Butch Kowalka was 18 years old and living in Detroit when he earned an opportunity to play hockey at Ohio State University.
Years later, sitting inside the Stumptown Ice Den in Whitefish, Kowalka sees a group of teenagers from across the country right where he was at that age, with the same opportunity.
It’s all thanks to junior hockey.
Kowalka is the man behind the Glacier Nationals, the new Tier III Junior-A expansion team in the Northern Pacific Hockey League (NorPac).
The team began its inaugural season last weekend in Seattle, kicking off a 42-game schedule that will feature 21 home games and wind across Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming throughout the next six months.
Based off first impressions, the Nationals could be exciting underdogs this season. Glacier suffered an 11-1 loss in the opener last Friday but followed up with a 5-2 come-from-behind upset of the reigning Pacific Division Champs, the Seattle Totems, on Saturday.
“It was a true testament to our young group of rookies to come back the next night and not give up,” Kowalka said.
The full 25-man roster is made up of players ranging in ages from 15 to 20 years old from as far as Alaska and Michigan. This season’s roster has three locals from the valley — Taylor Hulslander, Danny Roe and Michael Noe.
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Kyle Watne, left, eyes the puck while running defensive drills with Coleman Macdonald, right, during a Glacier Nationals hockey practice at Stumptown Ice Den. |
The players, like Dubuque, Iowa native Austin Willenborg, have hopes of moving on from Whitefish to the college ranks, the same way Kowalka did.
“I want to go play D-I NCAA hockey and play some type of pro hockey. They looked like they could help me do that,” Willenborg, 19, said of the Nationals.
Kowalka, who helped start the Flathead Valley Hockey Association in Kalispell and is the Nationals owner, general manager and assistant coach, credits his lifetime involvement with hockey to a junior developmental team like the Nationals.
Whitefish, “the heart of the hockey scene” in this part of the state according to Kowalka, seemed like a natural home for a team like that.
“I just saw a lot of kids that basically had nowhere to go. At 18, their career was over. Well, at 18 my career was just taking off,” Kowalka said.
Until now, the closest opportunity for players in the valley to compete in junior hockey was in Missoula, where the Maulers have become a successful and popular program. After last year’s winningest season since starting in 2007, the Maulers broke away from the NorPac with three other Montana teams, leaving only Butte and now Glacier as the state’s only remaining teams in the league.
In the Flathead Valley, the opportunities to play hockey are scarce considering most states have high school programs or nearby college teams. After youth hockey, the most common future awaiting the few who don’t get college scholarships is the local men’s recreation leagues.
“There’s all these kids that put in all this time and money and effort into playing hockey and then after their senior year of high school there’s nowhere to go. There needed to be a developmental team here,” Kowalka said.
Off the ice, players stay with host families and enroll in local high schools if they’re still in the process of graduating.
With 12 players who are still in high school, the current crop of players on the Nationals is certainly in the development stages, with a roster filled with youth and inexperience. Willenborg, a goaltender, is one of the few players with playing experience in the junior leagues.
“I’m building from the ground up,” head coach Joakim Falt said. “We’re a really young team. We’re going to have to learn from our mistakes out there. But hopefully they will learn and get better as it goes.”
Falt, originally from Sweden, has coached in the NorPac the last 10 years for the Portland Timbers, where he was part of a championship team in 2003-04.
After accepting the Nationals job and moving to Whitefish in August, he didn’t waste any time getting his team on ice and practicing.
“You know what you’re getting into when you bring young guys in. In the long term it pays off but in the short term it’s a lot of work,” Kowalka said.
Based on a preseason performance at a recent tournament, the Nationals are already showing bright signs. Glacier beat former NorPac member Great Falls and piled up more goals than expected for an expansion team through the three games.
“We are doing better than I thought,” Falt said.
The team opens the season on a seven-game road trip and returns to Whitefish for its home opener on Oct. 20 at 8 p.m. at Stumptown Ice Den.
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Paul Kinder, right, flies down the ice passing the puck to fellow forward Michael Noe during a recent Glacier Nationals hockey practice in Whitefish. |
After a recent practice on the eve of the season’s start, Willenborg described the feeling he and his teammates are feeling heading into the new season.
“It’s kind of like you’re anxious,” he said. “How are we going to be? How good is our team? How good is the league going to be this year? Are we going to get a lot of fans? You’re just anxious all the time.”
Kowalka remembered what that excitement felt like. He remembered what that opportunity felt like.
“That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “It’s not about making money. It’s not about driving a fancy bus. While it would be nice, it’s about investing in the kids and investing in their future.”
For more information on the Glacier Nationals and a complete season schedule, visit glaciernationals.com and the team’s Facebook page. All home and away games are scheduled to be broadcast online via the team’s website. Season tickets are still available.