Western Collegiate Hockey Association
by Tom Reale, SCSU Athletic Media Relations
Veteran SCSU defenseman Justin Fletcher  |
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Feb. 8, 2007
Apparently, not everyone from Illinois is from the Chicago area. Just ask senior assistant captain Justin Fletcher.
"I grew up in Maryville, Illinois," says Fletcher. "Maryville's about 20 minutes outside of downtown St. Louis. A lot of people think I'm from Chicago because there's a Maryville section of the city, but I'm really from the other side of the state."
Maryville, a town of about 5,000 people, is located in Madison County, Illinois and is considered to be part of the larger St. Louis Metropolitan Area.
"I may have lived in Illinois but I really grew up playing hockey in St. Louis. My dad played, but he really didn't start until he was maybe 14, about the time the Blues came to the city. He got me into skates at age 4 and started teaching me the game.
"From there on out, it was just a passion to shoot pucks in the garage and in the driveway. Growing up it was just hockey, hockey, hockey. My dad loved the sport and drove me a lot to do it, but there was a lot of drive within myself to do it too. It's one of those things that I just enjoyed doing."
Fletcher played several sports growing up, including baseball, but once high school arrived, he began to focus exclusively on the game he loved.
"I left high school my senior year to go play for Sioux City [of the USHL]. Coming from the St. Louis area, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I had played in Triple-A in order to play against the best, because there because the high school programs are nothing like what they are here in Minnesota, it isn't even close. One day, I was sitting there I got a phone call after a tournament and they told me I'd been drafted by Sioux City. I decided to check it out. A lot of people I talked to said that I really needed to go to the USHL if I wanted to play college hockey."
Mentor
Upon arriving in Sioux City, Fletcher quickly established a special relationship which lasts to this day.
"My first couple of years at Sioux City, my `D' coach was [current St. Cloud State assistant] Fred Harbinson. I got to know him pretty well, and when he came here to St. Cloud it made my decision pretty easy."
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Other than Harbinson's presence, the situation at SCSU when Fletcher was preparing to play college hockey played right into his plans.
"At the time, they were losing a lot of senior `D' when I was ready to come up and play. I talked to a few other schools, but St. Cloud State was an easy fit. I knew some of the guys here already, and knowing Fred made things even easier."
Fletcher has come to enjoy playing in front of the hometown fans.
"The atmosphere here is great. I've had friends playing on other teams who have told me that this is their favorite place to come play just because of our student section and how crazy they are. In the big games, you can't even hear yourself think. It's an unbelievable place to play and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Learning the WCHA
Unlike many current Huskies, Fletcher wasn't too aware of the WCHA before he started to look at schools.
"I always grew up watching the CCHA, I didn't really know too much about the WCHA coming from St. Louis and not getting to play against too many Minnesotans."
His education into the WCHA was swift, however.
"I believe it's the best college hockey league there is. Every team has so many good players. You can't go down one team's roster and say `oh, we can just watch this one guy.' Teams come in waves at you, it's unbelievable. Any team can win any game because of that reason. Any team can get hot in this league, and any team can get ice cold even with unbelievable talent. Every night you go out, there are scouts in the stands, and there's always an opportunity everywhere you go."
Fletcher has also grown to appreciate not only the talent that he faces in games around the league, but also the high level of talent that he gets the opportunity to play with on a daily basis, including senior goaltender Bobby Goepfert.
"Bobby's probably one of the two best goalies that I've ever shot on in my life, and I get to shoot on him every day. It's a pleasure having that kind of talent around. Being able to practice against an All-American makes you a better player."
Quarterback
Fletcher's mean slap shot and acute passing abilities have made him indispensable to the St. Cloud State power play. Many have labeled him as the "quarterback" of the Huskies when they enjoy the man advantage.
"I keep hearing that term. It's somewhat true, I guess. It still takes five guys to put the puck in the net and all five guys deserve the same amount of credit. The way our power play has been going this year, everyone's been scoring goals. The only thing I'll say is that if you've been playing with the same four other guys for so long and suddenly one is missing, it's tough to fill in no matter who it is. You're used to the way a guy plays."
One of the key components of that power play unit is fellow assistant captain Andrew Gordon. On several occasions already this season, Gordon has redirected Fletcher's blasts into the back of the net.
"I tell [Fletcher] that if it I have anything to do with it, he's not going to have any more goals for the rest of the season," Gordon told USCHO.com with a bright smile in early January after the Huskies completed a sweep of UAA.
"I wouldn't care if he tipped every one of them in," says Fletcher. "`Gordo' and I get a lot of points together just because he stands in front of the net. We throw him a lot of `shot-passes' where he can tip it in. It's worked for us a few times this year. He's one of those few guys who are willing to stand in front of the net while I rip a 90 miles-an-hour slap shot at him. I love him, he works hard to get to the puck, and he's really one of the bigger reasons why we have success on the power play this year."
Evolution and Leadership
Under the tutelage of two different coaches during his four seasons in a Husky uniform, Fletcher has been witness to the resurgence of the St. Cloud State program.
"We've turned ourselves out of playing a kind of trap defense into trying to make plays with a real focus on skill development. It's really helped some of us older guys out. Craig Dahl was a great defensive coach, and Bob Motzko has really introduced more skill focus to make plays offensively and it's a great combination."
As a designated leader, Fletcher takes a less active role off the ice, though he leads not only by example, but by inspiration during the game.
"Casey [Borer] is pretty vocal in the locker room. He's been our captain for two years and I've got a lot of respect for him. He puts it all out on the ice. Gordon's the same way, he just works hard, but usually he'll only say something when he has something to say. I'm kind of the same way. I don't think it's necessary to yell. I just want to help out some of the younger guys when they're having trouble and give them some tips. I'm more of an in-game, on-ice leader. I'll say some stuff off the ice, but not so much. Getting things done on the ice is a totally different aspect, and that's what's great about our captaincy this year - we compliment each other very well in our styles of leadership and we all work very hard on the ice."
Homecoming?
During the 2005 NFL season, a great deal of attention was paid to Pittsburgh running back Jerome Bettis, a Detroit native who ended up having the opportunity to finish his career at Super Bowl XL in Detroit.
It just so happens that the 2007 Frozen Four will take place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, just in time for Justin Fletcher's final season in college hockey. Could a grand finale in front of family and friends be in the cards?
"I'm not big into superstition. I'll come right out and say that it's nice to have the tournament in St. Louis. It's one of those weird things you look at in the paper a few years back and realize, `wow, wouldn't that be nice.' Then all of a sudden, with the team that we have this year, you start to think about it a little more. It's definitely reachable. You just hope the team stays healthy and can keep things rolling. The fact that it's so close to home adds a little fuel to the fire. It'd be great to get there, but it only takes one bad night in this sport to end the dream, so we need to keep focused."
Legacy
Fletcher is completely focused on the final two months of this season and isn't ready to consider anything afterwards - yet.
"Right now I just want to finish this season out and then go from there. I'd like to keep playing after this, but I want to take things one step at a time. I try not to think about it too much."
As a hard-working, hard-nosed player, Fletcher is not likely to be forgotten as a solid contributor to St. Cloud State's recent success, but he was hesitant to admit it.
"I'd like to be remembered as one of the better defensemen to play here, maybe one of the better offensive-defensemen. It's nice to get compared to some of the guys who have played here who have gone on to the NHL, but until I make it there, I don't really consider myself even close to that level yet. It's just a nice compliment. I'll let other people make the assessments."
Those assessments could get even rosier as the Huskies march forward in pursuit of the higher reaches of excellence.
