By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Publisher
The Egg Harbor Township ice hockey team had a fantastic season last winter, winning the South Jersey High School Hockey League’s Tier II A championship. The reward for the Eagles — other than a trophy and a cool new banner they can hang at Flyers Skate Zone in West Atlantic City — is a move up to the Tier I B division.
The move has meant a big step up in competition, as the Eagles have found out early this season. They had an 0-5 record heading into a Nov. 28 matchup with Eastern Regional, but EHT has been playing more competitive hockey of late after facing some very good teams to start the season. The Eagles lost back-to-back games in late October, to Clearview and Cherokee, and were outscored 14-0. But in two November games, the Eagles lost just 3-1 to St. Joseph and 5-3 to Holy Lenape Valley. As of Nov. 27, Clearview (5-0) was in first place in the Varsity-Parent Division (which EHT plays in) while Cherokee was leading the Varsity-Allen Division with a 6-2 record.
It hasn’t been easy for the Eagles to get some momentum going, as limited ice time means the team doesn’t get to practice all that often between games. Also, EHT is trying to replace some of its best players, including guys such as Travis Tuthill and Darren Wan, two of the team’s leading scorers last season.
“It felt good last year because we won a lot of games. We don’t have too many experienced players. We have to work on our shots a little more. We haven’t had a chance to practice all that much. It’s pretty hard to get ice time,” said Adam Notaro, a junior goalie. “Our new captain, Bailey McFaul, the first game when he was captain he got the team pretty hyped up.”
“A lot of the Tier I teams have what you would call travel players on their teams who play hockey in leagues other than high school. That’s really the main difference in the two levels,” said George Tuthill, Travis’ father, who coached the team the past two seasons before stepping down after his son graduated but is still involved with the program. “Tier II A and Tier II B, you have kids who maybe came up playing middle school hockey and that’s where they learned to play.”
The Eagles, who finished 11-6-1 last winter and went 3-0 in the playoffs, also are trying to find their footing with a coaching staff that includes several new coaches. Assistant Steve Bergeron is back and joined by newcomers Scott Brock as the head coach and assistants Bill DeClement and Fred Feliciano. There’s also a host of new players, including a big crop of freshmen.
“It’s been positive in the locker rooms and at practices. We moved up a division, so we’re trying to win another championship, obviously, but right now we’re just trying to win some games and get into the playoffs, and see what we can do from there,” said freshman goalie Cameron Carmen, who’s getting some time in net along with Notaro. “We have good chemistry and the lines are good. We just need to get better with communicating on the ice.”
Losing Travis Tuthill and Wan means the Eagles have a lot of offense to replace. Tuthill had 16 goals and 21 assists, while Wan added 24 goals and 12 assists, good for fourth-best in the league. Notaro said the Eagles also are trying to replace some of the leadership that guys such as Tuthill, Wan, Michael Berenotto, Jake Horn and Phillip Kovalevsky provided. Notaro said he’s hoping he can become the type of player that Devin Swisher was two years ago, a guy who can get the team fired up and bring some energy to the lineup. Notaro also said he thinks McFaul can become the kind of leader that Tuthill was for last year’s team.
The Eagles also are looking to seniors such as Kyle Yaffee, Ryan Paul and Dylan Charlton to lead the way for what is a very young roster.
“Defensively, we’ve been playing pretty well, we just have to get the puck up to our offense more and improve our passing,” Notaro said. “I’m hoping we can have a good year.”
Carmen said adjusting to high school hockey — and in particular the new division — has been an eye-opening experience for himself and some of the other freshmen.
“The pace is really fast. It’s a lot faster than the club hockey I’ve played, because the players are older and a lot of these teams have players who have played together for a long time,” he said. “It’s going to take a while to get used to the pace and how good these players are.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays