Huskies gambling man has ice in his veins

By Darren Zary of The StarPhoenix

Mark Hinz is a bit of a gambler on skates. He jumps into the play. He pinches in. He sneaks in for the backdoor pass.

By doing so, Hinz brings an unique element to the University of Saskatchewan Hockey Huskies.

He certainly takes risks as a offensiveminded defenceman. In his case, all the chips are in.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing if you’re raising the stakes for your team and it pays off in the end.

“He’s a good player,” says U of S head coach Dave Adolph, whose Huskies play host to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., at Rutherford Rink.

“He’s a great first passer. He’s competitive, too. And he’s quick. He’s got the same characteristics as Manner (Stephen Mann).” The thing about Hinz, though, is he’s still a bit rusty. The Waldheim product is a transfer student from the NCAA’s Minnesota State-Mankato University. He made his Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) debut Oct. 28 against the University of Calgary Dinos. “He hadn’t played in a year,” Adolph says. Hinz felt the one-year layoff, too. “It’s been kind of a learning curve,” Hinz, 22, says. “The first game, I wasn’t used to the pace. I got a couple of mistakes out the way. The last two games, I starting to feel a lot more relaxed and make easy plays. I’m excited for the year.”

Hinz, who played midget AAA with the Beardys Blackhawks, has one assist in three CIS games. He played his junior A hockey with the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

At 19, he headed south to the NCAA. During his second season there, however, he developed mononucleosis. He never could get back into the lineup.

“My last year at Minnesota State, I was sick with mono and I kept trying to come back,” Hinz says. “I never really planned to red-shirt (for the whole season) but it kind of worked out that way. I kept trying to come back; they kept sending me back (to the sick bay).”

Hinz was declared eligible for the CIS on Oct. 28 — one year exactly since he had last played a NCAA game.

“I originally planned to transfer in the States but I’d have to sit out (another) whole year. A few (CIS) schools called me, New Brunswick, the U of S and Ottawa. Dave really put it simple: It’d be real exciting to play at home. I haven’t played at home for five years. It seemed like a good opportunity to play in front of my family and friends.

“Over there (United States), we played on international ice. It’s much more of a thinking game here. Smaller ice. You just have to make plays a lot more quicker.”
Saskatchewan, ranked No. 8 in CIS men’s hockey, has struggled to a 5-4-0-1 record due to an injury-riddled lineup. UBC is 4-4-0.

With injuries to both Mann and Derek Endicott, the Dogs used four rookies on the blue-line.

“I definitely got thrown into the fire,” Hinz says. “The last three games, I’ve been playing a lot with (Evan) Schafer and (Brett) Dickie and those guys. We’re doing what we can with what we’ve got.”

Endicott is expected to return to the lineup this weekend. Mann is still out. Rookie Dman Greg Park, one of a handful of Huskies who got injured last weekend in Lethbridge, is day-to-day. Forwards Brett Parker and Trent Adamus are both doubtful for this weekend’s series.

“You just got to throw those kids in there,” Adolph says, “and hope for the best.”

In his CIS debut, Hinz committed a couple of costly errors resulting in a pair of goals, one of which he essentially scored on his own net. Was that simply rust or is he actually prone to making mistakes? “You don’t know,” answered Adolph. “He might be a risk taker. He’s up in the rush a lot. He jumps down in the back door a lot. We need a guy like that. “He’s a Manner but he’s maybe braver. Maybe too brave at times. We’ll see.”

dzary@sp.canwest.com