By Scott Huff
North Penn senior Allan Fenton and Knight junior Jim McKelvie must feel that they have dropped through the proverbial trap door.
At the conclusion of last season, North Penn was skating on the Wachovia Spectrum ice playing for the prestigious 2009 Flyers Cup against Council Rock South. The Knights lost the game, 5-2, but the Suburban High School Hockey League champions still had an extremely successful season.
“It was a cool experience to play at the Spectrum,” said McKelvie who earned time as a scrappy sophomore. “Last year we had a team with a lot of depth, and a lot of experience.”
“We had a lot of good players on that team,” said Fenton. “We were successful, and we knew how to win.”
But that was last year – this year North Penn has gotten off to a 1-6-1 start in the SHSHL Continental Conference. And the Knights are attempting to piece together a team that lost 13 seniors and two underclassmen from last season’s blockbuster squad.
“I have to help the players learn what it is like to play on the varsity level,” said McKelvie. “The best way to get better is to gain experience, and we might struggle some until we get there.
“We have been ‘in’ games, but now we clearly are not competitive with the best teams in the league,” added McKelvie. “It’s tough playing without the players we had on the team last year, but we are going to get better.”
“This team is going to grow together the more we play with each other,” said Fenton. “We have a new head coach (Kevin Vaitis), and we still need some time to learn what he wants. We already have his respect.”
Vaitis replaces Ken Haas behind the bench for the Knights. He has been with the Knight program for seven years – the last two as varsity assistant.
“We are an extremely young team with only four seniors,” said Vaitis in reference to Fenton, Shane Kerwick, Matt Walton, and John Romano. “We have been competitive in most of the games, but we still have a way to go.”
The two black-eye games for the Knights were a 9-2 loss to Central Bucks South and a 9-0 loss to Abington. NP also lost to Souderton (5-4), Central Bucks East (3-1), Pennsbury (6-4), and Council Rock North (5-1).
The Knights own a 4-3 victory over Central Bucks West, and have tied William Tennent, 2-2.
“We are learning every game about what it takes to win games,” said Vaitis. “And when we do that, some of those close games will end up as wins.
“We are going to have to rely on both Jimmy and Allan at the beginning of the season,” added Vaitis. “They are going to have to show those younger players what it takes to become winners on this level.”
McKelvie has scored five goals and added six assists for 11 points thus far this season, while Fenton has scored four goals with five assists for nine points.
One uncertainty that the Knights will not have to deal with – win or lose – is the support it receives from the North Penn athletic department.
“Our relationship with the school has been great,” said Vaitis. “They provide us with a team bus for away games, they recognize us as a club sport and are considered part of the North Penn winter sports program.
“Some of the games are shown on the North Penn school television,” added Vaitis. “And when the season is over, the kids receive a North Penn letter from the athletic department.”
North Penn will attempt to turn its season around against Pennridge (3-3-2) this Wednesday - on Thanksgiving Eve - with a 7 o’clock face off against the Rams at Hatfield Ice World.
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