Bring Back the Sweatshirts: Hockey Preview

The puck was secured in the glove of the goalie as a mass of Duchesne players rushed the ice. All the players’ heads dropped, realizing what had just happened. The season, and for some, a career, was over. Returning to the locker room, there was a very somber mood felt. Many players just sat there, staring around, soaking in the last time everyone would all be together. Hugs were given all around before everyone left on that fateful night in February.

Losing five seniors including goaltender Sam Haupfear, forward Jack Canfield, and defenseman Joe Schroeder hurt. Seeing the sadness and realization on their faces that it was all over after the game struck a chord with a lot of the younger players on the team.

But it won’t get any easier as four underclassmen also left the school this summer. Three juniors left, one going to Providence, one going to Buffalo, and the last going to Lafayette along with the team’s lone sophomore. In all, the team that had 22 players on the roster at the beginning of last season has only 12 people returning for the 2019-2020 campaign.

The biggest question mark coming into this season is at the goaltending position. Attempting to fill Sam Haupfear’s shoes would be extremely hard for anyone, so if the new goalies can even bring half of what Haupfear brought, it should be a good season. The two battling to take over the starting spot are Tommy Le and Emily Greige. Le played very few minutes last season, and Greige is coming in as a freshman, so the team goes as the goalies go.

Scoring goals has been a problem for the team in years past, but this season, it should be the team’s strength. The top six promising goal scorers for this season include seniors Ben Parres and Jack Bystrom, junior Brandon Swenson, and sophomores Caleb Bross and Harry Ottsen. Parres is playing solely for the Wildcats this season, and Bross will be playing in his first season. Bystrom, Parres, and Bross are all goal-scoring machines and should make going to the games lots of fun this year.

On defense, newcomer Collin McCarthy will lead the group made up of Zach Kilgore, Gus Duda, and Jack Wooldridge. If the defense can help out with the offense from time to time, success should be plentiful all season long.

Some things will need to fall into place but another deep run in the Wickenheiser Cup playoffs is very possible. New hoodies will be flying off the shelves come mid-March 2020, mark my words. Winning three cups in four years is not that bad, and I like the sound of that.