With all of the young talent the ASU hockey program has recruited in the last couple of years, the team has turned into quite a youth movement.
In this year’s edition there are 16 underclassmen, redefining the meaning of having a steady goalie to rely on.
The top goaltender for ASU is Mark Schacker, a four-year letterman and one of the best backstops in the ACHA.
The State Press sat down with Schacker and talked to him about some of the things he does on and off the ice.
The State Press: So what made you want to become a goalie in the first place?
Mark Schacker: Well it was probably because I was too slow to play forward. I started out playing forward at 5 or 6 years old, played until I was 11 then just developed a fascination with goalies. So I tried to play goalie in a game. My first game I did pretty well, second game not so much. Then I just kind of stuck with it and now here I am.
SP: Knowing that, what does it mean to you to be able to see yourself now playing as good as you have so far?
MS: It’s definitely important. It’s good to be able to give my team confidence that every night they are going to be in the game because of my performance. I just hope I keep it going. For myself, I just try to be consistent and make the saves that I should be making every night. Then hopefully make a couple of saves that maybe I shouldn’t make. I rely on my angles and my positioning. Working with the goalie coach this year on Tuesdays and Fridays has helped a lot.
SP: You’re a senior on a relatively young roster. What’s it like to be on a team with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores?
MS: They keep me young. Last year we had a bunch of older guys the same age as me on the team and I was fortunate enough to have a year left to come back. Playing with these young guys and the energy they bring every day makes it more fun for me to go out and practice and compete day in and day out. I feel like a freshman right now in terms of my energy out there and not so much like a 25-year-old.
SP: What’s it like to have a coach who set most of the goaltending records here at ASU around practice everyday?
MS: I guess it’s good. It never really gets brought up. He treats me like every other player on the team for the most part. Aside from that really it’s just given me a goal to look forward to, and his records, I’d like to break all of them.
SP: So it never comes up during practice?
MS: No, it never does actually. I mean, I don’t know what his wins are and his save percentage and goals against are for all four years he played here. But I’m pretty sure I’m getting close to his wins record if not almost there.
SP: How about the move coming from Doylestown, Penn., just outside Philadelphia to here?
MS: It was a huge culture shock to say the least. Doylestown is a really small town, a tight-knit community, in which everybody knows each other. Then coming out here, the school is basically a city in itself. 70,000 people walking around everyday, not too often you see the same person twice. It was different. I kind of like it more out here. Playing hockey and having a group of guys you are close with has made it a lot easier.
SP: Well what made you choose ASU?
MS: I knew that they had a really good business school and I knew I wanted to be a business major. The weather and the campus were really nice. It was completely different from the normal college feel I was accustomed to. I went to Penn State for a half of a year and I was cut from that team. So I was just kind of looking for a place to go and potentially play hockey.
I wasn’t really set on playing hockey. After I got cut, I thought I was done. To be honest, hockey was really my last concern coming out here. I just hoped for the best and it worked out really well.
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
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