Through the first third of the 2022 – 2023 high school hockey season, a few overarching themes have emerged:
Any of the top ten teams can beat any team in the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC). Although upsets are fairly uncommon, the number of close games demonstrates that the gap between the historical top four teams (Churchill, Wootton, BCC, and Walter Johnson) and the next five or six teams no longer exists. If the top teams do not bring it every game, they can easily lose. This speaks to the depth and talent of the next batch of teams, including the Upper Montgomery Lightning.
The Upper Montgomery Lightning are a much improved team from a season ago. The team’s record does not yet fully demonstrate the improvement. However, close losses and a tie earned against the brutal early season schedule point to the continued growth of the program. The team tied BCC 2-2 after having a lead with a minute left in regulation. BCC scored a pulled goalie power play goal to salvage the tie. Upper Montgomery was also leading then top ranked Walter Johnson 4-3 with eight minutes left in the third period before falling late.
The Lightning earned their first ever (dating to 2008) points against one of the top four teams in the MHC with their tie versus BCC. With two upcoming games against the Wootton Patriots, the team will be looking for its first ever victory against Wootton.
The first of the official mid-season rankings will be released in early December. Upper Montgomery is ranked seventh which would be the highest ever ranking for the program. The computer rankings program rates close losses against the top teams greater than wins earned against lower tier teams.
Next week’s game against new number one ranked Whitman concludes the season opening stretch of playing the top four teams within the first five weeks of the season. A daunting task for any program. If Upper Montgomery plays a structured, defensive minded muck it up style, it will be a very close game against the Vikings. Whitman likes to counter attack after playing a suffocating defensive style which forces teams to press and turn the puck over, leading to Whitman’s offensive chances.
Chris Hassett once again leads the team in scoring this season with four goals and four assists. Nathan Cassel and Philip Shkeda have seven points each with three goals and four assists. Ryan Jacobson is tied for the team lead in goals with four having played in just three games. Olivia Robbins, George Benedick, and Bradley Cupples each have contributed a goal and three assists. Ethan Hockey scored a hat-trick against Northwest from his defensive position. Depth scoring is much better this season with Brady Berkhammer, Brandon Bernard, Stephen Shkeda, Hunter Cameron, Andrew Botti, and Adam Levine all with multiple point games.
The team has done a very good job at times of limiting the offensive chances against Landon Bernard. It is the penalty kill which has doomed the Lightning. A strength last season at 87.9%, the PK this year is atrocious at 55.6%. When the Upper Montgomery defense is not aggressive at the offensive blue line and has numbers back, the team is able to prevent goals. When the team becomes too offensive minded and gets involved in run and gun, up and down the ice hockey where it trades chances, the top-end talent of the top teams in the MHC makes the Lightning pay. Coming up in December and January with the more evenly matched opposition, expect very competitive and exciting games.
The Upper Montgomery junior varsity got off to a hot start to the season with road victories against the DC Stars 2-0 and Glenelg 4-2. These victories brought the junior varsity winning streak to eight games dating back to last season. Since those two opening games, the team has faltered; losing to both Wootton and BCC. There has been too much puck watching, bad defensive miscues, and stick swiping at the puck instead of taking the body and separating the opposition from the puck. Henry Honacki has been the best skater on the junior varsity with four goals in four games and numerous other breakaway chances. TJ Gottesman has improved in his sophomore season and has one goal and four assists in three games.
The junior varsity is finding that it is hard to repeat as MHC junior varsity champions. Every program is looking to take out the champions. It has been a disappointing start for several of the returning experienced student athletes, but there is still time for those skaters and the team to turn around the season. The junior varsity special teams have been awful, 10% power play success rate and 62.5% penalty kill rates, with several of the successful kills being truncated power plays. Landon Bernard has been solid in net. He will need to continue to play well to allow time for the team to get on a roll heading into the junior varsity playoff tournament.
The 2022 – 2023 high school hockey season is ready for puck drop. The season begins this coming Wednesday for some teams, and on Friday night October 21st for the majority of the teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference (MHC).
The Upper Montgomery Lightning have been placed in the top division of the MHC. This is a major achievement as the conference believes that the Lightning’s pre-season roster strength is in the top seven teams in the league. The Lightning are ready to build off last season’s first ever division one playoff appearance and return to the post season for the second consecutive year. With the top division placement comes a challenging schedule to begin the season as Upper Montgomery will play the top three teams in the county over the first three weeks of the season; at Walter Johnson, home versus BCC, and at Churchill. The other teams in the top division of the Montgomery Hockey Conference are Blair, Whitman, and Wootton. In the bottom division are the DC Stars, Northwest, Quince Orchard, Richard Montgomery, Rockville/Magruder, Sherwood, and St. Johns.
Once again this season the Lightning feature a young and exciting lineup. With only five seniors in the program three of whom play on defense, there will be plenty of ice time for a young, speed forward group. The future is very bright. However, the 2022 – 2023 season campaign is expected to be another year of growth and development for the team. Picked to finish 9th out of the 14 teams in the MHC pre-season poll, the team is out to prove they are much better than the lowly pre-season ranking. A hallmark of the Lightning is that the team competes extremely hard. Upper Montgomery aims to give the more experienced teams in the top division of the MHC all they can handle in the regular season. A solid goal for the team is to not only make the MHC post-season playoff tournament but to also win and advance in either the division one playoff tournament or the division two post-season tournament.
The team will have to replace the loss of former active scoring leader in defender James Botti. James was the team’s only departing senior who saw considerably playing time for the varsity. Landon Bernard will see exclusive duty in net for both the varsity and junior varsity as the program’s only goaltender. Bernard will need to build on last season where he backstopped the junior varsity squad to the MHC junior varsity championship. The team will be experienced on defense with seniors George Benedick, Andrew Gean, and Ethan Hockey as well as talented sophomore Andrew Botti. This core will be joined by 9th grade defenders Brady Berkhammer and Owen Robbins, who will both see significant action this season as the team looks for larger roles for both defenders in future seasons. Expect Cole Howerton to possibly see some playing time if he is called up from the junior varsity as a depth defensive replacement.
Up front, it is a supremely talented but young group of forwards. The varsity has only one senior forward who will receive playing time. Last year’s leading scorer, Chris Hassett returns along with the majority of the team’s forward group. The top three forward lines are mainly comprised of juniors and sophomores. Much will be expected from Hunter Cameron, Ryan Jacobson, Olivia Robbins, Brad Cupples, Nathan Cassel, and Brandon Bernard. Winger Stephen Shkeda, the lone senior forward, will be counted on to provide energy, solid board play, and defensive tenacity. Stephen’s brother, 9th grader Philip Shkeda, will add a burst of speed and skill playing in a top nine forward role. Expect sophomores Josh Nadler and Henry Honacki to see playing time throughout the entire year as depth forwards. Junior Adam Levine will see some limited action when the team is short on forwards due to injury or out-of-town travel team commitments. The biggest question facing the team this season is just how long it will take for the talented young roster to gel with each other and correctly play team concepts. It will be a step up in competition this season, so how will the skilled forwards fare against tougher competition? Time will tell, and we invite you to join along for the ride.
It will be hard to repeat as MHC junior varsity champions as every program will be looking to knock off Upper Montgomery, but the Lightning are ready to accept the challenge. The Lightning junior varsity squad is made up of several experienced student athletes and a bunch of new faces. Returning top line forwards Josh Nadler, Henry Honacki, and Adam Levine will be expected to produce offensively and carry the team. More will be expected of upper class forwards Lucas Eyman and James Hyman who have been in the program now for several years. These experienced forwards will be joined up front by several student athletes who will be vying for larger roles and additional playing time; TJ Gottesman, AJ Marks, Branson Hughes, Callum Hughes, and Jason Woodman. On defense, the junior varsity squad should be pretty stingy. Playing down from varsity will be both Brady Berkhammer and Stephen Shkeda who are junior varsity eligible. They will be joined by the returning tandem of offensively minded and smooth skating Cole Howerton who is typically paired with steady stay at home defender Patrick Sell. Returning to the team after a year’s absence is Sean Levine. Newcomers Jacob Roth and Behr Schickler will also see regular playing time on the blue line. The defense will be solid. If Bernard plays well in net and the top forward line produces offensively, the junior varsity should be very competitive again this season.
The Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program is back on the ice and looking forward to the 2022 – 2023 high school hockey season. The team began student athlete evaluations earlier this month. While official team placements are not permitted to be announced until after the last evaluation session, or in early October, most of the varsity squad returns from last season. As has been the case for the past two seasons, the team is very young, only three seniors departed the program from last season, and the team has only five seniors on the roster of thirty-three student athletes for this upcoming season.
In next month’s October blog, we will break down the team and the outlook for the upcoming season. The coaching staff is already excited by the growth of the team. Another year older and another year stronger. It is evident from the evaluation sessions that the team has gotten faster and deeper from a talent standpoint. Just three years ago the program had only 13 student athletes participating. When the team is separated into Varsity and Junior Varsity in early October, the program will almost be able to field two distinctly separate teams. There will likely be only a handful of student athletes playing for both teams.
The Lightning program is gaining the respect of other teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. The team also has earned respect and appreciation for playing non-conference games against the top public and private high school programs in Maryland. In scheduling these additional games against top tier competition, the program hopes to have its student athletes receive more playing time and competing against competition that will make the team better when conference playoffs arrive at the end of the regular season. This was true last season. The Varsity played at Washington County and was outplayed. But, that experience prepared the team for its two playoff games against Richard Montgomery and Wootton. Both games were very competitive until the final minutes of each game.
The Junior Varsity played a game non-conference game against Landon. The private school junior varsity teams are equivalent to some of the lower end varsity programs in the Montgomery Hockey Conference. Even though the junior varsity lost badly, that experience propelled the team forward and into a six game winning streak to finish the season and become Upper Montgomery’s first championship team.
As summer 2022 nears conclusion, the Upper Montgomery Lightning ice hockey team is hard at work preparing for the upcoming season. Off-ice dryland workouts for the team have begun with an eye toward another season of growth for the program. Just three years ago the program had only 13 student athletes participating in the program. When the team takes the ice next month for the beginning of on-ice practices, the program anticipates that there will be 33 student athletes participating for the 2022 – 2023 season, allowing the program to have a full varsity roster and a full junior varsity roster with very few student athletes having to play for both squads.
With the success achieved by the program last season; the varsity team qualifying for the Montgomery Hockey Conference Division One playoffs for the first time in program history, and the magical run at the conclusion of the season for the junior varsity team resulting in a Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity Championship, expectations will be different for the upcoming season. While it may be very difficult for the junior varsity to repeat as conference champions, the varsity will have a large spotlight on continued growth. A reasonable expectation is that the program will beat one of the upper echelon teams in the conference this season, and at a minimum reach the semifinals of the Montgomery Hockey Conference Division Two playoffs. A stretch goal would be to win a Division One first round playoff game and play for a spot in the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League State playoffs. Upper Montgomery has never won a Division One playoff game in program history.
With a young program, only five of the 33 student athletes are seniors, the team is primed for success in future years. However, the coaching staff is looking for the student athletes with varsity experience to step it up a notch even against teams with a significant number of seniors and juniors that complete as high-end travel level student athletes. Join us as the Lightning look to take another step forward and continue to gain the respect of the more established programs in the conference.
As summer is now halfway completed, we begin to turn attention to the upcoming 2022 – 2023 high school ice hockey season. The student athletes have been using the summer months to focus on their on-ice skills development and off-ice strength and conditioning. Many of the student athletes have attended skills training sessions to improve their play. Coach Todd ran another successful Premier Hockey Boot Camp in which several of the Lightning student athletes participated along with approximately thirty student athletes from other high school programs.
In another month the team will begin summer off-ice conditioning as hockey related activities ramp up in anticipation of the upcoming season.
The Spring 2022 high school hockey season has officially been reclassified as Titletown for the Upper Montgomery Lightning program. Both Upper Montgomery teams, Team White and Team Green won the spring league championships in their respective divisions. Congratulations to all the student athletes that participated on their success and achievement.
Upper Montgomery Team White dominated its division all season finishing with an undefeated record of 11-0. Team White completed its undefeated spring season with a thrilling 4-3 victory over a Sherwood team that played its entire varsity roster in the spring league finale.
Team White raced out to a 4-0 lead on goals by Olivia Robbins (wrist shot from the left faceoff circle), Chris Hassett (deflection from the high slot), Ryan Jacobson (slap shot from the high slot), and what turned into the eventual game winner from Adam Levine (rebound off a two on one rush with Hassett). Team White held on and prevailed, preventing Sherwood from tying up the game while dealing with some tough officiating calls going in Sherwood’s favor. Those calls allowed the Warriors to cut the lead to a single goal early in the third period. Freddie Horowitz made 41 saves for the victory. There was elite talent on the ice at the conclusion of the game with three AAA skaters and eight AA skaters playing out the final minute. Upper Montgomery played excellent defensive hockey over the final eight minutes of regulation to close out the game victorious.
Team Green performed better as the season progressed and entered the playoffs as the third seed in their playoff bracket. After a convincing 4-2 win over Rockville, Team Green next faced top seeded BCC in the spring league final. In a back and forth affair, Team Green won the game on a shorthanded goal by Hunter Cameron with one minute left. Team Green was able to prevent BCC from scoring on the last minute powerplay with their goalie pulled. The win gave the Upper Montgomery program a sweep of the high school spring league championships. Team Green goals were scored by Hunter Cameron (breakaway), Andrew Botti (wrist shot from the high slot), James Botti (deflection from the low crease area), and Cameron again (finished off a two on one pass from James Botti) for the shorthanded game winner. Landon Bernard recorded the win in net with 22 saves.
With the playing portion of the 2021 – 2022 season now officially finished, the student athletes will use the summer months to focus on on-ice skills development and off-ice strength and conditioning. Coach Todd will again run his Premier Hockey Boot Camp in which several of the Lightning student athletes will participate along with approximately thirty student athletes from other high school programs.
She’s always been first. First to the rink. First out on the ice. First to offer encouragement to her teammates. First to celebrate her teams’ goals. Whether encouraging her teammates or providing instruction and direction on the ice, Olivia Robbins is no ordinary student athlete. She is in constant motion on and off the ice.
It has been that way since Olivia was six years old and was introduced to ice hockey when the family lived in Seattle, Washington. For the past decade, the Robbins family has been immersed in the sport of hockey. With all three of their children playing on different travel hockey teams, Emily and Scott Robbins are constantly on the go. Although neither Scott nor Emily played hockey competitively, they are mainstays at their children’s games cheering and offering encouragement.
Olivia is the oldest sibling. Her brother Owen is two years younger, and her sister Lillian is four years younger. All three will play with their individual travel hockey teams once again in the fall of 2022. Olivia and Owen will also play together for the first time in years with the Upper Montgomery Lightning high school varsity hockey team. For Emily and Scott, the new season will bring renewed travel across the United States and into Canada depending upon where Olivia’s 19U Washington Pride AAA travel team is scheduled to play. The Washington Pride is the pre-eminent women’s college prep ice-hockey program in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The Pride plays in the Junior Women’s Hockey League as well as participating in multiple invitational tournaments across North America.
Olivia immediately took to hockey. She found the games exciting and liked the physical aspect of the sport. As she began advancing through the younger age groups it was easy to see her enthusiasm for the game and that she didn’t have a problem competing against the boys she was playing with and against. When initially eligible, she tried out for the Washington Pride women’s hockey program and was invited to join the elite hockey club to play on their 14U Major team. Mainly playing left wing for the Pride, she logs heavy minutes and is a mainstay on the Pride’s powerplay and penalty killing units. According to her coaches, Olivia’s style is hard-nosed and relentless on the puck. She excels at retrieving pucks in the corners and turning those winning puck battles into high quality scoring chances for her teammates. Olivia describes her role with the Pride as the playmaker on her line. She is good with puck possession, zone entry, and excellent at puck retrievals, battling down low, and in the corners. She is always looking to establish offensive zone possession for her line and to distribute the puck to her teammates.
A typical hockey week during the school year is three practices a week with the Washington Pride, one hour on the ice and one hour of dryland workouts, either conditioning or in the gym. Olivia also does additional one-on-one skills development sessions with the local coaches either before practice or on an off day. These individual sessions include film review of the past weekend’s games and skill development. Then, Monday evening there is a separate practice with the Lightning. The Pride’s practices consist of individual skill work, full-ice flow drills, working on situational play, and various small area games. During weeks where the Pride are out of town for league play or at a tournament, the team practices Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then travels to the location of the weekend games Thursday evening. Pride league and tournament games are played Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the day, with return travel back to the Washington, DC area on Sunday evening. During out-of-town travel the Pride has scheduled mandatory study halls that enable the girls to keep up with their school work.
On weeks where the Pride have home games or travel closer to the Washington, DC area, games are usually just on Saturday and Sunday. Those weeks, on Friday night Olivia is dressed in her green, gold, and white number 25 Upper Montgomery jersey with the Poolesville letter P patch on her left shoulder. She is seen streaking around the ice playing on one of the top two forward lines for the Lightning against other high school teams in the Montgomery Hockey Conference, often battling toe to toe with older and more physically mature opponents. In her ninth grade season with the Upper Montgomery Lightning, Olivia led the varsity team in assists with seven in twelve games, including a four assist game versus Blair. In addition, Olivia chipped in and scored three goals.
Olivia’s exploits on the ice are well known within the hockey community and to her family and close friends. However, many of her fellow students at Poolesville High School are unaware of her hockey accomplishments. At the age of 12, Olivia first participated in a USA Hockey development camp. As part of the Southeast District, she participated in a week-long multi-district camp held at Kent State University in Ohio run by USA hockey and college hockey head coaches. The ladies selected for the camp were separated into four teams and lived together in dorm rooms, spending all on-ice and off-ice hockey related activities with their teammates. Progressing through her age 12, 13, and 14 seasons, Olivia’s skill and talents were being noticed. In her age 15 season, after a weekend tryout camp in Nashville, Tennessee, Olivia was one of a limited few young ladies selected to participate in the USA Hockey Girls 15s National Development Camp held in St. Cloud, Minnesota. A huge accomplishment for Olivia as she takes steps forward in progressing up through the women’s hockey national system in the United States.
As Olivia remembers the camp, the USA Hockey Girls 15s National Development Camp was like the other regional camps she had previously participated in, but more comprehensive. In addition to the on-ice and off-ice training, there were lectures on nutrition, mental health and well-being, the college recruiting process, and what it takes to be a successful student athlete with the time commitment both academics and hockey require. It was understandable that being invited to the camp for the first time was a little overwhelming. Olivia admitted to being nervous at the beginning of the camp, with all the USA Hockey personnel present and with over ninety percent of the Division 1 and Division 3 college coaches in attendance scouting and analyzing the play of each camp participant.
Thinking back on the National Camp, Olivia brought up “The speed, skill, compete level, and hockey IQ of all the girls were off the charts good. It was full speed and maximum effort the entire time. It was a great experience for me to know that I can compete at that level. At the same time, it helped me know that I need to work harder with the Pride to improve all areas of my game.”
At the end of April 2022, Olivia was in Florida trying out again for a spot in the USA Hockey National Camp for the upcoming summer. She is now in the 16-17 age group and the number of slots available to advance back to the National Camp are greatly reduced. In late June, Olivia will be notified of the results of her tryout. About that same time, colleges which have been scouting student athletes in Olivia’s age group at the various camps, showcases, and tournaments will begin making contact. NCAA rules governing recruiting for women’s ice hockey allow college coaches to begin contacting recruits after June 15th following a student athlete’s sophomore year in high school. It promises to be a very busy summer in the Robbins household.
The practices and the sport keep Olivia busy and help balance out her schoolwork, much of which is done while on long bus trips or in hotels far away from Poolesville High School. It is common for Olivia to use her phone to record video dictations for classes from the passenger seat of her parent’s car. While much time is spent at the rink honing her game, Olivia devotes even more time to her academic studies. This dedication has led to scholastic achievement in the classroom. Olivia has been recognized by the Maryland Student Hockey League for her outstanding academic performance in both of her high school seasons. She has earned straight As all throughout high school and carries a weighted grade point average well above the standard 4.0 associated with straight As. So, it was no surprise that she has received the Maryland Student Hockey League academic achievement award.
At the end of the 2021-2022 hockey season the Washington Pride were traveling to play in the Women’s Tier One 14U National Championship Tournament outside of Philadelphia. Olivia was remotely dialed in to her biology class while traveling to the tournament. Unexpectedly, the vehicle went through some patchy zones which caused the internet connection to fade in and out. Olivia messaged her teacher apologizing for the difficulties. The biology teacher direct messaged Olivia asking her where she was going. Upon learning of her destination, the teacher blurted out over the open mic “Wow, Olivia!!! Don’t worry about biology right now.” The entire class had just learned of Olivia’s hockey talents!
Once the Pride’s and the Lightning’s regular seasons conclude, hockey is not finished. Olivia plays in the spring for the 14/94s Elite 16U AAA team, which is a team made up of young women from around the DC Metro area and north into Philadelphia and New Jersey. There are two weekend training camps and then three tournaments planned, in Detroit, in Philadelphia, and in Chicago. And, while not out-of-town, there is the Upper Montgomery Lightning spring season where Olivia is a key contributor. She enjoys the spring teams because she can meet and play with different teammates and receives exposure to different coaches and styles of play.
Once school ends and the summer begins, there is no break from hockey. The Pride has two separate weeklong training camps, one at the beginning of the summer and the other at the end of the summer. To supplement this training, Olivia works out at First-Line Training Center in small group and individual one-on-one sessions to continuously work on her game. She is looking to improve the velocity on her shot, work on a quicker release, and enhance her evasiveness with the puck. This level of commitment is necessary as the number of young female hockey student athletes grows.
Olivia has noticed the increase in interest as popularity in the women’s game grows from just a few short years ago. “I think last year there were a record number of girls at tryouts for the Pride 14U team which means more girls must be playing. Locally, the Chesapeake Bay Hockey League (CBHL) has more and more clubs offering girls hockey teams every year. Some of the top girl’s teams in the CBHL have started to play in the very competitive Mid-Atlantic Women’s Hockey Association against teams from Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.”
In part, this competition motivates Olivia to continue to improve. She has her sights set on playing Division 1 college hockey, however, with her outstanding academic credentials, academically prestigious Division 3 programs will also be under consideration and would make an excellent college choice. With the professional women’s game growing and more teams being added each year, the post college opportunity to continue to play high level hockey is a possibility, one that Olivia would find “very, very cool”.
While women’s hockey is where Olivia’s future lies, she is extremely happy playing with “the boys” for Poolesville High School as part of the Upper Montgomery Lightning program. With the Pride there are multiple practices a week and in high school hockey there are only a few practices each month. The most noticeable difference to Olivia is that with high school hockey there is a four year age difference between some student athletes who are seniors and other student athletes who are just entering high school in 9th grade. With the Washington Pride travel program, the participants are all within one year in age, so everyone is more similarly developed. With the high-end travel programs, it is common for the participants to have been teammates for many years, playing the same system in 12U, 14U, 16U, etc. There is more compact play, more movement without the puck, one touch passing, and quick puck movement. While the high school games are more open with stretch passing through the neutral zone and the shots are harder.
When she finally leaves the rink and finishes training, Olivia can be found watching hockey on television. She watches as much hockey on television as she can. Olivia’s favorite teams are the US Women’s National team and, of course, the Washington Capitals. When finally pried away from hockey, her outside interests are being with her friends, being part of her local swim team in the summer, going to amusement parks and riding the roller coasters, and watching exciting movies.
For the Upper Montgomery faithful, the excitement will be in watching Olivia over the next two seasons as she endeavors to help the Lightning advance to the Maryland High School state playoffs for the first time in program history while simultaneously pursuing her dream of landing a coveted position with a college ice hockey program.
This article will be updated as details on Olivia’s collegiate hockey plans are revealed.
The Spring 2022 High School hockey season has reached the playoff rounds. Both Upper Montgomery Team Green and Upper Montgomery Team White have made the playoffs and will participate in the semifinal round within their respective divisions.
Upper Montgomery Team Green needed a win or a tie in its final game to advance into the playoffs. Playing one of their more complete games of the spring season, the team buckled down and defeated Wootton to advance into the semifinal round versus Rockville/Magruder. Team Green finished the regular season with a 5-4 record.
Upper Montgomery Team White dominated its division all season finishing with an undefeated record of 9-0. Team White will play Walter Johnson in the semifinal round of the spring league playoffs.
The month of May started out with a bang…the 2021 – 2022 season end Upper Montgomery Lightning Team Party. It was an incredibly successful event attended by almost all of the families in the program. In addition to the presentation of the Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity Championship Trophy which will circulate to all student athletes’ homes for a week over the next six months, the following awards were presented.
Eighteen of the twenty-seven Lightning student athletes were presented with the Maryland Student Hockey League Academic Achievement Award. Five student athletes received recognition for straight As; Andrew Botti, James Botti, Nathan Cassel, Henry Honacki, and Olivia Robbins. The academic achievement award recognizes outstanding effort in the classroom while participating in high school ice hockey.
Andrew Botti was awarded a certificate for being named one of the two defenders for the Montgomery Hockey Conference 2nd Team All Conference. Andrew was only 9th grader to receive recognition on any of the Montgomery Hockey Conference teams. Andrew also received a USA Hockey Playmaker patch for three assists in a game.
James Botti received a USA Hockey Hat-Trick patch for three goals in a game as well as a USA Hockey Playmaker patch for three assists in a game. James was also recognized for being nominated by Upper Montgomery for the Hobey Baker High School Hockey Award that recognizes Character and Leadership in Hockey and Academics.
Brandon Bernard was awarded a certificate for leading the Maryland Student Hockey League junior varsity in assists this past season with nine. He also was awarded the Upper Montgomery junior varsity Art Ross award for most points scored with 15.
Landon Bernard was awarded a certificate for leading the Maryland Student Hockey League junior varsity in wins this past season with eight.
Nathan Cassel received a USA Hockey Hat-Trick patch for three goals in a game.
Bradley Cupples received a USA Hockey Playmaker patch for three assists in a game.
Chris Hassett was awarded a certificate for being the Varsity Art Ross award winner for most points scored during the season with 33. He also received the Maurice Rocket Richard award for most goals scored for the varsity with 17. Chris was named one of the Montgomery Hockey Conference honorable mention forwards. He received both the USA Hockey Hat-Trick patch for three goals in a game and the USA Hockey Playmaker patch for three assists in a game.
Ryan Jacobson received a USA Hockey Playmaker patch for three assists in a game.
Will Mellen was awarded a certificate for being named the goalie for the Montgomery Hockey Conference 2nd Team All Conference. He also received a USA Hockey Shutout patch for his two shutout victories this past season.
Joshua Miller received a certificate recognizing him with the Maurice Rocket Richard award for most goals scored for the junior varsity with eight.
Patrick Sell Ryan received a USA Hockey Playmaker patch for three assists in a game.
The Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program is now halfway through the Spring 2022 high school hockey season. The Rockville Ice Arena High School Spring League is a great way for the student athletes not participating in another high school spring sport to continue to work on their game and develop their individual skills in a competitive team environment. The league is structured as a way for the student athletes to have fun in a safe environment as there is absolutely no checking allowed during the spring season.
For the first time in program history Upper Montgomery has two teams competing in spring league; Team Green and Team White. The teams are relatively evenly split with varsity and junior varsity student athletes playing on both teams. Upper Montgomery Team Green is competitive with a 2-2 record at the halfway point of the spring season. Upper Montgomery Team White is undefeated with a 4-0 record at the halfway point of the spring season.
Having the student athletes able to play an additional eight or nine games with their teammates helps build chemistry. It is also an invaluable opportunity for the coaching staff to take a look at some different line combinations and defensive pairings. The coaches are able to assess the strengths and the areas in need of improvement of the nine incoming student athletes who are joining the program for the fall 2022 season. The coaches are also able to work with the returning student athletes and use the spring season to focus on improving areas of each student’s game.
The 2021-2022 high school ice hockey season is now complete. The Upper Montgomery Lightning coaching staff took some time to reflect on the program’s progress this season and they look ahead to the upcoming 2022 – 2023 season.
Question—What are your thoughts on the second half of the season and how the season concluded? How would you evaluate the Upper Montgomery Lightning hockey program at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season?
Answer—Overall, the coaches are very happy with how the season went and we are excited about the direction of the program. The varsity squad qualified for the Montgomery Hockey Conference Division 1 playoffs for the first time in program history and competed toe-to-toe with a very good and more experienced Richard Montgomery team. Similarly, in the Montgomery Hockey Conference Division 2 playoffs a senior laden Wootton team was just a bit better at the end of the game. Even though the outcome was not what we had hoped for, the team showed they can compete with some of the best teams in the county. We may not yet have the most talent in the league and we may not have the most depth in the league, but we outworked many of the teams we played and made the league take notice of Upper Montgomery.
Question—And for the junior varsity?
Answer—The results speak for themself. Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity Champions in only the second year the program has fielded a junior varsity team. The junior varsity played well during the regular season, but admittedly most of the teams in the conference did not pull down from varsity their better junior varsity eligible student athletes. When we watched the junior varsity playoff game before we took on Northwest in the first round of the playoffs, we immediately noticed that those teams pulled down everyone eligible. The pace of the playoff games were much faster and more physical. While we also pulled down a couple of student athletes from varsity who were junior varsity eligible, everyone picked up their play throughout the playoffs. Even though our varsity players helped control the pace of the games and played great, seven of the nine goals that we scored in the junior varsity playoffs were scored by student athletes who primarily played junior varsity. The entire junior varsity playoffs were a great team effort from all our student athletes.
Question—What does winning the Montgomery Hockey Conference Junior Varsity Championship mean to the program?
Answer— Winning the Junior Varsity Championship means the world to everyone; the student athletes, the program, the coaches, parents, family and friends, alumni, you name it. Our hope is that how the team came together and competed shows our student athletes (and all of the future incoming student athletes) that hard work and playing together as a team is imperative to becoming a consistent winning program. The coaches couldn’t be happier with how well the team played. One of the goals of the coaches since we took over was giving these young men and women that “high school experience”. In the junior varsity championship game, they were able to play in front of a good crowd, not only parents and family members, but also groups of classmates from their schools who showed up to cheer them on. There is a different feeling playing for your school and your classmates. Then, celebrating a championship is something these student athletes will remember for the rest of their lives. Winning the junior varsity championship was important for the program, but the everlasting memory for our student athletes was even more important.
Question—What areas of the team or team play need the biggest improvement and focus over the summer months for the team to continue its development next season?
Answer—Varsity level student athletes need to continue to work on improving their skating, their overall knowledge of the game, and their conditioning throughout the spring and summer. It will be important for varsity student athletes to begin the fall being in shape, stronger, and better on the ice. This way, we can focus more on team/zone concepts during practice once we get back on the ice as a team in the fall. Our practice time on the ice is very limited, so we cannot afford to spend too much time working on getting the student athletes back into shape and re-teaching the basics. We need to focus on defensive zone coverages, breakouts, offensive zone entry, offensive zone positioning, penalty kill, and power play, and we can only do so if the student athletes hit the ice in the fall ready to play.
Question—And for the junior varsity?
Answer—Skating, skating, and more skating. The legs feed the wolves. The best way for our junior varsity student athletes to make noticeable improvements in their game is to improve their skating. Our team concepts of aggressively pursuing the puck defensively and pushing the puck up the ice with movement in the offensive zone requires our student athletes to be able to skate effectively. Some improvement will come by spending more time on the ice practicing their edges, crossovers, and things they are not as comfortable with, but they can also improve their conditioning, getting stronger, and working on their foot speed off the ice. Student athletes who are willing to put in the time will notice the difference once we hit the ice again in the fall.
Question—What can student athletes do to prepare themselves for next season?
Answer— Work hard on and off the ice. It is important for the student athletes to get away from the game some to re-energize. Several of our student athletes have turned to lacrosse this off-season. Lacrosse is a great cross-over sport as there are many of the same concepts as there are in ice hockey and it is great for conditioning and footwork. Several student athletes who had never picked up a lacrosse stick before a couple of months ago were able to make their high school junior varsity or varsity lacrosse teams. Most high school teams in the area need lacrosse players so even if you haven’t played before, think about trying out for your high school lacrosse team next spring. We have student athletes that play for Seneca Valley, Clarksburg, Damascus, and Gaithersburg high schools so more than likely you will know someone on your team. Other members of the program have joined their high school track team to get in better shape and to get faster. Over the summer, put in the work. Stay in shape and go running regularly. Work on your foot speed, do short sprints, ladder drills, cone drills, etc.. Get stronger. You don’t need to go to the gym and lift heavy weights. Do pushups, squats, situps, planks, and jump rope. Here is the key though, you cannot do this once a week or wait until the summer is almost over to start. Start now and put in the effort several times a week throughout the off-season and you will notice the difference.
Question—For those rising 9th grade student athletes and other student athletes currently in middle school who will come into the program over the next several years, what are they able to do to connect with the team? Are there any skills development that they should be working on as they play over the next couple of years?
Answer—Attend as many Upper Montgomery team activities as you can. We start off with spring hockey which is a good time to come out and meet and play with your new teammates. Coach Todd offers an inexpensive summer high school boot camp. The Premier Hockey Camp is completely optional, but it is another great way to get in work on the ice and off the ice with many of their new teammates over the summer. Starting in mid-August the team starts with off-ice workouts twice a week. The program reserves the roller hockey rink at Ridge Road for a couple of these workout dates to go over basic zone coverages, breakouts, zone entries, etc.. so these are really important for the younger student athletes. Read through the team playbook that was provided to all student athletes. There are concepts that you need to know and the coaching staff does not have a lot of time on the ice to be walking through the basics. Skills development is always important whether it is working on your skating, edges, stick handling, passing, shooting, etc.. and you can work on these skills on your own or through clinics, but the most important detail is that you give 100% every time you are working out and really push yourself. Don’t go through the motions and expect big changes. Put in the time and effort.
Question—What are the team’s realistic and stretch goals for next season?
Answer—This is a hard question as there are so many different variables to consider. Some of the historically great upper teams in the county like Churchill, BCC, and Walter Johnson are losing many seniors, but these programs have deep teams and seem to fill these voids each season. Some of the better teams in the lower division like Quince Orchard, Blair, and Rockville/Magruder aren’t graduating many student athletes and their higher talented student athletes will be seniors next year. We are returning almost the entire varsity team from last year and these student athletes will be a year older, stronger, and better. In addition, we have some incoming 9th grade student athletes that will be able to immediately help out on varsity. The coaches would like to see progress in our program each season. It is no longer a successful season just to qualify for the division one playoffs. We are striving to advance in the playoffs.
This could mean making it past the first round of the division one or division two playoffs. We are also looking for the progress we can see and feel out on the ice. Two years ago, we were in most games. But in reality, that was due to having Jonas Clark in net. We worked hard, but the other teams normally controlled the games with their better talent. This past season, we competed hard and played well going toe-to-toe with some of the better teams in the county. We often controlled play for long stretches of the game, but it seemed the other teams were able to take advantage of one or two good opportunities while we were not able to capitalize on our chances. This was often the difference in the games we lost. Next year, it is time to take the next step, to be able to compete with all the teams in the county and be the team that takes advantage of these opportunities rather than giving them up. We want to beat some of the upper teams in the county next season. We all want to win more and make it further in the playoffs but judging progress solely on wins and loses can be difficult. Overall, our record this year was similar to our record two years ago, but this past season’s team played so much better and competed at a much higher level. Next season, we will again be looking for the team to take another step forward in that progression.
Question—And for the junior varsity?
Answer—The obvious answer is to win a second straight junior varsity championship, but it is hard when you set the bar that high and there are many variables that go into play. No team will look past us next year. They will all give us their best shot. It looks like we will have more junior varsity level student athletes next year. More of our varsity student athletes will play a higher level of travel hockey and will not be junior varsity eligible next season. The progress the coaches will be looking for is for our junior varsity level student athletes to step up, help control the games like our more experienced roster did this past year, and to still be able to compete at a high level. When the junior varsity playoffs begin, we want to make a run at another championship.
