2014-15 Ice Hockey Preview

By Cutler Klein

The 2014-15 hockey season is nearly here, and the teams of Northern Westchester are lacing up their skates and preparing for the long road ahead. Horace Greeley, Byram Hills, Fox Lane and Mount Pleasant are all looking forward to a fresh start. Here’s all you need to know to get ready for hockey season:
Horace Greeley Quakers
After posting a respectable 12-8-2 record last season, Greeley is looking to build another winning team with a slightly different roster. The team graduated a few key players, especially on the back end.
“We lost quite a bit of our defense,” said head coach Zach Dargaty. “We graduated eight seniors, and a lot of them were defensemen.” To help out a young defensive corps, Dargaty moved senior captain Calder Fontaine back to defense to provide some veteran leadership.
On the offensive side, the squad remains mostly intact, with two prolific goal scorers in captains Sam Mishkind and Scott Jakubowicz. However, the Quakeres are missing a few key contributors, most notably Henry Girardi, who left the team to play at prep school. With some significant roster changes, Dargaty says this team is looking for a fresh start.
“Overall, we’re starting over. It’s a pretty new group. We did return some of our top scorers, but it’s still a work in progress to see where we are compared to last year.”
The biggest storyline going into this season is the goaltending situation. Junior Nicholas Bright remains the starting goaltender, but he cannot make a full-season commitment to the team. Greeley brought in senior Matt Solnick, who has never played hockey before, and sophomore Scott Odland, who skated for the team last year, to back up Bright and step in when needed.
“Nick is clearly our number one goalie, but we are going to need those other guys to contribute this year,” Dargaty said. “We’re very comfortable with Nick, and we need to get Scott and Matt into a position where they can be successful.”
Despite an early playoff exit, the Quakers had an impressive 2013-14 campaign. Greeley heavily outshot its opponents night after night, according to Dargaty, but transferring that success to this season is a difficult task.
“It’s not really a sense of improving on last year,” he said. “I think this year we just have to rebuild a little bit and incorporate some players who didn’t contribute as much last year.”
One up-and-coming name on the Greeley roster is sophomore Sam Whitehouse. The towering defenseman will likely see an increase in ice time this season, and looks to prove himself on the blue line. The Quakers will also be relying on juniors Ryan Rusiecki and Ryan Katchis for some stability and depth at the forward position.
Despite the changes, Dargaty thinks the conference will be wide open this year.
“So many teams lost so many players this year, so it’s very wide open,” he said. “I think it’s going to take a couple of games to see who the stronger teams are. This year, I think a lot of coaches are unsure of where they stand relative to each other.”
Byram Hills Bobcats
The Bobcats finished last season at 9-10-1, their best finish in years, but were bounced in the sectionals by Rye Town/Harrison. This season, head coach Andrew Cloherty is looking for a deeper, and better, team.
“We want to have more depth,” Cloherty said. “Last year, we really only had two lines we could count on. Our third line could have been scored on at any time.”
Much like Greeley, Byram Hills is sending a very different squad onto the ice this year. The Bobcats acquired three or four new players who played on individual club teams in the past. Despite losing some goal scoring, players like Mathew Behar, Willie Mann and Nicholas Solandra will provide some more depth and help round out the team.
On the back end, the defensive corps has matured and is looking to provide some stability as new players on offense get adjusted.
“A lot of our defensemen were young last year,” Cloherty said. “Now that they’re sophomores and juniors, we actually have some veterans on our blue line.”
Cloherty said that the talent is a lot more spread out this season, and he likes the tempo and speed in practice. There is also less of a learning curve for the players. Last season, it took many classroom sessions and practices to get the players adjusted to the system. Cloherty also says that the younger players will see some heavy minutes, so it will take a little time to adjust to the size and speed differential of high school hockey. They are also concerned with producing enough shots and getting quality scoring chances.
The Bobcats are especially looking forward to their annual “Pink the Rink” game with rival Fox Lane. Despite losing a little offensive firepower, Cloherty thinks they will stack up well with their neighboring rivals.
“I think we may have a deeper team, but every time we play them, the records go out the window, and it’ll be a very good game,” he said.
Byram Hills is an up-and-coming squad. Look for the Bobcats to improve again this season as they become deeper and contend in a tight section.
Mount Pleasant IceCats
The boys from Westlake, Pleasantville and Briarcliff are coming off a stellar 12-6-2 season and a second-round playoff exit at the hands of mighty Pelham. This time around, the IceCats are looking for a boost on the back end.
“We did a pretty good job goal scoring last year,” said head coach Josh Isenberg. “Defensively, we’re really looking to improve a little bit. We weren’t bad last year, but I think there is room for improvement.”
A big challenge this season will be to replace All-State nominee defenseman Michael Greenberg on the blue line after his move to a prep school. Overall, the team doesn’t look so different. The IceCats are returning 13 skaters to this year’s team. There are a few key veterans that Isenberg is looking to for point production.
“We are looking for big things from senior Oscar Marchi,” he said. “He’s got great hands and great vision on the ice.” Another key name is senior Ryan Smedley, one of the fastest players in the league, according to Isenberg.
One youngster that the IceCats are looking for big things from is sophomore defenseman Giancarlo Romano. Isenberg compared Romano to Greenberg in the way he can set the tempo in any game he plays. Unfortunately for them, the IceCats believe Romano may be headed to prep school next year as well.
Like other squads in the area, the IceCats are a young team this year, but Isenberg likes what he sees in practice so far.
“We’ve been moving the puck really well,” he said. “There are a couple of younger kids that are further along in their development than I thought they would be. We also have a line still together from last year, which is a big help.”
The IceCats have big expectations for themselves this season, and Isenberg thinks they can play a strong game, any given night.
“I think we’re going to be pretty strong,” he said. “I have two solid lines, and I think they can rival most of the other teams. Hopefully, with some more experience under our belt, we’ll be able to finish and win some more games this year.”
Fox Lane Foxes
After a dismal two-win 2013-14 season, the Foxes are looking to move on and boost their offensive potential.
“We need more shots on net,” said head coach Scott Miele. “We need to be able to get the puck to their net, and generate more offensive power.”
However, that won’t be an easy task. Fox Lane lost its former leading goal scorer and captain Matthew Stewart, part of a core group of seniors that “kept the team together,” according to Miele. In their absence, the Foxes will turn to a new crop of young talent to lead the way.
The Foxes are expecting some big things from new junior Thomas Tenney, who came over from a different school this year. They also have high expectations for players like A.J Crawford on the blue line.
Despite a tough road ahead, Miele says he likes what he sees from his squad so far in practice.
“I like the hustle and determination to be better than last year,” he said. “I’m very happy with our depth. I feel comfortable rolling three lines.”
Miele also says the Foxes need to improve their special teams. They have been working tirelessly on their power play in practice. They are also looking to improve on their defensive zone coverage after spending a lot of time in that end of the ice last year.
The conference is wide open this year, and the Foxes hope to take advantage of the uncertainty on many other rosters this season.
“The other teams are pretty good, too,” Miele said. “Many of them lost key guys, but we did too. We won’t really know how good they are until we face them for the first time.”
The Foxes are looking forward to their annual bout with rival Byram Hills for the “Pink the Rink “game. They are also looking forward to a relatively new tradition, the John McLaughlin game, the annual event to honor the late former Fox Lane coach. The opponent for this year’s edition is yet to be determined.
This is a fresh start for Fox Lane, which appears to be much better than it was last year. The Foxes are hungry, and will look to surprise many opponents this season.

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