Photo provided courtesy of Tracy Valko: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f833388304
By GORDON GLANTZ
Just as the Eagles shook up the football world on Super Bowl Sunday by topping the Kansas City Chiefs, North Penn did the same on Feb. 5 by posting a 5-3 win over Council Rock South on the Wednesday before Super Bowl Sunday.
The Golden Hawks were previously unbeaten in league play, but it really only seemed a matter of time in the top-heavy National Division SHSHL.
“They caught us, man, but they are a good team,” said Golden Hawks’ coach Joe Houk. “We just didn’t have our ‘A’ game that night.
“When you are going through a season and not losing any games, there is always that chance of losing one. It kind of humbles you a little bit.”
Because it is not the finale - like the Super Bowl was - there is a chance for the CR South coaching staff to turn the setback into a teachable moment.
In fact, it could turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to Houk’s team.
“Absolutely,” he confirmed. “It’s the first thing we said to the team after the game. It’s a long season, and sometimes the kids need that.”
Back to Basics
The road to redemption for the Golden Hawks began Monday at practice.
“We’ll just go back to the drawing board and take it from there,” said Houk.
The coach believes the Golden Hawks need to get back to playing more of a two-way game and not just rely on outscoring opponents.
“We have a lot of firepower,” said Houk. “We move the puck really well. Our defensive play is not the best right now, and that’s where teams get us.”
While the Golden Hawks have netted 116 goals this year, which tops the division, they have allowed 46.
That puts them third, behind North Penn (36) and Pennridge (37).
“You can’t allow seven goals in a game, because you have to score eight or nine to win,” said Houk. “All in all, we have to stay focused and realize what the job at hand is. If we do that, we will be OK.
“I want to go out and win 2-1 games and 3-2 games. I don’t want to win 9-7 or 6-5 in overtime and stuff like that. There are things we need to focus on getting better at on the defensive style of play. That’s what we are working on, and we are getting there.”
The Leading Men
The Golden Hawks have been paced by forwards Jeremy Rahyer (26 goals, 25 assists), Jake Weiner (31 goals, 15 assists), Jordan Sarne (14 goals, 19 assists) and Jonah Weston (8 goals, 13 assists).
Houk particularly singled out forward Jackson Mosley (10 goals, 14 assists) for high praise, saying: “He has been having a great year.”
The anchors of the defense are Danny Filipov (1 goal, 11 assists) and Jake Maurer (2 goals, 12 assists).
“Those two have consistently done an outstanding job,” said Houk, who has also gotten solid play from defensemen like Peter Pereborow (5 goals, 14 assists).
Trey Prozillo, who was under the weather with the flu against North Penn and had to give way to freshman Evan Ayala, is the primary goalie.
Prozillo is unbeaten in 11 starts with a 2.88 goals against average and an .880 save percentage.
The Road Ahead
The Golden Hawks will be back in action Wednesday against Souderton and Thursday against Pennridge. The season will end on Feb. 19 against Neshaminy.
All three game are 7:20 faceoffs at Grundy B.
Having played the whole season with targets on their backs, Houk is not taking any opponent lightly.
He is particularly wary of Pennridge, which has won state titles two of the last three years.
“Pennridge will be a big one for us,” he said. “We beat those guys in overtime last time.”
The Golden Hawks, at 14-1, still have a game in head over the Knights (14-2), who are back in action against Pennsbury Wednesday night (9, Grundy B).
Both seem to have the top two seeds for the playoffs locked up, meaning a bye, but the first seed is still preferable to the second.
And the win over CR South put the Knights in more rarified air in the eyes of the Flyers Cup seeding committee.
“It was a big win for us,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis, who praised goalie Aiden Quigley for standing tall in the win. “We still have two games left, so we can’t overlook anyone, but we are doing a lot of good things right now and need to just keep getting better as we get ready for the playoffs.”
Gardening at Night
While all the “bigger” schools are in the National Division, some schools still have about twice the numbers of others.
CB West coach Dave Baun, who also serves as the circuit’s first vice president, understands this reality.
“That’s a huge difference,” he said. “It’s high school sports. You are going to have us, Council Rock North and the AA teams, who are going to have it a little bit harder. We have to get the kids, and you have to get the right kids, but it’s always going to be a little bit harder for us.”
As it is, only four SHSHL schools – North Penn (5-4-1), Pennridge (5-5), Plymouth Whitemarsh (2-5-3) and CB South (1-7-2) – had JV teams this season.
Others are left to throw younger and less developed players to the wolves against some highly skilled and experienced club- level players.
“One of the things I find sad is that our demographics have been declining with each graduating class,” said Baun. “You graduate five, and you’re only bringing back one or two. There is nothing magical about it. It happens to every school.
“It is more pronounced with the smaller schools, where the periods between having good graduating classes are further apart.”
That means literally waiting for neighborhoods to turn over from older families where the kids have moved away and to younger families whose kids may choose to play a specialized and expensive sport like ice hockey.
This cycle of events can also be felt at the top of the food chain, as Council Rock South was unable to have enough bodies for a JV team for the 2024-25 season.
In the fierce National Division, that meant little to no ice time on a roster of about 20.
“It really affects things, big-time,” said Houk. “I have guys who should be playing JV and, instead, they are playing varsity. Sometimes, depending on the game, they won’t get a shift the whole game. I feel bad about that, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
“They just can’t compete yet at that level. There are teams in the league, where I can play them a lot, but there are others where I just can’t run four lines. Against a team like North Penn, for example, I’ve got to run three lines.”
The challenge then becomes a matter of keeping the players motivated.
“It’s tough,” said Houk. “I got these young guys on the bench, and it’s driving them crazy. My big saying to these guys is, ‘It’s a work in progress.’ All you can do is work hard at practice and bring it to game time.”
While it’s a year-to-year waiting game for Houk, who expects to have enough bodies for JV team next season, it’s not a reality for other programs.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, for example, this ongoing challenge exists for Springfield coach Don Quinn
There is an issue with depth and a disparity in skill level in a program in its third year, and second under his guidance.
While the Spartans are coming on strong – posting four straight wins, including one-goal wins over Hatboro Horsham (5-4 in overtime) and Wissahickon (6-5 win 2.2 seconds left) -- to make things suddenly interesting for the homestretch in the American Division, the nightly numbers do not always add up.
“We have about 6-7 players on our team who do not play club hockey,” said Quinn. “I try to give them every opportunity that I can, based on the game that we are in. I have to protect them, based on their safety, as well.
“I’m a very fair person. We go as deep as we can, but I have shortened the bench in certain games to make sure we can have those one-goal games and, hopefully, get them to go on our side.”
Without a JV team, like most of the SHSHL, it is a matter of creativity.
“We have a couple of ‘practice’ players, who I do dress for games, but the full expectation is to be a practice player and get better and become a full-time player later,” said Quinn. “But, I do give them the opportunity to dress and be part of the team, but they also understand that it depends on the score and the situation and their safety. They’re getting a few shifts a game, but not a regular shift.
“As long as we are open and honest about it, everyone understands what the lay of the land is.”
For those without JV teams, the pipeline extends directly to the middle school level, where there are several divisions based on development level.
Wissahickon, which also had no JV team, recently won the title in the AAA division, which bodes well for the future.
“Winning the middle school championship was so important to our hockey club,” said Wissahickon coach James Rumsey. “Our middle school team is our foundation for the future, and the future looks bright.
“The coaching staff did such a great job developing our players and we were thrilled to see the improvement of our young team as a result.”
American Dreams
Despite the built-in challenges, Springfield has overcome a slow start and won four in a row to improve to 6-8. However, the Spartans will need to knock PW (13-0) from the ranks of the unbeaten on Wednesday night (9, Grundy B) to have a shot at a playoff berth in the American.
Also on Wednesday, Wissahickon and Hatboro Horsham will put their 7-6 records – and second place – on the line Wednesday (9, Hatfield Blue).
Feeling Special
Rayher and Weiner each have 8 power play goals to lead the National. Souderton’s Matthew Cross and Council Rock North’s Daniel Maglathlin each have 5.
Pennridge’s Shane Dackowski has 8 shorthanded goals, followed North Penn’s Samuel Norton with 4.
In the American, Wissahickon’s Ben Raebiger has 8 power goals, followed by Hatboro Horsham’s Victor Wilkins with 6.
In terms of shorthand tallies, three players – HH’s Nathan Nemchinov, Raebiger and Springfield’s Kellen Warman – all have 3.
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