April 20, 2019

All-Delco Hockey: Irey blazed an impressive trail to Player of the Year honors

Player of the Year

NETHER PROVIDENCE — Prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, Strath Haven coach Matt Chandik challenged his best player. Mike Irey had put together quite a resume in three years of varsity hockey, which included a hat trick in the Central League quarterfinals against top-seeded Haverford as a sophomore and a spot on the All-Delco team as a junior for a 29-goal campaign.

But Irey, by his own admission and in his coach’s eyes, had another level to reach.

“Mike,” Chandik asked, “who in this league is stopping you?”

Irey paused in thought.

“Perfect,” Chandik said. “That’s my point.”

Irey delivered on his potential

as a senior. At 6-1, 180 pounds, he limited the finesse in his game in favor of a more physical, direct style. Irey was bigger than most of his opponents. He was also faster, packed a harder shot and initiated as much contact as he took.

“I just try to do something every shift, whether it’s a big hit, a goal, setting up a play,” Irey said. “You know everyone is watching for you to do something, so you like to show them who you really are.”

His Flyers Cup quarterfinal performance against Unionville, a 7-4 victory, highlighted the full Irey experience. The second-seeded Panthers fell behind the No. 10 Indians, 2-0, just 6:40 into the game, before Irey took over. He scored Haven’s first and third goals, the latter on an end-to-end rush. Then, after being penalized for what appeared to be a clean body check, he broke out of the box to pot the breakaway winner. Irey was unstoppable on all three goals and punctuated each with an emphatic celebration.

“Everyone will say I’m a quiet kid outside of hockey,” Irey said. “Once I get there, I turn it up to a different level.”

For his 27 goals and 62 points (including at least one in each of his 20 games), for his drive to bring Strath Haven hockey from an afterthought to one of the best programs in the county, and, mostly, for his game-breaking ability, Mike Irey is the 2019 Daily Times Hockey Player of the Year. He is the first Panther to take home the award since Ben Slagis in 2008.

Joining Irey on the first team are Strath Haven teammate Blayden Reid, a defenseman; Cardinal O’Hara center John Paul Ahearn, defenseman Matt Beck and goaltender Troy Percival; Bonner & Prendergast/Upper Darby forward Jakob Moleski; and Garnet Valley defenseman Matt Wood.

Like Irey, Ahearn earns first-team honors for the second consecutive year. Percival and Beck, both juniors, are the only non-seniors on the squad. The All-Delco teams are selected by the Daily Times staff in consultation with area coaches.

Irey bookended his senior season with eye-opening displays. He had two goals and three assists in an 8-7 win over five-time defending state champion West Chester Rustin to start the year. (The Golden Knights would add a sixth title in March). He ended it with a three-point night in a Flyers Cup A semifinal defeat to Hershey. Irey’s spinning, no-look pass to set up Josh Peabody provided one of the few Panthers highlights that evening.

The bigger the stage, the better Irey played. But he and Haven (17-3-1-1) continually fell short of the biggest stage. Lower Merion upset the Panthers in the Central League semifinals. Hershey, the sixth seed, prevented a Rustin-Haven rematch for the Flyers Cup title.

The ending was even more ignominious for Irey, considering he spent the last moments of the Hershey game in the locker room, ejected for fighting, dejected from defeat.

“I should’ve been there for the rest of the team on the ice,” he said, “just to kind of end it all.”

Indeed, Strath Haven began the year with the highest of aspirations. In Irey, Reid, Peabody (second team All-Delco), Ryan Spanier (second team), Liam Carney (second team) and goaltender Lukas Bernaus, the Panthers assembled a core capable of halting the Rustin dynasty and challenging Conestoga for the Central League crown.

“We still think about it sometimes,” Irey said. “There’s nothing you can change, just think back and know you had a great career here.”

That career began with quiet uncertainty as offers from schools with better hockey pedigrees noticed the gifted teen. But Irey knew what kind of teammates he had and committed to making it work at Strath Haven.

“The old Strath Haven, and this isn’t a shot, a kid like (him) probably ends up at prep school,” Chandik, who was hired prior to the 2016-17 season, said. “The fact that Mike looked at it and thought he could blaze his own path is pretty significant. Without him, we’re not where we are today.”

The Panthers won eight games in Irey’s freshman year and missed the Central League playoffs. They won 33 over his last two.

His dedication to raising the program was evident every time he took the ice, like in the preseason when he’d drive straight from club practice to the high school skate. Or when a separated AC joint in his shoulder, stemming from a dangerous check, failed to slow him as a senior  with a heavy lathering of Icy Hot and a layer of tape, he returned to the Panthers ahead of doctor’s orders.

“I can still feel it now,” Irey said. “I probably should’ve waited longer, but senior year that wasn’t going to happen.”

His legacy goes beyond the postseason disappointments and what-ifs. It’s tied to what he accomplished in four seasons and what players younger than him — “I try to feed off him, so I can be that player when I’m a senior,” sophomore Max Riess said — strive to accomplish.

“I would like to go down as the best player to ever play here,” Irey said. “There could be somebody down the road, but overall, I think I’ve played a complete game, whether it was scoring or setting the tone. I don’t think a lot of kids have that.”

All-Delco Team

All-Delco Hockey: Ahearn’s two-way play was key for O’Hara

In addition to Player of the Year Mike Irey of Strath Haven, the All-Delco hockey team includes:

John Paul Ahearn, Cardinal O’Hara: When the senior forward tucked in the winning goal in double overtime of the PCL final against Father Judge, he completed a remarkable three-year run for the Lions in a fitting way. So often he had used his reach and patience to thwart goaltenders, and here he did it on the biggest stage. The two-time All-Delco center was O’Hara’s most consistent, reliable performer on the way to a third consecutive league title. Ahearn — methodical with the puck, deceptively fast without it — finished his senior campaign with 27 goals and 24 assists in 19 games, according to Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League (ICSHL) statistics. On the defensive end, his quick hands made him a master of the pick-pocket. Most impressively, he took zero penalties despite playing top-line minutes. If scholastic hockey awarded a Lady Byng Memorial (for gentlemanly play) and Selke (top defensive forward) trophies, Ahearn would’ve taken home both.

Jakob Moleski, Bonner & Prendergast/Upper Darby: The Upper Darby senior was voted to the ICSHL second team and with good reason. Moleski led the area in goals with 42 in just 17 games. But it wasn’t just Moleski’s goal-scoring prowess that made him a standout. It was also his commitment to the sport in general. The team was a cooperative sponsorship between Bonner & Prendergast and its neighbor on Lansdowne Avenue and struggled with numbers all season, which meant Moleski played big minutes at both forward and defense. He relished the extra ice time and was a threat to score every shift. Moleski produced a dozen multi-goal games and finished his career with a six-goal, two-assist performance in a win over Interboro, Bonner’s third victory of the season.

Blayden Reid, Strath Haven: With 41 points during the regular season and eight in the Flyers Cup, one might have thought Reid, the top-scoring defenseman in the ICSHL, was a purely offensive blue-liner, but that wasn’t the case. The senior played every other shift and more for the Panthers the whole season and took on the toughest assignments. Reid eased that burden with fluid skating and an innate ability to close gaps and read plays. He did his best work on opponent’s blue lines, where he either shot pucks through traffic or stepped into space created by forwards Mike Irey, Ryan Spanier, Liam Carney and the like.

Matt Beck, Cardinal O’Hara: Another high school hockey season, another Beck from O’Hara earning All-Delco honors. The junior follows in the footsteps of older brothers Jeff (2011-13) and Andrew (2014-15) on the First Team after a standout campaign patrolling the Lions’ blue line. Beck averaged better than a point per game on the season with nine goals and 14 assists in 18 contests and used his great skating to become a one-man breakout for O’Hara without being a puck hog, always seeming to make the right play. Beck’s finest hour — and he may have logged about an hour in ice time — came in the double-overtime, PCL final victory over Father Judge. His point shot tied the game at four with less than three minutes to play, allowing Ahearn to win it in the extra session.

Matt Wood, Garnet Valley: A rebuilding Jaguars team relied heavily on its senior captain. After an ugly 0-4 start, all four losses coming by five or more goals, the blueliner led a resurgence as Garnet won four of its next five. The most impressive of those results came at home against eventual Central League champion Conestoga. Wood, a 200-foot player, scored twice in a 4-3 victory over the Pioneers, knowing when to sit back and when to push the pace. “Without him, we’re a different team,” Jags coach Keith Crowley said. “It’s very rare that you have one guy that can make all the difference.” Wood led Garnet Valley with 34 points — more than double his closest teammate — and was named to the ICSHL second team.

Troy Percival, Cardinal O’Hara: Ahearn’s overtime-winner in the PCL final wouldn’t have been possible without Percival. The junior goaltender made 40 saves in the victory over Father Judge, including 12 in the first of the two extra sessions. Percival gave the Lions a chance to win every night he stood between the pipes. He posted a 2.74 goals-against average, an .888 save percentage and collected four shutouts against what was the county’s toughest schedule. O’Hara played all three 2018 state champions (West Chester Rustin, Downingtown East and St. Joseph’s Prep) during the 2018-19 season. The Lions went 3-2 in those games thanks in large part to Percival’s goaltending. With equal parts aggressiveness and athleticism, Percival made the toughest saves look routine.

All-Area First Team

Mike Irey, Sr. F, Strath Haven
John Paul Ahearn, Sr. F, Cardinal O’Hara
Jakob Moleski, Sr. F, Upper Darby
Blayden Reid, Sr. D, Strath Haven
Matt Beck, Jr. D, Cardinal O’Hara
Matt Wood, Sr. D, Garnet Valley
Troy Percival, Jr. G, Cardinal O’Hara

All-Area Second Team

Ryan Spanier, Sr. F, Strath Haven
Liam Carney, Sr. F, Strath Haven
Josh Peabody, Fr. F, Strath Haven
Aidan Smith, Sr. F, Springfield
Zac Deemer, Sr. F, Cardinal O’Hara
Jagur McClelland, Fr. F, Haverford High
Tyler Cassidy, Jr. G, Haverford High

Honorable Mention

Archbishop Carroll: Jason Zambella, Matt Petusky
Bonner & Prendergast/Upper Darby: Pat Jensen, Tyler Ruppert
Cardinal O’Hara: Jacob Pohlig
Episcopal Academy: CJ Kelly, Dhruv Raman
Garnet Valley: Patrick Vaughn, Nicholas Port
Haverford: Jacob Orazi, Daniel Morris, Daniel Quartapella
Haverford School: Carson Rooney, Magnus Weissenberger, Mac Costin
Interboro: Dylan Sangmeister, Frank Jirak, Hunter Chubb
Marple Newtown: Liam Rode
Penncrest: Declan Casey, Shane Kokoska, John Mundy
Radnor: Teddy Girton, Jack Hamilton, Luke Winnick
Ridley: Ron Higgins, Anthony Smythe, Nick Giuliano
Springfield: Thomas Yocum, Steven Griffin
Strath Haven: Lukas Bernaus, Trevor Lowe
Sun Valley: Jimmy Wynes, Nate McGinnis

By Dillon Friday
PAPrepLive