Kolda is cool on ice

Nathan Kolda would never think of himself as more than a slightly above average ice hockey player.

His coach, on the other hand, says he's the best player around -- hands down.

"This is just my opinion," said Ral Wheeler, coach of the SEMO Wildcats ice hockey team, "but Nathan is the best player on every level in our league. He's just a fantastic player. It doesn't matter who he's on the ice with or what position he's playing -- he's the best player."

The humble 16-year-old has been playing with the Wildcats since second grade. He now competes at the highest level in the organization, known as the midgets. The local club is in action from October to early March but is not involved in any form of state playoffs. The midget division, 15-18 year-olds, plays in St. Louis nearly every weekend against high school squads and other club teams. Teenagers from Cape and Jackson generally make up the Wildcats, the only ice hockey team in Southeast Missouri, but the team occasionally picks up players from surrounding states.

The club practices twice a week, and with The Ice at the Plaza Galleria in Cape Girardeau shut down, the Wildcats are forced to practice at the roller hockey rink at Cape Skate.

"This past season we practiced one time on the ice," Kolda said. "It's completely different trying to practice on that [roller hockey] surface and play games on ice."

Kolda said the Wildcats have never been known as a very successful club -- with a .500 mark as its best season -- but he thinks that can change.

"We'll start winning more," Kolda said, "because this group of kids on the team has been playing together for years now and we're finally startng to play as a team. Coach is getting things going again, too. He's very energetic about hockey. He gets us in a lot of games, and he's great for this team."

Wheeler said the same of Kolda.

"He makes everyone better," Wheeler said. "Nathan truly elevates those around him. He can take a player that can barely skate and make him a goal scorer. He's one of the strongest leaders on the team and the most phenomemal young man I've ever met -- not just as an athlete but as a young man, also."

Kolda kicked off his ice hockey career as a forward but eventually became a goalie. He stuck to that position long enough to be called up for a cup of coffee at the midget level when he was 13. Kolda said he was the youngest player on the team but could still hang with the big guns.

"They had no goalie, so the coach called one day and said they could use some help," he said. "It was all high school kids, but I felt pretty good about it. I wasn't like a star goalie or anything, but I wasn't that bad."

Back on the offensive side, Kolda netted 27 goals and had 23 assists in the SEMO Roller Hockey League last summer. The local organization helps players to keep in shape during the spring and summer months.

Kolda plans to continue playing both ice and roller hockey locally, but doesn't want to base any college decisions on the sport.

"It would be fun to be on a club team or something in college," he said, "but I'm not worried about it at all. I'd like to play in college, though, and get out there with the big boys and play some real hockey. I dream about going to the NHL, and it's not very realistic at this point, but you never know."

Mark Unterreiner is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian. His Spotlight feature appears every Thursday.