JULES HOEPTING
Managing Editor
Moving across the continent to play hockey is just what hockey players do, according to Zach Willms, sophomore sports management major and a goaltender of the Blue Devils Men’s Ice Hockey team, jersey number 33.
Inspired by his dad who was also a goaltender, Willms has been playing hockey since he was four years old. He grew up in Camrose, Alberta, Canada, where playing hockey is so embedded into culture that it is “tough to avoid, almost,” according to Willms.
Unlike other sports, after graduating high school hockey players often play in junior hockey leagues for a few years before playing at a university level. This is why the majority of university hockey players are between the ages of 21–24. Likewise, Willms moved from Camrose to Armstrong, British Columbia, Canada to play for the North Okanagan Knights in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League when he was 17 to continue his hockey career. Afterwards, he moved to Red Lake, Ontario to play on the Red Lake Miners, a part of Hockey Canada’s Superior International Junior Hockey League. According to Willms, Red Lake is the “northernmost point a paved road takes you in Ontario” and describes it as “the boonies.” He added that when it was cold enough, he drove “across a frozen lake to get to the rink every day.”
When relocating to other provinces, Willms stayed with a billet family, which is similar to a host family. “A family just takes you in and it’s super cool. They just volunteered to do it. I mean, they get paid enough to feed you but like they don’t make money,” he explained. This allowed Willms to experience living in different places, which is something he values. “I want to see every corner of the world if I can, so I just love any kind of new experience no matter what it is.”
As for Fredonia? Willms was spotted by hockey coach, Jeff Meredith, while Willms was playing in Wisconsin; the junior hockey league Willms was in had two teams in the United States.
Willms didn’t know much about Fredonia, but had heard Division III of SUNYAC was a “good league to play hockey” through a friend playing hockey at Geneseo. Willms was willing to go just about anywhere to further his career and was excited to move to Fredonia.
For his first semester in fall 2020, Willms flew to Fredonia from Alberta. After a semester, he decided he wanted to have his car with him. Thus, after winter break, Willms had to drive over 30 hours to bring his car to Fredonia. Not long after he had started his journey, a cold snap hit bringing -20℉ (-30℃) temperatures. Willms’ car heater — which he had just fixed prior to departure — stopped working; the air that was coming through was cold.
“So, I bundle up. I got these boots on. I got pants, jackets, toe warmers — everything. I got eight hours to Weyburn, Saskatchewan — my first leg of the trip. Most miserable day of my life.”
Willms spent the night in a hotel and called all of the car repair shops around trying to get the car heater fixed with no luck. Eventually, he went to Canadian Tire and purchased “a full-sized propane tank you’d have on your grill, and a little heater that screws on top of it and I put it on my passenger seat. And I had to spark it with a match like every five minutes.”
The trip still had adventures to come. Willms got caught with a dead battery during a snowstorm in Chicago, Illinois, and had to flag down a restaurant employee to give him a boost. But he was also able to make a stop in Saint Paul, Minn. to catch up with hockey friends.
Within the world of hockey, players make a lot of connections with other hockey players from all around. “My best friend from my team in [British Columbia] and my best friend from my team in Ontario are now teammates and also best friends in Jamestown, N.D.,” said Willms. He also said he had a friend who plays in Rochester, N.Y., who watched him play his very first game as a Blue Devil in Rochester. Within Fredonia’s hockey team roster, there are players from the states of Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Utah, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and even from the country of Sweden.
Blue Devils Men’s Ice Hockey team coach, Jeff Meredith, is excited to work with Willms: “I was so impressed during the recruiting process that the fact he plays the position of goaltender at such a high level only made me want to work with him here at Fredonia more. He is such a positive, upbeat person and teammate…I knew that he would be a great person on our campus and in our program.”
As for Willms’ experience at Fredonia thus far? “Being here is great. I’m just so lucky to have a team. I automatically get 30 best friends, you know?” Willms later added, “I got full classes and great professors and just feel like I’m getting my first classroom college experience.” His favorite moment as a Blue Devil so far was watching Logan Dyck, a goaltender, score a goal. A goaltender scoring a goal is “literally a once in a lifetime opportunity” to witness in hockey, according to Willms.
Despite not having a lot of playing time due to COVID-19 restrictions and a wrist injury, Willms is confident the best for him and the team is yet to come. “I think we’re the kind of team that can be sneaky and could surprise the conference.”
For the latest updates on all things Blue Devils Men’s Ice Hockey, visit fredoniabluedevils.com/sports/mens-ice-hockey.