Doug Reilly
Senior Editor
After last year’s dream season came to a disappointing end when the boys’ hockey team lost their first and only game of the year in the CIAC Division 1 Semi-Finals to St. Joseph’s, players, coaches and Rams fans entered an offseason full of questions and uncertainty. Losing 18 players to either graduation or high school transfer left a lot of doubt regarding how competitive the 2011-2012 New Canaan Rams hockey team could be.
And then, being outscored in their first two games of this season a combined 9-1, including an embarrassing 6-1 loss to Darien, things didn’t look good for the Rams, and Rams fans didn’t feel good about their team’s chances for the rest of the season.
Bo Hickey’s Rams have responded as of late, though, sitting at 5-3-1 through nine games this season and 3-0-1 in their last four games. Yes, they had their fair share of struggles early in the year, but having almost reached the halfway point in their schedule, they find themselves tied for first place in the FCIAC standings, coming off arguably their best, most complete game of the season, a 1-1 tie to the state’s fifth-ranked team, Xavier.
Led by a core of seniors on both the offensive and defensive side of the puck, with underclassmen stepping up to help carry the load, the Rams appear to have hit their stride at a pretty good time. With 11 games left on the regular season schedule, they find themselves in situation that could be worse, and will get better, with an opportunity to pad their record with wins over weaker FCIAC opponents in the upcoming weeks.
Junior goaltender Chris Koennecke is playing very well, only letting up an average of just two goals a game in his last 6 starts, the defense has improved and tightened up significantly compared to the beginning of the season, and the offense is finding a way to get the puck in the net and give the Rams a good chance to win.
No, this year’s boys’ team is not as good as last year’s (not many teams are capable of going 25-1), but look for these Rams to be in the thick of it come playoff time, as they will be competing for their third consecutive FCIAC championship.
The girls’ hockey team, on the other hand, is a different story. They did not have nearly as many losses from last year’s team that won both the FCIAC and CIAC championships for the second consecutive season. However, they were left with a few holes to fill, created by the loss of juniors Bea Eppler and Bianca Shultz and the graduation of defenseman Carla Paredes and their nationally recognized, former captain, Jana Persky.
Up to this point, the Rams haven’t had much trouble winning with what they have, cruising to a 12-0 record to start to season. Senior Britt Gardella has been solid in net for New Canaan, and with strong defensive corps led by junior captain Madzie Carroll, the Rams have been able to turn away opposing attacks to set up their own potent offense. Forward Olivia Hompe, also a junior captain, recently became the third member of the 200-point club here at NCHS, as she has led the team on the offensive side of the puck.
The road to an undefeated season will certainly not be an easy one for the Rams, with tough FCIAC games ahead of them, as well as an out-of-conference battle at Simsbury, a team that gave the girls all they could handle last week at Darien Ice Rink, a game the Rams needed two late goals to seal a 3-1 victory.
With that being said, there is no doubt that the team will raise their game for the late season push into postseason play, where they will presumably be the team to beat again in not only the FCIAC, but also the State, which has been a common theme in both boys’ and girls’ hockey here at New Canaan High School in the past few years.
