Thank you to the Varsity players and their families for making the trip to Saugerties NY for the High School State Championships. There were many memorable moments as players and families, and at least this season you were not in a Hockey Halfway House Hotel – ha. But again thank you for making the trip and taking on the extra responsibility of High School Hockey off the Island. For some of our players this was an experience that may of been the first time playing off the Island, and will be a lasting impact – until next season!
Thank you to Coach George and Rick for the help with the Hotel recommendations/research; as well as taking the task of providing meals opening night and lunch on Saturday. Your efforts are appreciated by the program and the families.
Tomorrow night, March 1st we will celebrate the season of hockey from Freshmen to JV on to Varsity. It was season on a whole to categorized as a work in progress. Our Freshmen Team was truly a developmental team with a majority of our players taking to the ice for the first time with contact, or even at a competitive level, yet as the season moved forward the PROGRESS was positive; loses of 12-3 to Smithtown and 12-0 to KPC first time around were now games on the short end of 3-1 and 10-6. Most players, if not all, have shown improvement.
Our JV Team finished the season 6-11-1 and missing out on the playoffs by one spot in 9th. This wasa team with expected hurdles to climb due to only two returning players and a number of new players to the program. However as the season moved forward the team continued to improve. Contributions from more players as the season moved into the second half help the team finish with a 3-3-1 record after starting 3-8-0. A solid expected number of returning players for next season’s JV team should have them right back competing for the playoffs.
Varsity was an absolute Roller Coaster of a season. Never too High and fortunately never too Low. The Rinx closing for Mid-February really altered the normal game schedule causing many conflicts with other teams/sports and was just one of the road blocks to get over. In addition to player conflicts the league also lost three opponents, which made for a very strong schedule. With that said they still managed to compete and posted a 7-12-1 record good enough for a playoff spot with the 7th seed, and went on to knock off a favorite for Suffolk High School champs in KPC Knights. For only the first time since 2012 & 2013 the T-Birds sent their team to States on consecutive seasons and we are proud of the efforts. Next Season has already begun for the Varsity Season and we will be working through the Spring and late summer to get us where we need to be as a team and program.
See the players and families at tomorrow nights dinner and thank you to those parents of the Seniors. We have seen some changes over your child’s career, but more importantly we have seen amazing changes in your players personally. Congrats and thanks you sharing them with the Program!