By GORDON GLANTZ
Bensalem senior forward Alex Hood began skating shortly after he could walk and was playing organized ice hockey by age 5.
A year from now, he might be taking a gap year before college hockey as he still has a year left to play at the 18U club level.
But that’s the future. This is now for a guy who is, literally, burning up the ice.
As a scoring machine in the American Division of the SHSHL, Hood has registered 30 goals in just 8 games.
Coach Bill Hood, who doubles as Alex’s dad, has seen the attempts to slow the sniper down.
“I can’t speak for other coaches, but I think that what they are telling their players is that they need to stop Alex Hood; that it is a key to having a chance to win their games,” he said.
The coach has seen all kinds of strategies, from shadowing and spying to standing up at the blue line to all-out physicality.
“He knows he is a target,” said Bill Hood, of his son, who also has 10 assists. “It’s not necessarily that people take cheap shots at him, but he knows that people are going to be keying in on him in order for their teams to win their games.
“He takes it in stride. He has always been a physical player, so I don’t have any doubts about him not being able to handle it. He’s not the biggest kid, either, but he has certainly played bigger than he is.”
Death Struggle
It should be noted that Hood’s team is 7-1 and in a death struggle with Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-1) for first place (and the first-round playoff bye that comes with it).
That will likely be decided when the two teams meet in back-to-back games on Jan. 18 and 25, and winning the division and earning the program’s first Flyers Cup bid in its third year remain high on the list.
“Those are still the goals,” said Bill Hood. “We are looking at Plymouth Whitemarsh. We beat them in overtime in a game that could have gone either way. We play them twice in the next two weeks, and those are going to be pivotal games for us. We would definitely like to win both, but we are hoping for at least a split with them.”
In terms of the Flyers Cup and earning an invite, it is an unfortunate situation where Bensalem does not control its own destiny.
“We’re hoping for it,” said the coach. “Our problem is that we are AA for the Flyers Cup purposes. I don’t what their thinking will be about our record. I definitely feel like we have to have good showing the remainder of the season and into the playoffs, to have a shot at that.
“I’m just trying to turn the corner here in 2024. I told the guys that in terms of the Flyers Cup and the playoffs if you want to sniff that, it starts now. They have to have that mindset.”
Supporting Cast
The Owls wouldn’t be where they are on the back of just one player.
Lifelong family friend, neighbor and fellow senior Ricky Gonzalez has been stellar in goal (2.74 goals against average, .916 save percentage).
In a true rarity for a goalie, he wears an A on his jersey as an assistant captain.
“Ricky has been a wall for us all season,” said Hood. “I can’t say enough good things about him. He is one of the leaders. He has that A on his jersey for that very reason.
“I knew that going in. I have known Ricky since he was kindergarten. He and my son have been very good friends since they started school.”
In front of him is a young but sound defensive corps, which is led by senior Justin Rapone, who has developed his offensive game this season with 5 goals (including a recent hat trick against Wissahickon) and 5 assists.
“He has really stepped up,” said the coach. “Watching him play the last two years, he was more of a defensive defenseman. He has stepped up and taken a huge leap as far as offensive production.”
Rapone is joined on the blue line by Danny Klein (6 assists).
“He is my other defenseman that I would call an anchor,” said Hood. “He has been very good, defensively.”
Offensively, the supporting cast includes Alex Bazylevich (5 goals, 15 assists), who generally plays alongside Alex Hood, and Cole Salyda (6 goals, 9 assists), who plays on the second line but the first power play unit.
“(Bazylevich) is a definitely an offensive catalyst, besides my son,” said Bill Hood. “Cole Salyda has definitely also stepped up and has taken a slice of the pie as far as scoring is concerned.
“Obviously, Alex has been scoring a lot of the goals, but it’s important to have secondary scoring. Those players have definitely stepped up.”
Although he has modest stats, Colton Morelli (1 goal, 2 assists), has fit in well with Hood and Bazylevich on the top line.
“He’s a great kid with a great attitude,” said the coach. “He works hard. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s probably the least experienced out of all the kids on the team. I think he just started playing last year.”
Hood has allowed for the likes of Lucas Gonzalez (4 goals, 8 assists), who the younger brother of the goalie, to see time on the first line when things are tight.
Another skater of note is Matthew Rowan (3 goals, 4 assists), who also plays competitive soccer.
Bensalem, which always struggles to have a full bench, got a boost by adding Brandon Stahl.
In just four games, he has 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists).
“We actually just added hi, a month and half to two months ago,” said the coach. “He has been a huge help, as far as adding depth and secondary scoring.
“He played the last two years. For some reason, he didn’t want to play at the beginning of the year. He played club hockey. I think a couple of the kids just reached out to him and said, ‘Hey, we can certainly use your help. I think they broke him down, and he joined the team. Thankfully, he did. He has been a huge help.
“He has been playing on the second line, and he gets some power play and penalty kill time.”
Staying Focused
Hood also knows better than to take any opponent lightly.
In addition to those PW games, there will be games against Abington and Wissahickon.
Springfield, coming off an eponymous 9-2 win over Wissahickon, has given Bensalem fits as well.
On Nov. 2, Bensalem eked out a 5-4 win. In a 7-1 win on Nov. 10, it was 2-1 after one period. Mostly, recently, on Dec. 20, a 9-4 final belied the game’s reality.
“We played a Springfield team that just won its first game the other night,” said the coach. “The last game we played against them, we were only up, 5-4, going into the last period. We scored some third period goals that made the score look more lopsided than it definitely was.”
Long Time Coming
While teams like Bensalem are looking ahead to the playoffs and a possible invite from the Flyers Cup, Springfield was just hoping for the fledgling program’s first ever win.
The wait is over.
On Jan. 5, coach Don Quinn’s troops left no doubt in a 9-2 win over Wissahickon.
And for all the times he was gracious in defeat, Quinn was equally gracious in victory.
He acknowledged that Wissahickon was playing with a short bench (just 11) and without standout Danny Hussa.
“Wissahickon was a little shorthanded, but the win felt great,” he said. “I was happy for our team, and our core student fan base that have been showing up to all of our games. We really appreciate their support and are glad we were able to get the win.”
Springfield jumped out of the gate in the first period, taking a 4-1 lead behind two goals by Grayson Quinn and one each by Gavin McManus and Thomas Manchester.
After scoreless second period, Springfield put the game away. Manchester scored three times in the final frame, giving him four tallies for the game. McManus also added his second goal.
“The team, the families and the coaches, we all needed that win,” said Quinn.
The Full Story
Despite the score of the win over Wisshickon, Quinn was quick to praise opposing goalie Fletcher Lynch, who faced onslaught of 55 shots, including 27 in the final period.
“Their goalie played great,” he said. “We had over 50 shots.”
Lynch’s statistics for the season (9.45 goals against, .746 save percentage) do not tell the full story.
He is a relative newcomer to the position and the coaching staff of James Rumsey and Jay Jaisle see a bright future.
“Fletcher has just been a goaltender for two years, and he has never even played a club level,” said Rumsey. “He has been the guy we rely on so much. Even though he has been only playing goalie for two years, he is just a student of the game. He has been taking clinics every Sunday. He just fell into this position, and he just embraces it.
“He is just a competitor. Like any goalie, he wants to win it for his team and holds a lot on his shoulders for that reason. He just really wants to win for his team and his school. He may not tell you that, but you can see it in the way that he plays.”
National Headlines
There was a bit of a shocker in the National Division on Jan. 4 when previously unbeaten Pennridge was tied by CB East, 3-3.
The game went to overtime when East’s Ethan Cenci scored with one second left in regulation while his team had a two-man advantage.
East goalie Cole Breen made the final possible with 33 saves on 36 shots.
Tyler Manto scored twice for Pennridge, which now clings to first place (11-0-1, 23 points) over CB South (11-1, 22 points).
The two potentates will play again on Feb. 14 to close out the regular season.
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