November
1, 2007
St.
Cloud State Singing Praises of Rookie Roe
By
Jess Myers
If you overhear St. Cloud State coach Bob
Motzko ask for the Vienna boys, it doesn’t necessarily
mean he wants to hear a high-pitched choir. If there’s
a power play beginning, and Motzko asks for the Vienna beef,
it might mean he’s hungry for a sausage, or it might
mean something completely different.
WCHA
Notebook
Garrett Roe scored three goals and added two assists
in St. Cloud State's sweep of Bemidji State last weekend.
Any confusion over those nicknames is balanced
by a great deal of offense, since Motzko has started putting
sophomore Andreas Nodl (of Vienna, Austria) and rookie Garrett
Roe (of Vienna, Va.) on the same line.
Heading into the season, Nodl was a known
quantity, having put up 46 points last season to lead the
team en route to winning the WCHA’s rookie of the
year award. Despite logging three seasons of solid offensive
work for Indiana of the USHL, less was known about Roe,
the kid from the suburbs of our nation’s capital.
“Garrett had a track record of being
a tenacious worker with great feet,” Motzko said.
“He’s a guy that we thought could do it offensively,
but you never know until you start to watch it happen.”
Anyone in the National Hockey Center for last
weekend’s Husky sweep of Bemidji State could watch
it happen before their eyes, as Roe continued to boldly
introduce himself to the college hockey world. In two games
against the Beavers, Roe had three goals and a pair of assists
to earn WCHA rookie of the week honors.
Roe jokes that he was leaning toward “V-squared”
as a nickname for his line and said he wants nothing to
do with references to the Vienna Boys Choir. It’s
clear that barely a month into his college hockey career,
the rookie from northern Virginia is having fun with his
new team.
“We’ve gotten results. My linemates
and I are finishing the plays that we start,” said
Roe, who leads the Huskies with five goals and five assists.
“Nodl and I are starting to be able to find each other
and develop some real chemistry. Everyone thinks of him
as a sniper, but he’s a really pure passer. He likes
to be on the wing, and he can find me from there.”
Roe’s father Larry is one of the more
active coaches and hockey boosters in suburban Washington,
so Garrett was around the game throughout his childhood.
He played prep hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in southern
Minnesota before heading to the USHL and then the WCHA.
Motzko says that his immediate contributions have allowed
the coach to put other scorers — such as Nate Dey
and Ryan Lasch — on a different line, giving the Huskies
more immediate offensive balance. Both Roe and Motzko say
that the game is already slowing down, and the adjustment
to the college pace has been fast.
While it may be early to think about goals
you want to reach 18 months from now, Roe says that since
the day the 2009 Frozen Four was awarded to the Verizon
Center in Washington, his father has been talking about
the possibility of watching his son play close to home at
the end of his sophomore season.
“I was just talking to my dad a few
days ago, and he said I hope you do well this year, but
I really hope you do well next year,” Roe said with
a laugh.
Those Frozen Four thoughts are in the far
future. In the foreground, there are passes to be made,
goals to be scored, and a snappy nickname to develop.
SEEN AND HEARD IN THE WCHA
North Dakota Mourns Loss:
It’s been said that bad things come in threes, and
the North Dakota hockey family certainly got their own rough
trifecta in the past week. It started with the settlement
of the school’s lawsuit with the NCAA over the Fighting
Sioux nickname. The agreement gives the school three years
to either get approval from area tribal leaders to continue
use of the name and logo, or retire it permanently.
That news was followed by Michigan Tech’s
aforementioned upset of the previously unbeaten Sioux, which
knocked them from the top of the national rankings. And
less than 24 hours after than first on-ice setback, the
program suffered a tragic off-ice loss, when former North
Dakota forward Marty Schriner was killed in a boating accident.
On Saturday, Schriner, 35, was fishing with
a friend on Eagle Lake, near the western Minnesota hometown
of Schriner’s wife, Julie. Schriner and his friend
were thrown from the boat, and Schriner went under the waves
before help could arrive. His body was recovered later that
day.
Originally from the Detroit area, Schriner
played for the Sioux from 1990-94 and left Grand Forks as
the second-leading collector of penalty minutes in school
history. That penchant for visiting the penalty box came
despite Schriner not possessing overwhelming size (5-11,
185) and despite his natural knack for scoring goals.
Marty Schriner
“In college, he was the grittiest player
we had,” said former Sioux defenseman Jon Larson,
who played with Schriner for three seasons at North Dakota
and for one season with Roanoke of the ECHL. “He was
very strong for his size and was always in there banging.
In Roanoke, he wasn’t afraid to drop the gloves with
anyone.”
According to friends and teammates, that tough-guy
on-ice persona disappeared as soon as the final horn sounded.
“Marty was calm, cool and collected
away from the rink,” Larson said. “For him it
was all about having fun off the ice, but he was a totally
different guy with skates on.”
After a few seasons of minor pro hockey, Schriner
retired to a life of teaching social studies in the Minneapolis
suburbs. He was an assistant hockey coach for Wayzata High
School, and helped guide the Trojans to a state tournament
appearance in 2005. Even with a whistle around his neck,
that “all business on the ice” persona reappeared.
“He always brought a smile to the rink,
and when we got in the locker room we’d mess around,
but on the ice he was in your face, trying to make you a
better player,” said Minnesota forward Tony Lucia,
who played for Schriner at Wayzata. “He was always
trying to teach offensive creativity. I learned a lit of
little things that I still use today from him.”
Great Weekend Getaway
Michigan Tech at Wisconsin
(Fri.-Sat.)
Michigan Tech is atop the WCHA standings after winning three of four games, but Badger hockey fans will note that their team hasn’t played a conference contest yet. Wisconsin will finally get its shot at in-league competition on Friday when the Huskies visit the Kohl Center for a pair of games. With Tech’s defense looking formidable again and Badger rookie Kyle Turris looking all but unstoppable when he has the puck, something’s got to give.
While You're There: Want to learn
all about the varieties of huskies, bulldogs and terriers
that don’t wear skates, while seeing a little
bit of Badger hockey history? Head over to the Alliant
Energy Center (formerly the Dane County Coliseum,
and home of Wisconsin hockey for five of their six
NCAA titles) on Sunday for the annual Wisconsin Dog
Fair. Put on by the Badger Kennel Club, the event
features demonstrations, vendors, educational seminars
and rescue info for more than 150 breeds of man’s
best friend.
Stick
Salute
Hockey games
around Halloween often bring out the creativity and
spirit in many students, and not just in Madison.
You have the love those willing to put in the effort
to come to the game disguised as Elvis, the Hanson
brothers, the Cat in the Hat, Waldo or even Smurfette.
Special kudos to Goldy Gopher, who showed up at last
Friday’s game clad like Captain Morgan. Or maybe
it was supposed to be Captain Jack Sparrow, if Goldy
happens to be under 21.
Bench
Minor
A parking lot across the street from Mariucci Arena asking $20
per car to park at hockey games. The Gophers
already have some of the priciest tickets in college
hockey ($30 per game), so apparently the parking guys
want to get in on the gouging too. Sorry, but if I’m
going to burn an Andrew Jackson to leave my car with
somebody for a few hours, it had better have an oil
change and some detailing done by the time I pick
it back up.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• While Alex Stalock’s
43 saves in a shutout at Denver last weekend were impressive,
they didn’t come close to earning him a spot in the
Minnesota Duluth record books. Jerome Mrazek holds the Bulldog
record with 52 saves in an 8-0 blanking of Minnesota in
1973, and future NHL standout Glenn “Chico”
Resch made 46 saves in shutting out North Dakota 3-0 in
1969.
• The kids
are all right in Denver once again, as freshmen have accounted
for nine of the 16 goals the Pioneers have scored this season.
Leading the rookie brigade are Kyle Ostrow and Anthony Maiani,
who have three goals each after six games.
• Alaska Anchorage
coach Dave Shyiak might want to start stressing defense
on the Seawolves’ first few shifts of the game. In
three of the Seawolves’ six contests this season,
they’ve allowed a goal within the first 90 seconds
of play.
• Mike Zacharias
has emerged as the clear no. 1 goaltender in Mankato after
he stopped 52 of 54 shots last weekend as Minnesota State
earned a tie and win at Alaska Anchorage. The 2-0 win on
Saturday was Zacharias’ second career shutout, but
his first career shutout win. His first blanking came in
a 0-0 tie with St. Cloud State last winter. The Mavs have
opened the season with trips to Michigan Tech, Alaska Anchorage
and Alabama-Huntsville, meaning they’ll have logged
more than 9,000 miles on the road before their first home
game next weekend against Minnesota.
• One reason
for Colorado College’s struggles at New Hampshire
last was clearly special teams. After holding Minnesota
0-for-11 on the power play when they swept the Gophers a
week earlier, the Tigers surrendered three man-advantage
goals and a shortie in Durham.
• Minnesota
forward Ryan Stoa stood and watched the Gophers’ game
versus Ohio State last Friday from the top of Mariucci Arena’s
section 11. After closer examination, doctors learned that
his right knee does indeed have two torn ligaments, suffered
in Minnesota’s 4-3 win over Michigan on Oct. 13. Stoa
said he’s going to have surgery in the coming weeks
and hopes to be back in the Gopher lineup next season. As
for watching games from the Mariucci concourse, Stoa said
he’s not a fan of the view. “I hate it,”
he said of not being on the ice. “You can see the
play develop a lot better, but I’d much rather be
down there.”
A variety
of sources were utilized in the compilation of this report.
Jess Myers can be reached at jess@insidecollegehockey.com.
