From The Standard
By Jayden Pettus
The Missouri State Division I Ice Bears have qualified for the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament as the no. 21 seed, following the completion of their 2023-24 regular season. The Ice Bears were ranked no. 21 among all ACHA Division I teams.
The Standard sat down with first-year Ice Bears’ head coach Tom Winkler – who says he is settling into Springfield well and loves it here – to discuss his thoughts on the team’s performance in the 2023-24 season and what he expects from them in the ACHA National Tournament.
The team qualified for the tournament — despite finishing with a 13-16-2 record — thanks to the ranking system of the ACHA. The Ice Bears’ difficult schedule against strong opponents led them to the tournament berth.
“We were a couple games under 0.500%, which is not where you want to be,” Winkler said. “But all 10 teams (in the WCHL) are in the top 30 (in the nation) and eight of the teams are in the top 25, so our strength of schedule was very good, the level of competition we played was amazing.”
This record doesn’t tell the whole story of the team’s schedule; they battled closely with top ranked teams. Out of 31 games this season, 25 games were played against teams that were ranked in the top 25 in the nation.
“We had some really strong games and performances and we had some games where we got off track and didn’t stick to the way we have to play,” Winkler said. “You hope that all those lessons are learned and now we’ve got two weeks to really prepare and get ourselves ready for another tough opponent (in Utah).”
What went right?
“A lot of things went right,” Winkler said. “From training camp, the guys bought into the message that our goal was to get into the National Tournament.”
The biggest factor was team offense.
In their 31 games this year, the Ice Bears scored three or more goals in 18 games and scored two or more goals in 24 games. The team’s offense had virtually no problem showing up when needed.
Headlined by freshman Hunter Bulger (19 goals, 17 assists, 36 points in 30 games played), the Ice Bears’ forwards accounted for 183 (79G, 104A) of the team’s 255 points (106G, 149A) this year. Bulger led the team in both goals and assists and will be a bright spot in the Ice Bears’ future – barring a transfer – with three years of eligibility remaining. He earned WCHL Rookie of the Year and was named to the WCHL second All-Star team and Rookie All-Star team.
“With his experience and background, he came in with a lot of confidence and he’s played with confidence,” Winkler said. “He’s a kid who we not only look to in the future (to be a leader), but we look to him now … He’s going to be one of those kids that plays himself into a leadership role and he’s already set up a good pathway for it this year.”
Other notable forwards include seniors Clayton Dawe (9G-16A-25P 29GP), Sean Hofstetter (14G-10A-24P 31GP) and Jacob Wiethaupt (11G-3A-14P 30GP) and junior William Baginski (5G-14A-19P 30GP).
“We have the ability, the depth and the capabilities,” said Winkler. “We’ve proven that we can play and score with anybody.”
What went wrong?
“We (did have) some demons this year. We’ve had trouble closing out games … those are growing pains for a team that is a team learning how to win,” Winkler said. “For stretches we’ve been really good for 50 to 58 minutes and those two to 10 minutes that we take off we’re not good.”
Finishing with a win percentage below 0.500% is never ideal, and to win more games than they lose, they’ll need to play a full 60 minutes every game.
“Little details have to be better all the way around,” Winkler said. “It comes to defending in the last couple minutes, it comes to stick battles, it comes to little things like keeping the locker room clean, being on time, practicing hard, being ready to start practice on time and being ready to start games at the puck drop.”
The main contributors to this problem were team defense and goaltending. The Ice Bears lost five games in which they led entering the third period. Unenthusiastic play after taking the lead, failing to lock down late in games and not being mentally prepared to start games were downfalls for the team. This led to the team’s three goalies finishing with a collective save percentage of 0.888% and goals against average of 3.66.
Despite all this, the Ice Bears did still qualify for the tournament – anything can happen.
“The thing with hockey is that it’s a long season. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You want to get to this point and, once you do, everyone’s record is 0-0. In one-game situations, anything can happen.” Winkler said, as he brought up the 1980 US Olympic hockey team – who fought to beat the USSR Olympic team despite being given no chance to win.
To battle
Once the time for the National Tournament comes around, regular season standings matter far less. Teams get hot and go on unexpected playoff runs all the time, and Winkler gave a sense of confidence that his team will surprise.
“At this stage of the game, the talking is over. The boys know how to play, they know what they have to do to win. It’s really just a matter of going out and executing and winning,” Winkler said. “If we do those things, we’ll play on Saturday. I want them to just relax, play, enjoy the moment and represent the school and program the way it should be.”
The Ice Bears return to the tournament after missing it last season for the first time in six years – excluding the 2019-20 COVID-19 season.
In a pre-season interview with the voice of Ice Bears’ broadcasts Steve Casson, Winkler said getting back in was the team’s main goal from the start of the year. With this goal met, Winkler left with one final message.
“Let’s go to battle.”
The Ice Bears will start that battle in the first game of the ACHA National Tournament against the University of Utah Utes on Thursday, March 7 at 10:15 a.m. in Maryland Heights, Missouri at the Centene Community Ice Center.
(Originally published at https://www.the-standard.org/sports/ice-bears-get-seed-in-acha-national-tournament-ready-for-battle/article_1b0ab802-d50a-11ee-94e7-63f4213d28ef.html)
