By Mike Klees
UWRF Sports Information

The Falcons have many new additions this year, but none may be as important as Garrett Larson.

A senior transfer from St. Cloud State, a Div. I program, Larson brings big game experience and a competitive nature to the Falcons front line. Last year for the Huskies, Larson scored nine goals and dished out four assists. He was also named the Most Improved Player on the team in 2002 and 2003. He came to UW-RF to hopefully gain some more playing time and to experience a new atmosphere. He hopes to bring the Falcons some offensive firepower along with line mates, Aaron Degerness and Tyler Dahl.

"We are thrilled to have him," Falcon Coach Steve Freeman said. "He is an experienced, proven college hockey player. He adds to our offense, he is very competitive, and is a pleasure to be around as a person."

Larson grew up in Park River, N.D., a town of about 1,800 people, where his main hockey influence was his Dad. He was a coach on all of Larson's teams all the way up until high school. Larson says that whenever he feels like he is not playing up to his potential, he imagines his Dad yelling at him at a practice, and uses it as inspiration.

When Larson graduates he hopes to continue playing hockey at the professional level, either in the NHL or in Europe. He wants to travel the world and hockey might be his best opportunity to do so. After his hockey career, he doesn't know what he wants to do, but he hopes to do something in mass communication.

There are some minor differences in the style of play that Larson will have to adapt. At St. Cloud, the Huskies played on an Olympic-sized rink, while at UW-RF, the Falcons compete on a NHL-sized rink. The Div. III game is more physical, due to the smaller rink, while the Div. I game is faster paced, with less hitting. Larson says that the main difference between the two is that the positioning is not quite as good at the Div. III level. He did not seem to have any trouble adjusting in his first game as a Falcon, scoring a goal and dishing out one assist in a 7-0 win over MSOE at Hunt Arena on Oct. 26.

Larson hopes to lead the Falcons to a national championship and believes that they have the personal to accomplish that goal. He especially likes how well the team gels together and the tremendous fan support the team gets.

"Our work ethic is good, we've got guys working hard and competing," said Larson. "Coach Freeman is keeping us on the positive side of things. We also have got very solid goaltending."

As far as personal goals for the season, Larson just hopes to stay healthy and play up to his potential. He wants to always be improving his game and hopefully provide some leadership on this young Falcon team. As a player who has been in big games he has a lot of knowledge that will be useful to the younger players.

"One thing you can do is make sure that they go to class," said Larson. "A lot of these guys have been playing junior hockey for a couple years and are not used to going to school. During the games you need to tell them to calm down and remind them that it is a simpler game than they make it out to be."

Larson likes to be the last one to step onto the ice, to make sure that he is mentally prepared to play the game. That is just one of the many qualities he possesses that makes him a welcome addition to this Falcon team.

Garrett Larson