The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor coaches, players reflect on hockey, Olympics
Hockey fans across the country tuning in to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games will see a stark difference this year — no NHL representation, as the league has prohibited its players from taking part in the Games.
While diehard and superficial fans alike may lament that fact, Dan Fritsche, Mentor head of program for the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League and Mentor Youth Hockey director, doesn’t feel that’s any reason to dismiss the
upcoming competition.
“It’s going to be interesting to see and fun to watch with no NHL (players),” said Fritsche, who played professionally in Switzerland and in the NHL, including a stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets. “I think it’s going to be similar to the 1980 Olympics — they are going to be huge underdogs.
“For some it may take some of the fun out of watching, but for someone like me, it’s exciting to watch the new guys coming up from the American Hockey League get a shot.”
Paul McKito, in his seventh season as head coach of the Mentor Cardinals hockey team, agrees.
“The Olympics are all about watching, and we know it’s different this year,” the Willoughby resident said, who’s been coaching hockey overall since 1993. “The guys still have professional experience, with a lot of ex-NHL and ex-DI players. Though the NHL isn’t being represented this year, that doesn’t mean the hockey is going to be bad. It’s going to be great to see guys you wouldn’t necessarily see. But we can’t just talk about the men. The women’s team draws large audiences as well.”
Hockey, like figure skating, in Mentor has also had to combat misconceptions of being too expensive and inaccessible.
“Part of the misconception if you’re a hockey player is that you do one of two things: you join a team, and you never take another skating lesson, or you skate on teams and get out of it what your coach gives you, which shouldn’t be learning how to skate,” said Colleen Thomas, Mentor Ice Arena’s
recreation coordinator. “Serious players are always improving regarding skating.
“Or you have the parent who feels their child needs additional time so they go to a private instructor. That’s where the expense comes in, like we see in figure skating, and that’s where cost builds.”
Mentor Ice Arena recently added a hockey skills enhancement class, instructed by both figure skating and hockey coaches.
“We have a good group responding to this class,” Thomas said. “It’s USA Hockey and it’s going to be the wave of the future for these hockey players here in Mentor because they’re receiving more training at a reasonable cost. It help the parents realize you can’t just join a team and not keep up with your skills. We want to make hockey more competitive, have better skaters and keep the cost minimal.”
Naturally, Fritsche learned to perfect his skating skills through his extensive playing experience, but he credits building his ability to his international play.
“The NHL is faster, but individual play is far better in Switzerland,” he said. “USA Hockey needs to focus on that. My biggest attribute was my skating. That’s what got me to the NHL, that and my work ethic. And kids, young players, they need take advantage and stop simply worrying about stick handling and shooting the puck. Skating is everything. You have to beat your opponent. It all comes back to skating. I always believed in that.
“The sport does take a little bit more commitment from the players simply because special places are needed to practice. But ice is always available, even in the summer months. To be elite, the game, like other sports, requires year-round
dedication. There is no offseason, really.”
Being one of the four major sports, hockey certainly isn’t a subculture, but McKito and Fritsche both share the view that the game can always benefit from generational interest, which has been the case with the founding of the Blue Jackets as an expansion team in 2000.
“And the Monsters taking the Calder Cup (American Hockey League championship) in 2016 was great for regional hockey,” McKito said. “The two teams, and the (recent) Barons’ history, have added a lot of fans and has gotten kids playing the sport. While regional youth programs ebb and flow, we have over 40 varsity teams and 10 to 12 club division teams in Northeast Ohio, not to mention other parts of the state.”
Club teams are made of players who choose not to play at their school and those whose school district doesn’t offer the sport.
There are a multitude of Ohio prospects, too, visible in camps, McKito said.
Mentor High School seniors Ryan Ross, Nathan Remington and Zach Burke have all committed to playing hockey since they were young. All three agree hockey’s popularity is definitely influenced by the Olympics.
Ross, a captain on the varsity team, and 15-year player, continues at Bowling Green State University.
“There’s nothing else like hockey,” he said. “Gliding on a quarter-inch of metal at 15 mph is just really fun. And the amount of skill those players have competing in the Olympics is incredible. It’s more like robotic than human.”
Burke will attend Lake Erie College on a lacrosse scholarship, and might play club hockey. He credits team camaraderie in turning the team to 20-8 so far.