Manitowoc United Coach Mark Hinz
While the Manitowoc United Hockey team ended last year with a 3-12-3 record, to say it was a bad year would be misguided.
The team was in its first year of existence and only had one senior meaning the team comprised of mainly freshmen were playing teams with players much more experienced than themselves.
But this year, as Head Coach Mark Hinz tells us, they are more than ready to compete.
“A lot of these kids have been working out, putting in a lot of time in the off-season, and you can see it in their speed and their strength,” he explained. “We are matching up against some of these teams that we played last year that were really good contests for us.”
Hinz tells us that the number of players didn’t go up, as they will have 15 or 16 skaters and a goalie, but the players they do have are, as he put it, “scrappy.”
“They have had a year of contact at the high school level, and you can see it in practice,” Hinz said. “They are banging into each other, they are using their bodies to move the puck, to protect the puck, to force people off the puck…which is a big step up from where we started the season last year.”
Captain Benson Dickrell called last year’s team the rebuilders, and this year is phase 2.
“We are bringing up new guys at the freshmen level, and they are really clicking,” the sophomore said. “They are starting to phase in really well with us, and we are feeling a lot of chemistry.”
United has their first game of the season scheduled for this Friday in Waupaca.
