Turning Point After Two Dismal Outings, The U.S. Takes Giant Step Forward At 2005 Winter World University Games By Christy Jeffries Photos by Alan Maglaque The air was bitter cold, yet the gloves were off. The smiles were large and the hearts were warm. The United States had just won its final contest to earn a respectable 3-3-0 record at the Winter World University Games. U.S. captain Joe Maglaque gathered his teammates at the outdoor Telfs Ice Rink to thank the parents who had traveled 4,000 miles to see their sons don the USA jersey in what would likely be their first and last international competition. For the 22 players on the U.S. University Select Men’s Ice Hockey Team, it marked not only the end of a two-week trip to Innsbruck, Austria, but more importantly, it signified success. To finish the tournament on a winning note and go home with a .500 record was more than most had expected. It also was exactly what USA Hockey wanted to see — improvement. Not only did the team post wins against Korea, the Ukraine and Slovakia, the reigning silver medalist, it came within two goals of making the medal round. Going into the 2005 competition, which ran from Jan. 12-22, the outlook was hopeful but somewhat bleak for the U.S. contingent, comprised of non-varsity level college players from the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Facing off against teams made up of mainly professionals, the young Americans knew they would have to be at the top of their game if they had hopes of faring better than the U.S. teams that had come before them. Twenty-one years after hosting the Olympic Winter Games, Innsbruck, Austria rolled out the welcome mat for the 2005 Winter World University Games. Following a 10-year U.S. hiatus in the bi-annual WWUG ice hockey competition, USA Hockey sent ACHA players for the first time in 2001. Previous to that, the U.S. University Select Team, then made up of NCAA players, had made just three appearances in the Games — 1972, 1989 and 1991. The best finish the United States ever enjoyed was a bronze medal in its inaugural Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1972. In Poland in 2001, with ACHA players and coaches who had little knowledge of the scope of the event, the U.S. Team topped the Russians, 4-2, for its lone victory on its way to an eighth-place finish (out of nine). “Once we got there, we realized the size of the event, and we were all basically in shock of the quality of play,” said Alan Murdoch, who served as the head coach of the team in 2001 and 2003. “We saw that the other countries were sending their very best players.” Despite a better understanding of the level of competition, the United States traveled to Italy in 2003, only to finish with a 0-5-0 record. A dejected Team USA coaching staff went home looking for ways to improve. With Chad Cassel, who spent the previous two tournaments as an assistant coach, at the helm in 2005, plus Murdoch back as the general manager, the coaching staff knew what to expect from the other teams and put forth a strong effort to choose the best team possible and to prepare the players for what was to come. At the summer selection camp in St. Cloud, Minn., the 22-man roster was selected, highlighted by five players from Cassel’s University of Illinois team, four from Weber State and three each from Penn State and the 2004 ACHA Div. I National Champion Ohio University. Cassel’s confidence in the team was apparent from the beginning. “I felt, before we even got to Austria, that it was the best team that we had ever had and that we would have success and win some games,” he said. After an eye-opening loss against host Austria, in which nerves and a standing-room-only home crowd of more than 8,500 screaming fans got the best of Team USA, a victory over the Slovakians was exactly the kind of comeback the United States needed. “Going over there, I wanted to face the best competition possible, so it didn’t bother me that they were pros.” Andrew Lubesnick, a junior defenseman at the University of Illinois. “Standing on the blue line after we won the Slovakia game gave me the chills,” said Maglaque, a senior defenseman with Penn State. “It was the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my life. I was so proud to win in an international competition for my country.” For the first time in a long time, Team USA was able to hold its own at the World Games against “the highest level of competition our players will ever play against,” said Cassel. In Murdoch’s opinion, many of the teams in Austria were comparable to an NCAA Div. I team, or in some cases, a semi-pro or pro team in the United States. “Many of the teams would do very well in the American Hockey League, and, in fact, some of the players on [the other countries’ rosters] have played in the [AHL],” said Murdoch, who won his 800th coach-ing victory earlier in the season. For the players, competing at such a high level was not a problem. “Knowing you are playing against pros gets the butterflies going in your stomach and makes you kind of nervous … but when you’re on the ice, you’re all the same — it’s more about who brings their game,” said Mark Turnipseed, a senior goaltender from Lindenwood University who finished the tournament with a 92.62 save percentage and 138 saves in less than four full games. In agreement was Andrew Lubesnick, who was chosen as Team MVP. “Going over there, I wanted to face the best competition possible, so it didn’t bother me that they were pros,” said Lubesnick, a junior defenseman at the University of Illinois. “The fact that we beat them was a big accomplishment.” In order to continue moving forward and improving, Murdoch would like to give the players a little more time together prior to the tournament. Rather than just playing one exhibition game against an NCAA Div. III school, as the team did this year, he would like to see another exhibition game added once the team arrives in Torino, Italy, the site of the 2007 tournament. “Now it’s at the point that the next step is to be in the final six or final-four medal round,” said Murdoch. “I think we can be there in 2007 without a doubt.” Christy Jeffries is the 2004-05 Brian Fishman Intern.