By GORDON GLANTZ
Jeff Montagna has guided Pennridge to two AA state ice hockey championships in the last three years, and a tradition of expecting excellence remains.
The 2024-25 edition of the Rams had some significant turnover, with JV players from a year ago stepping up to varsity and varsity role players from last year now asked to do more.
“We have been dressing 14 kids, and six of those guys played JV last year,” said Montagna, who also coaches two club teams. “I knew that there would be some growing pains in big spots.
“Even the guys that returned, they are now being put into spots that they weren’t in before. Forget about who we lost from last year, player-wise. The biggest thing is how they performed in big moments. That’s what we are lacking right now. It’s that mentality.”
While natural attrition would be an easy excuse, Montagna is not in the business of excuses.
The Rams enter this week’s action, which includes a Wednesday night meeting against Pennsbury (7:20, Hatfield Blue), with a league record of 8-3.
The Rams lost badly, 5-0, to North Penn back on Dec. 19 but are coming off a well-played overtime loss to first-place Council Rock South. The other loss was also in overtime, 5-4, to Central Bucks South on Nov. 7.
In both overtime setbacks, the winning goals scored against the Rams were shorthanded. Yes, they are that close to being a one-loss team that is tied for first place.
The pattern, thus far, has been dominance over the teams lower in the SHSHL National standings and not so much against the other powerhouses.
Consequently, the Rams are ranked fifth in the Flyers Cup AA power rankings while Council Rock South is first and North Penn is third.
Still, while the five slot could be better, it could be worse.
“It’s been a little bit of a surprise,” said Montagna of his team’s play thus far, which sees them with 80 goals for and just 22 against. “I knew we would still be pretty good. I don’t know if I expected us to win the way that we have. Almost all of our wins so far have been blowouts, but we have also struggled against some of the upper echelon teams that we have played. It’s been a little bit of a mixed bag.”
Easing the Growing Pains
If the Rams are going to honor the program’s postseason tradition of excellence, the aforementioned growing pains will need to stop aching.
“We have to get past this, ‘The stage is too big’ phase,” said Montagna. “It’s time to go out and win games.”
It is easier said than done, though, and the coach knows it.
The remaining slate includes Central Bucks South on Jan. 23, North Penn on Jan. 29, Council Rock South on Feb. 13 and Central Bucks East on Feb. 19.
“We have, by far, the most difficult schedule left,” said Montagna. “We have six weeks here against better teams. We have to be prepared and be ready to play against the top teams. We need to be ready to beat them.”
The issue of breaking through was addressed at a recent practice.
“I think we have struggled with the moment a little bit,” said Montagna. “Some of these guys that are new, and who have been playing really well for me, just haven’t been through it. You have to go through it to learn. We talked about it at practice the other day. This is it. It’s time to grow up, and it’s time to make a statement here in a few of these games.
“One thing we stressed is that, you know, all those wins you accumulate early against teams you should beat, it has allowed us to lose to a North Penn and not have it really hurt us.”
Although he has had tremendous success, Montagna admits he is not a master strategist. He is a motivator who gets the most out of his players.
“It’s as simple as we need to compete better,” he said. “I know that is cliché, but we can’t play like we played against North Penn. It was unacceptable. If we want to be there in the end, and if we want a chance to win the league and in the playoffs and make a Flyers Cup run, you just can’t not show up against good teams.”
The calendar has flipped to the 2025 portion of the season. The pressure is now, but no panic buttons are being pushed.
The coach has been there, done that.
“We’re going to find out, really quick, who we are,” said Montagna. “They don’t hand out trophies in January, and they don’t hand out trophies in December. When it’s most important is being ready to go at the end of February, come playoffs and come the Flyers Cup.”
The Puck Stops Here
Senior goalie Jacob Winton, who became the starter late in his sophomore year has been absolutely stellar so far.
He has a .930 save percentage, is allowing 2.04 goal per outing and posted three shutouts
“Even as we are learning here, he is going to give us a chance to win every single night that we play,” said Montagna. “He has been my guy, ever since I had him (in club hockey).”
Montagna added that Winton is going to try to play at the junior level next year. Even though Winton may lack requisite size, Montagna wouldn’t count him out.
“He is incredibly intense,” said Montagna. “He has an incredible work ethic, and I think he just wants to see how far we can go with this.
“He wants it really bad.”
Lining It Up
In addition to Winton, Montagna knew he had a force of nature in senior forward Shane Dachowski to build around.
“The biggest thing, coming into this year, was figuring out who was going to be part of that line with him,” said the coach.
Enter James Rush, who has supported Dachowski (23 goals, 17 assists) with 15 goals and 18 assists.
“He kind of took a back seat for two years,” said the coach. “I knew what kind of an offensive player he was, but he wasn’t really put in that position. He played on the power play last year, and that’s where he did a lot of his damage, but he was on the second line and not asked to do a lot of the things he could do offensively.”
The third piece of the puzzle on the top line is Landon Bishop (8 goals, 14 assists).
“He was on JV last year, but he has really good offensive instincts,” said Montagna. “They have been phenomenal as a line. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
“Shane is always going to get his. That is just the way that it is, but it allowed us to not have teams just keying on him and taking him out of the game.”
The supporting cast up front has included Kaden Gunning (4 goals, 6 assists), Nolan Shaw (6 goals, 3 assists), James Embert (3 goals, 5 assists), Ryan Burke (6 goals, 2 assists), Dhilan Howard (4 goals, 3 assists) and Dean Verner (2 goals, 4 assists).
In addition to Bishop, Burke and Gunning were JV players a year ago.
“Everyone is contributing this year,” said Montagna. “We are getting scoring from a lot of guys, and some of them I didn’t even really expect it from.
“These are guys who, in a lot of other programs, would have been playing varsity last year. There just weren’t any spots. They got in a few games, here and there, as swing players. That’s been the big thing. That’s what has allowed us, at least with the teams we have beaten, to not have any close games. We have been getting scoring from those guys. Now, it’s just a matter of them doing it in bigger spots.”
Montagna added that more forward depth may come down the road from senior Nate McKean, who suffered a broken leg while skateboarding in the summer and is working toward a return by the end of the season.
“He has skated a regular shift for two years of varsity,” said the coach. “It’s been a big loss. That’s why some of these young guys chipping in have really helped.”
The Blue Line
Defensively, Montagna knew he could count on Nick Young (4 goals, 10 assists) and Jared Garber (10 assists).
While they have delivered this year, others have stepped into the void.
“That’s been the best part all year,” said Montagna. “I went into this with two returning defensemen.”
Montagna converted Josh Kelly (2 goals, 7 assists) to a defenseman. Also stepping up have been Salvatore Daquinto (1 goal, 8 assists) and Justin Dinsomone (2 goals, 3 assists).
“We have been really good back there. That has been the most pleasant surprise. I didn’t know what I was going to get out them coming into the season.”
Dances with Wolves
In the final analysis, the Rams who have stepped up came in knowing they had big skates to fill. It remains an ongoing process.
“I’m not complicated,” affirmed Montagna. “We just kind of threw them to the wolves. These are all guys with some pedigree in terms of club hockey, but you are still asking guys to jump into varsity hockey and play a regular shift. They have done a great job for us. It has been an absolute strength for us.”
There is no cap on the expectation level. That is not how he runs a program with the amount of recent success it has enjoyed.
“The bottom line is that there are expectations here,” said Montagna. “There is a culture here. There is an expectation of winning. That’s a really big thing with us.
“We’re not here to be .500. We’re not here to be good. We’re here to be great. That’s the bottom line.”
Rarified Air
Of the other National Division goalies who have played in eight or more games, Winton shares rarified air with North Penn’s Andrew Norton (7-1, 2.51 goals against, .883 save percentage), Council Rock South’s Trey Prozzillo (8-0, 2.54 goals against, .895 percentage) and CB South’s Nathan Napolitano (6-2, 3.54 goals against, .866 save percentage).
Roaring Twenties
In addition to Dachowski, other 20-goal scorers in the National Division, all with 23 tallies each, are: CR South’s Jeremy Rayher (18 assists), CR North’s Jackson Accardi (15 assists) and CR South’s Jake Weiner (10 assists).
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