As the season changes from fall to winter, we move into new sports seasons, sure to bring excitement and a high level of competition. One of those winter teams is varsity hockey, who have just started practicing but have a promising season ahead of them.
The team has a lot of opportunities coming into this new season. “We have a very young team,” Head Coach John Hissick pointed out. “Although they’re young, they are very talented kids, so I’m eager to see how they do together.”
This year also brings the addition of young prospects, which is sure to aid them in upcoming games. “Junior Alex Oliveira is very seasoned and savvy coming to KO – he will definitely have an impact on the ice,” Coach Hissick said. “We’ve also added sophomores Chris Patel and Colton Bischoff, and we’ve also added freshmen Enzo Androw. It looks to be like he’s going to be a strong addition to the team, as are freshmen Hayden Liddy and Quinn Heal.”
Since the team is relatively younger, there is a lot that they can improve on. “It all starts with just our leadership this year,” sophomore Dalton Smith said. “Overall, I think we could just be better bonding as a team. Our team bonding off the ice leads to better performance on the ice.”
Even with lots to improve, the team is still doing well in some areas, especially on the defensive end. The team has their returning goalie sophomore Shane Smith, who is sure to contribute valuable saves to the team. Additionally, joining the team is freshman goalie Duncan Burd who has been at the KO Middle School for the past two years and has previously worked with the team.
“Dalton Smith and Alex Oliveira on the backline are probably our two strongest, savviest players at a high level in club hockey,” Coach Hissick said. “I think those guys are going to be the ones that really blaze the trail for us.”
For the past few weeks, practices have started to ramp up in intensity. “We practice for an hour every day after school,” Smith said. “Practices consist of many different things, whether it includes conditioning or teamwork like our power player penalty kill, and then there’s a lot of battle and battle drills to help our competitive spirit.”
The hockey team has focused on a commitment to representing KO on the ice through their character and play. “I think sometimes kids in sports forget that they wear this KO shield,” Coach Hissick said. “So, competing with good sportsmanship, with humility I think really is the best way we can go about it. Don’t get me wrong, I love to win. I’m sure the kids would love to win. But we also have to understand that we are representing the school. We’re representing something more than ourselves, and that’s really important to understand when we go into competition.”
Although the team is very young, they expect to find success this year. “We do not have a single senior, and we’re mainly freshmen, eighth-graders, and sophomores,” Smith said. “We have a very bright future.”
It seems that hockey has a great season ahead of them, and we wish them the best of luck going into their first game on Dec. 6 at home against Forman School.
