The third season of the Mt. Pleasant Oiler Hockey program ended on the evening of March 3rd with a Regional Playoff Loss to the Big Rapids Cardinals in Cadillac by a score of 7-1.
The year was an up and down roller coaster ride trying to mix experienced players in with talented new comers, all totalled we had 7 Freshman see an abundance of ice time and are losing 5 talented Seniors to graduation.
The team endured some early season injury issues to key players that were carried over from the fine run the High School Football team made and then were also stung down the stretch with injuries to some of our top scorers and defenders. Our final record ended up at 9-15-1, not what we had hoped for when the season started, but with the amount of experience our younger players saw we definitely have something to build a future with.
The Seniors we lost will be sorely missed and they really showed the younger players how to lead a team. They are:
Cody Yazzie was one of our top ice-time players, he was used on our 2nd Line, on the power play and also on key shorthanded situations. He was tied for 2nd on the team in goals scored and although Cody is a quiet kid, he often let his play do the talking for him. A very tough player to defend and arguably the hardest shot on the team, he gave us his all every time on the ice. He was All-Academic with a GPA of 3.81. Cody has been accepted to Michigan Tech to study Chemical Engineering and is hoping to play some hockey for the club team in Houghton. He ranks 4th all-time in Goals, Assists and Points for MPHS Hockey.
Jose Vasquez was a great kid to coach, always one of the first ones on the ice, he engaged his teammates in friendly banter and a very hard worker in practice. he was an Assistant Captain voted on by the players and always showed his work ethic to the younger players. Jose didn't have the statistics that some of the other Seniors had, but was a great role player killing penalties, winning key face offs and keeping us coaches in line. He was voted by his teammates as winning the "Hockey Spirit" Award for being the most supportive individual. Jose plans on continuing his education at Mid-Michigan Community College and I would bet he will be there next year supporting his Oiler hockey team from the stands.
Josh Watters was another quiet kid that was moved from defense up to forward on the first line and first power play unit this year. The move paid off for the team as he ended up 3rd in overall points and showed a great knack to score and setup his line mates to score. Josh always showed great ice awareness and had the best set of hands on the team. Unfortunately Josh suffered some shoulder injuries down the stretch and missed a few games otherwise I believe he would have challenged for the team lead in Points and Assists. Josh is one of only five players to be with the team since inception and leaves in 2nd place all-time in assists and points. Josh plans on attending CMU and wants to major in Sports Medicine.
Alex Horton was the most intense player on the team which was probably a carryover from his football playing. He missed quite a few games at the beginning of the season due to a football injury and once he was available to play we asked him to drop back and man our young Defense and he did not hesitate. He still managed to lead the Defense in Goals, Assists, Points and Penalty Minutes (all though he will tell you they weren't all deserved) all while playing Defense for the first time. As an opponent you always wanted to keep your head up when #9 was on the ice, I believe Alex loved checking more than scoring. Alex has been accepted in to the Naval Academy and will be trying out for the Football team. Alex was All Saginaw Valley Conference 2nd team, All-Academic with a 3.95 GPA and was voted by his to win the "Ice Man" Award, given yearly to the toughest player on the team.
Ryan Heeke was our Team Captain, our leading scorer, voted by his teammates as our Team MVP, made 2nd team All Saginaw Valley League and had the highest GPA on the team of 3.97. Ryan has played all three years MPHS Hockey has existed and leaves ranked #1 in Assists, Goals and Points. Ryan showed great leadership and although a quiet kid as well, his grit and determination was seen by his teammates as well as his coaches. Ryan has not committed to a University as of yet, but is considering Michigan State and CMU and is planning on pursuing playing baseball and studying Engineering.
After being the only goalie in town for the first two years, Derek D'Artangnan got some help this year from Freshman Adam Salisbury. Each goalie ended the season with four wins and had Goals Against Averages under 4.00. They faced a ton of shots this year and kept the team in a majority of the games played. Of our 15 losses this year, 10 were by 2 or fewer goals, showing that they really did do there part in giving us a chance to win each night. Adam was All-Academic with a GPA of 3.80.
Junior Eric DeLorenzo was our 3rd Assistant Captain and also has been with the team since the beginning. A quiet leader, he played solid Defense throughout the year and will be a key figure in the 2011-2012 season.
Robert Backus led our Freshman in scoring with 4 goals and 9 assists, Nick Coscarelly was our leading Sophomore scorer with 16 goals (led the team) and 5 assists and was named Honorable mention all Saginaw Valley league. Chris Yoder led the way for the Juniors with 2 goals and 11 assists.
Freshman Bryce Bolles was voted as our "Most Improved" Player as well as being All-Academic with a 3.5 GPA.
Other's making All-Academic were:
Freshman Max Heeke with a GPA of 3.30
Sophomore Nick Coscarelly with a GPA of 3.60
Sophomore Jesse McDevitt-Irwin with a GPA of 3.90 also named as Honorable mention All Saginaw Valley Conference
Junior Chris Yoder with a GPA of 3.96 (2nd highest on team)
Junior Eric Delorenzo with a GPA of 3.40
Overall, over half the team made All-Academic, who says Hockey Players are dumb??
