Blake senior rekindling feeling of 2003
By Nick Clark
Sun Newspapers
(Created: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 10:06 PM CST)
|
It's safe to say that Katharine Chute has no problems with her skating, but you wouldn't know it by taking one look at her weekly schedule.
The Blake School senior is one of 10 finalist for the Ms. Hockey award - which is handed out annually to the state's top player - and is among the state leaders in just about every offensive category.
But, despite the lofty numbers and accolades that have accompanied them, Chute's not satisfied with a lot of the aspects that make up her game, including how she moves on the ice.
"Skating is always something I can work on," Chute said.
And she does. From the second her skates touch the ice, Chute is constantly working on her edges and stride.
It is something Blake head coach Brano Stankovsky said she is consistent with while she practices, and obviously that carries over into games.
However, those practices and games aren't the only place Chute tests her skating. Since she moved to the high school level in the eighth grade, Chute has been taking skating lessons each Friday morning, something she says has helped turn her into the Ms. Hockey finalist she is today.
"We work on a lot of edge work and some stickhandling and just the basics of skating," Chute said. "It is really helpful to go back to the basics because you forget after the years. It really keeps emphasizing that once you practice it enough it will become second nature and you just won't have to think about it during a game."
Apparently that mindset has worked. Chute is in her fifth year skating with the Blake girls varsity team. Along the way, she has accumulated more than 200 points, helped lead the Bears to more than 100 wins and played an integral role in Blake's 2003 Class A state title run.
"Katherine is as good as anybody we have had come through here," Stankovsky said. "She practices harder than she plays, and that is why she makes such a good leader. I think she has a passion for hockey, which makes it easy, but she works at it."
That work has helped put Blake on the cusp of a shot at a second state title. The Bears enter their section playoffs as Class A's top-ranked team, having compiled a 21-4 mark through the regular season.
Chute is the only link remaining on this year's team to the 2003 team that won it all, and she has been trying to share the taste of that experience with her teammates.
"I've thought back to when we won state when I was in eighth grade and I just remember how much I looked up to the seniors and how important it was to have all those older girls on the team," she said. "Now that I am one of the seniors, I hope everyone has a chance to experience that. It was an amazing experience for me."
Those experiences, coupled with the success she has had both on the ice and in the classroom since then, have set Chute up for a shot at attending some of the nation's most prestigious colleges.
She said the list is down to three: Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale.
"I'm taking my time with [the decision]", she said.
Wherever Chute does end up, she said she will play hockey. As of last week, she wasn't quite sure what sort of major she would pursue, but was leaning towards some sort of minor in French.
"I think the main thing is to use college as a process of discovery so I can explore what really interests me and find what I like," she said. "I'll leave my options open."
In the meantime, Chute said she is just concentrating on finishing out her senior year, and giving the hockey team all she has.
Which also means soaking up the final few weeks of playing along side her sister.
Sophomore Margaret Chute plays wing on the Bears' top line with Katherine. The two grew up playing together in the Wayzata youth hockey system, but were separated for a couple of years when Katherine headed to Blake.
"It has been really fun playing with her," Katharine said. "This is the first year that I have been on a line with her, and we really seem to know where one and another are."
Margaret is second on the team in scoring heading into the playoffs, and as the box scores have read throughout the winter, when one scores, the other typically has a hand in it.
"It is so much fun watching them play together," said Stankovsky, who has situated senior Laura Komarek on the Bears' No. 1 line with the sisters. "All three of them really play the game the right way, and they really play well as a unit."
So well, that sometime in the next couple of weeks, Katharine Chute could be named the state's top player.
The Ms. Hockey list will be trimmed to five Thursday, Feb. 15, before the winner is announced Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Ms. Hockey Awards banquet at RiverCentre in St. Paul.
"It was really exciting to be a finalist," Chute said. "I was surprised. It is a tremendous honor, but I'm not really thinking it about it. I am just trying to concentrate on the season right now."
That season was scheduled to continue Feb. 13, when the Bears opened their playoffs with a Section 4A semifinal game against either Totino-Grace or Minnehaha Academy. If Blake wins that game, they would play Saturday, Feb. 17, for a trip to state.
"That is our goal, and we are going to do everything we can to get there," Chute said. "I love our team this year, we have been really cohesive. I am going to be really sad to leave everyone, so I just want to come out on a good note."
Reprinted with permission Sun Newspapers
|
|
