Macho not surprised

by Eagles' quick start

NEW ULM -- New Ulm High hockey coach Tom Macho said that he is "not surprised" by his team's 5-0 start this season.

"With the schedule that we had coming into the early part of the season, we are right where we expected to be," he said. "We were not sure about the (first game of the season) with Austin; we were not sure what would happen there. But the other games (St. Michael-Albertville, Mankato West, Le Sueur-Henderson and Fairmont), we had expected to be better than those teams."

Macho said that this year's squad return "quite a few players from last year's team. The fact that you have (two) goaltenders coming back, that is always a good start, and a lot of our scoring power was back. But our main concern was to play the defensive part of the game. We can do it offensively (outscoring the first five opponents by a 37-14 margin), but our learning process is really to play that defensive part of the game."

Part of that defensive aspect of the game is the goaltending, and this year Macho commented that his two goaltenders, Gary Wurtzberger and Isaac Forstner, have been pretty steady.

According to Varsity Online, Forstner is rated 26th in the state as far as goal tenders go with 31 saves. He has allowed only four goals in 105 minutes and has a GAA (goals against average) of 1.71.

"The goal tending has been very steady," said Macho. "Gary Wurtzberger played very well for us in our first game (a 5-4 win over Austin) and Isaac has played well in two games (Wurtzberger has played in three games). A couple of the games it didn't seem like they did a lot because there were only four or five shots against them on goal. It is hard to determine if they are on yet because of the schedule."

FIRST LINE SPARKLES EARLY: The Eagles' first line of Jamie Hoffmann (five goals, 10 assists for 15 points), Brent Clyne (six goals, 10 assists for 16 points) and Travis Thorson (seven goals) has done the job early.

"Those three have probably done the best for us," Macho said. "Travis is kind of a garbage man that picks up the goals in front of the net while Hoffmann is the digger in the corner. Clyne is the playmaker of the team. Between those three, they have done the majority of the scoring this year for us. They have all played well."

A new face on the Eagle hockey team this year is Chris Reinarts who open-enrolled from Sleepy Eye. "He had played with our bantam team last year so he knew all of the kids. He is a flashy player. He is working on his defensive skills and is getting better all of the time."

Macho is also happy with the play of Corey Schnobrich, who played JV hockey last year.

"He has been a real surprise so far; he is playing very well for us," he said. "He may be the biggest surprise this year. I saw him all summer long working on his skills."

STILL NEED WORK: Despite the 5-0 start, Macho knows that his team still has things to work on.

"We have to work on our defensive part of the game, especially the coverage in our zone," said Macho. "We have not been tested; most of the play with the exception of the first game has been in the other team's end of the rink. That part we have to work on. We also need to work on playing three solid periods of hockey, and so far we have not been able to do that. We need to because we have a tough schedule coming up, particularly in the Blake Holiday Tournament."

The Eagles will open the Blake Tournament (Dec. 28) with a game against host Blake, who is ranked second in the state. Also in the Eagles' bracket is East Grand Forks, rated fifth, and 12th-rated Orono.

The tournament will be played at the Blake School in Hopkins.

"That will be a test and it gets no easier for us after the tournament," commented Macho. "When we get back from that tournament, we face Rochester Lourdes, who is rated fourth in the state, and then a big rival of ours, Litchfield. The next six games will be altogether different than what we have been playing as far as strength of the teams."

HAPPY WITH .500 MARK: Macho said that if his team can win a couple of games in the Blake Tournament, particularly because of the strength of the teams in the tournament, he would be pleased.

"If we can win a couple of games at Blake, we would be extremely pleased," he said. "As we come out into those other games with three or four wins, we would be happy."

Macho feels that this year's team, particularly with the talent offensively at the forwards, have more talent and depth.

NEVELN LEADS GIRLS: Jenny Neveln, a goalie for the New Ulm High girls hockey team, is rated 18th in Minnesota according to Varsity Online. Neveln has 132 saves in 353 minutes. She has allowed only 13 goals for a GAA of 1.66.

HAVEMEIER BACK FOR BREAK: Sleepy Eye's Loren Havemeier, who is playing for the Tri-City Storm in the USHL, is back for Christmas after breaking his right wrist in a game. He will return to action on Dec. 27.

"The season has gone pretty well," he said. "It has been fun outside of being injured."'

Havemeier said that he broke his wrist when he was picked. "I was backchecking when I was picked at center ice; it is like a pick in basketball, but it is illegal in hockey."

He said that he tried to catch himself when he fell. Despite the broken wrist (which he did not know was broken at the time), Havemeier scored a goal in the game. The goal was a game-winner in overtime, a fact that Havemeier was too modest to admit.

"I was out until about five games ago," he said. "I have only played eight regular season games, In preseason, I had five goals and three assists in 12 games."

The Storm's record is 11-10-3.

Havemeier has found that the caliber of hockey in the USHL is tough.

"I didn't think that it was going to be this tough." he said. "From high school to this, it is not one step but three steps up. The average size guy is at least six-foot and weighs 190-210 pounds. Speed-wise, they are all fast, not just one. Those big guys who are 6-foot-4, 220 pounds can fly too."

Havemeier said that one of the biggest adjustments that he has had to make has come off the ice.

"Being away from home, even though you live with host families, is tough," he said. "You have to be responsible for all your doings; getting to practice on time, to meetings and to weight training. You have to learn you own schedule."

PHYSICALLY TOUGHER: Havemeier said that the physical aspect of the game is an on-ice adjustment that he has had to make.

"The players are stronger, more skilled. In high school, you can go around a defenseman one or two times. In juniors, you will be lucky to get around a skilled defenseman at all in the game.

"And that is what is juniors is about; it is breaking down the defense-part of the game. A lot of the offense is changed around but defense is a big part the game. Our scores are 3-2, 2-1 or 1-0 basically. You don't see a lot of goals like you did in high school."

COLLEGES STILL INTERESTED: Havemeier said that there are still colleges wanting him to play hockey.

"Our coach has to fill out a roster for each game and that is faxed out to all NHL teams and colleges," he said. "So teams know when I am injured. I had a really good preseason where a lot of (180) scouts were there. I got a lot of notice from University of Minnesota-Duluth. Air Force has offered me a scholarship but I am not going to go that route. I don't want to get into the academy part of it. I did get a letter from UConn (University of Connecticut), but I am probably looking at playing another year of juniors."

The University of Minnesota is still showing interest. "It is hard to say; hopefully I can sign with them next year. Junior hockey is more of a two-year thing now before college."

HAS UNIFORM RETIRED: Havemeier received an honor when he returned to Sleepy Eye. His uniform No. 7 was officially retired Tuesday night.

That was a surprise and honor for the humble player.

"I went out to the rink because the high school hockey coach, Larry Heiderscheidt, asked me to speak to the team and come on the bench for moral support," said Havemeier. "I kind of wondered what was up and just before the game, the arena manager came out with my high school uniform in a frame. He said some nice things about me from my high school hockey, Great Eight and Team Minnesota. It as kind of neat and now my number will be hanging at the arena."

He said that the honor was a "great feeling. I never thought that that would happen to me, but I am so glad that it happened. That hasn't hit me yet but I am sure that in a few years when I walk into the Sleepy Eye Ice Arena and see my number hanging there, knowing that no one will ever wear that number again. It is an accomplishment and I am honored."

Havemeier is not only a gentleman, a great athlete and an ideal role model, he is simply a class act that not only Sleepy Eye but all of us can be proud of.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer