The Three Key Door for New Ulm
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Every team in the state, whether it is a defending state champion or a struggling squad, starts their season out with a door that stands between them and success. Nonetheless, every team is just as capable of unlocking their potential…
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Continue ReadingEvery team in the state, whether it is a defending state champion or a struggling squad, starts their season out with a door that stands between them and success. Nonetheless, every team is just as capable of unlocking their potential through an interwoven combination of skill, strategy, leadership, and coaching. In this new series kicking up here for Prep Hockey, I will be taking a look at the three keys each and every team in the state needs to open up the door that stands between them and a great year by their unique standards. Today, my team of choice will be New Ulm, the defending Big South conference champions.
Key #1: Bring Back the Big Three
While New Ulm is in fact bringing back their “big three”, I mean this more from a performance level. Sure, the Eagles are returning their top three scorers in Austin Uecker Austin Uecker 6'0" | Forward New Ulm | 2024 State MN , Kaden Larson, and Bryer Lang, but time will tell whether or not they can match last year’s stellar production. This trio accounted for 146 of the Eagles’ points in 2022-2023, and were a big reason why the offense was regarded as one of the most dangerous in Class A. Uecker is among my projected point leaders for this coming year, and for good reason. The 5-foot-11, 155 pounder is backed by one of the best offensive supporting casts around, and the fact that he had nearly twice as many assists compared to goals shows just how unselfish this guy is. In fact, out of New Ulm’s top 10 scorers from 2022-2023, only two had more goals than they did assists. What does this mean? It means the Eagle offense is at its best when everyone gets a piece of the pie. Sure, Uecker, Larson, and Lang will need to do most of the puck facilitating this coming winter, but at the end of the day, this big three in particular are defined by their ability to get the entire team involved.
Key #2: A Two-Goalie System
This may or may not be a hot take, but I believe that two goalies working in tandem is almost always beneficial for a team. By utilizing this strategy, both goalies are better rested, less prone to injury, and able to feed off of each other from a competitive standpoint. Each goaltender pushes the other to be better, and these systems can be seen at the highest level of hockey. However, at the high school level, teams usually have one guy manning the net, and a reserve to fill in for any “easier” matchups the team might face. In New Ulm’s case though, they have a pair of solid goaltenders who could each take their fair share of starts in 2023-2024. Bryer Hoffmann Bryer Hoffmann 5'8" | Goalie New Ulm | 2024 State MN and Graham Glaser both had solid 2022-2023 campaigns, and in my opinion, could be a dynamic duo in the net this coming season. Hoffmann’s 20-4-1 record paired with a .923 save percentage and three shutouts were all good enough for him to be the main guy last season, but Glaser was hot on his heels. The rising junior matched his starter’s save percentage with an identical .923 mark, and although he only played three full games, one of them was a shutout. Hoffmann has one year of varsity puck left compared to Glaser’s two, but for New Ulm’s sake, developing both could be a key to both their success this year and prolonged success down the road.
Key #3: A Defensive Overhaul
As aforementioned, New Ulm has their attack and protection covered thanks to some solid returners at Forward and Goalie, but the defense is another story entirely. Their first and second lines are all but depleted, and among the departed is senior captain Jack Albrecht, a multi year veteran that provided both experience and leadership to the younger guys. This is a major blow to the Eagles, who had statistically one of the better defensive units in the state that allowed a stingy 1.71 goals per game. Nonetheless, Albrecht and company have graduated, leaving juniors Brody Wenner and Talan Helget as the lone skaters on the defensive front with significant varsity experience. Both defenders have good size, and measure in at 6-foot-2, 170 and 6-foot-4, 205, respectively. Each of them had one goal and a handful of assists in 2022-2023, showing they have experience handling the puck in the offensive zone as well. These two should come into their own as the main guys backing the blue line this winter, but who will come in behind them is anyone’s guess. Knowing this, near constant offensive pressure will be important to kick off the season as the freshly minted varsity defenders find their footing behind Wenner and Helget.
What Lies Behind the Door: This team can clearly play, as shown by their 23 wins they racked up last season, many in dominating fashion. However, New Ulm fell just short of a state tournament berth in 2022-2023, losing to Luverne in the Section 3A finals. They are bringing back the majority of their talented roster though, and considering they kept it close with Luverne last season, it’s clear this team has State Tournament potential. Expect at least a deep Section Tournament run, with a State Tourney upside that could put New Ulm on the state of hockey’s collective radar.