‘Captain’ Mosbeck gears for junior year

Cody Mosbeck is entering his third year at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Mn., but will be sporting some new embroidering on his Golden Gusties’ hockey jersey this fall.
The 23-year-old defenceman was voted by his teammates to serve as captain for the upcoming season.
“Coming from a coach is nice but when you are picked by your teammates, it obviously means a lot,” said Mosbeck.
“I already told my coach that I don’t talk too much in the room and I don’t plan on that changing, either,” he added. “I’ll do what I can, but I guess I’m doing something right if they picked me to be captain.”
Mosbeck tallied four goals and nine assists in 26 games last season, bettering his total of two goals and six assists during his rookie year in 2006-07.
He and his older brother, Dallas, both attend Gustavus Adolphus and both will be taking a full slate of courses in accounting this coming semester.
“I’ll have four classes in my major this semester, so it’s going to be a busy one to say the least,” Mosbeck noted.
“Our schedule sets up so we only have games on the weekends, but we practise every day with Sundays off,” he added. “As long as you manage your time right, it’s fine.”
Mosbeck’s team had an up-and-down season last winter, finishing with a 13-12-1 record overall, including a 10-6 mark within their Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which was good for fourth spot.
The playoffs were a one-game knockout format, with the Golden Gusties falling short in a 5-3 loss to the St. John’s Johnnies in the quarter-finals.
Despite the team’s quick playoff exit, Mosbeck enjoyed a stellar season patrolling the blueline—and is happy with the role he’s been able to fill with the Division III team to date.
“I get to play [on the] power play, and I try and do what I can at both ends, but your first focus as a defenceman is on trying to shut them down and worrying about scoring next, but maybe that’s too much of a defensive mindset,” Mosbeck laughed.
“Last year I played with a partner [Mitch Carlson] who figured we were going to go down and score almost every time, so we balanced out,” he explained. “We both got points so I guess it worked.”
Mosbeck played the 2005-06 season with the North Iowa Outlaws of the North American Hockey League, and also spent time with the SIJHL’s Dryden Ice Dogs before going the U.S. college route.
He first heard of the school from Jay Phillips, a teammate of his brother, Dallas, on the Borderland Thunder, then further cemented his opinion by talking to others who had gone to Gustavus Adolphus.
Mosbeck didn’t cite any major differences between the level of play at college compared to the SIJHL, other than the obvious difference in the amount of games.
“[The] SIJHL has 50-some games whereas our regular season that counts for points down there is just 16 games,” he noted. “Every game is magnified and that much more important.
“If you lose a game, you are out of the playoffs, or you win a game and you’re back in first.”
Despite living just south of the Twin Cities during the winter, Mosbeck can’t fathom not returning home to spend a summer at the lake working at his parents’ camp, True North Outposts & Cabins.
“Everybody asks me if I am going to come home in the summer, but for me it’s an easy choice,” he enthused. “When it gets too hot, you can jump in the lake, and not many jobs give you that opportunity.”
He also recently spent three-and-a-half weeks working for Larry Bumstead’s Northwestern Hockey Sports Camp in Ignace.
“Working with kids isn’t really work,” Mosbeck admitted. “I get to play around on the ice with a whole bunch of little kids and still get paid for it, so it’s a pretty good deal.”
The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team will start its 2008-09 season against the defending Division III national champions from St. Norbert College on Oct. 31.