Josh Koepplinger has a knack for putting the puck in the net, and no one facing Koepplinger has had an easy time stopping him.
Koepplinger is playing his senior season with the FNV Griffins. This is the team’s first year of existence.
The past three seasons, the Nouvel Catholic Central student played for Nouvel, but this year, Freeland and Valley Lutheran combined with Nouvel to form the FNV Griffins.
As of February 14, Koepplinger, a forward, had scored 55 goals and had 22 assists for 77 points in 20 games. His freshman year he had close to 50 points, with 55 as a sophomore. Last season, he had 62 points with 35 goals.
His goal scoring is obviously up dramatically this season.
“It’s just the chemistry this year,” Koepplinger said. “We’ve combined as a team. It’s my teammates giving me the puck a lot.”
There was only one game in which Koepplinger didn’t score, against Gaylord in what ended in a 3-3 tie.
In a 9-4 victory for the Griffins in Grand Rapids, Koepplinger scored six times and had one assist.
“The guys on the team say I have pretty good hands,” he said. “I have a good shot. I have a hard shot.”
He also plays football and baseball for Nouvel. But Koepplinger put on skates when he was two years old and started playing hockey when he was four.
“It’s always been a knack of mine to put the puck in the net,” he said. “Ever since I was little, I wanted the puck. I was kind of a greedy little kid. Everybody kind of hated me for it. But the numbers speak for themselves. I’ve scored a lot of goals in my career.”
Koepplinger focuses on improving, despite his impressive scoring accomplishments. “We practice every day at 6 a.m. We try to focus on the little things.”
FNV is 16-3-1.
“This is probably one of the most talented teams I’ve played with,” Koepplinger said. “ I played with guys playing semi-pro hockey right now and guys getting Division 1 offers. The caliber of players I’ve been with has always been pretty high.”
Koepplinger was asked to skate with the Michigan Warriors, a North America Hockey League team. If that doesn’t work out, another option would be college club hockey.
“Before the season, we set some goals as a team,” Koepplinger said. “We wanted to do better than last year and capitalize every chance I can get.”
He’s getting close to the state record of goal scoring which is in the 60s.
I don’t pay attention to that,” he said. “I want to help the team win and get ready for the playoffs. If the record presented itself, that’d be special for the school.”