SHSHL Ice Hockey Notebook (12-14-23)

Photo courtesy of Michael Rice. To view a gallery of photos, visit the photo gallery: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p110136314

By GORDON GLANTZ

The good news for the Souderton Ice hockey team is that scoring goals is not much of a problem.

The bad news is that giving them up has been.

At least, so far.

“We are trying to close the gap there, that’s for sure,” said seventh-year coach Alex Uchniat, whose team entered this week having given up 82 goals through the first 7 games, of which only two have resulted in wins.

Neither the coach, nor the team, is laying the blame on goalie Connor Paulus, who is a first-year starter.

“He’s a gamer,” said the coach. “We have to get better as a team defensively.

“The big emphasis here is that we have to be stronger on the backcheck. We have to do a better job of keeping teams to the outside. That’s been our focus here the last two weeks.”

Uchniat has been impressed with the focus of Paulus.

“He has been phenomenal,” said the coach. “It’s his first season, coming in as our varsity goalie. Last season, he was our backup, but he only got into one game. He’s been taking up extra ice time, getting extra work in. He has been receptive to coaching. He up to the challenge and not getting rattled.”

It paid dividends with a penalty shot save against standout Anthony Dowd (7 goals, 6 assists) of CB West, when a save was a key momentum shift in a 9-8 Souderton win.

“That was one of the catalysts that led to us getting a solid win there against a scrappy team,” said Uchniat. “He’s been awesome. I can’t say enough good things. He’s a junior. He’s only going to get better. He’s tall and athletic and he works hard.”

Tough Schedule

Some of the eye-popping goals against numbers can attributed to a rigorous early-season schedule.

For example, Council Rock South, featuring snipers like Kevin Koles (11 goals, 14 assists) and Jake Weiner (13 goals, 10 assists) scored 30 times in just two games against Souderton., but the Golden Hawks have been putting up big numbers against other teams as well.

“That’s a big part of it,” said the coach. “Pennridge and CB South also put up a lot.

 “I think we’ve only had two games under 10 goals against, and we’ve been able to get some wins out of those.”

Four of the Indians first seven games have been against the National Conference’s top three teams – Pennridge, CR South and CB South – which boast a combined record of 22-2-1.

A Possible Solution

Back in 1980, when the US Olympic Hockey team shocked the world and won the gold medal, a big move by coach Herb Brooks that went under the radar was when he shifted forward Dave Christian from forward to defense.

It gave the team an element it didn’t have, which was a defender who could carry the puck out of harm’s way.

Uchniat has deployed a similar tactic with junior Nick Smith (5 goals, 3 assists).

“He plays a little bit of everything for us,” said the coach. “He started the year off by playing a little bit of forward, as a centerman. He’s very skilled, and he has a very high compete level.

“This past week, I dropped him back to defense and he’s very good. He’s physical. He breaks plays up, and he’s a legitimate No. 1 quarterback. He sees the ice very well. He can dish it, as well as move it 200 feet up the ice and with speed.”

After falling behind, 6-0, to Council Rock South, Uchniat knew something had to be done to stop the bleeding.

“We had to make some adjustments, although it was also a move out of necessity,” he said. “One of our defensemen got hurt. He volunteered to move back, and he was an absolute standout. We started making a little bit of a run and closed the gap in that game.

“I think he initiated the play on three of our goals.”

It has really been the poise shown by Smith that has impressed Uchniat the most.

“He has been able to slow it down,” said the coach. “He isn’t one of those defensemen who are just going to rim the puck (along the boards). He’s going to regroup. He’s going to feed it. He’s shifty. He can open up ice for himself.”

Dynamic Duo

Maxwell Ryon, a sophomore, and senior captain Seth Grossman have been pacing the Souderton attack.

“Maxwell Ryon has been phenomenal,” said Uchniat. “He’s a hard worker, and he has no penalties. He plays the game the right way. He’s very skilled, but also a great team player. He has been an absolute standout.

“It took him a couple of games to get going last year. He was really strong by the end of the year. Since then, it has been a steady climb. This year, I’d say his shot has been the biggest jump. We don’t have statistics on shooting percentages, but I imagine that his are quite high.”

Maximizing their skill levels, the coach plays Ryan and Grossman together, and in all situations.

They each have 11 goals and 7 assists through the first 7 games.

“That’s why their point totals are quite similar,” said Uchniat. “They have both been able to put points up, whether it’s even strength or the man advantage or even shorthanded. They have both been able to put up a couple tallies.

“(Grossman) has been phenomenal as well and that includes leadership, too.”

As for finding the third skater for that first line, Uchniat has been holding open auditions.

“We have been rotating a few guys, just to see what’s going on and to test a few things,” said Uchniat.

For the time being, at least, the job has gone to Cameron Fairweather (1 goal, 5 assists).

“He’s a freshman,” said the coach. “He has very good hockey sense. He’s a playmaker, so it has been nice to have him on the first line.

“We have also done some shuffling. We’ve played him on the second line with Matty Cross (2 goals, 2 assists) and Jacob Chow (1 goal, 2 assists). They have been able to get it going, which is nice.”

Looking Ahead

With Smith back on the blue line and other pieces falling into place, Uchniat is confident that the rest of the season can yield more positive results in the won-loss column.

“The first part of our schedule was pretty tough, but I have broken down our season into thirds,” he said. “We have 18 games, so I go 6-6-6.

“In the first 6, we had some really tough opponents, especially with a new goalie, it was rocky a little bit. It was turbulent.

“We have talked about it. When you hit turbulence, you see true character. As a group, we have some good people. It’s a reflection of the community we live in, and they have been able to band together.”

And the old saying about whatever not killing you making your stronger comes into play.

“The team still has high ambitions,” said Uchniat, who boasts 17 skaters and gets in one one-hour practice a week. “I think they are willing to put in the work and claw back here.

“What we are hoping here to is find the right click, whether it’s with the lines or positions or the overall feeling that we are trying to put into it.

“I think we have a pretty deep team. Compared to years past, I think there is a lot of skill here. It’s about finding the right combinations, and other teams have a lot of skill, too. We are trying to fight for every little thing we can get here and make those adjustments along the way, because it’s a long season.”

SHSHL Point Leaders