66 Sage Hartzler

Sage Hartzler sees the game in ways most players don’t. A steady Division III college career gave him the kind of experience and perspective that now makes him a natural leader every time he hops over the boards. After hanging up his college sweater, he turned to coaching youth teams, guiding them through tournaments in Chicago, Toronto, and even Lake Placid. Those years behind the bench sharpened his ability to read the flow of a game — and he hasn’t stopped coaching, even as a player.

On the ice, Sage isn’t the fastest skater, but he’s always in the right place. His positioning is textbook, his stick is active, and his voice carries across the rink. He’s constantly talking — calling for line changes, pointing out open ice, reminding teammates to backcheck. Teammates joke that he’s a second bench boss, but they also rely on him to steady things when games start to spiral.

Off the ice, he’s the guy drawing up plays on a whiteboard for fun, breaking down what went wrong on the last shift. In the locker room or on the rink, Sage Hartzler is more than a player — he’s the brain of the operation, a coach in skates who makes everyone around him better.