High School Hockey Previews

Hawks aim high, set sights on a state championship

Kevin Pomeroy, Sports Editor
Posted 12/4/14

For the last two weeks, the Bishop Hendricken hockey team has been on the ice, getting ready for the 2014-15 season. On Friday night, the Hawks will play their first game and the campaign will …

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High School Hockey Previews

Hawks aim high, set sights on a state championship

Posted

For the last two weeks, the Bishop Hendricken hockey team has been on the ice, getting ready for the 2014-15 season. On Friday night, the Hawks will play their first game and the campaign will officially be underway.

That’s a relief, because for the first time since last March, Hendricken can fully turn its attention to the road ahead and not the one in the past.

Last year, the Hawks won game one of the state championship series against Mount St. Charles and led game two 3-1 deep into the third period before the Mounties came alive. Hendricken lost that game in overtime and then lost the deciding game three 5-2, as Mount celebrated its second consecutive state title.

“We brought it up the first day, and that was it,” said Hendricken head coach Jim Creamer. “Hopefully it’s the last time we have to talk about it.”

There’s plenty of reason for optimism, as many core members from that talented team last year – which finished in first place in the regular season for the third consecutive year – are back in the fold, and as usual, a few youngsters have come on board as well.

Really, there’s no reason the Hawks shouldn’t be fighting to be the last team standing once again.

The landscape around them has changed slightly this year. The past two years, Hendricken has played alongside Mount and La Salle in Division I-Cimini, with five other teams playing in D-I-Eccleston. The top Eccleston team then moved up to the Cimini playoffs, and two sets of playoffs were played.

This year, there are two divisions once again, but there will be no moving up or down. Hendricken, Mount and La Salle remain in Cimini, and are joined by Cranston West and Smithfield. The teams will play each other – and only each other – four times each, and also play two out of state games that count towards their overall records.

That makes an 18-game regular season schedule. All five teams will make the postseason, with the No. 4 and 5 seeds playing a one-game play-in game for the right to play the top seed.

The Eccleston Division now features seven teams who will vie for their own title.

“I think it’s a great league,” Creamer said. “I like how they set it up. I think the interscholastic league did the best they could and they did a pretty good job.”

Hendricken will be looking for its fourth straight regular season crown without the help of its leading scorer last year, Andrew Fera, who graduated. Fellow standout Jamie Armstrong is gone to the junior hockey ranks, while senior contributors Chris Shalvey, Tucker Alberigo, Matt Kim, Liam Watkinson, Jonathan Finelli and Josh Olson are gone as well. Goaltender Christian Maselli is also no longer with the team after deciding to play juniors.

Though that seems like a lot of players gone, Hendricken still returns nine forwards and five defensemen, as well as its starting goaltender.

“It’s a nice group of kids, a nice team,” Creamer said. “We’ve got eight seniors, and it’s nice to have a sort of older group.”

The top line should be one of the state’s best, anchored by sophomore Pat Creamer, who was second on the team with 25 points last year. He’ll be joined by juniors Reilly Miller and Brandon Mitchell. Miller had 14 points last year, while Mitchell had 10.

Another solid line will be made up of junior Brandon Waterman and sophomores Ryan King and Sam Milnes, all of who were on the team in some capacity last year.

The third line is an all-senior group – something Jim Creamer did with his team last year as well, with Finelli, Watkinson and Olson – in Alex Leite, Eric Edwards and Kiel Fuller. Fuller is currently sidelined with an injury, paving the way for junior Clay Audet to step in.

The fourth line right now is made up of sophomores Michael Vendetti and Michael Shaw as well as freshman Peter Krekorian.

On defense, seniors Steven Dumond, Tim Poulin, Jason Cuomo and Patrick Flanagan return after seeing various amounts of time last year, while sophomore Bryce Dolan should be the team’s top defenseman after being a member of the first pairing last season as a freshman. Freshman Matt Rickard is also currently in the top six.

In net, Kenneally, a senior, is back after seeing the bulk of the work during the regular season and almost all of it during the playoffs, as he had a 1.67 goals against average.

His back-up will be Fairfield Prep transfer Cam Doomany, a senior.

Creamer is excited about the possibilities.

“I think we’d be disappointed if we’re not there at the end,” Creamer said. “I think everyone would be disappointed. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re good, but we’re not great. We’ve got to work hard. We can’t take a night off. It’ll be interesting.”

The Hawks are playing 24 games total this year, including its two out-of-state games against Notre Dame, Conn. and Delbarton School, N.J., that will count in the RIIL standings. They’ll also play Maldin Catholic, Springfield Cathedral and compete in the Mount St. Charles Holiday Tournament.

“I’ve been here for 21 years,” Creamer said. “This is probably the strongest schedule top to bottom.”

Hendricken already won its Injury Fund game this past weekend 5-2 over La Salle, and it will get the season underway for real this weekend when it plays Smithfield on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. on the road, then faces off against La Salle Saturday at Thayer Arena at 8 p.m.

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