April 13, 2014
It's that time of year when all of the seniors buy
their caps and gowns, and get ready to leave NAU
in means of perusing their dreams. A group of nine graduating seniors on the
Division II hockey team are packing their skates as they get ready to leave
Flagstaff.
Of the nine, Ice Jacks captain Dylan Butenhoff will
be one of the seniors leaving his jersey in the locker room. Not only will he
be giving up his position as captain, but he will be leaving the sport of
hockey behind him.
"It's humbling, I mean when I got named captain
it was humbling," Butenhoff said. "Knowing I'll be graduating
captain, it's a hell of an experience that's for sure."
Since he will be leaving an empty spot behind him,
he has considered a few people to take his spot.
"There's a couple names that come to mind, but
it's gotta be one of the assistants from this year." Butenhoff said.
Once Butenhoff leaves NAU, he will start school all
over again as he will join a police academy. He hopes to go somewhere, anywhere
across the nation would be fine with him.
"I am going to go to a police academy, become a
cop for the next five years, and then decide from there what I want to do after
that," Butenhoff said.
Senior forward Zach Vachris has spent five years
here at NAU, and his time has finally expired. He hopes to attend Law School
after he leaves Flagstaff.
"I think I will take my LSAT in June, but I'm
not really sure after that," Vachris said. Despite not committing to a
specific school due to his LSAT test, he is planning on looking somewhere back
on the East Coast, despite being from San Diego, CA.
Being on the Ice Jacks might be the last time
Vachris will play on a hockey team. "I will probably play a men's league.
I don't think I'll take it any further than this, so it will be fun to end my
career here," Vachris said with the biggest smile on his face.
Vachris isn't the only one who has Law School in his
future; starting goaltender James Korte has been accepted into Denver University
Law School.
When Korte had to describe playing for the team, it
was visible that he was going to miss it.
"It's been great. I've loved every second of it,"
he said, "everyone here is like brothers now, especially the guys that
I've played with for four years here, and I've just loved it."
As Korte will attend Law School in Denver, another
goaltender on the Ice Jacks expects to attend a big university too.
Goaltender S.J. Graupensperger has been accepted
into a Bowling Green Ph.D. program. He will have interviews at Indiana University
and West Virginia University and hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in sports
psychology.
"From there, I will probably try and work as a
sports psychologist applied and in the research setting," Graupensperger
said. "The next six years I am looking at more school."
Now when it comes to playing hockey, he will take a
different approach on playing the sport.
"I'm going to switch my focus to the coaching
side of things. I've already got into that pretty well," Graupensperger
said. "For the past six summers now I have been head goaltending
instructor for the prohibitions hockey camp and the goaltending director here
for Flagstaff youth hockey association."
Once Korte gets his doctorate degree, he will be
putting more effort in the coaching side of things, rather than playing for an
actual team, or an adult league in Denver.
With a total of nine graduating seniors NAU in May, these men were able to travel to
Boston for the ACHA National Championships, along with ending their season with
a 27-11-1 overall record.
