In terms of wins and losses, there have been brighter years for the boys hockey teams of our region. Methuen and Salem delivered winning records, and Whittier Tech/Amesbury and North Andover came away with postseason wins.
That being said, there were plenty of terrific games, overtime thrillers and impressive individual performances.
Here’s a season recap and a quick look ahead for each of the teams.
Andover (7-11-3)
The Golden Warriors lost a lot of experience after an 11-win season a year ago. Due to that inexperience, this year’s team has a lot of ups and downs but managed to win seven games and make another trip to the Division 1 tournament, losing to perennial power St. John’s Prep.
Andover will return some promising players including sophomore forward Luke Conley, freshman forward Liam Carlin and freshman goalie Boden Wood.
Central Catholic (4-19-0)
Central also lost quite a bit of offensive firepower from the year before, and despite that they competed against the top teams in the entire state all year. The season ended with the heartbreaking loss to Xaverian in the first round of the playoffs.
Head coach DJ Conte will return three talented players next year to build around with defensemen Keegan Hunt and Christopher Marques, as well as forward Jake Morowski.
Haverhill (8-12-0)
Between a vast number of injuries, some wild high scoring games, some tough one-sided losses and then dropping four spots in the Power Rankings in the final week of the season, it was a tough season for the Hillies.
“Disappointing end to a roller coaster season (by not qualifying for the playoffs). The season started riddling with injuries and ineligibilities, but we managed to play well enough to be in contention at .500 when everyone returned,” said head coach Joe Roberts.
On the flip side of that, Jake Costa became a dominating force, ending up with 40 points while playing in just 15 games. The team will also lose Jack Baker (18-15-33) but will return Matt Costa (16-16-32) and defenseman Ethan Jalbert (5-11-16).
Methuen (13-5-3)
The Rangers won their fourth straight MVC/DCL Division 3 title, won 13 regular season games, including winning the Jersey Mike’s Holiday Tournament, but then fell short in the playoffs, getting upended by a two-win Wakefield team, 5-1.
“It was a disappointing first round loss,” said head coach Bill Blackwell.
The Rangers will lose nine seniors, including all-conference forward Aiden Cashman, who had a terrific season (16-10-26) and Eagle-Tribune All-Star goalie Owen O’Brien (2.25 GAA) who finished up a terrific career. Will MacLaren (10-14-24) returns to lead next year’s team.
North Andover (5-15-2)
Coming off a 12-win season, the Scarlet Knights had a lot of new faces this season. There certainly were some ups and downs, but things ended extremely well with a big upset over No. 5 seed Concord-Carlisle (which defeated the Knights twice during the regular season) before losing to an extremely talented Woburn team.
Goalie Ryan Kmiec and forwards Patrick Nugent and Terrell Peoples all took huge steps forward in their play this season, however they are all seniors who will be graduating. On Thursday, head coach Scott Greene stepped down, thus next year the program will have a new coach and many new players.
Pinkerton Academy (8-10-1)
For the second straight year, the Astros finished two games under .500, but still made the playoffs, including a 4-2 defeat of Manchester Central/West in the first round of the Division I tournament.
“Practically every night, we gave ourselves a genuine chance to win,” said head coach Jon Chabot. “This was manufactured through hard work and diligence. We additionally improved on, in small increments, our in-game discipline. In retrospect, I’m most proud of these components of our season.”
The team was led by its three big seniors, defenseman Zach Baker (3-11-14) and forwards Preston Libby (32-8-4) and Ronan Connors (5-6-11). Two of the top players returning next year will be goalie Tanner Moody (2.74 GAA) and forward Johnny Barbarossa (4-13-17).
Salem (11-7-1)
The Blue Devils were decimated by injuries but still managed to win 11 games and reach postseason play. Talented sniper Max Condon still put up 21 points despite missing a portion of the season with a broken jaw.
Also, brothers Brody and Elliot Chisholm combined for 19 goals and 28 assists, and they will return next year, along with Ethan Ross (6-8-14), Cam Chase (6-17-23), Gavin Doughty (16-14-30) and goalie Thomas Griffin (2.64 GAA), which should make Salem one of the stronger teams heading into the season.
Timberlane (3-15-0)
The bad news for the Owls is the team started off 0-15. The good news is the team ended the season with a three-game winning streak, something to build off for next year.
“We persevered though injuries and only played three games with the entire roster,” said head coach Billy Brown. “We will graduate five seniors, who were four-year varsity players. These players did a great job leading a program that was in rebuild-mode. Timberlane will look forward to solid numbers in middle school coming up as well as a middle school team that was in place for the first time this year.”
The Owls will be losing their top three players in Slater O’Connor (17-14-31), Cam Bonfiglio (10-10-20) and Trevor Rego (1-9-10), but will have 13 other players return will varsity experience.
Whittier Tech/Amesbury (10-11-2)
The last two seasons have been pretty special for the co-op team. Last year, Whittier/Amesbury finished with 12 wins, including a first-round victory. This year, despite just eight regular season wins, the team pulled off two huge upsets in the playoffs, beating No. 7 Walpole and No. 10 Boston Latin, the returning state champions.
The team will be losing a lot of firepower with leading area goal scorer Bodie Marcotte (26-17-43) and Maddox LeBlanc (4-10-14) but return talented freshman goalie Nick Boothroyd (2.25 GAA), as well as Grady Stickney and Lincoln Kime, who combined for 21 goals and 22 assists.
Windham (9-10-0)
After reaching the state finals a year ago and coming into this season with many new players and a new head coach, no one knew what to expect from the Jaguars. But in the end, the team won nine games and competed in the playoffs.
“We were pleasantly surprised to see our team come together and buy in to the team philosophy,” said head coach Shawn Quaglietta. “We were happy to get into the playoffs but a little disappointed that we couldn’t finish off that particular game.”
The good news is the team returns almost the entire roster for next year including forwards Josh Trudel (11-8-19), Greyson Quaglietta, Sammy Kramer (7-11-18), Ethan Peluso, defenseman Josh Martino (7-4-11) and goalie Roberto Robles (2.64 GAA).