2002 All-Area Teams (Bucks County)

March 22, 2002

ICE HOCKEY PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Ryan Gunderson

BENSALEM – Ryan Gunderson admitted what he accomplished on the ice for the Holy Ghost Prep ice hockey team this season and even surprised himself. “It was a better year than I expected,” the junior forward said. “Both for me and for our team.” Gunderson played a major role in Holy Ghost Prep finishing second in the Lower Bucks County Scholastic Hockey League regular season standings and earning its first trip to the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament. The 5-foot-8, 150-pounder captured the LBCSHL scoring title, netting 29 goals and 47 assists to finish with 76 points. It broke the Holy Ghost record for points in a season, which had been held by Ryan Tocicki, who had 72 points. Gunderson edged teammate/linemate Paul Worthington for the scoring title. Worthington finished the year with 73 points, as he scored 32 goals and had 41 assists. For his efforts, Gunderson is the Courier Times Ice Hockey Player of the Year, edging Worthington and Council Rock’s Dante Jannotta for the honor. “My goal was 70 points,” Gunderson said. “I knew the school record was 72 points, and I knew if I averaged three points a game, I would get 72 points.” Gunderson got the record in a game against Harry S Truman. True to form, he reached the milestone assisting on a goal by Worthington. “I’ve played with him for like 10 years,” Gunderson said of his linemate. “We know each other pretty well. We don’t even have to look (for each other). We know where each other is going to be.” While it’s nice to put the puck in the net, Gunderson is more content to be the playmaker, setting up other players and acting like a quarterback on the ice. “I grew up watching Wayne Gretzky,” he said. “He scored, but he always had a lot of assists. I like it when I set up plays.” Gunderson said he laced up a pair of skates for the first time at age two and fell in love with the sport by playing street hockey. “I don’t even know how I got started,” he said. “I grew up playing street hockey. I’d get home from school and put on my rollerblades and play until it got dark.” When he made the switch from rollerblading to ice skates, Gunderson’s game improved. And the more he played, the better he got. As a freshman at Holy Ghost, he had 14 goals and 29 assists. Last year, hampered by a shoulder injury, he finished with 11 goals and 24 assists. Then came this season, when his numbers exploded. Gunderson credits his success to working out during the summer and attending hockey camp, where he also serves as a teacher to the high school players of tomorrow. “I worked during the summer at hockey camp,” he said. “I was on the ice every day and also did a lot of off-ice drills for conditioning. I came away a better player.” As he heads into his senior year, Gunderson has an idea of what he hopes the future holds. Topping that list is for the Firebirds to not only win the LBCSHL championship but also a few games in the Class AAA Flyers Cup. As for individual goals, well, another scoring title would be nice. “I think 100 points would be a great number,” he said with a laugh. “But I think that’s a little high. I just want to do better next year and improve as a player. Then, I’ll be happy.”

ICE HOCKEY COACH OF THE YEAR – Rick Gallagher

WARMINSTER – Rick Gallagher remembers the tough times behind the bench for the Archbishop Wood ice hockey team. He suffered through a one-win season his first year with the program and painfully recalls being on the losing end of 3-1 and 10-0 routs. That was four years ago. Since then, Gallagher, a former Wood player, has played a waiting game as his young and inexperienced players took their lumps. The team won three games the following season and was one game under .500 a year ago. This season, the Vikings grew by leaps and bounds, compiling a 16-6-1 overall record and winning the Suburban High School Hockey League Freedom Division championship for the first time since Gallagher’s senior year, 1988. For his efforts, Gallagher narrowly edged Holy Ghost Prep’s Brian Tibbels to claim the Courier Times Ice Hockey Coach of the Year honors. “This organization has been through some tough times,” Gallagher said. “When I started four years ago, we basically had to start over. We were basically a JV team back then. “But now, I think we’ve come full circle. These kids worked hard (to win the division title). It’s what we had our sights on, even when we were losing a lot more games than we were winning. The one thing that never changed was how hard the kids worked.” Wood secured the division championship with a 6-6 tie against Hatboro-Horsham in the final game of the regular season. The Vikings advanced to the SHSHL playoffs, where they lost to North Penn in a wild three-game series in which the score of every game was 3-2 — including the opener, which lasted a league-record eight overtimes. “It was a special season,” Gallagher said. “The kids may not realize it now, but they accomplished a lot this season. No matter what happens, they can hold their heads up high because they’re champions for the first time in 14 years. It’s something they should be proud of.

All-Area Team

FIRST TEAM

Forward: Dante Jannotta, Council Rock, Senior, Scored 19 goals (including 4 power-play and 2 short-handed), 11 assists. SHSHL all-star selection.
Forward: Matt Koelzer, Archbishop Wood, Freshman, Scored 19 goals (3 game-winners) and 11 assists led the SHSHL in scoring. SHSHL all-star selection
Forward: Joe Colletti, Council Rock, Junior, Had 14 goals (two game-winners), 15 assists. SHSHL all-star selection.
Forward: Gene Stricker, Conwell-Egan Catholic, Sophomore, Had 23 goals and 13 assists; led the Eagles in scoring. BCSHL all-star selection.
Forward: Paul Worthington, Holy Ghost Prep, Sophomore, Scored 32 goals and had 41 assists; finished second to linemate Ryan Gunderson in scoring in the LBCSHL.
LBCSHL all-star selection.
Defenseman: Sal Punturiero, Harry S Truman, Senior, Scored 20 goals, had 19 assists, and was ninth in the LBCSHL in scoring. LBCSHL all-star selection.
Defenseman: Tom Rueth, Arch. Wood, Senior, Scored 8 goals (3 power-play, 3 game-winners) and had 9 assists.  SHSHL all-star selection.
Goaltender: Andrew Andrijiwskyj, Archbishop Wood, Senior, Compiled a 7-1 record in SHSHL regular season games with a 1.6 GAA and posted two shutouts. SHSHL all-star selection.
Goaltender: Wes Kerr, Council Rock, Senior, Had an 8-4-4 regular season record and 2.44 GAA. SHSHL all-star selection.

SECOND TEAM

Forward: Jeff Ebert, Senior, Pennsbury, MVP of LBCSHL all-star game.
Forward: Joe Gansky, Senior, Archbishop Wood, Scored 20 goals and had 9 assists.
Forward: Mike Ivcic, Junior, Holy Ghost Prep, Scored 21 goals and had 14 assists.
Forward: Scott Roberts, Senior, Bensalem, Had 23 goals and 14 assists.
Forward: Donald Radcliffe, Junior, Conwell-Egan, Scored 15 goals and had 16 assists.
Forward: Tyler Ice, Senior, Pennsbury, Scored 12 goals and had 18 assists.
Defense: Pat Fisher, Junior, Council Rock, Had 11 assists for the Indians.
Goaltender: Matt Tendler, Freshman, William Tennent, Posted a 3-4-1 record and 3.78 GAA.

HONORABLE MENTION

Archbishop Wood: Tom Dugan, Sr., D; Jack Forbes, So., F; Dan Stenderowicz, Jr., F.
Bensalem: Bill McDermon Jr., F.; Joe Ritorto, Sr., C; Ryan Stern, Fr., F.
Conwell-Egan: Matt DeFranco, Jr., D; Tim Mensch, Jr., F.;
Council Rock: Mike Martin, Sr., F.
Harry S Truman: Sean McGill, Jr., F; Sean Slack, So., F; Rob Parrillo, Sr., F.
Holy Ghost Prep: Steve Biasini, Jr., F; Kyle Koreyva, Sr., F; Buddy Lawall, So., D; Dave Monteith, So, G; Chris Scanlon, Jr., D.
Neshaminy: Joe Carpino, Jr., F; Norm Fenimore, Jr., G; Konstantin Sakherzon, So., F.
Pennsbury: Chris Young, Sr., G; Shawn McHale, Sr., D.
William Tennent: Igor Korlov, Sr., F; Billy Wunderlich, Sr., D.

By Mark Schiele
Bucks County Courier Times