Last Updated on Thursday, 18 February 2016 09:42
Eau Claire Memorial looks to advance to its seventh consecutive state tournament
By Andrew Vitalis
For the Eau Claire Memorial Old Abes, making it to the state tournament has become old hat. For six straight seasons, they have skated into the state tournament. For six straight seasons, the Old Abes have been the model for teams throughout Section 2. Believe it or not, this year’s version of Eau Claire Memorial might be the best one yet. It’s true, while the section’s No. 1 seed has plenty of work ahead of them, the state’s top-ranked team is playing like it. While definitely not a certainty, lucky No. 7 seems to be right around the corner.
For proof, all you need to do is look at the Old Abes’ recent performances, specifically their last 12 games. Currently 19-3-2 overall, one of their three losses came at the hands of Hudson on Jan. 5. Since that game, Eau Claire Memorial has gone 11-0-1. During that stretch, the Old Abes have outscored their opponents 51-21. Sure, 51 goals in 12 games is impressive, but not nearly as dominating as just 21 goals allowed. As a matter of fact, as a team EC Memorial is allowing less than two goals per contest this season and have allowed three goals or more just six times this year. Not bad considering who the Old Abes have played (Wausau West twice, Hudson three times, New Richmond, etc.). Even more impressive is the fact that EC Memorial has done all of this with a relatively young team sporting just five seniors.
“Last year, we graduated four seniors so we knew we were going to be young this year,” head coach Mike Schwengler said. “We played a lot of young guys (last year) hoping that would translate into them being big contributors for us this year and it’s worked out for us.”
That’s experience talking. Schwengler and his staff have been roaming the bench for a long time (took over in 1997 along with assistant Jeff Schemberger). Since taking over, the Canada native has helped build the Old Abes program into a consistent powerhouse with two state titles under his belt already. One of the state tournament runs included a perfect 26-0 season in 2008. No doubt, each team is different from season to season. When asked about how this team differs from past squads, the veteran head coach has a hard time keeping a straight face.
“I would say willing,” chuckled Schwengler. “When we make mistakes, we can watch video and talk about it. We have a goal not to make the same mistake twice and for the most part we’ve done that. We have changed our style during the season. Earlier in the year, we were more run-and-gun. In the mid-stretch, we were working on being a lot better defensively and not giving up leads that cost us wins, and I guess in the latter half of the season, we’ve been able to play well defensively and still be able to score enough goals to win games.”
“Mid-stretch.” It was an important part of the season for the Old Abes and one that Schwengler circled on the calendar as a turning point in the 2015-16 campaign. More specifically, Jan. 5, EC Memorial’s last loss which came to Hudson by a score of 4-3. In that game the Old Abes gave up a 3-1 lead to the Raiders late in the game. Albeit one game, the game still sticks out as a turning point. They haven’t lost since.
“We blew a 3-1 lead going into the third period and ended up losing,” Schwengler said. “If you want to point to something, that would be the game we would point to. You can tell kids they have to play better defensively, you can tell kids that there is a time to take chances and not, but sometimes it bites you in the butt. That game definitely bit them in the butt. We were able to work on that and continue to grow as a team.”
Up first in sections will be the winner of Medford and Chequamegon/Phillips. When looking at the Section 2 field, the Old Abes are 4-0 against their section opponents this season with two wins each over Eau North and Chippewa Falls. North is the No. 2 seed in Section 2. In those four wins against the Huskies and Cardinals, EC Memorial outscored their opponents 19-4.
Clearly, the Old Abes are the No. 1 team in state for a reason. Blessed with a three-pronged attack of offense, defense and special teams, EC Memorial has been deadly in all three categories, especially since the first of the year. Offensively, the Old Abes have six players who have registered 20 or more points, including three players who have already hit the 30 mark. Led by sophomore sensation Ty Emberson, the Old Abes have 15 players on their roster who have scored at least one goal this season. Senior Dylan Ross leads the team with 14 goals. As for Emberson, while we will miss some time in the playoffs representing Team USA in the Junior Olympics, providing the Old Abes keep winning, the defenseman will be back for the final postseason push.
While you can decipher the Old Abes’ ability to score all day long, anyone who has followed EC Memorial this season – and past seasons – know that they butter their bread with defense. The Old Abes sport a talented group of defensemen who are sound on both sides of the ice and can move the puck out of the zone with ease. With that, add in three lines of forwards who have the speed and ability to transition the play form defense to offense in a matter of seconds. Oh yes, then there are the goalies – yes, goalies (plural). Both sophomores, net minders Trevor Hudecek and Nick Schultz each post a goals-against average of less than two this season. In addition, Hudecek has a save percentage of over 90 percent with two shutouts.
“We’ve always been a defense-first team,” Schwengler said. “Even back in 2007 and 2008, when we were putting up some pretty impressive numbers, we’ve always prided ourselves on defense first; the defensive side of the puck in all areas. If you do your job on the defensive side of the puck, you’re going to get chances. It took a while for the kids to realize and buy into that, but once they did obviously the results have spoken for themselves.”
Making the Old Abes’ attack even more daunting to their opponents is the reality that, while excellent 5-on-5, EC Memorial has also found their stride in the special teams category, which has been very evident when looking at their last handful on wins. Their last time out (a 5-2 win over EC North), Memorial scored four of their five goals on special teams – two on the power play and two shorthanded. Just over their last four games, they have tallied five power-play goals and added three shorthanded goals. Dating back to their loss to Hudson in early January, since that game, the Old Abes have been operating at 33 percent with the man advantage.
“It’s the tail of three seasons,” Schwengler said. “We were very good on the power play early in the year, OK on the penalty kill. Over Christmas we weren’t very good on either one of them. The more chances you get, the better off you are, too. We have played in many games this year where we didn’t get a power play or if we did, it was one and it was late in the game. It’s hard to replicate that type of pressure in practice. The kids stayed with it; we changed that around to find the right combinations. All in all, it takes time and progress and the kids willing to come to work every day and wanting to get better.”
And that is the key to the success of any program – wanting to get better, no matter what the numbers say. For Schwengler and his coaching staff, the fact that the Old Abes currently hold the No. 1 ranking in the state is irrelevant. Rankings don’t win games. Never have, never will.
“I don’t pay attention to it,” Schwengler said. “We strive to be the best every day. We always use the saying, ‘If what you did yesterday still looks good today, you haven’t done anything today.’ We have a goal to win a state championship every year. We have fallen short the last few years. We are a one period, one game at a time group and will continue to be so.”
Andrew Vitalis writes columns in LPH geared towards Wisconsin hockey. He can be reached at lphprep@yahoo.com.
