Nate Gutzmann: ‘A Lot of Things In My Game Finally Started Clicking’ In One Season On Fox Valley

By Ross Forman
Nate Gutzmann was an IHSHL North-Central Division all-star goalie during the 2023-24 season, his lone year playing for the Fox Valley Hawks, when the team finished 15-0-3 in the nine-team Varsity Gold League. They ended with 33 points, one behind the co-champions (LZMW Yeti and Belvidere Fury). 

Gutzmann played 21 leagues games that season, starting all 21, which was tied for the most games played by a goalie in the league. He finished with a 2.53 goals-against average.

Overall that season, he was in goal for 26 games and had a 2.27 GAA and .91 save percentage. He had 17 wins and three shutouts.

 His statistics that season only partially tell the tale of Gutzmann’s goaltending for the co-op club. “My year with the Fox Valley Hawks was where a lot of things in my game finally started clicking,” Gutzmann said. “I had a great coaching staff that put their full trust in me from day one, and it paid off, that trust from my teammates and coaches. Our talented core led to us winning consistently and making the league semifinals. That’s when I had my best year in my playing career up to that point, starting every game and winning consistently at a rate I had never experienced before.”

His favorite memory playing for Fox Valley was their home playoff games when the energetic fans, “helped to create a great atmosphere and made it a really fun environment to play in,” he said.

Gutzmann, now 20, lives in Geneva and was a 2024 graduate of Geneva Community High School. He is a junior netminder for Indiana University, on its American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division II team.

ACHA was founded in 1991 and is the national association for non-NCAA collegiate hockey, comprising more than 450 colleges and university-affiliated teams representing 48 states and two Canadian provinces, with about 15,000 players.

Indiana was the 2023 ACHA Division II National Champion and the Hoosiers this season again eye the Radakovich Cup at the 2027 ACHA National Championships, presented by FloHockey, to be played March 11-16, 2027, at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

“I play a very positionally-sound game, relying on my positioning and rebound control to make things easy on my defense while still having the athleticism to make saves (on) high-danger scoring chances when needed,” Gutzmann said. “My senior year of high school, while playing for the Fox Valley Hawks during pool-play in league playoffs, I had two shutouts and a sub-1 goals-against average to help propel my team to the semi-finals.”

Gutzmann’s road to Bloomington, where he wears Hoosiers’ jersey No. 31, included as season in goal for the Sabre Hockey Association, with more than 50 years as a Tier 2 travel program in Illinois.

“During my year with the Sabres, I made great strides in my play that set me up for success down the line,” Gutzmann said. “While I was still struggling by my standards and was definitely not where I wanted to be in terms of my play, the Sabres organization gave me great coaching to improve many facets of my game, such as my positioning in tight and my skating helping me to move far more efficiently. (Plus), the culture throughout the whole midget program was the best I had experienced so far in my career; I was quickly welcomed into the program and made great friendships with my teammates.

“One of my favorite memories (with the) Sabres was upsetting Affton, (Missouri), which was one of the top teams in our league that year, helping us to get out of a slump.”

Gutzmann added: “Playing in Illinois helped me to play at the next level in many ways, (including the) the high level of competition in the state meant that I was constantly playing against great players in games and competing against one of the most talented pools of goalies in the country for spots on teams. (Plus), the coaching I had in Illinois was nothing short of impeccable; my goalie coach at the Sabres, Micheal Lively, and my coaches at Fox Valley, such as Phil Gabrielson, constantly pushed me to be a better player while providing me with the tools and knowledge to do so.”

Gutzmann will graduate from IU in 2028 with a degree in finance and accounting.

“To any Illinois high school player trying to make the jump to the next level, your character and work ethic matter just as much as your talent; a talented player can easily end up getting cut if their work ethic and character are lacking,” Gutzmann said. “To any goalie trying to make the jump to the next level, the more boring you are the better; a boring goalie who is positionally sound is a goalie whose team and coaches can consistently count on to give them a chance to win, whereas a goalie who relies on athleticism or size can win at the youth and high school level, but when you move up without that positional excellence those goalies often become inconsistent which will hurt your team.”

Gutzmann said he made numerous improvements to his game in Illinois, such as, “beating passes on my feet instead of sliding unnecessarily, fixing my stance to eliminate being scored on high over my shoulder, and improving my rebound control to get more whistles and eliminate second-chance opportunities.

“My favorite Illinois hockey memory has to be our home playoff games my senior year at Fox Valley; not only did our crowd provide a great environment, but it was when I finally had everything click and that playoff run was my best stretch of games in my youth and high school hockey careers.”

Stopping Slapshots With … Former Fox Valley Hawks Goalie Nate Gutzmann, Now In Goal At Indiana University

Illinois Natives At Indiana University: “I love having other Illinois natives at IU, especially when I came in as a freshman when our team was filled with Illinois natives. With some of them having played at the same (youth) organization, it made it easy to be integrated into the team culture and made the transition to playing at IU a lot easier.”
Jersey Number: “There isn’t much meaning behind (my) number, 31, but I did always look up to Carey Price.”
IU Career Highlight: Making it to the ACHA National Championships as a freshman. “Even though we ended short of our goal of winning nationals, it was a great experience and coming that close grew my drive to make it back and win a national championship.”
Why IU: “What led to me play at Indiana was a combination of the great business school, the high level of success the team has had with Indiana winning the national championship the year before I got there, the great coaching staff who has helped make me the player I am today and the familiarity with the players as IU had a large number of Illinois players on the team when I made the decision to play.”
Favorite NHL Team: Washington Capitals
Favorite NHL Player: Braden Holtby
Favorite Sports-themed Movie: Miracle
Favorite TV Show: Entourage
Motivational Song: Miracle Maker by Dom Dolla
Favorite Pre-game Meal: Ground beef with sweet potato and avocado, then a large iced black coffee from Dunkin on the way to the rink
Favorite app: Instagram
Celebrity You’d Like To Meet: Morgan Wallen