By Nick Clark
MnJHL Director of Media Relations

The message was to the point, and it was delivered as such by Dells Ducks head coach Shaun Falzone last summer.

Goaltender Matt Rowe had just completed his first tryout with the team, and Falzone knew the Fox River Grove, Ill. native had aspirations of playing college hockey at some point.

The raw ability was there, Falzone remembered, but in order to transform those dreams into some sort of reality, he made sure Rowe understood that – at the time – he wasn’t even ready to play for the Ducks.

“He was a little unconditioned, or at least too out of shape for me,” Falzone recalled. “I gave him a month told him to get stronger and faster, and to his credit, he left us that day and went to work.”

Most days, that work started early, as Rowe would rise from bed at 5 a.m. each day to begin a workout that would become a four-week ritual.

When he returned to the Ducks for the team’s final tryout, Falzone said it was obvious that his future goaltender took his message from a month prior to heart.

Now, nearly a full season later, others have noticed as well.

Rowe committed to play college hockey for Division III Bethel University in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference  – a school located on the outskirts of St. Paul, Minn. known for its outstanding combination of academics and athletics.

Rowe, who plans to major in Economics, chose Bethel over offers from St. John’s University and Lake Forest College.

“I had options, and that was exciting for me, but after I made a visit to Bethel, it was an easy decision,” Rowe said. “I really loved everything about the place, including the hockey program.”

Those in that program should get used to seeing the 6-foot-5, 200-pound netminder, because if he treats college hockey anything like he has the junior game, he’ll be around the rink often enough.

Falzone said that Rowe is usually on the ice two hours before practice even begins, and then doesn’t leave until an hour or so after the practice concludes.

The option to get so much ice time was one of the primary reasons Rowe wanted to play for the Ducks, and he’s taken advantage of it.

“We have the opportunity here to put in the time,” Rowe said. “With all the open ice we have here, you can work on the game as much as you want, and the coaches are always there to work with you. It’s been a great setup to push myself to get to college.”

In making the commitment to Bethel, Rowe became the first ever Duck to do so. That left Falzone, who said his programs primary goal is to move kids into the college game, feeling like a proud papa last week.

In truth though, he’s felt that way much of the year when watching Rowe take the cage.

“When you see how much he works for it, and how much he’s wanted this, you do feel good for him,” Falzone said. “It’s been that way all year with Matt. It’s exciting to see him go out there, because I know how hard he’s worked for it.”

Rowe’s Minnesota Junior Hockey League opponents likely have a different thought when they see him in goal – mainly because he’s been so tough to beat.

His record is just 8-7 overall, but he leads all MnJHL goaltenders with a .923 saves percentage, and his goals against average has hovered around three most of the winter.

Through games played last weekend, Rowe had already faced 672 shots this year, yielding just 52 goals. He had 65 saves in a game at Rochester in December, then turned aside 50 in a home game against the Minnesota Owls this past weekend.

In all, he’s made more than 40 saves in a game seven times this season.

“To be honest, I kind of like it that way,” Rowe said. “When I see shots, I feel like I’m into the game.”

Rowe added that if the Ducks are going to go anywhere this coming postseason, that trend must change, which is something the Ducks are working on.

“We’ve been focusing on tightening up defensively a lot, and it’s been happening,” Rowe said. “We were kind of a run and gun team, and we are trying to find a way to play a more defensive game and win games 3-2 or 2-1.”

The Ducks played a pair of tight games last weekend, losing at home to the Owls 4-1 and 3-0. The team is currently 19-18-3 – one point behind Hudson in the MnJHL standings – with eight games to play before the Bush Cup Playoffs begin in early March.

“Our goal is to play well that last few games and get ourselves into a position to make the national tournament,” Falzone said. “We know who we are playing against now, and how we match up against these teams, so now it’s just a matter of finding a way to beat them on a consistent basis.”