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1/20/2008-Hockey
Unfamiliar Territory
Orchard Lake St. Mary's adjusting to 11 new players
By CHRIS LAU/Detroit Free Press
Orchard Lake St. Mary's hockey team experienced a mass exodus of players to junior or travel hockey after the team won the Division 1 state hockey title last winter.
Before this season began, the team had 11 new players -- people unfamiliar with the nuances of the Eaglets' program who coach Brian Klanow is trying to mesh with the rest of the team.
"It's our job to try to teach them the ropes in practice," said senior forward Billy Balent, speaking also for his three senior co-captains.
Balent and the other captains were talking about the little things. "Playing smart," he mentioned. "Playing with intensity," Aaron Schneider added. "Being patient with the puck," Dan Stanisz said. And "earning playing time," Tim Hooker said.
After their input on the little things, the captains noted that last year's run wasn't a smooth ride either.
Through Thursday, the young Eaglets were 7-6-1 and ranked sixth in Division 1. Last season, they were 10-9-5 after the regular season before reeling off six straight wins to capture the state championship.
A big part of whether St. Mary's can turn it around this year hinges on how the 11 new players adjust to the system.
"Some have," said Schneider, a forward. "Some on on their way there."
There are some highlights and some lowlights so far. There were two wins over Shady Side Academy, an elite school in Pennsylvania, in late December. There was also a 2-1 overtime win over Novi Detroit Catholic Central in early December.
But there were also the two blowout losses on Jan. 11 and 12 to Culver Military Academy in Indiana, one of the top-ranked teams in the nation.
There have been plenty of contributions from the new players so far.
Sophomore forward Nick Czinder assisted Hooker on his overtime winner against Catholic Central of Dec. 8. Sophomore goalie Chris Sullivan made 35 saves in the game, in his first career start.
Another newcomer, junior defenseman Max Uhrin, netted the winner in the second game against Shady Side, a 2-1 win on Dec. 22.
And sophomore forward Zak Thompson scored the overtime goal in a 4-3 win over Saginaw Heritage on Dec. 27.
There is about a month left to the regular season, and the schedule won't be easy.
On Saturday and Jan. 29, the Eaglets host Brighton and Clarkston, who were ranked fourth and eighth, respectively, in Division 1.
St. Mary's also will travel to Buffalo (NY) St. Francis for two games on Feb. 8 and 9 and host the Catholic League championships the following weekend. Then, in their regular season finale, on Feb. 20 at home, the Eaglets play Farmington, the No. 7 team in Division 2.
"We are where we thought we were going to be at this time," said Balent, the team leader with six goals. "We hope to start ramping up for the playoffs and peak when the playoffs came, like we did last year."
Analysis from the champs
St. Mary's captains talked about why last year's team was so successful -- and what they are still trying to build this year.
Billy Balent: "At the beginning of the year, we were trying to do too much ourselves and taking things too seriously. Toward the end, we started having fun."
Tim Hooker: "We came together at the right time. We played with a lot of heart and formed a brotherhood."
Aaron Schneider: "We spent a lot of time together off the ice. It helped us mesh on the ice."
Dan Stanisz: "We all had our roles and each guy played it perfectly in the playoffs. Some people dedicated themselves to defense for the betterment of the team instead of trying to be heroes and score goals."
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