Hockey is a game for all. That was the message sent Sunday morning as Philadelphia Blind Hockey celebrated its 2022-23 by welcoming some special guests to the Laura Sims Skate House in West Philadelphia.

Players from four area high schools, Pennridge, Malvern Prep, Penncrest, and Haverford High shared the ice with some of the young participants in Philadelphia Blind Hockey, a program that was launched in 2021 to provide access to hockey for children and adults who are blind or visually impaired

Players from the four schools made biweekly Sunday-morning visits during the season to work with the program’ participants and coaches. Sunday’s effort was essentially a celebration of the season, one that was highlighted by the Flyers Cup Committee’s presentation of a $2,500 check to Philadelphia Blind Hockey.

Kelsey McGuire is the program’s founder and executive director

“The high school teams have been great,” she said. “Our coaches are very eager to learn because none of them really have a background in visual impairment, so having them learn has been a process, and` having the school teams come out has really helped them and encouraged them to be better coaches as well.”

 Blind hockey is a modified form of the game for the visually impaired. It is played using standard hockey rules with some exceptions. The puck is made of steel and is larger than a traditional rubber puck; 5 ¼ inches in diameter and 1 7/8 inches thick.  It weights 220 grams or 7.76 oz. (A traditional puck is made of vulcanized rubber and is three inches in diameter and one inch thick and weights between 5 ½ and 6 oz.)

The puck contains eight ball bearings which ensure the puck moves more slowly on the ice than its traditional counterpart, and makes audible sounds to enable players to track the puck’s location.

The nets are 3 feet high rather than the traditional 4 feet.

Penncrest junior forward Ryan Anderson enjoyed being part of Sunday’s event and working with the participants in the program

“It’s cool because everyone loves the game,” he said. “We both love the game, so it’s kind of easy to connect.”

Anderson said his involvement in the program gave him a new perspective.

“It’s kind of eye-opening,” he said, “that they have disabilities but they still want to play. And they do play.”

Pennridge players L-R Kevin Pico, Colin Dachowski, Shane Dachowski on the ice at the Philadelphia Blnd Hockey celebration (R. Woelfel)

Penncrest coach Steve Mescanto brought his team to the Laura Sims Skate House two Sunday ago.

“They really, really enjoy it,” he said. “A lot of the parents, when we did it (on March 5) said the kids were kind of mumbling and grumbling about getting up early on a Sunday morning. And then, after the fact said that was one of the coolest things they’ve ever done.

 “They really enjoyed it and got a lot of great feedback from the kids and the parents they just really had a blast.”

Mescanto said participating in the program offered his players a learning experience.

“I think when they get to this point, it’s obvious that they love the game,” he said, “and being able to kind of give back and share that with somebody else. 

“It’s kind of cool for them and they really enjoy it. but I think it’s being able to see other people who maybe don’t have the ease of playing that they do.”

Pennridge coach Jeff looked at the Philadelphia Blind Hockey program as a learning opportunity for his players well.
“You try and tech them life lessons,” he said. The best way you can do that is they come out here and do things like this. 

I remember the last time we did this (the program participants) were so excited they had (high school) players out here skating with them and the players enjoyed it to. It is something different for them and it’ a way for them to give back.”
Senior defenseman Steven Getsie one of Malvern Prep’s captains this season, was on the ice for Sunday’s event.

“It’s really fun to be around a bunch of kids in general,” he said, “a bunch of kids that are kind of less fortunate in that they have visual impairments. I think it’s really great to see them try to do things and step outside their comfort zone 

“I think it’s really humbling to see them try something new, and it’s kind of a really fun time to see kids be really happy for achieving something.”

Click here for more information about Philadelphia Blind Hockey

Jummy Jacobs scored the only goal as The Friars scored a 1-0 non-league win over Salesiaum Monday night at the University of Delaware in a tuneup for next week’s Flyers Cup.

Malvern Prep (9-7) will face Father Judge Monday night at Ice Line in a Class AAA quarterfinal.

Salesianum will face Washington Township, N.J. in a NJ/Delaware semifinal on March 16

Wednesday, February 22 at Hatfield Ice

La Salle vs. The Hun School 4 p.m.

La Salle

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner

Record: 11-9-2, 6-2 in the APAC (seed 1)

Key players: 

James Carpenter, 6 goals, 4 assists, 10 points

Evan Golato, 7 goals, 2 assists, 9 points; 

Dean Carvalho, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points; 

Ryan Desmond, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points;

Aries Carangi .910 save percentage, 1.66 GAA

 Jake Rossi .904 save percentage 0.93 GAA

The Hun School

Coach: Ian McNally

Record: 11-12, 3-5 in the APAC (seed 4)

Key players:

Justin LaPlante 6 goals, 9 assists 15 points

Ryan Levesque 5 goals 8 assists, 13 points

Elian Estulin 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points

Brendan Marino 5 goals, 4 assists, 9 points

Stephen Chen .899 save percentage, 3.61 GAA

Julian Arsenault .899 save percentage, 3.76 GAA

This season:

12-14  La Salle 3 Hun School 1

2-1 La Salle 5 Hun School 2

Holy Ghost Prep vs. St. Joseph’s Prep  6:15 p.m.

Holy Ghost Prep

Coach: Gump Whiteside

Record: 15-6, 4-2-1-1 in the APAC (seed 2)

Key players:

Brady Baehser 10 goals, 9 assists, 19 points

Kieran Mulholland 9 goals, 6 assists, 15 points

John Seravalli 4 goals, 8 assists, 12 points

Landon Stout 4 goals 5 assists, 9 points

Shaun Moore 2 goals 7 assists, 9 points

Colin Mudrick .844 save percentage, 4.01 GAA

St. Joseph’s Prep

Coach: David Giacomin

Record: 14-5-2, 3-4-1-0 in the APAC (seed 3)

Key players: Joe Samango 11 goals, 4 assists, 15 points

                     Jeffrey Hammond 4 goals, 10 assists 14 points

                       Tristan Winata 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points

                       Rocco Bruno.921 save percentage, 2.59 GAA

                       Ajay White .882 save percentage, 2.79 GAA

This season

11-16 St. Joseph’s Prep 3 Holy Ghost Prep 2 OT

1-9     St. Joseph’s Prep 8 Holy Ghost Prep 4

The Founders Cup Championship Game will be played on Wednesday March 1

It will be hosted by the highest-seeded finalist

                                                  Won     Lost  OTW   OTL    Pts    GF    GA

Holy Ghost Prep (12-5)       4        1       0          1          13      31     25

La Salle (7-8-2)                          4          2       0        0        12     22      16

 St. Joseph’s Prep (13-3-2)         2          3        1         0          8      16     23

Hun School (5-8)                       2          3        0        0          6       19    17    

Malvern Prep (7-4)                   1           4       0          0          3       16   20

 

Teams receive: 3 points for a regulation win

2 points for an overtime win

1 point for an overtime loss

This week

Wednesday, 1-18

La Salle 11 Haverford School 0

Hun School 4 Malvern Prep 2

Thursday, 1-19

St. Augustine 7 Holy Ghost Prep 1

Friday 1-20

St. Joseph’s Prep 3 La Salle 1

  Joey Samango erupted for five goals and assisted on two others as St. Joseph’s Prep defeated Holy Ghost Prep 8-4 Monday afternoon in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink.

The win was the second for the Hawks (12-2-2-0, 1-2-1-0 in the APAC) over the Firebirds this season.

Zach Pers gave Holy Ghost Prep (11-4-3, 3-1-0-1) a 1-0 lead just 72 seconds after the opening faceoff but Samango tied the game for the Hawks at the 3:22 mark before Shane O’Neill’s goal at 11:07 gave the hosts a lead they would not relinquish.

Tristan Winata and Samango scored goals in a span of 1:39 to put St. Joseph’s Prep up 4-1 2:45 into the middle period.

“We capitalized in a couple of their mistakes right around the net,” said Sr. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin, “a couple turnovers rom defensemen and nice move from one of our forwards, Next thing you know we were up 4-1 which was kind of surprising at that point.”

 At that point, Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside used his timeout and lifted goaltender Colin Mudrick in favor of Jack Unger. At that point, momentum shifted in the Firebirds’ direction; Brady Baehser’s goal at the 6:49 mark made it a 4-2 game and Holy Ghost Prep enjoyed a 21-7 shot advantage in the middle period.

“In the second period, they called a timeout and totally turned up their legs,” Giacomin said.

But the Firebirds could come no closer. Samango and Holy Ghost Prep’s John Seravalli traded goals before Samango scored his fourth goal of the game with 45 seconds left in the period to give the Hawks a 6-3 advantage.

Seravalli scored his second goal of the game 2:27 into the final period but Jeffrey Hammond answered a minute-and-a-half later. Samango scored his fifth goal into an empty net.

Monday’s game was the Hawks’ first time on ice since winning the Purple Puck tournament just prior to New Year’s Day.

“I think this team’s a really good team,” Giacomin said. “We’re certainly strong up front and we have great goaltending. Our defense is starting to come into its own. We’re playing with the right kind of pace.”

The Hawks have been shorthanded in several games this season, including their two conference losses.

“Any time you’re missing three or four of especially your better players, you’re going to have a hard time playing against these APAC teams,” Giacomin said.

Holy Ghost Prep 1 2 1—4

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 4 2—8

First-period goals: Zach Pers (HGP) from Brady Baehser, 1:12; Joey Samango (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond and Patrick Sweeney, 3:22; Shane O’ Neill (SJP) from Jake Schultz, 11:07

Second-period goals: Tristan Winata (SJP) from Samango and Caden Kelly, 1:06; Samango (SP) unassisted, 2:45; Baehser (HGP) unassisted, 6:49; Samango (SJP) from Hammond and Winata, 12:27; John Seravalli (HGP) from Baehser and Shaun Moore, 14:57 (pp); Samango (SJP) from Winata and Hammond, 16:15;

Third-period goals: Seravalli (HGP) from Moore and Kieran Mulholland, 2:27: Hammond (HGP) from Ben Kerson, 3:56; Samango (SJP) from Winata, 16:17 (en)

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 49, St. Joseph’s Prep 24; Saves: Colin Mudrick (HGP) 4 and Jack Unger (HGP) 12; Ajay White (SJP) 45

More about St. Joseph’s Prep at https://www.sjprep.org

More about Holy Ghost Prep at https://www.holyghostprep.org

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, N.J.— Hun School waited a month to play its first Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game of the season. When the opportunity presented itself Wednesday evening, the Raiders were quick to take advantage.

Elian Estulin and Justin Laplante scored two goals each in a 7-0 rout of St. Joseph’s Prep at Ice Land. 

The win lifted the Raiders’ record to 4-3 overall. The Hawks (6-2-1, 0-2-1-0 in the APAC) saw a four-game unbeaten streak come to an end.

“We just wanted to come out hard,” Estulin said. “We had a good warmup, we had all the guys going today, we brought a couple guys up (from the junior varsity). So, we just came out hard, there was no quit, we didn’t let them get anything.”

Brendan Marino scored the only goal of the first period at the 6:21 mark off a setup from Laplante and Estulin.

The Raiders broke the game open in the second frame as Charles-Etienne Jette, Laplante, and Estulin all scored goals.

St. Joseph’s Prep took the ice minus four regulars (Jeffrey Hammond, Dante Passio, Joey Samango, Gareth McDonald), for varying reasons and goaltender Ajay White found himself facing heavy incoming fire; the Raiders outshot the Hawks 34-13 over the first two periods.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin offered a straightforward assessment of his team’s performance.

“I don’t think we were ready to play from the very beginning,” he said. “I think the boys quite frankly saw who we were missing and thought we were out of the game. We really didn’t skate at all the first two periods.”

Laplante, Ryan Levesque, and Estulin all scored third-period goals for the Raiders. At the other end of the ice, Stephen Chen had a relatively sedate afternoon, stopping all 18 shots he saw.

The Raiders went 1-3 in the Shady Side tournament over the Thanksgiving weekend with two of the losses coming in shootouts. Coach Ian McNally feels that experience taught his team the importance of a fast start and it showed against the Hawks.

“I feel like we kind of learned a lesson from that,” he said. “We came out strong, the middle was strong, and we finished strong. We just played well the whole game, which is nice.”

The Raiders feature 18 upperclassmen on their varsity roster but some in that group have found themselves in new roles.

Estulin said the experience of playing in the Shady Side tournament against elite competition accelerated the team’s maturation process.

“The Shady Side was just to let our boys get the chemistry going,” he said. “We played pretty good teams.

“We’re a fresh team, we’ve got a lot of new players this year, so we just wanted to get the chemistry going and get the boys pumping.”

Elian Estulin is one of Hun School’s captains. He spoke to the importance of motivating and encouraging his teammates.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 0—0

Hun School 1 3 3—7

First-period goal: Brendan Marino (HS) from Justin Laplante and Elian Estulin, 6:21

Second-period goals: Charles-Etienne Jette (HS) from Josh Sosner, 2:55 Laplante (HS) from Marino and Estulin, 12:41; Estulin (HS) from Marino and Scott Richmond, 14:23

Third-period goals: Laplante (HS) from Estulin, 3:41; Ryan Levesque (HS) from Mark Gall and Richmond, 14:40; Estulin (HS) unassisted, 16:52 (pp)

Shots: St. Joseph’ Prep 18, Hun School 44; Saves: Ajay White (SJP) 37

For more information about St. Joseph’s Prep CLICK HERE

For more information about The Hun School CLICK HERE

National Division         W      L      T      OTL Pts

C.B. West (1-1)            1       0      0      0      2

C.B. East (2-0)              0       0      0      0      0

C.R. South (2-0)           0       0      0      0      0

Neshaminy (1-0)         0       0      0      0      0

C.B. South (1-0-0-1)   0       0      0      0      0

North Penn (1-1)         0       0      0      0      0

Pennridge (1-1)            0      0      0       0      0

Pennsbury (1-1)           0       0      0      0      0

Bensalem (0-1)            0       0      0      0      0

Souderton (0-2)           0       0      0      0      0

C.R. North (0-3)           0       1     0       0      0

American Division                  W      L      T      OTL    Pts

Abington (3-0-0)                      3       0     0        0        6

Quakertown (2-0)                   1        1    0        0         2

Wissahickon (1-1)                   1       1     0        0        2

Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-1) 1       1     0        0        2

Springfield (0-2)                      0        1     0        0        0

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