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2022-23 SHL outlook: New Trier, Saint Viator, York

By Gary Larsen, 09/14/22, 10:15AM CDT

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With the 2022-23 Scholastic Hockey League season upon us, here is the second installment of season previews for this year's SHL teams:

New Trier
Outlook:
“The strength of Green this year is our depth,” New Trier coach Adam Cheris said. “We feel that we can put any of our lines/players in any situation.  We expect to have scoring from all four lines as well as contributions from our defense.”

Varsity Experience: “Green is comprised of Varsity players from SHL and IHSHL. Additionally, we welcomed new players from AAA.”

Leadership: “This year we will be led by Captains Will Cusick and Butler Chessen, both are returning for their 3rd year on Green and know what it takes to win a State Championship.”

Top offensive and defensive players: “On the front-end, we are looking for continued strong play from our returners, including Butler Chessen, Landon Douthit, Tyler Smith, Aleks Cheris, Kitchel Snow and Henry Miller.  On the back-end, we are looking for returners, Will Cusick and Joey Rabinowitz to lead the way.”

Goaltending:  “In net, we have Drew Durdov returning and he is joined by Sophomore Wyatt Schmidt, giving us a great tandem between the pipes.”

 

Saint Viator
Outlook:
  “We had a strong season last year and look to repeat,” Saint Viator coach Tim Benz said.  “Lots of returning varsity experience, added three transfers and another player from outside the organization.  We do not have one or two ‘go-to guys’  as has been the norm for Saint Viator teams in the past, we will depend on all twenty guys for team success.  This will be a hard-working team that will be able to compete and beat anybody.  As we all know, there are no nights off in the SHL.  This team will have to be on its ‘A' game working hard night-in and night-out in order to succeed in this league.”

Varsity experience: “We return thirteen skaters and one goalie off last season's team.  In that mix we have five players who are three-year varsity players and one that is a four-year varsity player.  Our experience at this level of play will be key to our success this season.”

Leadership:  “We have ten seniors this year.  That is a large number for us.  I expect all of them to be leaders in their own way.  Some are vocal, some quiet, some lead by example on the ice, some mentor off the ice.  All will be important to help get our group to the top.”

Top offensive and defensive players: “Dylan Harer, PJ Heneghan and Angelo Massaro will all be counted on to produce this year.  Evan Wenzel is changing his role this season and looking to put more pucks in the back of the net.  Vitalii Strutynski came to us from the Ukraine this season.  He is a junior center that will be well known very soon across the league.  From a defensive standpoint, we return five from last season's team in seniors Sean Wilson, Jake Knieling, Carson Hart, Connor Jones and junior Jack Kuffel.  We added Junior Matthew Voris from tier 2 U16 hockey and he will round out what is a very solid 6 defenseman.  Our D core looks to be the strength of our team.

Goaltending: “We were fortunate to have three very good varsity goalies last season, Dominic Grimaldi is back this year for his senior campaign.  With plenty of Varsity SHL experience, he will be leaned on heavily this season.  We also added a very talented sophomore in Brock Harer who will assist in keeping pucks out of our net.”

 

York
Outlook:
“With graduating thirteen seniors last year, the 2022-2023 Dukes have some young blood with a lot of potential to prove themselves,” York coach Matt Boeing said. “We are excited for our eight returning varsity players to set the tone this year coming off a very strong regular season. Our slogan this year is ‘Have the Heart’. We look forward to our players applying this slogan and playing every shift for the ‘Y’ on the front and the players next to them.”

Varsity experience: “We have a wide mix of players this year. We have added sophomores Ben Smith and Jack Brown to our varsity lineup after breakout freshman seasons at JV. Although we have fifteen seniors on our squad this year, fourteen players are new to the varsity this year with a new addition of Frank Rosa to the program - a skilled defenseman with a great IQ. We are anchored on the back end by varsity vets: Adam Kaczmarek (G), Aaron Curry (D), and Matt Moore (D).”

Leadership: “We have not picked captains. With fifteen seniors all having the 2022-2023 season to be their last rodeo, I would expect every player on this team to leave it all on the ice and demonstrate leadership qualities.”

Top offensive and defensive players: “Returning from last year is our top offensive earner and showcase player Frank Nicosia. Many players proved themselves in spring and the preseason with Chuck Colantonio with a few goals and a ton of chances. Eli Maurer, Nico Ptak, and Ryan Booth were next in line with points from last year as we look forward to these players taking on new roles as top players on our team this year; however, this is a new year and we look forward to everyone proving themselves on and off the ice. On the back end look for lots of blocked shots from Matt Moore and offensive production from Aaron Curry.”

Goaltending: “Between the pipes you will find returning varsity veteran senior Adam Kaczmarek. We will be looking to Adam to play a leadership role this year. We added the Jacks to the lineup as well in Jack Maier and Jack Brown. Jack and Jack helped lead our JV team to the state final (last season) as well.”