The start of a new hockey season is at hand. That has given Brady Doyle something of a new perspective. A senior defenseman at Malvern Prep, the West Chester native understands the clock is ticking on his high-school hockey career.
“I feel like I have a lot more confidence now,” he said. “I’m playing with a lot of kids I’m older than; I have more experience. My final year I feel like I’ve got to push way harder. I’m never going to have another chance at it.
Doyle has seen plenty of ice time with the Friars and has been part of two Class AAA Flyers Cup championship teams. As a senior however, he finds himself taking on new responsibilities, notably in the realm of leadership. He says he’s comfortable in that role.
“Definitely,” he said. “I feel like all the underclassmen look up to the seniors, no matter what so. I don’t have any problem speaking up.”
Doyle enrolled at Malvern Prep in the eighth grade at the urging of teammates Jimmy and Jeremy Jacobs.
“It really felt like home,” he said.”
Like many of his peers, Doyle had to learn to manage his team and balance his commitments to academics, playing for the Friars, and club hockey.
“I try to get a lot of my academics done during the day,” he said. “Whenever I get home, I’m trying to get my homework done, then it’s practice the rest of the night.
“I kind of break it down; school first at the beginning of the day and hockey at night.”
Doyle’s teammate, senior forward Caiden Canale, had a cousin who attended Malvern Prep some years ago. Canale himself played for the middle-school hockey team before stepping up to the varsity. He says to this point he’s been enjoying his senior year of high school.
“It’s been great so far,” he said. “I’m a little nervous like everybody else. But I definitely have to step it up. Senior year is our last year so you’ve just got to make the most of it.”
Canale speaks to the importance of leadership within the ranks of the players.
“As seniors we’ve been on the team for four years,” he said. “We kind of have to help the underclassmen live up to expectations.”
Canale, a West Chester native, believes in leading by example. “In my opinion one of the most important aspects of leadership by action is my actions,” he said.
Canale noted his perception of the game of hockey has changed over the course of his career.
“As a freshman and sophomore, it was crazy fast paced,” he said. “I’m getting a little bit more used to it now, but it’s always going to be super fast so you always have to adjust.”
Last year’s Malvern Prep team finished 10-8 overall and 2-5-0-1 in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference before reaching the Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinals.
Doyle notes the caliber of play in the conference dictates that its teams bring their best efforts to the rink every time out.
“I feel like every year you’ve got to step it up,” he said. Every team gets better every year.”
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