A Hobey Baker finalist, Eric Hartzell (White Bear Lake, Minn.) took Quinnipiac to the national title game the day before signing a contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Photo: Quinnipiac Athletics
Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 14:03
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.
I suspected he would take his beautiful skating strides and all the great moves he seemed to work on and dream with to become a goal scoring winger someday. For some reason all his own, at some point in his young life he decided it was his new mission to and I can quote the 9-year-old at the time, “It’s a lot more fun stopping ‘em.” I thought he might grow out of the goaltending bug. He never did. Close to 15 years later, we found ourselves rooting for our goalie son and his Quinnipiac Bobcats in the NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pa.
This visit to Pittsburgh was going to be different than any other before. Our son was participating with his Quinnipiac team in the NCAA Frozen Four. Eric was also one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award which was to be presented during the tournament. Needless to say, we were excited parents. Making this trip even more special for us was that my wife’s sister, Michelle, was able to fly in from out of the country to hang with us and enjoy this unique experience.
We arrived on Thursday just hours in advance of the Frozen Four’s first game which featured Yale vs. Massachusetts-Lowell. I was excited to watch this first game as I had five former players from my Sioux Falls USHL team participating in this game.
Walking into the Consol Energy Center, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, it immediately reminded me of the Xcel Energy Center at State High School Tournament time. The outer corridors of the Consol Center, in what were usually trimmed in NHL décor, were turned to college hockey décor. Like the Xcel where there are jerseys hung representing each of the state’s high school teams, in the front lobby of the Consol Energy Center hung the jerseys of each Division I college hockey team. It seemed every fan in attendance was drawn to stop and take a look at all their favorite schools and their respective jerseys.
Game one between Yale and Lowell went to overtime. This pushed the Quinnipiac-St. Cloud State game back a good 50 minutes and caused concerns for all of us on how it might upset the rhythm of the teams. Quinnipiac nevertheless came out strong. Eric played well in goal, not allowing the Huskies to get much going. The Bobcats sprinted out to a two-goal lead, led by Jordan Samuels-Thomas (a goal and an assist) and Ben Arnt of North St. Paul.
As the night progressed, we could tell Eric was fatigued. Later he told us that he had some leg cramping during the game, a result of a warm NHL building on a warm spring night where his opponents provided plenty of zone time where a goalie has to hold his ready position for long periods of time.
Through it all, it was a great night with Quinnipiac beating the Huskies 4-1 and advancing to a championship game against their archrival Yale. After a late start, we headed back to the hotel without waiting to see Eric. We texted him that we knew he needed extra recovery time with his training staff and would see him tomorrow.
Friday morning was a Hobey Baker meet and greet, where the players signed some memorabilia and were briefed on the events of the day. We did not get to see Eric again as the coaching staff had asked that Eric be excused from the early morning activities so he could get his needed sleep after what turned out to be a late night. I totally supported their decision as he had a national title game to play the next day. It was too bad he didn’t get to spend this extra time getting to better know his fellow Hobey finalists. We did get to meet the parents of the other finalists – Johnny Gaudreau and Drew LeBlanc. They are all delightful people and our sons will share this bond of being Hobey Baker finalists forever.
On Friday evening we returned to the Consol Energy Center and discovered that there were large lines of fans seeking autographs of the two remaining teams – Yale and Quinnipiac. There was an even longer line for the three Hobey finalists. It was quite the sight to see all the fans, young and old, with Hobey finalist posters in hand standing in long lines for autographs. There were fans wearing college jerseys from many different teams and, of course, a hometown Penguins jersey here and there, too.
After the autograph session, parents and the Hobey finalists were escorted downstairs to a waiting room. No question that Eric and LeBlanc were nervous. Gaudreau on the other hand always looks like the calm and cool scorer who is going to excel in the NHL – to that I have no doubt. Finally after some socializing, we headed out to the arena and were seated at center ice for an announcement ceremony that was being carried live on the NHL Network. The parents of the boys were mostly calm as I think none of us truly expected to hear our son’s name called as the winner of the Hobey Baker Award. We were simply thrilled that our sons were even in this final three.
It was Drew LeBlanc’s name that was called. He is very deserving. Not only was he Player of the Year in the WCHA, he was Student-Athlete of the year as well. We are happy for him. Eric seemed almost relieved that he didn’t have to speak in front of the big crowd. He smiled graciously and accepted numerous congratulatory handshakes, then looked at me and said, “Got to get back to the hotel and get some rest … one more win!” He was ready to get back to business and get focused in on Saturday’s national championship game.
On championship Saturday we did not see him all day. This was normal for us as we always stay out of his way, allowing him to focus on the task at hand. I did get a call from Eric just before the team headed to the arena for the game, thanking us for all the support and he told me he really felt that if his team could score the first goal and get over some nerves, they would win the game.
Neither of those things happened. Though they had beat Yale three times throughout the year, Yale played the better game this night. It can be a lot of self-imposed pressure knowing you have beaten a team numerous times and without a loss. It can create a false reality, a false feeling of already having something you desperately do not want to lose. It’s a dangerous place for the mind to wander.
Whether or not their minds drifted to this dangerous place I do not know, but the Quinnipiac team left the game knowing they had not played their collective best. Credit goes to Yale for not allowing them to ever really get started.
After the game, I reminded a dejected Eric and also his senior class teammates that both they and the team will rightly sort through this experience in its entirety and realize that they have had an amazing year. They will look back and see what we all see, that they took their program to a level never before achieved by the young program.
They were rated No. 1 in the country for a long period of time. Proud alumni returned for a reunion at a national tournament. Students shared in the excitement of their team. The team brought incredible exposure to an outstanding Quinnipiac institution in the middle of Connecticut. Hockey players and students from all over America now know Quinnipiac and they may be more likely to consider attending this fine school in the future. This group of seniors and teammates had laid a large building block for the school and its community. They took their program on a special ride and they should all be proud.
By early the next morning, the phone was ringing. NHL teams presented their vision for Eric and his future as a pro hockey player. Eric’s representatives had done their homework, scanning NHL teams’ goaltender depth charts, analyzing which goalies are paid what and attribute values to their organization. Not so much monetary values, but values as to how good they believe their goaltenders are and how and who Eric will have to compete with to achieve his life-long goal to play and succeed in the NHL.
I got to listen in with fascination to teleconferences throughout Sunday’s afternoon. Eric has great people advising him. All of their advice made great sense. In the end, he chose to sign on with one of the class organizations in all of sports, the Pittsburgh Penguins. He will report to the NHL club and in effect, be in trade school. He will practice and travel and learn the way of things from the world’s best … and get paid to do it. It is a new beginning on a path to a dream held long ago.
With all that said, it is back to work as the world of competitive sports never rests. It is not time to coast and be happy; it is time to get to work and strive for the next goal if Eric is to become a starter in the NHL and help his team win the ultimate prize, Lord Stanley’s Cup. He knows there are no guarantees and he also knows that his development is a process. It will take time and smart work. He is lucky to have some of the world’s best people around to mentor him.
I shared with Ray Shero, VP/General Manager of the Penguins, that both I and MaryBeth ask that he reinforce to Eric the importance of his graduating from Quinnipiac. He is so close to the finish line, but the last two weeks of hectic hockey and travel and his new and exciting future will be putting him behind in his studies. We ask that all reinforce that in his downtime he gets his studies done. Mr. Shero, a graduate of St. Lawrence, is more than understanding. Eric’s first act after the excitement of his signing with Pittsburgh was to ask Mr. Shero for one extra day before reporting to the Penguins so he could meet with professors and develop a strategy to get his final course work done. We all want Eric to be a proud graduate of Quinnipiac University.
Eric called Sunday night after a long but exciting day. His off-campus house he shares with four other teammates was host to a celebration. He said it was all so overwhelming – the Hobey experience, the final run for a championship with his friends and teammates, the disappointment of the final game and now the excitement of a professional career with everyone so excited for him. Knowing he will be on the ice with Sid the Kid, Evgeni Malkin and Jarome Iginla. He is leaving one great group and heading to another. He thought he might have 200 texts on his phone and little idea how he was going to have the time to get back to so many. He needed to get up the next morning and meet with his professors. “Overwhelming” was his description of what he was experiencing.
This is a kid who woke up weekend mornings and went out on our backyard pond to skate, to play with his stick and puck because that is what he loved. I suspect he was out there dreaming about what he might like to do when he grew up. “I am going to play in the National Hockey League someday” he would say over and again. When his mom would ask him what his plan B was, he would say there is no plan B, “I am going to play in the NHL.”
Well, he hasn’t done so yet and there are no guarantees, but he is taking another big step in that direction. He has already lived one dream, competing for a national title with some of his best friends. His biggest dream is closer to reality. We are all overwhelmed.
