April 10, 2009
Omaha Lancers forwards Jake Hauswirth and Ben Arnt. (Robert J. Meyer/USHL Images)
USHL.com provides the next segment in a series of web and media features focusing on some of the special players, coaches, fans and management of America's fastest growing hockey league.
The playoffs have arrived and eight teams are beginning their quest to win the Tier I national championship. USHL.com wanted to get some insight on what it is like during this time of year and no one could provide a better perspective than a couple of defending champions themselves. USHL.com caught up with Jake Hauswirth and Ben Arnt of the Omaha Lancers to talk about their playoff memories, and their thoughts as the club looks to defend its title in the Clark Cup Playoffs.
Hockey players will tell you that the only thing tougher than winning a championship is defending it. Hauswirth and Arnt are looking to do just that in Omaha as their Clark Cup playoff series begins this weekend against Fargo. The forwards are two of just four returning players from a season ago that helped capture the seventh playoff title for the Lancers organization.
Ben Arnt, the veteran of the team, is now entering his third Clark Cup Playoffs. He has played 175 regular season games in a Lancers uniform and helped the club win 113 games over the last three seasons. Arnt is one of five Omaha players to score 20-or-more goals this season and he tied for the team lead with nine power play goals.
Another 20-goal scorer for the Lancers during the regular season is Jake Hauswirth, who had a breakout year offensively as he tied for the team lead with 28 goals. The 6-5 forward also ranked second on the club in plus/minus rating (+16).
USHL.com: Ben, this is your third time heading into the playoffs with Omaha. How do you feel about the play of your team at this point?
Ben Arnt: Everybody on the team has come together as one and that will be huge for us in the playoffs. We want everyone to stick together and keep playing as long as we can.
USHL.com: Jake, this season is a little different scenario having the second seed in your division as opposed to having the overall top seed for the playoffs last year, so how do feel about your team's chances?
Hauswirth: I feel very confident in the team that we have. People may have doubts since we have just four returning players from that team, but the young guys have caught on to everything we are trying to do. Our team is very competitive and can stick with anyone in this league. I believe we have a shot, and I am looking forward to it.
USHL.com: As leaders and veterans, what advice do you give the younger players about competing in the playoffs?
Arnt: Take it one game at a time. You can't dwell on a loss because the night next you will have another game to play and you have to focus on what is facing you. You can't look back to a previous game or look ahead because you need to focus on that one game at that time.
Hauswirth: My plan coming into this season was to lead by example and that is what I feel I need to continue doing during this playoff run.
USHL.com: What will be the key to success for your team in the playoffs?
Hauswirth: We need to keep doing the things we have done to win games. It is important for us to remember what we did right during the regular season and avoid making the same mistakes that cost us games. The playoffs are the time to make the little things work and not make the little mistakes because those could cost us a game.
USHL.com: As you reflect on a season ago, what did winning that championship mean to last year's team?
Arnt: Winning that championship meant a lot because it proves you are the best team in the league for that year. Also, the team comes together as a family. You are never going to have that same group together again, so winning a championship with that team is one of the things you will remember the rest of your life.
Hauswirth: Teams that I had played on prior to Omaha didn't have much success, so words really can't describe how it felt to go through winning it all last year. It finally sunk in over the summer and I said, "Wow, I just won a national championship."
USHL.com: Both of you played key roles in the deciding game of last year's final series as Jake scored the first goal of the game and Ben scored in the third period to tie the game 2-2. Can you describe the feeling that each of you had after scoring?
Hauswirth: I got the pass and kicked it up (to my stick) with my skate. I was actually just trying to throw it on net and it squeaked through five-hole. It gave us the 1-0 lead and I said to myself, "We got this; we are going to win this game." Scoring that goal gave me more confidence and hopefully the rest of the guys felt the same way because all four lines were playing really well.
Arnt: Scoring a goal was a big accomplishment because I felt like it kept the team in the game. Any goal scored in a game like that is a big energy boost for the whole team, so it felt really good.
USHL.com: Ben, what is your favorite moment from last season's playoffs?
Arnt: The goal in overtime of Game Five that Barry Almeida scored to win the series because it completed a great season that we had with a great group of guys.
USHL.com: Jake, is there a defining moment from last season's playoffs that you will always remember?
Hauswirth: It was after Game Three in Waterloo and we had just lost to go down in the series 2-1. All the guys got together at the hotel (in Waterloo) and went around the room to ask each person why we wanted to win the championship and how we would want to remember this. That day was really a turning point for us to come back and win the series because we came together as a team and said "We are going to win this."
USHL.com: Every USHL team wants to achieve what you accomplished last year, so do you feel any added pressure in the playoffs since you are the defending champs?
Arnt: I maybe feel a little bit of that pressure, but not too much because this is a new group of guys as there are only four of us who are back from last year.
Hauswirth: I don't feel the pressure that maybe I would have expected this year. I have the same confidence that I had going into the playoffs last year.
USHL.com: Jake, last season was a special time for your team in Omaha, so tell us what it would mean to win the Clark Cup this year?
Hauswirth: I would love for the young guys on the squad this year to feel what Ben, Matt White, Dakota Eveland, and I felt last year. To win another one would be unbelievable.
The USHL is celebrating its 30th season of junior hockey in 2008-09. With over 160 players already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 16 NHL Draft picks playing in the league, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent. For more information, visit us on the web at www.ushl.com.
