Feature Story

Skjodt family making mark in Indiana

 

By Jon Garver

 

Minnesota – The State of Hockey. The state of Indiana doesn’t have such a splashy nickname, but it too has a rich hockey tradition. Wayne Gretzky, the greatest player of all time, had a cup of coffee playing professionally in the state of Indiana, starting his career with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA.

Fast forward 30 years and Indiana is still building its hockey tradition. The Indiana Ice is the current version of Indiana’s team. And although they don’t have any players from the “State of Hockey” on their roster, they do have four homegrown players from Indiana.

Paul Skjodt, a Toronto native and a former member of the IHL’s Indianapolis Checkers, is the man responsible for bringing the USHL to Indiana. Skjodt purchased the Danville Wings after the 2003-04 season and moved them to Indianapolis. Paul’s older brother Charlie is a former Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick and also played professionally with the Checkers. And after years of prodding, Paul was able to convince his brother Charlie to become the Ice’s coach. Now enter the third member of the picture, forward Jake Skjodt, truly making the Ice a family organization.

Jake Skjodt made an impact as a rookie with the Ice in 2006-07. Playing in 58 games, he scored 20 goals and assisted on 20 others, finishing third in team scoring. He was among the league leaders in power play goals and had six more points during the Ice’s Cinderella playoff run, which was a surprise considering the team limped to the end of the regular season. 

“It’s hard to describe in words. We just got hot and we were having so much fun as a team,” Jake Skjodt said of the run in the playoffs. “We realized we needed to have fun again. We needed to stop worrying about all the little things and just play the sport we love.”

As a result of the new attitude, the Ice closed out their regular season with a win, swept the Green Bay Gamblers in the first round and then went 2-0 in the second round, knocking off Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, teams that finished 1-2 in the East Division. The Ice made it to the Clark Cup semifinals and was looking to be the first team in league history to move through the playoffs unscathed, but fell in overtime to eventual Clark Cup Champion Sioux Falls.

Along the way Skjodt secured a scholarship to the University of Nebraska-Omaha. 

“Nebraska-Omaha was one of only two schools to make me an offer,” Skjodt said. “Coach Kemp was a cool person and someone that I wanted to play for.”

But before he was to take the Ice for the Mavericks, Skjodt needed to return to one more year playing for the Ice, and playing for his father. And from the sounds of it, his experience is a lot like that of other players who have played for their fathers.

“I’ve been doing it all my life. He is hard on me like any other father would be,” Skjodt said.

On the season, Skjodt is fourth in scoring for the Ice with 11 points in 14 games and the team is leading the East Division by a point over Cedar Rapids.

That family thing appears to be working very well in Indy.

 

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