Junior

Fire still burning inside and out for Owls’ Erickson

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Last Updated on Sunday, 27 May 2012 23:31

By Nick Clark
MnJHL Director of Media Relations

Someday in the not-to-distant future, a fire bell will ring somewhere, and Robert Erickson will be on his way to help answer the call.

Unless it’s the newly minted Coon Rapids (Minn.) Ice Center that catches ablaze, chances are good there won’t be any hockey related particulars to the call Erickson goes on.

And despite his rise to an elite Tier III Junior A hockey player, that’s just fine.

He’s already spent plenty of time in the rink, having played through high school for his hometown Coon Rapids High School Cardinals, and now nearly three more seasons with the Minnesota Owls of the Minnesota Junior Hockey League.

The final of those is nearing its conclusion. The Owls have 10 regular season games to play, plus whatever sort of run the team can coax out of this winter’s Bush Cup Playoffs.

But when it’s done, so is Erickson. His coaches say he could easily play at the Division III college level, or possibly higher, considering he turned down an opportunity to play in the North American Hockey League a year ago.

Erickson didn’t go though, opting instead to finish out his junior hockey career with the Owls, and with the comforting thought of knowing where his days will take him once the season is over.

“I feel like I belong in a firehouse,” said Erickson. “My sister married a Minneapolis fireman, and we would go visit him every Christmas, because he was working. I just really like the atmosphere around a firehouse, and I knew it was what I wanted to do.”

He’s taken the requisite steps to see the dream through, passing the classes he was asked to take, and joining the Coon Rapids Fire Department on a volunteer basis.

It takes a full-year of volunteering for a fire department to earn the chance to work fulltime. By this summer, he’ll have met that requirement as well.

“He’s on his way,” said Owls assistant coach Travis Kuznia. “That’s what he wants to do, which is great. He’s a natural leader. We named him our captain this year because of his leadership abilities, so I’m not surprised he’s going into a field that is full of leaders.”

Much like the actions his chosen profession will ask of him, Erickson’s leadership on the ice is one of example, and he’s set a tone for his current team.

Erickson led Minnesota in scoring in each of his first two years with the team – he entered the season with 99 career points in 91 regular season games – and he’s already surpassed his career-high in points with the 52 he’s accumulated in 38 games thus far.

That included a hat trick last weekend in a 9-2 victory at Maple Grove Jan. 20 – his second three-goal night of the season – and he has eight points in the past four games.

His team has been equally impressive, posting a 21-14-3 record that has the Owls sitting alone in third place heading into the final month of the regular season.

Where the team finishes in the regular season, however, is not much of a concern for Erickson. He’s more concerned with how their postseason fate unfolds.

The Owls haven’t been to the Tier III Junior A National Tournament since 2007, when Erickson was still in high school.

A year ago, Erickson was invited to take part in the Best of the Rest Tournament portion of nationals, but he wants the rest of this teammates to be there, playing for something much bigger.

“That is one of the biggest reasons I came back to play one more year,” Erickson said. “Everyone talks about how they want to go to nationals, but I really want that to be the way I end my playing career.”

Whenever it does end, his life on skates surely won’t. He’ll be putting out fires on a full-time basis around town, but he’s also trying to be the guy extinguishing them on the ice as well.

“I want to be a referee,” Erickson said. “I’ve been doing it on the side, but I’m being recruited to ref junior hockey, so I could still be apart of the sport.”

No question, he’ll forever be apart of the team he’s used to – in his own words – “mature in every aspect of my life.”

“He’s come a long ways,” said Kuznia. “We’re pretty proud of the type of person he has become. He’s a heck of a hockey player, but you look at the way he carries himself off the ice, and you see he’s all grown up. He’s ready for the next phase of life.”

Last weekend in the MnJHL:

Dells Ducks: The Ducks swept a home series from Hudson last weekend. Dan O’Leary (Gurnee, Ill.) had 48 saves and Billy Warren (Montgomery, Ill.) had two goals in a 3-0 win on Friday, and Aidan Verbeke (Elmwood Park, Ill.) scored three times in a 6-3 victory Saturday.

Edina Lakers: The Lakers played just once last weekend, losing at Rochester 8-1 Friday. Adam Wiertzema (Breckenridge, Minn.) scored Edina’s lone goal in the loss.

Hudson Crusaders: Hudson poured 48 shots on a goal in the first of their two games at the Dells Ducks last weekend, but got none to go in a 3-0 loss. The next night, Cody Rich (Bellingham, Wash.) and Derek Terrian (McFarland, Wis.) had three points apiece, but the Crusaders lost 6-3.

Maple Grove Energy: The Energy dropped both ends of a home-and-home with the Minnesota Owls. Tyler Noll (West Fargo, N.D.) assisted on both goals in a 9-2 loss Friday, and T.J. Marquardt (Victoria, Minn.) scored his 15th goal of the year in a 10-3 road loss Saturday.

Minnesota Owls: The Owls swept a home-and-home series with Maple Grove Friday and Saturday. Robert Erickson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) had four points in Friday’s 9-2 win. Tim Prinz (Aurora, Ill.) scored six times and Sheldon Kihle assisted on five goals in a 10-3 victory Saturday.

Rochester Ice Hawks: Rochester’s three-game weekend was highlighted by an 8-1 victory over Edina Friday. Jake Zarzycki (Clinton Township, Mich.) had four assists in that game. Zarzycki also scored twice in a 4-3 overtime loss to Twin Cities Saturday.

Twin Cities Northern Lights: The Northern Lights took a giant step towards locking up the MnJHL regular season title after fending off second-place Rochester with back-to-back 4-3 victories last Saturday and Sunday. Eric Shand (San Dimas, Calif.) scored the overtime winner in Saturday’s win, and Gleb Kulikov (Dmitrov, Russia) scored the game-winning goal with 2:54 left in Sunday’s win.