Newest hockey chapter

By Jim den Hollander

wde-sports@capitalnewspapers.com

The worst kept secret in two towns in the past year becomes official on Tuesday, when the Reedsburg Area High School/Wisconsin Dells High School varsity hockey team faces off at RACA against Viroqua.

A year ago, the Dells and Mauston were entering another season in the co-op that existed since the program was formed and Reedsburg was looking ahead to a third season with Baraboo.

But the word was already out in the rinks. Everyone knew the new Reedsburg/Dells co-op was coming.

For the most part, the venture has been met with excitement in both communities.

Sure, there is a twinge of sadness and some great memories from their earlier allies but players and coaches alike are looking forward to the latest venture.

Shane Moilanen, a Reedsburg junior who last season backstopped his team to the conference championship said the chemistry between players on both teams was basically instant.

“It takes a little while (to develop chemistry), but these Dells guys are really good. I mean, the chemistry has been built right away.”

For Dells players, the change is a little more dramatic. The joint effort with Mauston traditionally brought hard nosed type players to fill in holes on the Dells organization as well as some standout goaltenders and defense. But it was always really a Dells team bolstered by Mauston.

This is a true partnership, with enough players from both communities to form a varsity team that likely will be among the favorites to claim the Badger North Conference championship and a junior varsity team that should help the team continue to thrive.

Past experiences for Ryan Theiler, a Wisconsin Dells junior have made this transition easier.

“I’ve been playing with teams in AAA. I’m used to everything,” said Theiler. The “AAA” teams, generally out of big cities like Madison (Capitols), are basically regional efforts, offering  the highest level of competition available. As a result, they are generally made up of players from all over the map.

Nothing is carved in stone, but Theiler has been playing on a line with Alex Yacko of Wisconsin Dells and Reedsburg’s Luke Bjorklund in early practices, and said it is fun to be playing at a level and speed he is comfortable with.

“I like playing with Luke and Alex. They’re two good players. Luke is quick and Alex likes to go to the corners, so it works out good,” said Theiler adding, “We’ll put up some numbers this year.”

Co-coaches Neil Mattson and Jeremy Klosowski have been chatting since this summer with each other about the season and are eager to get things started.

The team is mostly young, but the pair are looking to three balanced offensive lines that could have a lot of teams back on their heels.

Having a goaltender like Moilanen allows a team to take offensive chances and Moilanen seems okay with what his role likely will be.

“I think we have a lot of potential. We have a lot of good scoring offense – ‘Ryno’ (Theiler) here and the line. We’ll see where it goes from there.”

Outside of the high school locker room is a diagram of the “neutral zone trap,” an effective, but sometimes controversial style of play introduced by professional teams like the New Jersey Devils a little more than a decade ago.

Both coaches are quick to point out that it has nothing to do with how this season’s team will function. Mattson said it was put up for youth coaches and Klosowski made it clear, these coaches are offense-minded. “I don’t think ‘sit back’ is in either of our vocabularies,” said the coach, adding, “I think we have a very well balanced offense and I think we have a lot of different opportunities for line combinations that we’ll figure out here in the next full week.”

Much of the way the team is run, from the co-head coaches to the combined schedule that will see the team practice and play out of Reedsburg until Christmas, then out of Lake Delton afterward, to a non-nicknamed team name and neutral team colors is modelled after the way the Reedsburg-Baraboo effort was set up.

Mattson has been through it before and said the communities are buying in even quicker than he may have expected.

“This transition actually seems smoother,” said Mattson, adding part of the reason could be that the rivalry is perhaps a touch friendlier between the communities.

Mattson, who lives in Baraboo, said he is not looking to offend anyone, but “Reedsburg and Baraboo traditionally has been a huge rivalry. The Dells and Reedsburg is a rivalry, but not like there is between Reedsburg and Baraboo.”

For Wisconsin Dells residents, think of what it would be like to form a co-op with a team from Adams-Friendship.

For defensive purists, don’t panic. Mattson and Klosowski are not planning on throwing Moilanen entirely to the wolves, but because of the potent offense and a defense that will combine a speedy offense-minded group from the Dells with a solid and big contingent from Reedsburg, the door seems open more now than ever to play a wide open style.

The style of play is similar to the way the Dells team played last year, but this time, the team will not run out of gas down the stretch.

“We will be a different program because we will have depth we didn’t have last year,” said Klosowski, adding, “the scoring power to this team to what we had last year is quite identical. We will have one powerful group of kids, but the nice thing is, we can expect 20 to 40 goals from the other two lines and the Dells never had that opportunity.”

Josh Krueger will be a key cog on defense. One of the conference’s best, he knows how to look after his own end, but excels in the transition and isn’t shy about jumping into the offense.

The downside to that is the occasional odd man (two-on-one) rush and that’s where the team will rely on having Moilanen between the pipes.

“The approach that we take to the game with more of a run and gun approach, you’re going to open it up and you have to have confidence in the goaltender. If you give up 35 or 36 shots on goal and you have a good solid goalie, you’re going to capitalize usually on a lot of mistakes by the other team,” said Mattson. “We’re going to be pretty solid defensively, too, though,” said the coach.

As far as conference chances, this is a unique season with an outright conference championship actually being defended by two teams – both Baraboo and the new Reedsburg/Wisconsin Dells as returning champs.

However, Sauk Prairie, a team that traditionally plays the exact opposite style the Reedsburg/Dells team is entering this season with, is always a tough match and Waunakee is expected to be tough this season as well.

Don’t count out DeForest/Poynette either, a team that endured a lot of problems last season, but also is just two seasons remove from back to back conference titles itself.

The local team is hosting  a scrimmage on Saturday, with teams from Sparta, East LaFollete, DeForest, Sauk City and Black River Falls also involved.

The regular season starts on Tuesday night with Viroqua Blackhawks in town and the following weekend, the team will take part in an early season tournament at Tomah. The Dells/Reedsburg team will play the host Tomah squad in its opener Friday night and its Saturday opponent depends on first round results. The locals are also attending a big tournament at the new Black River Falls facility over the Christmas holiday.

First conference contest will be at home to DeForest Norskies on Dec. 15 and the first home game to be played in Lake Delton will be a key conference battle against Sauk Prairie on Jan. 7.

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Reedsburg-Wisconsin Dells Varsity Hockey  2009-10 Schedule

Date      Opponent          Start Time

November 24    vs. Viroqua (RACA)  7:30 p.m.

November 27-28    @Tomah tournament   TBA

December 5    vs. Monona Grove (RACA) 7:30 p.m.

December 7    vs. McFarland (RACA) 7:30 p.m.

December 15    vs. DeForest (RACA) 7:30 p.m.

December 18    @ Oregon 7 p.m.

December 21    @ La Crosse Central 7:30 p.m.

December 28-30    Black River Falls Tournament  TBA

January 7    vs. Sauk Prairie (Poppy Waterman)  7 p.m.

January 8    @ La Crosse Aquinas 7 p.m.

January 12    @ Baraboo 7:30 p.m.

January 15    vs. Sparta (Poppy Waterman) 7 p.m.

January 19    vs. Stoughton (Poppy Waterman) 7 p.m.

January 25    vs. Waunakee (Poppy Waterman) 7 p.m.

January 28    @ DeForest 8 p.m.

February 2    @ Wis. Rapids Lincoln  7:30 p.m.

February 5    @ at Sauk Prairie 7 p.m.

February 9    @ Wauwatosa West 7 p.m.

February 11    vs. Baraboo  (Poppy Waterman) 7 p.m.