Hockey dominates Howell High

The+hockey+team+has+accumulated+an+8-4-0+record%2C+and+is+expected+to+only+improve+from+there.+Here+the+team+can+be+seen+building+camaraderie.

Samantha Gnuse

The hockey team has accumulated an 8-4-0 record, and is expected to only improve from there. Here the team can be seen building camaraderie.

Kana Chung, Move editor
December 12, 2018

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“It feels really good. You know, it’s just amazing to win a big game like that.”

— Ethan Taplin

As the Spartan hockey team has progressed through their season, they’ve accumulated an astounding record of 8-4-0, and still counting. Due to the team’s recent success, junior and goalie, Ethan Taplin, is confident in the team’s current standing.

“It feels amazing. Last year we didn’t win too many games, and this year, we’re actually with a winning record.” Taplin said.

In their most recent addition to that record, they brought home a 4-1 win over Francis Howell High School on Friday, November 7. Junior and forward, Tyler Bradley, described what he and the team expected going into the game.

“It was a competitive game… and everyone knew it was going to [be]. It’s a hard-fought game every year, so going into it everyone knew it was going to be hard-fought, and probably [require] some type of [effort], because it always comes down to that,” Bradley said. “So, every goal we had to work for.”
 Not only do the boys work hard during their games, but the hours of practice they put into getting better, also ensures admirable performance by them. Taplin described a typical practice for the Central ice hockey team.

“Normally we’ll start off with just some warm up skating and then we get into some two-on one drills and scrimmaging,” Taplin said.

“We do a lot of power play drills, penalty kills, and breakaways,” said another of the team’s forwards, junior Grant Hartenbach.

But all of their success can’t be credited to hard work alone. This year, some of the team’s success can be credited to raw talent as well.

“We’re a way better team than last year. We have a lot of talent this year, and we haven’t lost as many [games] as last year,” Hartenbach said.

After the promising win, Bradley believes the team can continue to climb the ranks this season, and even make it to the playoffs.

“Our schedule coming up is very, very easy, so I think we can we can go up to at least 15-4, just with our next games. So I think we can go far in the playoffs too.” Bradley said.

To see if they uphold their winning streak, watch the Central Ice Hockey team face off against Holt on Saturday, December 15, at the Rec Plex. To learn more about the team and their upcoming events, visit the team’s twitter page @FHCHockey