When the Adrian College men’s hockey team defeated the USA Hockey National Team Development Program U-18 squad last Saturday, 5-3, for the second meeting in a row, the Bulldogs did so before an enthusiastic, mask-wearing crowd following pandemic protocols and under a watchful, collective eye of professional scouts.
Junior transfer Zach Goberis scored a pair of key goals in his Adrian debut to help give the Bulldogs an impressive victory over a USNTDP roster that includes 17 of 21 commitments to NCAA Division I programs and several National Hockey League prospects. Goberis broke a 3-all tie 1 minute and 48 seconds with his first tally of the night and then added an empty-net marker with 120 seconds remaining to punctuate an impressive win that surely caught the attention of a bevy of 19 representatives from 13 NHL organizations.
“This was a unique opportunity to have NHL scouts in our building. With Division I programs on a delayed start and some not able to play non-conference or exhibition games, we knew that the pro guys would want to see the 18s against older, bigger, stronger competitions,” said seventh-year Adrian head coach Adam Krug ’12, who is the winningest active coach in Division III with a 133-34-10 record for a .780 winning percentage at his alma mater. “I received some nice notes from some of the NHL scouts in attendance about our team, the (Arrington Ice Arena) facility, and the way we played. I think they realize that top-end Division III hockey is very good and that there may be some players that can play at the next level. As I told our guys, it only takes one guy on one staff to give you an opportunity, so make sure you utilize the opportunity–and I thought our guys did.”
While the scouts were at Arrington to see a USA Hockey program produce more than 325 NHL draft picks and scores of NHL alumni, Adrian showed it came ready to play. “I think our players come in and aspire to play professionally, and the NHL is still the pinnacle dream,” Krug said.
The Bulldogs’ effort against the Americans also was impressive because of a revamped lineup that included 10 freshmen among 11 newcomers to replace a nine-member senior class from a 2019-20 squad that fashioned a 21-5-3 overall record and swept the conference regular-season and playoff titles before securing an automatic bid in the 2020 NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. Besides Metro State-Denver transfer Goberis, freshmen Connor May with a goal and Jaden Shields, Emil Gabrielson both with an assist gave newcomers a five-point performance combined. Previously, Adrian defeated Team USA, 4-1, on Dec. 14.
“I thought we played hard,” stated Krug. “We had 10 freshmen in the lineup and so that always makes you wonder how it will go. I know what our guys are capable of, but sometimes you wonder how the chemistry will work out. I’ve had some very talented teams that lacked chemistry and some teams that weren’t as good but had tremendous chemistry. Now in hindsight, I was happy to see it starting to come together the way we envisioned it when recruiting this group. However, it is just one game and we’re not going to put the cart before the horse. The best thing, outside of the result and the chemistry, is the video we were able to utilize from the experience. The teaching clips are so important this early in the season.
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“It was nice to get a balanced contribution. It shows the depth we have,” Krug said of his 2021 recruiting class. As solid as the two-goal win proved to be in a game that Adrian never trailed against USNTDP (holding leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3), Krug knows the season is a long grind and that his team has room for growth.
“We’re looking to improve in all aspects. It’s so early in the year that we need to just work to get incrementally better everywhere. However, our power play hasn’t had many reps, just yet, and the defensive zone is always an area that you can work on and we will have a strong focus on the department this week,” he said.
Adrian can begin to see how fine-tuning those adjustments take shape during the next several days in practice when the season officially begins this Friday against fellow Northern Collegiate Hockey Association member Trine in a non-conference game at 7:05 p.m. here at Arrington. Last season, the host Bulldogs swept the Thunder in five meetings (including a 7-3 exhibition triumph) by a 34-8 combined score. But it was the teams’ last meeting back on Feb. 29 in the NCHA Harris Cup Semifinals that showed Trine is a formidable opponent.
The Bulldogs and USNTDP U-18s are scheduled to meet again on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Plymouth at USA Hockey Arena.
THUNDER / BULLDOGS BROADCAST INFO:
Non-Conference Regular Season Game
Trine University Thunder @ Adrian College Bulldogs
Date: Friday, October 30th | Time: 7:05 pm ET
Location: Arrington Ice Arena – Adrian, Michigan
TV: Adrian College Television | Radio: 107.9 WVAC-FM, 103.9 WLEN-FM
The fact that the Bulldogs are playing at all when most of the college hockey world won’t play until at least after Jan. 1 due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis hasn’t been lost on Krug.
“Ultimately, no matter the outcome, we were just thrilled to compete. Our kids deserve that. They’ve taken care of business on campus from a mitigation standpoint (in the fight against the pandemic) and we know we can have a safe college hockey season–I think we are well on our way of proving that. Personally, I wasn’t sure when we’d have a game inside Arrington Arena again–and to do it with a nice contingent of fans in the building was special,” he said.
“We always tell the guys to play like today could be the last game they ever play, and if the pandemic has taught us anything about sports, it’s that tomorrow is not guaranteed.”
This article is largely a repost of an Adrian College press release from Patrick Stewart. For more sports, news and entertainment, follow the Midwest Sports Network on Twitter @MWSNsports or like the MWSN page on Facebook.
