For rookies, USHL is an education like no other
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By BRENT C. WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star
A note on the chalkboard asked Chris Forfar to see the coach.
"I thought it was going to be a good thing," Forfar says.
If good means having to say goodbye to your buddies and packing your bags for Nebraska, then, yeah, it was a good thing. It's mid-November, and Forfar has just been traded from the Waterloo Blackhawks to the Lincoln Stars.
So you’ve wondered what it's like to be a rookie in the United States Hockey League.
Do you recall the speed and talent level of your church-league basketball team? Good, now envision going straight to the NBA. For some hockey players, the USHL is that big of a step.
The league is physical. Why don’t you stand in front of the garage door and have your third-grader crash his bike into you a few times. Now maybe you can imagine a Welcome to the USHL moment.
LW Jared Festler
Before Lincoln: He set the Minnesota prep scoring record with 71 goals and 54 assists during his junior season.
With the Stars: In a stretch of five games, Festler scored six goals. He is fourth on the team in points (19).
Welcome to the USHL moment: Festler didn't need to get on the ice to realize he was in for a bigger challenge. He walked into the weight room on the first day veteran Brandon Bollig was in town. Bollig was lifting weights and had his shirt off. "It was the biggest guy I've ever seen in my life," Festler said.
C Chris Forfar
Before Lincoln: Before being traded by Waterloo in November, Forfar had one goal and two assists in seven games with the Blackhawks.
With the Stars: He scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in the biggest win of the season -- a 3-2 victory against Omaha.
Welcome to the USHL moment: Playing in his second game of the preseason while with Waterloo, Des Moines forward Rody Selk kept trying to coax Forfar to fight. "I was just telling him to go away," Forfar said. "I was trying to play -- I was still earning a roster spot."
C Ryan Kretzer
Before Lincoln: Playing for Springfield (Mo.) of the Tier II North American Hockey League, Kretzer was 14th in scoring in the 18-team league.
With the Stars: He leads the team in goals (12) and points (29).
Welcome to the USHL moment: After being told this fall by the Waterloo staff that he'd be nothing more than a fourth-line player, Kretzer asked for his release. He joined the Stars just days before the opener but still scored Lincoln's first goal of the season. "I came here and my spirits were down, and scoring that first goal just lifted my spirits," Kretzer said. "I thought, 'Hey, I can play in this league.'"
G Kevin Murdock
Before Lincoln: He played on Shattuck St. Mary's (Minn.) under-16 midget team.
With the Stars: Murdock struggled early but showed enough promise during a stretch in November to warrant keeping him around when Lincoln needed to release a goaltender. He earned the Stars’ first shutout of the season.
Welcome to the USHL moment: The first shot Murdock faced in his first full game of the preseason deflected off a teammate's leg and in for a goal. "My teammate scored on me on my first shot," Murdock said. "I thought, 'This isn't a good way to start the year.'"
D Michael Sdao
Before Lincoln: Played at Culver (Ind.) Military Academy.
With the Stars: Has become one of the team's most physical defensemen.
Welcome to the USHL moment: It’s no surprise that Sdao got in a fight so early this season. After all, here's a guy that fought Kyle Verbeek during the summer tryout camp. His first fight during the season came against a pretty tough foe in Tri-City's Alex Hudson. "I was kind of on him all night, and it just happened that he wanted to drop the mitts," Sdao said. "I guess it was mutual."
D Jake Newton
Before Lincoln: Was the rookie of the year for the Texas Tornado of the NAHL.
With the Stars: Has six goals and five assists.
Welcome to the USHL moment: Newton learned two important lessons during a November game against Sioux City at the Ice Box. First, you better be ready to play from the opening faceoff. Sioux City scored two goals in the first two minutes of the game -- with Newton on the ice for both of them. Second, trust no one. Someone on the ice yelled his name, so Newton passed the puck without looking. A Sioux City player took the pass in for an easy score. "I guess it wasn't my teammate saying my name, after all," Newton said.
Welcome to the United States Hockey League, pal. It’s a league that will turn 16-year-old rookies into men, but over an exhausting, seven-month season, it can bring even the wiliest 20-year-old veteran to tears.
Forfar, now 19, learned quicker than most USHL rookies that these games are a business, but it wasn't until Forfar arrived in Lincoln that his trade seemed real.
Before his emotional five-hour drive from Waterloo, being traded was something that only happened in fantasy sports.
Now Forfar proudly says he's a Star. He played the hero in Lincoln’s biggest win of the season, and with five goals in 15 games, is one of the team's best finishers.
Nearing the midpoint of a 60-game regular season, many rookies have a story like Forfar’s of the hard knocks of their first season in the top junior league in the nation. Possibly they got slammed into the wall by a 230-pound defenseman. Maybe they were embarrassed when they tripped the night a scout was watching.
Lincoln rookie Jared Festler recalls his first shift of the regular season as a huge eye-opener. Yes, a league newbie learns quickly that no matter how good you thought the league you played in before was — it wasn't. Every player in the USHL was an all-star on their last team.
"In high school I'd be able to skate end-to-end and score by myself, but you would never be able to do that in this league," said Tyler Kieffer, just before the rookie was traded by Lincoln to Everett (Wash.) of the Western Hockey League.
For many, the USHL is their first taste of the demands of the real world. One night, you've scored two goals and are singing country tunes with your buddies, and the next, the coach is telling you to clean out your locker.
But should you survive the rigors of the league, the rewards are great. As many as 10 players who came to Lincoln without a scholarship offer will go home in April with a handful, and every NHL team will send a representative to the Ice Box this season. In Lincoln, 4,000 fans will scream your name, 50 of them teenage girls who will wait outside the locker room.
The USHL is not for the weak, though. Those fans who pack the arena for three hours on game night don't see the rest of what can be a 60-hour unpaid job.
They didn't see rookie Josh Myers get drilled by teammate Travis Erstad in what some may have considered a meaningless practice. Maybe Erstad was out to prove that an NHL draft pick shouldn't be playing on the third line, or possibly it was to make sure Myers didn't bump Erstad to the fourth.
Fans don't understand what it's like to be from small towns in Minnesota or big cities in California and away from home for the first time. They don't feel the pressure of needing to earn a scholarship to make sure a family’s sacrifice of time and money pays off.
They don't live the “Groundhog Day” lifestyle. Class or work at 7:30 a.m., at the rink from 1 to 5 p.m., a booster club event and homework at night. Repeat that routine four times each week, and then spend 20 hours of your weekend on a bus to such exotic locales as Sioux City, Iowa, or Columbus, Ohio.
For some players, it's too much. Six players that were with the Stars on opening night in October no longer remain.
"I've been in this league for seven years, and there are always one or two players that can't make it — it's just too hard," Stars coach Jimmy McGroarty said.
The first-year players come from various levels — including prep school, midget hockey or the North American Hockey League. None come close to the 12-team USHL in talent or league parity.
Festler thought he was prepared for the USHL, having played in the traditionally strong Minnesota high school ranks.
"But it's a huge step," Festler said. "Your first line on your high school team wouldn't even make the fourth line here, it's that much better."
Every player in the USHL is fast, so you better know what you're going to do with the puck before you get it. And they all can shoot.
A rookie will work unlike he ever has before, and only to be humbled at points throughout the season. Just ask Festler, who once scored five goals in a high school game.
"Even to get one goal a game here is something special," he said.
Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.
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