in the MIAC standings, but thanks to the strong goaltending effort of junior Tori Hermann, the Cardinals earned a huge sweep and now sit alone in third place. Hermann allowed just one goal in two games, earning one shutout and stopping 41 of 42 shots for a 0.50 goals against average and a .976 save percentage. For her performance, the MIAC sports information directors honored Hermann Monday with her second MIAC Women’s Hockey Athlete-of-the-Week award of the 2014-15 season.

Hermann got her team off to a good start with a 17-save performance and just one goal allowed in Friday’s 2-1 victory over the Royals on their home ice. Saturday, she was even better in front of Saint Mary’s home fans. Hermann stopped all 24 Bethel shots to earn her second shutout of the season and give her team a dramatic 1-0 victory. This season, Hermann ranks fourth in the MIAC in both goals against average (1.59) and save percentage (.939), and she’s even better in conference play with the MIAC’s best save percentage (.962) and third-best GAA (0.99).

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Dropped Out: Middlebury

Others receiving votes: UMass Boston 20, UW-River Falls 19, Trinity 12, New England College 5, Gustavus Adolphus 1

The D3hockey.com Top 15 is voted on by a panel of 20 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.

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Featured Image:
The Cobbers opened the season with a perfect 2-0 mark in this year’s MIAC Showcase.
Photo: Ryan Coleman for d3photography.com

By Michael Anderson
D3hockey.com
… 

Upon arriving at Concordia-Moorhead in 2008, head coach Chris Howe knew he had a huge challenge in front of him. The men’s hockey team had just one win the year before he arrived and losing had become the expectation. What Howe had to do was no small task as he was forced to try to change mentality of an entire program

“The biggest thing was getting the players and the people involved in the program to believe that it doesn’t have to be how it was before,” said Howe.

Before Howe was hired by Concordia, he was an assistant coach at Saint John’s University where he served under John Harrington, a prominent player and coach in hockey circles — especiallly in Minnesota.  The five years Howe spent with Harrington on the Johnnies’ bench proved to be instrumental.

“He is still a huge influence in my life. The opportunity to coach with him was a huge honor, I was very fortunate to work with him,” said Howe.  “He taught me about honoring my word, hard work, being accountable, and what it takes to win.”

And the fact that Harrington was a member of the historic 1980 gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic Team helped instill a belief in Howe that, as he explained, there is no such thing as something that’s impossible and there is nothing you can’t obtain if you’re willing to do the work and honor your word.

The lessons learned under Harrington were put to the test as Howe went from an established winning program to Concordia, a program that had not even had a winning season since 2002-2003. The challenge ahead of him was enormous, but Howe relished this fact rather than feared it.

“They had a history here of being pretty good, so we decided we were going to bring Concordia hockey back,” Howe said.  “It then became about integrity, are you going to get up every day and work to do what you said you were going to do? It’s tough, but it’s fun. That’s how you stretch and grow, taking on a challenge.”

The first thing Howe had to do to properly take on this challenge was assemble a coaching staff that shared the same vision. Howe brought in Ross Richards and Scott Bjorklund, and has since added Erick Galt to the staff.  Galt, a 2012 graduate of Concordia, was an All-American defenseman during his time with the Cobbers.

Next, and perhaps most important of all,  Howe had to get the players to buy in.

“I had to remind the players [in the first few years] that there wouldn’t be instant gratification, that they were laying the foundation. I made it clear that they may not see the fruits of their labor until five years past their time,” said Howe.

But buy in they did, and that is something Howe has not lost sight of.  After preaching early on that in order to build a successful program one has to practice what they preach, the fact the players accepted the responsibility required of them resonates with the program to this day.

“We tip our hat and we honor those players before who gave everything they had to something new,” Howe said.  [They are the ones who laid the] foundation of hard work, accountability, and winning and we need to honor those things every day. On each practice plan ‘hard work, accountability and winning’ are on top of the page; that keeps us present and reminds us of what we are trying to accomplish.”

Howe then had to begin recruiting the kind of players he needed to turn things around and he wanted players who were interested in being part of something that is much bigger than themselves. To find this kind of player, Howe talks to junior and high school coaches to identify players that are selfless and willing to sacrifice for something unknown. As Howe explained it, these kind of players are not always the leading scorers but finding them is essential because if they are asked to work as hard as Howe and his staff expects them to, they need those traits.

While those traits are all highly desirable, Howe is well aware of the fact that the players must also come with a certain skill set, and as the culture in Moorhead slowly started to change, Howe was able to land more and more of those types of players.

It didn’t take long for Howe’s influence on the program to be felt in the win department. In his first year, 2008-2009, the Cobbers went 3-20-2 (1-13-2) and the next season they didn’t fare much better as they finished 5-15-5 (4-7-5), though they did win three more conference games than the previous season. Then came the third season and that’s when the Cobbers saw drastic improvement.

The Cobbers finished 12-11-4 and earned the third seed in the MIAC playoffs. They made it all the way to MIAC Championship game, losing to the top-seeded Hamline, 5-2. The successful season was just the beginning for the Cobbers as it proved what Coach Howe preached was a formula for success. The next season they finished 10-11-4 (6-7-3), finishing tied for fifth in the conference but missed out on the playoffs by virtue of losing a tiebreak. Last year, they proved that 2010-2011 was not an aberration, but a sign of the new Concordia Cobbers when they went 13-12-1 (10-6) and finished third in the conference for the second time in three years, before losing to eventual playoff champion St. John’s in the semifinals.

The Cobbers entered this season with high expectations and thus far have lived up to them as they currently stand 6-2-0 overall and 3-1-0 in the MIAC, just two points behind league-leading St. Thomas.  Additionally, the Cobbers have already scored wins over defending league champion St. John’s, perennial league contender Gustavus Adolphus, and UW-Superior.

“This is a team that has the pieces and elements,” said Howe. “I hate to compare teams as they are all special to me, but this team has great goaltending, good defense, and depth at forward.”

“[It also] has an element of selflessness that hasn’t been there since [he’s arrived]. That is just an accumulation of everyone who has been here since 2008. It is really inspiring to me to see a group care so much for each other.”

With this group off to a strong start and perhaps primed to have a big season, Howe is making sure that they stay in each moment as much as they possibly can. One of the many mantras of the program is, “this play, next play, right now,” and Howe attempts to make sure the team stays focused on that as part of the larger process.

As Howe works to keep his team focused on the day-to-day, he has bigger plans for the future of the program

“Winning a national championship is the ultimate goal,” said Howe.  “And we are also trying produce young men that go out and really care about influencing others. We want our kids to learn what it takes to become a champion, and then with that influence others to make where we live as people a better place.”

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