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As a long journey ends, another begins

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 19:03

By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

When Eric Hartzell was a young lad, he would skate and play on our backyard pond with friends and frequently by himself. Eric loved to skate. I thought when he was young that he was already one of the most beautiful skaters I had ever seen. He had a strong and slightly bull-legged skating stride.

His strong and biting skating strides made a distinctive sound on the pond’s surface and oftentimes served as my weekend alarm clock back in White Bear Lake. I would arise to a young boy enjoying what I had enjoyed so much as a child … a frozen pond. It was his favorite place to play and dream.

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From college to the NHL

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Last Updated on Monday, 13 May 2013 14:49

By Kevin Kurtt
Let’s Play Hockey Editor

If you’ve watched nearly any NCAA sporting event on television in the past several years, you’ve seen the ad. You may even be able to recite the tagline: “There are 380,000 NCAA student-athletes, and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.”

It’s a noble campaign directed at educating the masses that most athletes in college will see their athletic careers come to an end at graduation.

In the world of NCAA hockey, the vast majority of players on the 59 Division I and 78 Division II/III men’s teams will not make the jump to the NHL, AHL, ECHL or any other of the various professional hockey leagues around the world. But for a select few, college hockey is merely a steppingstone to the bright lights of the National Hockey League.

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Study the NHL before prioritizing your offseason training

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 18:57

By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Strength-conditioning gurus must not have seen a Chicago Blackhawks game in person or noticed the dramatic difference in the Minnesota Wild from last year to this. It is not simply a matter of muscle mass. The reasons the Wild are a legitimate playoff contender now and the Blackhawks are the best team in the NHL are obvious: speed, agility, skill and puck protection.

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Earned respect for the ECAC

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 18:26

By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Having a son play in the ECAC the past four years has given me a new perspective on the balance of power in American college hockey. Those of us “in the West,” and that includes me, often want to believe that the WCHA is and always has been the best conference in college hockey. Back in my playing days, I was lucky enough to participate in two Frozen Fours, one of which had three WCHA teams in it and the other had all four of its participants from the WCHA. 

No offense to the programs of that time, but the Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota and Boston College programs had great regional advantages. They had player talent pools right in their backyards … North Dakota’s being mostly in Canada. These teams won often and, really, they should have.

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