From The Daily Emerald
By Henry Light
Most hockey coaches who have rostered Inde Abresch came away with similar impressions to Oregon club hockey coach Jack Hyman.
“He’s arguably one of the most skilled players I’ve ever coached,” Hyman said.
The freshman right wing showcased creativity far beyond a first-year player from his first career goal, receiving a pass behind him in the left circle, dragging his left skate to change the angle of the shot and burying it in the top left corner. Abresch’s highlight reel goal in his second American Collegiate Hockey Association game represented a successful adaptation of the skills that made him stand out growing up in Madison, Wisconsin.
“When I was younger, I was always kind of the goal scorer, offensive guy,” Abresch said. “I had really good coaches and they told me they had a vision for me, and all I had to do was just put in the work, and I took that and ran with it, and tried to become the best player, best teammate I could be.”
Hyman relied upon Abresch’s seamless transition heavily, moving him up to the first line with senior Jackson Henningsgard and freshman Jackson Ebbott early in the season and never looking back. Abresch repaid him for the significant role by finishing second on the team in goals (11) and points (22). The 5-foot-10 winger, whose confidence scoring off the rush is matched in the tough area in front of the net, looks set to pile up goals for years to come in Eugene, and the Ducks will need them with Henningsgard out of the picture.
“I knew what I could do,” Abresch said. “Coming into this year with all these fans, I was kind of holding my stick too tight and playing nervous, but once I took a deep breath and knew that it’s just hockey, I stepped up my game and played with a lot more confidence, and I just saw success from there.”
Abresch’s brief adjustment period ended when he moved up to the line centered by Ebbott with Henningsgard playing left wing five games into the season. Abresch and Ebbott had been building chemistry since they found out they would be roommates months before the season started, and their ability to complement the lone senior in Oregon’s forward group formed a strong first line for the Ducks.
“Their skill, of course, has gotten better, but they came in with a ton of skill, so it’s like they knew what they were doing right away,” Henningsgard said.
The early formula for the two freshmen seeing first-line minutes was simple.
“Henny kind of took us under his wing,” Abresch said. “Obviously, he’s a senior, good player, captain, so playing with him, it’s really not hard to just give him the puck and have him score.”
The setup worked for all three players, with Henningsgard leading the team in goals (19) and points (38), and Ebbott finishing third in goals (nine) and fourth in points (18). While Henningsgard outproduced the rest of the Ducks’ roster by a wide margin, the early returns favored Abresch, with his first career goal snowballing into a five-game streak.
In the second half of the season, the line evolved from effective to dominant as Abresch and Ebbott developed intricacies in their playstyles that come with experience.
“Inde found something with Ebbott, and Inde might be a little bit more of the flash, and Ebbott does a little bit more of the grunt work, and I think he does have his own skill, but they just bounce off each other pretty well,” Hyman said.
The Ducks’ first line paced the team to a 6-4 record in the new year, enough to set a new Division I wins benchmark of 11. Replacing Henningsgard will be a tall order, but Oregon has a fellow 5-foot-10 winger from Wisconsin waiting in the wings.
Further down the lineup, the flexibility provided by Abresch and Ebbott sticking on the first line allowed the Ducks’ five other freshman forwards to build chemistry while playing with productive older players, like sophomores Noah Easterson and Dylan Chapman.
“That level of continuity is something that we didn’t have my first two years here, and it’s ob- viously been established a little bit more in my third year, so it’s just a step in the right direction, it’s important, and it’s exciting to think about what the future might hold,” Hyman said.
Abresch, already one of Oregon’s most important players, is ready to take on even more responsibility next season.
“I think being a leader motivates me to another level. I feel like I bring a good leadership quality, and I know I want to win, and every game I bring that ‘We need to win’ mindset into the locker room,” Abresch said.
Abresch is wired like a program’s centerpiece, and he arrived with a vague knowledge of Oregon built through football broadcasts and YouTube videos when the Ducks needed one to emerge.
(Originally published at https://dailyemerald.com/187170/sports/inde-abresch-club-hockey-oregon-freshman-henningsgard/)
