A strange track to Germany

 

By Kevin Hartzell
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist
 

Just over two years ago, my son Eric was USCHO College Player of the Year and a First Team All-American. It was an accomplishment beyond a dad’s wildest dreams. After his senior season at Quinnipiac, Eric signed a nice free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Twenty games into his AHL career he was the No. 1 goalie in the AHL and a recipient of AHL Goalie of the Month honors. He seemed close to the NHL. Just five AHL games later, he was basically put on the back burner, so to speak, and sent to the ECHL. Two years later (this Thanksgiving week), he made a decision, one I agree with, to go to Germany and become a goalie again.

 

His current journey reminds me of the “true” story told of the famous horse Seabiscut in a Disney movie. It is the story of a Depression-era horse with high expectations to be a champ but falls on harder times. For some reason he just couldn’t get over the competitive hump. An unusual trainer of sorts is hired to train the horse and comes to the conclusion that the horse had for so long trained to be a champion horse that somehow he had forgotten to just be a horse; to run for the love of running. In the movie, Seabiscut is taken to a pasture and allowed to run in a more natural setting and learn to love running again. He eventually became a champion.

 

I think Eric is on the same type of journey. Eric’s performance through his “harder times” has been mostly very good. But “mostly good” in the goalie profession often isn’t good enough. But the way he has been handled and moved around, I don’t think many of us would be successful. And in the end, pro hockey has little appetite for potential. There is much more of a results-oriented mentality. I get that, but in the case of goalies, their performance is also influenced a lot by team and circumstance. Goalies know this. So they stick things out and hope to be in the right place at the right time.

 

Eric’s first year in the Penguins organization could have been, and in my opinion, should have been, considered a success. On many levels it was, but on some levels, it was not. Without going into great detail, Eric could have handled some of the ups and downs better, and I have no doubt that the Penguins organization could have handled him better as well.

 

Year two, after a short stint in the AHL, Eric was sent to the ECHL in Wheeling. For a good period of time, I saw the best Eric Hartzell I had ever seen. I was excited for him. I could hear in his voice a growing professional who better understood how to be successful at the pro level.

 

On several occasions, he was called back up to the Penguins’ AHL team. His ECHL coaches in Wheeling were happy for him, sharing with him that their reports back to Penguins management were that this kid was playing well and ready for his next good chance. He would go back to the Penguins AHL team in Wilkes-Barre and sit. And watch. One stretch he almost didn’t even practice as the goalie rehabbing would get most of the work. He would go from performing very well in Wheeling, to doing almost nothing in Wilkes-Barre.

 

In some ways, it was understandable as good goalie performances by others kept him on the bench, but in ways of development of a good young prospect, some things that were happening were not so understandable. I have seen it with many other young prospects as well, but pro hockey is what it is – a results-oriented business. For goalies that means if other goalies are playing, well, you’re likely not playing much, if at all. So you wait for your turn.

 

Back in Wheeling, he had a very average stretch for a month or so, but at the end, I again saw the very best version of Eric I have ever seen. I was optimistic, but it seemed the hockey hierarchy had almost forgotten about him.

 

Eric grew a lot in his first two years as a pro. I felt that the next team to give him a good chance would be happy they did. His strategy was simple: retain his free agent status until the right team came along with a goaltending need. He trained hard this past summer, and in the Octagon NHL preparation camp this fall, performed as well as could be expected. I thought several NHL teams who were short on depth in goaltending would be great prospects to sign Eric. It didn’t happen.

 

Eric was invited to Calgary’s AHL camp in Stockton. They seemed to like Eric even though both their NHL and AHL rosters were full of contracted goalies. By “full” I mean there was no room to sign another. Eric went anyway, played in the pre-season and performed well. He was eventually sent to Boise of the ECHL.

 

In Boise, Eric started well, but then had a couple of his worst games as a pro. He didn’t seem dejected. Part of being a pro, I guess. It would be back to practice, iron things out and be ready for the next start. Then the oddities of pro hockey came even more into focus.

 

After the couple of poor performances, Eric was “promoted” back to Stockton. An injury was a chance for Eric to again play in the AHL. He got a chance to play and he played well. Soon after, Calgary made a trade for a goalie with NHL experience and Eric was again sent right back to Boise. Eric felt good, however, as his time with both stints in Stockton were solid. 

 

Arriving back in Boise, his team wasn’t even there. They were way across the country in Florida. He was told to wait in Boise as the team had picked up another goalie in his absence. The next week he was flown to Colorado to join his Boise team, this time as one of three goalies. In Colorado he watched and did not play. Boise was then to leave directly from Colorado to Rapid City. Thanksgiving week for a Wednesday-Friday-Saturday series. Eric was told he would start the Wednesday game. It was the next good chance to get back in and take over the goal. He never made the trip.

 

Stockton called, they had a goalie injury. They too were about to play a Thanksgiving week Wednesday-Friday-Saturday series. The opportunity to again play in the AHL was too good to pass up. By Monday, Eric was back in Stockton. This time, however, there was another twist. A contract offer was in his e-mail to join a team in Germany who was struggling mightily and needed to upgrade at the goaltender position.

 

Heading to Germany was a unique opportunity, but not the typical path to make it to the NHL. I thought it would be a hard decision for Eric, especially knowing he was back in the AHL, but he had given this situation some extra thought. On the phone he said in essence something maybe Seabiscut might have wanted to say in his own way: “Dad, I could stay here and hopefully get a chance again in the AHL, but I know how things work. The other guy will play Wednesday and if he plays well, he will play Friday and who knows, maybe Saturday. Calgary has three NHL goalies; they will likely send one down here and he will likely clear waivers. I get sent back to Boise. While I am here, I miss my start in Boise, a chance to earn back the net. Returning to Boise there is a team with three goalies, (two of which were affiliate players of Boise’s Dallas Stars affiliation), I might be waiting another week or two or more to get back in goal. It seems to me I am leaving things more to chance in this system. I am a goalie and I need to play. I need to show people again how good I can be night after night. I know I am just supposed to be this mentally tough guy and take whatever this game throws at me, but it is not easy to play on occasion. I am a good goalie and at this point in my career, I need to play and show what I can do nightly.”

 

Just two days later, Eric was in Germany. This time with a contract and a team that he will call his own. Being that he made the decision while sitting in an AHL city with an AHL team is a strange part of the story. It all didn’t happen when he was down and out, but it did happen during a tumultuous time.

 

His new German team wasted no time in getting him into the line-up, immediately starting him in the Friday game. He was the winning goalie in a shootout, stopping 37 of 40 and was named player of the game. Good for him. Not easy to do with travel and jet lag. Of course, that was enough to get him back in goal on Sunday where he stopped 36 of 38 and was for the second consecutive game named player of the game. For the first time this season, his new team had won two games in a row.

 

I am proud of Eric for making a decision that maybe goes against the grain of things. I don’t know if this all will lead him back to North America and again sign a NHL contract, but that is what he is hoping for. We will see where it all goes. In the meantime, Eric gets to feel like a goalie again, who lives and battles with a group of teammates he can call “his” teammates. And he gets to do what he loves: play.

 

Kevin Hartzell is the director of player development for the NA3HL’s Twin City Steel. A St. Paul native and forward for the University of Minnesota from 1978-82, Hartzell coached in the USHL from 1983-89 with the St. Paul Vulcans and from 2005-12 with the Sioux Falls Stampede. He was the head coach of Lillehammer in Norway’s GET-Ligaen from 2012-14. His columns have appeared in Let’s Play Hockey since the late 1980s. His book “Leading From the Ice” is now available at amazon.com.

 

Photo: Quinnipiac Athletics