Miami senior makes most of ice time

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Miami's Dane Hetland takes a shot on goaltender Ben Saksa during practice Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 at Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio.

Staff photo by Nick Graham Miami's Dane Hetland takes a shot on goaltender Ben Saksa during practice Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 at Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio.

Forward Dane Hetland had an assist in game against Ferris State.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 7:58 AM Thursday, March 25, 2010

OXFORD — Senior forward Dane Hetland played seven times in Miami University’s first 40 hockey games this year.

So when Hetland was informed at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 20, that he would be in the lineup against Ferris State that afternoon, he wasn’t shocked but his parents were.

“I called my parents in Pittsburgh,” Hetland said. “They had stayed home, and I told them I was playing, and they drove up, made the trip. ... They didn’t hesitate at all. They dropped what they were doing.”

They made it to Joe Louis Arena in time for Miami’s third-place game in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs, and in time to see their son chalk up an assist as the RedHawks took a 1-0 lead in the second period.

Hetland had taken a shot that deflected off the crossbar, but freshman Steve Mason was there to punch it into the net.

It was one of the more crucial assists of the season for Miami, which went on to win 2-1 and, as a result, regain its No. 1 ranking and earn the overall No. 1 seed to the NCAA tournament.

“They mean everything to me,” Hetland said of his parents, Christine and Rich Hetland, “so it was amazing to have them there.”

It was amazing, in part, because Hetland has played in just 10 games for the RedHawks over the last three seasons.

“Obviously I don’t play that much, but when I get in I try to do my best to help my team out,” he said. “That means a lot, to do something like that.

“Any game I play is extra special,” he added, laughing. “It could be my last, so I play like it’s my last. I don’t withhold. It’s the old cliche, play like it’s your last game. So I go hard all the time.”

Hetland played in 22 games as a freshman and had an assist in the first game ever played in Steve Cady Arena.

As a sophomore, however, he got onto the ice in just two games and last year didn’t see any action at all.

“I just didn’t get a chance to play,” he said. “We’re really deep, and when you win like we do, it’s tough to crack the lineup. I don’t have any regrets about last year, or the experiences. I would trade not playing for the chance to get to the national championship game any year.

“I love the guys and the team so much, and I know the coaches know that hockey is not everything to me,” Hetland explained. “I’ve got other interests, other goals in life.”

His other passions, he said, include his school work, rock climbing and making videos.

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