ALWAYS STRONG AREA-PRODUCES ANOTHER BUMPER CROP ON ICE
By Brad Wilson
Sports Associate
Let’s present this scenario. Amid signs of general disinterest in interscholastic sports, there is a sport, fairly new to the scene , that draws excellent crowds (better, consistently than anything other than football and (sometimes) boys basketball) despite being played at inconvenient times, that boasts some of the area’s finest athletes, and boasts a reasonably high level of competitiveness and excitement. you would think that such an activity would get eaten up by the media, right? That attention would be showered upon it, right? After all, these are the same people who devote inches and inches of space to sports that attract miniscule crowds and are poorly played, so the opposite would deserve at least the same, right?
If we’re talking about ice hockey, as we are, the answer is wrong. Without a doubt, hockey is the orphan of the area sports as far as attention goes, but we here at “The Suburban” are perfectly content to let our fellow scribes and editors wallow in ignorance of this wonderful, exciting, and enthralling sport. However, to help remedy the drought of ice news elsewhere (we hope this paper’s coverage ranks among the best, of course), it brings us great pleasure to present the inaugural All-Suburban ice hockey team.
The names will not be, perhaps, as familiar to you (the general sports fan), as stars of the gridiron or hardwood, but rest assured that they are outstanding, often gifted athletes of the first rank. The endurance and ability to withstand punishment it takes to play ice hockey equal to any sport. These 22 athletes have the requisite physical skills and have added the stickhandling, strategies, and teamwork necessary to excel on the ice. And remember this one fact; to play ice hockey, you must master an entire new skill; skating. In most other sports, running is all that is necessary as a prerequisite. Think about that for a minute.
Also think about the continued excellence of Suburban ice hockey. Archbishop Carroll, Conestoga, and Malvern Prep have all won the Flyers Cup since it’s inception in 1978. And Haverford School, Episcopal, and Radnor have all been highly competitive over the years. In few sports has our area been as solid and as skilled as in hockey.
This season continued that tradition of excellence, Carroll, Conestoga, and Malvern all made their leagues playoffs. Malvern reached the Presidents Cup (Tier II) finals. The Friars speed, skill, and scoring simply overwhelmed most foes. The Pats and the Pioneers often looked like mirror images of each other; hard checking, scrappy clubs that were both a scorer short of being top-rank clubs.
Elsewhere, Episcopal, under first-year coach Roger WHite, just missed the EHSHL playoffs, and Radnor, despite its 4-11-0 record continued its steady progress as coach Ed Sterba’s rebuilding rolled along. Haverford School deserved better than its 0-for-the-season, but the Fords battled hard without a pause all winter; maintaining such a positive attitude in the face of 0-18 deserves a round of applause. If we had a perseverance award, Haverford and coach Prescott Huidekoper would win it.
Our initial “Coach of the Year” honor goes to Episcopal’s Roger White, who guided the Churchmen to within a point of a playoff spot in the area’s toughest division, the Eastern League’s American Division (with Malvern, Flyers Cup champ Monsignor Bonner, Tier III state champ Haverford High, and Downingtown) despite not having as much overall talent as those squads. No team worked harder, however, or played with more pride and skill — and sportsmanship. White’s patience and dedication paid off this winter; his club’s on-ice demeanor — with Radnor, the area’s classiest — reflected his philosophy and positive attitude. Honorable mention: Malvern Prep’s Bob Davis, Radnor’s Ed Sterba.
A note of thanks here to statistician supreme A.J. Ruth, who has supplied us with accurate, up-to-date numbers all year, and , most of all, to the Suburban’s chief ice hockey correspondent Jack McHugh for his input on this team and his invaluable aid throughout the season; Jack is the primary reason our hockey coverage is second to none.
As we do for all of our All-Suburban teams, we solicited nominations from our coaches for first and second teams and Honorable Mention. The Suburban ice hockey staff then sorted through the coaches choices and came up with our 11 member (10 skaters and a goalie) first and second teams. We took pictures, or tried to; the players lacking photos are not due to us not trying to shoot them.
All quotes below are from the player’s coach unless otherwise attributed; all players are seniors unless noted. Participating coaches: Dave Burdo-Archbishop Carroll, Bob DiRico-Conestoga, Roger White-Episcopal, Prescott Huidekoper-Haverford School, Bob Davis-Malvern, and Ed Sterba-Radnor.
FIRST TEAM
SCOTT ANDERSON, Forward, Episcopal. “Watching him play you know he loves the game,” said Haverford’s Huidekoper. 14 goals, 11 assists. “Never game up, great captain, polite, and intelligent, fastest skater in the league(?).” Aggressive and powerful; dangerous in the open ice
CHRIS BICKELL, forward, Conestoga. “Great stickwork skills.” Physical, aggressive, and opportunistic; deadly in the corners and a checker of note; good, strong shot; fine on power play. 16 goals, 10 assists. “Future Penn Stater.”
BEN COIA, forward, Malvern Prep. With Matt Mulhern and Keith Grimley, part of the most dangerous line in the area. Coia scored 31 goals and 16 assists; a pure scorer, a threat from anywhere on the ice. Exceptionally strong shot and extremely quick to get it off. Peerless passer. Lacks nothing offensively; physical and feisty at both ends.
Keith Grimley, forward, Malvern Prep. The area’s leading scorer at 58 points, 25 goals and 33 assists. Has as complete and offensive repertoire as anyone could want; a laser of a shot, a quick trigger, superb stick skills, a fast skater, a nose for the net, effective in the corners, a gifted passer, and fine on faceoffs. An intimidator despite his size and solid defensively.
KRIS LIMAYE, goaltender, Epsicopal. Other goalies had better numbers; few were as effective. Limaye rose to the occasion, coming up big in pressure situations. Excellent reflexes, a flair for the flashy save, and a leader. “Excellent concentration in the net, outstanding glove and pads, never complained; and did his job.
MARC MORNINGSTAR, defense, Archbishop Carroll. The most complete player around, period; can do anything and everything well on the ice. The area’s best goalie last winter, he skated this season because that’s where the Pats needed help. He had 17 goals, 13 assists while playing punishing defense. “Dominates game; great, fast shot. No skater meant more to his team than Morningstar did to Carroll; he will be sorely missed.
SAM NG, forward, Archbishop Carroll. Gave the Pats much-needed points with his 13 goals and 10 assists; at his best in big games and under pressure. But Ng might have as valuable in other ways: he had zero penalty minutes on a team that was too often a man down and was an effective penalty-killer. “Solid center.” Good hitter and strong in his own zone,
MIKE RAMER, forward, Radnor. The fifth-leading scorer in the Inter-County League with 45 points on 30 goals and 15 assists. Superb shooter; opportunistic and creative, creates breakaways, effective in the open ice, not afraid to bang. As Carroll’s Burdo noted, very dangerous in the slot. “Very good scorer and penalty.” Division III or club bound.”
ERIC STAGNARO, forward, Conestoga. The Pioneers’ captain and leading scorer with 22 goals and eight assists; pure gas on offense. Burdo’s four words sum Stagnaro up: “Very fast, scores goals.” Few excelled Stagnaro at creating chances in the neutral zone or in conjuring up breakaways. Deadly one-on-one; strong shot.
AARON STERBA, defense/forward, Radnor. 33 (13/20) points left Sterba is 10th in the ICSHL despite playing a steadying role on defense much of the season; a strong shot and an eye for the net account for the scoring. Dangerous scorer, superb passer, physical. Carroll’s Burdo called Sterba “a good setup man.” “Nicknamed ‘Coaster for his end-to-end rushes; loves to hit and score; very good twoway player.”
JOE WASHCO, defense, Malvern Prep. By general consensus the area’s best defenseman. Washco has no rivals as a catalyst for his club’s offense; his passes and breakouts were superb. Scored 13 goals himself with 14 assists; hard shot, takes advantage of his chances. Played in his own end with fury and passion; physical, aggressive (sometimes to excess, it must be said) and very, very effec- tive. In many ways, the type of player Malvern has built a dynasty around.”
SECOND TEAM
MIKE BUDD, forward, Conestoga. DiRico: “Hardest hitter in the ICSHL!”Burdo: “Big hitter;intimidates others.” Spot a trend? The most ferocious hitter we saw anywhere and solid in all phases of the sport as well. “Born leader.”
RYAN CROWELL, junior forward, Radnor. The most hockey player ever to come in so tiny a package. Excellent passer (12 assists, 4 goals) and a defensive pest of the first order. “Great forechecker, loves to dig in the corners. Tenacious.”
JOHN FIZZANO, sophomore forward, Haverford School. A highlight of the Fords long struggle was the heady play of this upandcoming standout “Good basic skills, hard worker, enjoys the game.”
JEFF MacBEAN, defense, Episcopal. “Intense, hardworking, became an excellent defenseman in one year. Great captain.” Huidekoper added: “Team player; selfless; great attitude. 5 goals, 12 assists; smart and dedicated.
MATT MULHERN, junior forward, Malvern Prep. Scrappy, feisty, physical sort, a perfect match with Grimley and Coia. Extremely dangerous around the net; quick, strong shot that finds the weak spots in a goalie. 18 goals, 22 assists.
TOM MULLIGAN, forward, Archbishop Carroll. 11 goals, seven assists, the kind of hard-working forward that made the Pats go; physical and assertive. “Good shot; good moves on goalie. Hot early in the year.”
ADAM RUSSO, forward, Malvern Prep. Centered Malvern’s second line but as deadly a scorer as any of the first; 24goals, 20 assists. A superb passwer with a rocket of a shot; physical as that come, a fine forechecker.
BRIAN SMITH, junior goalie, Archbishop Carroll. A 3.74 GAA and a shutout behind the thin and occassionally plodding Pats show Smith’s mettle. Fine attitude, consistent, and excellent with the glove.
JOSH TALLEY, junior forward, Conestoga. 13 goals and a teamleading 16 assists; perhaps the most versatile Pioneer. Strong in his own end, dangerous on the attack. Sees ice well; a crisp; dangerous passer, “Solid overall.”
CHRIS VAGNONI, junior defense, Conestoga. “Mr. Hustle,” said his coach, and no one played harder at either end of the ice. Very effective defender and persistent as they come. “Fast defenseively; big hitter for small size, ” said Burdo.
BRANDON WYSZYNSKI, forward, Episcopal. “Improved consistently over the year, worked hard, great slapshot.” 15 goals, 13 assists; a dangerous and powerful shooter.
HONORABLE MENTION
Archbishop Carroll Jim DiCicco, junior forward; “Big shot, big hitter.” Stephen McClusky, sophomore forward; 9/9-18; “Smart instincts.’ Conestoga – Rick Carpenter, forward; “Great hustle.” Tim Crane, junior defender; “Strong defensively; team’s leading defensive scorer (9/6-15).” Paul Giangulio, sophomore goalie; in his first year, excellent numbers: 3.36 GAA (fourth in league), one shutout. Episcopal Tony Lee, forward; Eric Ransome, forward. Haverford School –Josh Tannenabaum, senior goalie. Malvern Prep – Rich Jensen, goalie. Radnor – Vance Carter, freshman defense; Neel Makhija, senior defense; loves to hit; solid defensive performer,”; Chris Newth, freshman goalie; Steve Spiegel, freshman forward; 9-17/26, “good hands for passing,” said Burdo.”
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