Big High School Sports Show: East-Merrill United hockey coach Brian Bednarczyk and Wausau East senior Robbie Anguilli

Good evening!

And good evening and welcome to the Big High School Sports Show on 98.9 WXCO online at wxco.fm mobile devices and Alexa by searching WXCO on the civic media app and on the 98.9 WXCO YouTube channel with BJ Brandt I'm Chad Holmes with you until 8 p.m.

Tonight.

We'll be talking about what's going on in high school hockey and basketball Plus we'll have some special guests.

We'll have our coach guest at 6 30 East Merrill United bluejack

Hockey head coach Brian Bednarcek.

He'll be with us at the bottom of this hour.

And then coming up, our student and athlete guest at 7.06, Wausau East Boys Basketball senior Robbie and Julie.

So that's all coming up here tonight on the Big High School Sports Show.

Big cold front moving in, so we'll try to warm things up for the next two hours.

B.J.

Brandt, we'll start with Hockey.

I know that will save your quiz on basketball for later in the show, but it makes me it makes me at ease Chad when we start with that.

But let's start with the Wisconsin Valley Conference.

We got Steven's point at 4 and 0 in the conference 12 and 2 overall.

Wausau West 4 and 1 in the conference 15 and 1 overall.

Everest 3 and 3 in the league 8 and 6 overall.

Marchfield 2 and 3 in the conference 4 and 8 overall.

Rapids 1 and 3 in the league 4 and 8 overall.

East Merrill United 1 and 5 in the conference 4 and 9

overall.

And I guess starting with the top two teams in the conference, you had Stevens Point in action on Thursday of last week in the conference.

They stayed perfect, beating Marshfield 11-2.

Grant Molsky and Max Middleset, two goals each for Stevens Point, 43-8 edge in shots for the Panthers in that game.

But probably for them, the big game,

was their non-conference game on Saturday night as the Hudson Raiders came over and we've talked so often about this sectional that has

for part of the season at least at the top three teams in the state in it with Stephens Point, Wausau-West and Hudson.

And Hudson beat Stephens Point 3-2 on Saturday.

Hudson jumped out to an early lead.

Stephens Point came back and tied it before only 15 seconds before Hudson scored the game winner.

What's your take on Steve?

Actually, let me tell you about Wausau-West and kind of put an umbrella on it here because the Warriors had a good three-day stretch on Thursday, Friday and Saturday beating Wisconsin Rapids.

9-0 on Thursday with Cooper de Pointe and Owen Prugalski each with hat-tricks and then over the weekend the Wausau was hockey-invitational on Friday night.

Warriors shut out Middleton 8-0.

De Pointe 2 goals and 5 assists and then on Saturday won the championship game 11-2 over Notre Dame Academy.

Don't see that very often but the Warriors got 4 goals from Cooper de Pointe.

Owen Prugalski hat-trick as well.

the two teams at the top of the Wisconsin Valley Conference.

I think West has to feel really good about those three games.

And Steven's point has to, I think, feel like they let one get away and really put themselves in a

bit of a corner when it comes to a sectional seating.

Yeah, when you look at the sectional, it's going to be interesting to see how the seeds come out, depending on, I mean, obviously there's a big game coming up between Weston Spash next week, Thursday.

You know, when you, the result of Hudson, Hudson doesn't play Wausau West.

So like you're only basically looking at, you know, Wausau West versus Spash twice and the one game versus Hudson that they played to try to figure out the seating.

Because a lot of times coaches will go back to the conference standing.

So then you get a look.

at the Big Rivers Conference, who's winning the conference, how the conference game's gone, that type of stuff, and then you're looking at the Wisconsin Valley.

So there's a lot of, you know, there's not a ton of common opponents with Hudson above and beyond the other Big Rivers teams that they've already beaten, as well as the ones that, you know, Wausawes and Stevens Point have played, so.

It'll be interesting.

It's a big game for seating, I think, for both Spash and Wausau West next week, Thursday.

Obviously, big game in the conference because that can set one team up or the other to still claw on and fight for the conference title.

It'll be interesting though.

I mean when you look at the Hudson Spash game You know to think that couple not a single power play goal eight power plays in that game and not a single power play goal So so with all that skill on the ice between those two teams Will Maurer seemed to be one that stood out for Hudson.

He had a shorthanded goal in the second period If you look at you know, it was tied briefly for a little bit and then and then Henry Coleman seemed like he broke out a little bit in that game to to take it for Hudson

But, you know, I watched the last two minutes of that game and, you know, when you think about where Spash was a year ago, rolling through the entire regular season undefeated, the differences now, they've been in different situations that they weren't in a year ago and they've been able to practice them with pressure and prepare for them.

So, you know, I think you look at their overall record and people are going to be like, well, they lost a couple of games after going undefeated a year ago and as a coach.

Sometimes that's okay and and it's gonna be just a massive fun environment when when spash comes to town in a week

you talk about a loss and what you take from it and One of the things that's jumped out about was all west is since that lost to Steven's point They played five really impressive games.

I mean they I think they scored at least Six or seven.

I think seven was the minimum they've scored they're averaging about nine goals a game in this five game win streak

It seems as though they took maybe that lesson from that Stevens point game and it really been impressive both in the three games against, actually it's been now six games in a row, I

should

say.

Three games at Green Bay, Notre Dame during the holiday.

tournament and then three games in a row last week.

I mean, they just put three, I mean, six consecutive games where they have been almost unstoppable.

Yeah.

I mean, they've, they figured out how to put the puck in the net.

I mean, it's been impressive to watch.

I mean, certainly led by, by Cooper to point and, and that line is, uh, of own Pergalski and, and Chase Kras and, and their defense has been, been good.

I mean, when you look at how they've been able to put puck, pucks in the back of the net and separate and a little bit of in bunches.

I mean, you look, there was a

couple of times that Notre Dame game as I was listening to you, like it was a few seconds apart, both teams.

You know, there was, there was a lot of goals when we got 13 goals in a game and 11 for West.

I mean, that, it was a little bit surprising.

You know, I think right now West is averaging almost seven goals a game for the season.

And it's just, it's been impressive to watch them whip the puck around.

And, and I felt like over the last few games, anything that, you know, Cooper or Owen or Chase has shot, it's going to the back of the net because they're sharing the puck.

and moving to the right places of the ring.

DC ever's third.

And again, I always find them to be a very dangerous team because they tend to play solid D and goal tending.

This past week they had a three to two overtime double overtime loss against on Alaska Griffin but now may 36 saves in that game that reminded me of the overtime loss they had against Marshfield They've had overtime when they play a lot of these kind of games and low scoring nip and tuck affairs and again

Their offense has not been able to find, I think, the consistency that maybe coach fans like would like, but at the same time, they're in every single game.

And that makes them, again, with Griffin-Banell, four-year starter, makes them, I think, a very intriguing opponent for both West and Stevens, point coming down the stretch in the conference.

Yeah.

If you look at a lot of their games are, are real tight one, two goal games.

They've had a couple of games where they separated a little bit, uh, Rapids and Mosany and then obviously Ryan Lander, but at the rest of their last three games have been, been real tight.

I mean, when you look at, when you look at the way that the roster structured, they've got a lot of seniors, you know, you're coming back to the, to the second half of your senior season, like the finality of things.

So like, like from that perspective, when you have that many seniors, the guys recognize that that.

the end is coming and and they fight a little bit more and they they claw a little bit more and we probably become a little bit

you know, tighter as a team knowing that the kids you've played with for, for your whole life.

And this is our last, last chance through it.

And then when you've got Griffin, but now between the pipes, like you're going to give yourself a chance to win.

He's a very good goal tender.

He's, he's had a lot of experience at the varsity level and in big games, you know, he's played against tough opponents and, and he's going to give you a chance to win anytime you line up.

The other teams, and I think let's talk about EMU.

We'll talk plenty about them coming up, but they won a game on Friday at their.

event over south central five to three.

Over the weekend, I couldn't find a score on their Saturday game

and

then I reached out to the guy who does the radio for them and he calls up and said that apparently Rylander decided not to play or something along those lines So they didn't get a game on Saturday, but so still they got the win against South Central on Saturday Connors the Droid Cat a couple of third period goals for EMU And then last night to beat Marshfield to go on the road get that first conference wins or five goals in the third period

Jackson Pierce, I mean he's been consistently putting the puck in the back of the net for EMU it's been

a different kind of EMU team.

I'm very curious to talk to the coach because for quite a while, it was a team that struggled scoring goals.

I mean, they didn't have the depth in order to, I think, keep the pressure on.

And they kind of were leaning on some pretty good goal tending over the years.

But this year, they've been able to put the puck in the back of the net much more consistently.

Yeah.

I mean, when you look at their scores, I mean, six, four, seven, four, and these are losses here, 12, six.

I mean, you score six goals in a game.

You know, they've been able to put the puck in the net more

consistently than they have in years past.

And I think when, when you look at their, their lineup, they've got to, they've got to make sure that they, they find ways to put the puck to the back on that to get themselves a chance to win.

They beat South Central five to three, getting five goals there.

And then to, to beat a Marshfield team at Marshfield.

Um, it was a warm day in Marshfield there.

Um, little different than the game, the, the temperature you're going to see tomorrow, but you know, for them to go, score five third period goals, that's got to be exciting.

That's exciting as a coach to see.

your team down and come out and play an outstanding period of hockey.

In a first conference win for the coach, and I think for a lot of those guys as well, I mean, those are special nights.

I mean, EMU has struggled to get conference wins and to get one on the road at a place where Marshfield has a couple wins already.

I mean, they would have been over 500 in the conference with the W. I'm thinking, they're probably thinking, OK, we're going to try to be the best of the rest after Steven's point in Wausau West.

But that's, I thought, a very impressive win for the Blue Jacks.

Yeah, it's a great road win.

I mean, plus when he.

you come from behind and the momentum, I mean, to score five goals in a period, there's a lot of excitement on the bench.

Let's talk about the Great Northern Conference because, again, it's very interesting there as well.

Tomahawk, 6-0 in the conference, 11-3 overall.

Pines, 5-1 in the conference, 12-2 overall.

Mosini, 4-2 in the league, 8-6 overall.

Wapaka, 4-3 and 8-7.

Andergo, 3-3, 9-5, and then Lakeland at 1-4, 4-5.

Medford 1-5, 2-9-1 and then Rhinelander 0-6 and 0-13.

Some significant play and I think we talked a bit about it last week with Tyler Bars that they had their big game against Tomahawk on Thursday night and it turned into another nip and tuck affair was back and forth.

Mosini took a 3-2 lead in the third period but Tomahawk responded and the thing that has to be in the craw of a coach and the craw of the team is you're up 3-2 at home in a game that you need to win where if you're

It's a three-way tie for first in the conference.

Not only do you give up the lead with a shorthanded goal, you give up the game with a shorthanded goal.

Two shorthanded goals by Tomahawk in the third period.

Jonah Dickens first, and then Jet Riley.

And of course, those are two very talented players

that

we've talked about.

But again, big comeback win for Tomahawk, and it does keep them in first place in the conference.

And I will say, though, real quickly, Mose and he did bounce back nicely on Friday.

They had a long trip down to Milwaukee Marquette.

It was a back and forth game in the end.

Mohseny came from behind.

They trailed going into the third and beat Marquette 5-4, Tyler Bars with his big high school sports show bump with a hat trick in that game.

But I mean, talk about back-to-back nights that were interesting for Mohseny, but also huge on Thursday for Tomahawk.

Yeah, I mean, that's a big emotional game for Mohseny and Tomahawk.

I mean, it's a big, big conference rival, conference matchup, you know, sexual final, you know.

would have had sectional final implications from the past.

But, you know, I noticed that too, that the Jonah Dickens had a short-handed goal followed by Jent Riley's short-handed goal.

And that's a young team.

You know, when you think about

what the,

the, the, the Mosini roster and what they're, what they're made of, that's a young team mistake right there.

When you're, when you're on the power play up one goal, like things that you, as a coach, you're thinking, finish it, finish it.

Let's find a way to get one to the back of the net here.

And you just, you know, mishandled the puck.

And, and with those two players, you cannot give them opportunities like that.

They're two very skilled players for Tomahawk and they're going to put the puck in the net.

And it's probably super disappointing, but at the same time, like if you look at the,

have full side of it for Mosini.

That's a lot of growth to get to that point against a good Tomahawk team.

And then Mosini also had it wins Monday and Tuesday.

They beat Rylander eight to one and then four to one at Wapaka last night.

Tyler Bars had two more goals last night in that win and wanted to ask you about that Tomahawk.

Rapids game actually last night Tomahawk had rapids come to town and that is a sectional game for them now And they won five to two and for Tomahawk and we're just talking I mean we're trying to figure out who could be like number four in this bracket It's still open.

I mean Tomahawk has had some

Tough matchups, I think but at the same time they're still in the mix I think a lot of these teams in the next couple of weeks have an opportunity to move up in that bracket Don't they?

Yeah, I think so.

I mean Tom Ock went to Superior on Saturday and lost 7-1 up there Which I felt was a little surprising just how wide that margin was But when you when you look at the sectional the way that that sectional is gonna play out it's a battle right now for potential number four and and I mean I feel like the top three seeds are there and I think those games will play out but

You've got the opportunity to get to that foreseed in the next couple of weeks.

Seating meetings are three weeks away.

So you've got three

weeks

to kind of solidify your spot.

Yeah.

I mean, a team like Everest could move in there as well.

Because I mean, we're looking at teams like Memorial.

And I want to ask you this, because I was looking at Memorial and their standings in the Big Rivers.

They're tied for second in the conference.

But their record is very poor overall, well under 500.

When you get in that room,

How much does conference position matter?

How much does the non-conference stuff matter?

How do you look at that because I because again I at this point boy You know the top three teams at the same time You don't know what the order of the top three teams are gonna be and then you have really a lot of teams that could be

in a position to argue one way or the other to have a pretty decent seating.

It's going to be really interesting.

And

by the way, real fast, the people know, again, you guys still get in the room.

When we talk about basketball, they use the computer.

You guys still, actually, there's no computer at all for the hockey seedings, right?

There's not.

I mean, there's ways like you can go to my hockey rankings, they'll spit out some computer generated, but she never know what the what what they value in that calculation.

But when you look at, you know, you asked about Claire Memorial, like, in the Big Rivers Conference, I think when you look at the the seating, it's going to be a what's the strength of the conferences.

And what are the next couple teams and how have cross conference and out of conference matchups went?

I think within the conference, it's, I think it's pretty simple.

where you're at the conferences is where you're at, you know, especially if the head to heads line up, it gets a little different when a team's beating somebody, but yet they're ahead of them in the conference.

So I don't that that from four to the, you know, 13 is going to be an interesting one because you've got with Tomahawk only having a few sectional games, you know, rapids and now superior, you know, it'll be interesting to see how, how those things get seated out and what the arguments used are.

That's so, so I really love that the coaches still get together.

I think it's super important that you as a coach get to dissect and dive into the, the seating numbers and the common opponents and the spreadsheets because that's the fun part.

You get to go in and talk about your team and, and, and see what your playoff rounds going to look like.

And by the way, I, you know, when talking about that, I was thinking who's going to be for, I imagine, and I haven't really dealt deep into superior.

I imagine they're, they're right there as well.

They are.

They had a big win against somebody over in Minnesota.

They won't, in their, in their league.

So, so they, they're obviously playing much better than he did.

and early on at the Thanksgiving tournament in Eau Claire.

So they're always, I mean, as you've seen, Chad,

you

know, as a seven seed a year ago, they were an outstanding hockey team.

And it's a great program that's, you know, they're going to have them ready to go for the playoffs.

Pines, it looks like they're getting better and better just based on the results, not having an opportunity yet to see them in person.

But it just seems like as the season's gone on, they have continued to build up.

Again, they dominated Lakeland five, nothing on Thursday.

had a couple of big wins again over the weekend.

Pines beat Hayward 8-1 on Saturday.

They beat Wapak on the road 7-3 on Monday.

It looks like Pines in Division 2 is setting themselves up for a pretty good run in that bracket with Mosini probably being the team that would be...

the biggest threat in that bracket.

Yeah, I mean, Pines has done everything that they can up to this point.

I mean, they're playing a really good schedule.

They're playing well within their conference.

And I think you're right.

I think that right now that section probably breaks down to Mosini and Pines in the end.

And you just look at the firepower that Pines has had, eight goals against Hayward, seven against Wolpaka, and they have the offensive firepower.

And they've got some really good defensive players as well as goalie Everett Leslie back there.

And they're a team that looks like they're poised for a good playoff run.

And by the way, I think a

number of folks have been saying, oh,

Terrible it is that Tomahawk is going to division one.

I imagine some people in Eagle River are more than happy that they don't have to deal with them.

Not that they don't think they could beat them, but it just makes it a life a little bit less complicated.

Yeah, I mean, I think I

don't think there's probably anyone sad in that sectional disease.

Tomahawk have to get bumped up.

Whether they agree with it or

not, I think that's irrelevant because Tomahawk's been the team to beat in that bracket the last couple of years.

They happened and they've

earned it.

They were successful.

And by the way, real fast, all this talk about getting new people to the state tournament because of Division 2, well, there's gonna be a new person in that bracket, so everybody should be so happy if you love this two-tournament setup.

put your hands together, could you get another new team at the state tournament?

And it's been a while since Pines has been there.

You know, I think the first couple of years that they, they went division one and division two, Pines was there

because they had the Fondi Springs Pines matchups.

So,

yeah.

So I think, you know, it's, it's not a new team to the two division model, but it's, it's certainly somebody new between Mosini, Pines and Tomahawk.

They've been

the three teams to make it out of that bracket.

I, I, I hope people can tell my little sarcasm because

When it comes down to the state tournament, I miss the one division format.

I mean, I would rather have it be eight and four than division two could be happy and division one could be happy.

But that's my little editorial point of view there.

Chad, you get that.

We, you know, others of us have to keep our opinions tighter than that.

But I think, you know, the two division models help to get different communities down there.

The only issue on our side of is we wanted eight division one and

four division two.

I

don't, I don't think there's

any argument there.

And by the way, it's always interesting to keep an eye on what Austin Martinson's doing in Annago because that guy's going to be a freshman who's getting an incredible amount of shot opportunities and stopping a lot of shots and

Wapaka beat Anago on Thursday 3 to 1.

It was a 47 to 18 edge.

And so it was a 44 more saves for Martinsen.

Then on the weekend Saturday, they went to Lakeland and won 2 to 1 in overtime.

46 saves for Austin Martinsen as well in that game.

And then they kind of were brought back to earth a little bit on Monday when they went to a Tomahawk and fell 8-0.

71 to 14 edge.

Still 63 saves made by Austin Martinson.

I did notice very late in the game with a minute three to go.

I was looking at the scoring of it.

15-57 to the third.

Anaglada penalty that's listed as abuse of officials.

I wanted to ask you about that.

Have you seen that listed anywhere?

Have you heard it announced as abuse of officials at any point?

Not necessarily at the high school level.

I think it levels above.

And it usually means a player decided to give their opinion of an official and continue their verbiage, which is probably not clean.

And I think it's probably the first time I've seen it at the high school level listed as abuse of officials.

Usually it's unsportsmanlike conduct is the most common call for that.

Girls hockey.

Wisconsin Valley Conference Black River Falls in first place at five and oh nine three and one overall central Wisconsin storm three and one in the conference nine four and one overall Wisconsin Valley Union three and three

6 and 7 overall.

North and Pines 1 and 3, 3, 8 and 2 overall.

Medford 0 and 5, 0 and 11 overall.

Storm had, we talked about this last week, they had a very challenging weekend trip going to Western Wisconsin, who was for entertainment purposes only.

The second ranked team in the state going into last week.

Friday, the storm won at Western Wisconsin 2 to 1 in overtime.

Madeleine Kelter, the game winning goal.

Jaden Yurkowski had a goal as well.

Cami Floor had 38 saves on 39 shots, really helping the.

storm on a night where Western Wisconsin outshot them 39-20.

Then they went to Gentry Academy on Saturday, fell 4-1.

Jaden Yurkowski gave the storm a 1-0 lead after 1.

It was a penalty filled game.

I was looking at the numbers, 10 penalties on each side, but Gentry able to win that one.

And then last night the storm went to Stevens Point and defeated Wisconsin Valley Union by a score of, actually I should mention as well, they did beat

Medford on the road on Monday in a make-up game, 6-2.

77 shots on net that night for the storm.

It's six different goal scores.

And then last night in a significant game that I know you went down to, storm defeated Wisconsin Valley Union 3-1.

Ava Whitmore, two goals.

Maisie DuPoit, I had a goal.

Cammie Floor, 15 saves.

Lost the shutout with one second to go, which is always a kick to the gut for a goaltender.

But generally, four games, three wins.

3 for 3 against teams from Wisconsin, a pretty good week for the storm.

Yeah, I think so.

I watched the Western Wisconsin game online as I was at the girls wrestling duels down in Stevens Point, which is a fun event.

For them to play and get an overtime victory over Western Wisconsin, I think was big for them, big for their confidence.

When you looked at how they played Gentria, they're up 1-0 after the first period, down 2-1 going into the third.

I mean, just against a real, that was a really physical game.

A lot of penalties for them to come out of their 4-1 loss after Gentria had beaten Bay Area Storm, no, Bay Area

Ice

Bears, the night before 6-3.

So I mean, obviously Gentry Academy, good team, good program over there in the state of Minnesota, beat two Wisconsin teams.

But I feel like the storm should come out of that with some confidence a little bit.

I mean, Western Wisconsin was six and five, but people felt like they were the number two team in the state.

And that's a big win, especially as they've, quote unquote, fallen out of the

top six

over the previous weeks.

Headlines.

Yeah.

And for them, it was.

some victories to get there.

How they're winning right now, it's been a little bit different in every game, but I think they're starting to gel a little bit here as the back half of the season comes in.

And they got a significant game on Friday against ECA Stars.

Again, it's another one of those litmus test games as we get to this part of the season.

It kind of gives you a sense as you move forward where they stand with some of the other top teams in the state.

Yeah, I think so.

It's a big game, big matchup.

I mean, these two conference games back to back, when you think about their schedule, they went Thursday, Friday, Monday.

I don't know, Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday.

I mean, that's a lot of hockey to get a couple days, you know, talking to Coach Wimmer, she I think she was excited to practice today because they've not had many practices over the last week or a week here.

Real quick though, you know, I went, I went to the Medford game and yes, shots 77 shots on goal, but Zaleel Leonard.

unbelievable goal tender for for Medford.

You were saying last night that she's a multi-sport athlete and what does she do else?

She's a

catcher in softball and you could see it because she was catching most Pucks thrown to her and you could see she was going through traffic and I felt like she was framing them once in a while when she would catch those but just an outstanding performance by her reminded me a little bit of what probably Austin Martinson has to do in Annago when she knows she's going to see a lot of Pucks.

I mean last night

They played, I think, Black River.

She did not play in that, and they lose 10 to nothing.

I mean, I think that she is such a significant impact player for them, and just an outstanding performance by her.

And real quickly, I mean, you look at catchers and goal tenders, you do see similarities.

They both have to go to their knees.

They both have to use their bodies to block, whether it's a softball, baseball, or a puck.

I guess I'm almost a little surprised we don't hear more of that.

Well, I think, I mean,

Over the years, as a coach when you've maybe not had a goalie or you have a gap in years where you're getting a goalie, the first place you go is the baseball team.

because there's somebody who's a catcher, whether or not he can skate, that's the difference.

The thing about Zalia is she's a good skater.

And I think that's a big difference because she can move laterally.

She knows how to skate and use her edges.

But yeah, I mean, there's a lot of commonalities.

I mean, I think about Claire Kalmas.

She was a catcher in softball.

When she was nine, 10 years old, I was like, hey, Ange, what do you think about this?

And it was so similar.

She was able to transition to that goal-tenning position because it was very similar

to catching.

very cool.

Hey, we're going to take a quick time out and then come back.

Our first guest, our second guest will be at 706, our student athlete guest for this week, Wausau East Boys basketball senior Robbie and Julie.

But coming up next, we'll be joined by a guy I'm sure he's very happy after a nice road trip to Marchfield last night, East Merrill United Blue Jack head hockey coach, Brian Bednarczyk.

He'll be joining us coming up next as we continue on the Big High School Sports Show on 98.9 WXEL.

We are the NFHS.

That stands for the National Federation of State High School Associations.

But really, what we stand for, together with the WIAA, are the 178,000 high school sports students in Wisconsin.

And so, we stand.

We stand for the runners, soccer, and basketball players.

We stand for their coaches, administrators, and officials.

We stand for the swimmers, football players, and wrestlers.

We stand for the golfers, softball, and volleyball players.

We stand as the national leader and advocate for high school athletics and all who participate in them and make them possible.

Because it is our purpose to ensure that high school students get to play, perform, and compete together.

To learn more about who we are and what we stand for visit NFHS.org

And welcome back big high school sports show

98.9 WXCO online at wxco.fm mobile devices and Alexa by searching WXCO on the Civic Media app and also on the 98.9 WXCO YouTube channel.

with former Wausau West head hockey coach and current athletic director, BJ Brandt.

I am Chad Holmes and time now for our coach guest for this week from the East Merrill United Blue Jacks.

First year head coach, Brian Bednarchik.

Coach, thank you for coming on

in.

Yes, thank you for having

me.

Often when we have our guests lined up, it's like we always hope.

that it's going to be after a win.

But there's no guarantees because I actually set it up beforehand when you had a game on Tuesday night when on the road to Marshfield.

But you earned a nice win.

And I guess to start things off, a big outburst in the third period to come back and win that hockey game, to win that first conference game had to be a special for you and for the entire team.

Yeah, it was really nice to get that win.

They've been working hard all year.

So it's really nice to see their hard work paying off.

So it was really cool to see.

I mean, talk what it's been like for you.

You go from, you know, you had your playing days and you've watched a ton of hockey.

What made you want to jump into the head coaching world?

I kind of always knew at some point I would want to get into coaching, you know.

And then I saw that opportunity come up with East Merrill.

And it's like a head coaching job in the Wisconsin Valley Conference.

It was kind of hard to pass up.

a lot of conversations with my wife and family making sure that I was going to be the right move and so it all worked out and I'm happy to be in that spot.

As you looked at it when you first got the job in terms of trying to build a foundation with your program, what were the things you tried to establish first in terms of trying to build a successful high school hockey program?

Yeah, that was one of the challenges I think even taking the job people were saying.

you know like they've never had a winning season so like I look at that as more of a challenge and something that I want to help try to turn around and help these kids get better but I think the number one thing was I have three rules it's be a good teammate work hard and have fun so

I kind of wanted that to be kind of the basis of what the program is going to be.

It doesn't really matter results of wins and losses right away.

Just working hard, having fun with your teammates and being, you know, a good person on and off the ice.

So it's kind of the foundations I've been laying.

And and I think it's it's shown a little bit Brian just and your schedule right here You know you look at you're able to get you in a tough overtime loss against Rapids and then you follow that up with with an overtime win over wall pack I'd talk talk about the the ups and downs and and what you've been able to find fun so far with this group

Yeah, I think just every game I can go back and They're having points where I was like, oh we if we went to got some penalties or if we

could have prevented a couple of those goals like we could have won.

So I think our four nine record is a little misleading.

I think we do have a good foundation with a lot of good players and our goalies when playing really well Tony.

And I think it all kind of started losing that overtime game against Rapids because I think they really thought and I thought that was one we should have had.

So

that was motivation just you know getting into overtime was good and then we won an overtime and now I think yeah we've won three of our last four games which is pretty nice so after the Evers game you know I told him I understand you know like we're gonna have ups and downs we're gonna lose some games but it's more about like the way we're losing like

We don't want to lose without giving our best effort so like as long as we're giving our effort and I feel like we're playing hard We're doing the things I'm asking You know like I'll be happy with that, but after that ever scheme.

I really thought We needed to have a reset so we had a team meeting we talked about a bunch of things and then we've been playing really good so and so

Sometimes

Losing should be a habit and then winning can be a habit when when a team goes through a cycle of not winning a lot of hockey games You need to get maybe the mindset more than anything else and it looks as though maybe Let me ask you about last night because again you were down by a goal going to the third It looks as all you that maybe the mindset has changed was that one of the main reasons you're able to come back and win that game last

night?

I I think it's just about sticking to what we've been trying to get done all year and

I've been trying to teach them to play with a mindset that the game is 0-0 all the time.

It doesn't matter if we're up by 10 or if we're losing by 10.

We're playing like it's 0-0, we cannot let them score and we're scoring the next goal.

So I think just getting that through to them and then seeing a puck go in, we get a goal and you get another goal and it kind of builds from there in snowball.

They did a great job just sticking with the plan and, you know, executing last night.

So it was really fun to see.

What was the locker room like?

I mean, that had to be fun.

That's the first conference win in a while and just a meaningful conference win against Marshfield, who has, you know, the ability to score.

They've got their high end.

It's really good.

And just talk about what that meant for you personally and how fun it was for the kids.

Yeah, they were really excited.

Jackson got interviewed and I had to do an interview too so I didn't get in the locker room right away but I know they were they were so excited and it was it was fun especially asking you know Marshall has a few conference wins and you know getting that one on our bell is just a huge like accomplishment for this year so far.

Kind of opens up the door because you mentioned Jackson Pierce and 14 goals this season and another good night last night.

I think I had trick against Marshfield and just generally offensively this year.

The Blue Jack team seems to be more explosive offensively.

Looks as though you got a number of kids that can really put the puck in the back of the net.

And that's really been interesting to see because I think for a number of years it's always been a little bit of a struggle to get goals for EMU.

But this group, it looks like you have some pretty good offensive talent.

Could you talk a little bit?

about that?

Yeah, I think we have like three decent lines that we can run out there and just keep playing.

And then we don't have to, you know, wear down our top two lines.

And we just like everyone's been contributing and playing their role and chipping in offensively.

And it's been really good to see I was I was really pleasantly surprised with like how good some of the kids are and how hard they work.

And

like how eager they are to learn new things and what we've been doing.

So it's really been a really fun to kind of see them progressing and get better and

better.

Talk a little bit about, like, people don't understand sometimes when you have a co-op.

You've got a lot of different variables to deal with, and maybe a standalone program.

Talk about some of those challenges and how you've been able to keep your team together through some of those, you know, two kids in different schools and different communities.

Yeah, I think right away, I just, I kind of told the kids, like, I don't care if you go to Merrill, if you go to East, we're in this together, we're one team.

When we put that jersey on, we're in the locker room, we're here together.

So like, that really hasn't been an issue at all.

Like there's no, in house fighting, like, oh, you go to Merrill, I go to East, none of that.

So that's been really good.

And I guess as far as, you know, like we practice Monday and Friday in Merrill and then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

No, Monday, sorry, Monday and Friday in Wausau.

And then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday is up in Merrill if we don't have games.

So like that's interesting.

You know, I have to get the bus ready for East if we're going to Merrill or Merrill if we're going down to East.

So there's a lot of logistics and, you know, it's been interesting on that part of it.

But yeah, just moving the equipment around so the players, you know, it's nice.

So we have two locker rooms and two rinks.

And that's kind of cool, like different setups in both spots.

But.

How

much more does it put on your plate in terms of because part of the job is to try to get the kids come out for the sport and to build a program and make sure that they come through on a yearly basis to get the interest both at Merrill High School and at Wasta East High School and to try to have the have the kids come out.

I imagine that puts a lot on your plate in order to try to establish the relationships in both schools and to have the kids come out and play some hockey.

Yeah, that's I mean we want

You know watch the kids that come play for us and you know the Merrill kids obviously but

You know I

haven't really been too much involved with you know trying to get the you know East guys to stay at East or any of that stuff, but Yeah, I think the Merrill youth hockey is like growing a little bit and getting better and better.

So that definitely helps too But yeah

One of the strengths I've seen from you guys this year is when your top power play unit out there, like you guys can really move the puck and you've got that group dialed in.

I mean, right now your power plays at just under 20% for the season.

Talk about that and how big of a strength it is to be able to put those guys out there.

Yeah, we try to work on the power play before every game just for at least like 15 minutes or so and just go over different scenarios that can happen and like, yeah, those guys are.

They've been playing together since they were kids.

So they kind of know where each other are and they can pass the puck around.

So like if we can, you know, capitalize on some power play goals and play some good defense and popping another one here and there, you know, like that's definitely something that we're going to lean on throughout the season too.

So

again, we're talking to Brian Bidnarczyk, the head hockey coach at East Merrill United here on the Big High School Sports Show on 98.9 WXCO.

How different is your team now than when you first got on the ice to start practice?

I mean, how much improvement have you seen from this group?

Is there any particular area that's been maybe most impressive to yourself in terms of the strides they've made from the start of practice up to this point in mid-January?

Yeah, I think They've been like we work on skating usually the first five ten minutes every practice skating circling and passing You know, and I'm trying to do like run some systems that are like

you know, you'd consider them division one systems and, you know, before we can get into that, we have to make sure we can make passes.

We have to make sure we're skating, you know, in the right area and, you know, stick handling with our head up and making sure you know where your teammates are and going over all of that stuff before we can really get into, you know, this is how I want our breakout to look.

So from day one to now, it's been like, I feel like we've

made a lot of progress and they've been really getting better and better and It's it's really been fun to see and kind of be a part of so

real quickly me jumping and I'll ask the second half of the question is as we get to the final what Month or so of the regular season then the start of the playoffs What are the areas that you have to continue to make strides on to continue to take move up in terms of both the conference standings and also just to be a better hockey team as we get into the month of February in the postseason.

Yeah, I think

just trusting each other, playing hard every night, going out there every shift, just working hard, you know, like getting back on our back checks and covering guys in the D zone, just reading the play more, trying to figure out where that guy is going to go with the puck, not letting guys get, you know, sneaking back door, stuff like that.

You know, if we improve our defense and just get the puck deep and

get to work I think we can you know make some noise so yeah I'm just gonna try to keep working on stuff like that so

what's what's been fun for you through this process because I know there's there's always challenges and and we could talk about those forever but what's been fun what's been a little bit surprising on the on the fun factor for you during this first year I

just I've really enjoyed all of it I mean

I guess you could call me kind of a hockey nerd, but I like planning our practices and going through video and watching other teams play and stuff like that.

All of it's been fun.

I love going to the rink, so it's been really fun getting to know the kids and what they like and what kind of drills they like and how they play and what makes them tick.

getting to know the players and just trying to bring that group together and be a team has been really enjoyable for me so far.

It's a pretty young team.

I mean, it doesn't have a lot of seniors on your squad.

I think maybe four seniors

if I'm

not mistaken.

Who are the leaders on this team?

Who are the kids that maybe each other lean on a little bit more in terms of leadership, in terms of setting the tone for this group?

Because obviously it does look like a team that has been making strides forward and a lot of that

doesn't always come always on the ice, but come off the ice as well.

Who are the the leaders on this spot?

Yeah, I think there's we have a pretty good group yet.

We only have four seniors, but one of them's Tony's been playing goalie like the last four or five games and playing really well.

Unfortunately, one of our captains, Liam Zadroik, has had a knee injury.

So he's been out since the Marquette game.

And he's even though he's not playing, he's definitely

So he's around and still, you know, a leader on the team.

But I mean, we, we, we rely on, you know, Jackson and, uh, Eric Grunenwald, uh, Hunter Renkins, one of our captains, uh, Connors as a direct has been playing really well in Brody, Clevenall.

He's one of our captains too.

Those guys have been really kind of driving the bus for us and, you know, leading the way.

So it's been.

It's been good to see them stuff up.

And yeah, a lot of juniors.

So next

year we're,

you know, I'm pretty excited.

Just I told them like we're not on, like we don't have to win every game this year, but let's keep building, you know, maybe next year we can take some big strides and make some noise.

So.

Well, that was my next question.

I was just looking at your roster, tons of juniors.

So, so there's just, there's got to be some excitement as you go through this 24, 25.

26 game stretch with this group, knowing that you graduate for and you bring back a lot from this year.

Talk a little bit about that group and what they'll mean to the program going forward.

Yeah, I think, you know, next year, if we can't get it done this year, I mean, the goal is to have a winning season, you know, I think that's very reachable.

And I think, you know, we have to take it one game at a time, but I think if we have a good summer and we keep working hard and

Kind of keep doing the things we've been doing.

I really think that's possible.

And I'd love to see that for these kids.

Has there been any big surprises in your first year?

Anything that, because you said your guy's been around hockey, has anything surprised you in this first year as a head hockey coach at the varsity level?

Nothing I can think of off the top of my head, but it's just been really enjoyable.

just being around some of the coaches I've played with and against and just seeing a lot of familiar faces.

It's been fun just to be in that world again and be involved with hockey.

Chad, you may not know this, but hockey is a really big, small world.

you know, like Brian wasn't in the coaching world, but there weren't many, many times I'd go to a junior game or a cyclones game or something like that and I'd run into Brian.

So him saying he's a hockey nerd, I totally believe that.

Talk a little bit about that, Brian, what it's been like to get back into that circle and, you know, dive into everything you wanted to when you grew up playing the game and to pass along to the next generation of hockey players.

Yeah, I think

you know I mean I never played pro or anything but I played paper makers for 16 years so when I was done with that it was like this is my fifth year now that I haven't played so getting into this has just been it's been awesome like I just you know I love going to the rink like I said before but yeah being able to kind of give back and share the things that I've learned throughout the years and I have some friends that are

higher level coaching to that have been helping me out and just bouncing off like ideas with them and bringing that back to the team and You know, it's just it's been really enjoyable and I just my main goal is just to help these You know help develop these players and help us, you know have a winning program.

So that's really Really my main goal

And I gotta ask you a question because this is again you talk about you know

Liking every all these aspects of it You got a game tomorrow against Stevens Point and obviously Stevens Point has been just an incredibly talented and big program When you sit down and you try to figure out okay, how are we gonna go about playing a team like Stevens Point?

Could you maybe?

pull the curtain back a little bit.

What is the preparation like for a team like that?

I obviously now with a couple of wins in a row, you got some confidence, you have to be excited, a great opportunity for them to come into your house tomorrow night.

What is the preparation for a team like Stevens Point, like for you to get your team in that mental space to go out there and challenge one of the top teams in the state?

Yeah, so like just for practice today, I just try to do a lot of

Drills were we're shooting we're making good passes, you know, we're back checking moving our feet Just getting ready trying to stay positive and then I kind of I mean I lean back kind of on like my playing days when we played Spassion with Everest We beat them twice my senior year and what we did I mean You have to keep them to the outside.

You have to put pressure on them.

You can't be scared to play them

You have to go out there with confidence.

You have to just believe in yourself and your teammates.

Keeping shots to the outside.

Clearing the front of the net.

I mean, they're a good team.

I can't deny that.

So I just tell them to go out there.

Let's have fun.

Let's play as hard as we can.

Like I said, 0-0 every shift.

Come to the bench, win your battles.

That's all you can really do.

Just try your best.

BJ, anything else?

No, this has been fun.

There's a great question there, Chad, and a great answer by Brian, because people don't understand.

What coaches have to go through to prepare for every opponent?

I mean it doesn't matter if you're you're playing Marshfield last night or Steven's point link every coach goes through a different preparation for a different opponent and nowadays

there's not as much time at this I mean games come at yourself very quickly

especially once you get you know this the second semester style that kids are just finishing up for semester starting second semester then it becomes an absolute sprint through the the second week of February and that's it can be good and bad sometimes some teams

want to want to play a ton of games and some coaches want to practice more to prep them so it's really good insight there.

Let me ask you one more thing because again your first year

And I've talked to BJ about this.

I've talked to basketball coaches and basketball has the seating process where it's all on the computer.

But you hockey coaches get together.

Are you looking forward to that discussion?

I find it intriguing to have a bunch of hockey coaches get together and then talk about each other's teams and then say, okay, here's the seatings for it.

Is that something that you're actually looking forward to doing?

Or would you rather have a computer seating that does not have to deal with

that?

I'm not real sure.

I mean, I haven't been involved in that process yet.

So I'm not real sure what it looks like.

And it'll kind of depend on what our record is to at the end of the year.

If, you

know, we

have any say in, you know, like moving up or whatever.

But, um, I

don't

know.

Our, our, our conference or that sectional is gone.

So it's going to be, it's going to be tough either way.

I think whatever team comes out of that sectional has a chance to win state.

So let's.

I mean, that seating process, Brian, just, you know, is, it's a good group of coaches that I think all do their homework.

And I think that's the best thing that I like for the integrity of the process.

I love the coaches that do their homework and not only for their team, but for their opponents to make sure that ultimately my biggest fear and gripe with the electronic process is you have to get a formula that matches.

values the right things and and I think in the basketball world watching them go through it here

I don't think there's been a perfect version yet to think teams that have been head-to-head have been seated, you know, the loser of that head-to-head matchup has been seated lower.

Where I feel like in the hockey world, the coaches getting together and doing their homework, I think get it right.

And I think that's the most important part of this whole process is to value the 24 game regular season, usually around 20 to 22 games by the time you get to the seating process, and just value what you've done on paper.

Yeah.

That makes sense.

Just getting it right is probably the most important thing.

One person's getting it right is another person's not

getting

it right though.

That's also one of the fun things about it because people look forward to that morning to find out who you get in that first round of playoffs and see where you go and all that good stuff.

So again, congrats.

It's been I know a good week here to get that win on Friday night and then come back and get that road win at Marchfield last night.

Really nice to see the progress that you and your boys are making.

making so far this season.

Best of luck as you continue the rest of the way.

All right, thank you.

That's

head coach Brian Bednarczyk of the East Merrill United Blue Jacks coming off their win last night, six to three at Marshfield.

Coming up, we will have the top of the hour and our information update, a news update.

And then coming up, we'll have our student athlete guest starting off the second hour of the program.

We'll be joined by Wassa East Boys basketball senior Robbie and Julie coming up at 7 0 6.

With BJ Brandt, I'm Chad Holmes.

It is the big high school sports show on 98.9 WX.

See y'all!