Men’s club ice hockey team looks to make playoffs    

September calls for the start of the St. Joe’s men’s club ice hockey season. This year’s team is looking to move past the playoff stage.

The Hawks combination of senior players who have developed their skills over time along with new players who have shown potential, yields a different product than previous seasons.

The team is led by senior captains JT Tarantino and Andrew Sarre who, although they have different leadership styles, will work together to help the team reach its full potential on the ice.

“I’m probably more of a vocal guy and he [Sarre] is a captain who leads by example,” Tarantino said. “[Sarre] is definitely a great player and I think we mesh well as captains.”

Throughout their time on the team, Tarantino and Sarre have taken cues from previous captains to develop their own leadership styles.

“We have a new team,” Tarantino said. “A lot of the guys who are returning are top-end guys. I’m definitely pleasantly surprised by the freshmen that came in, who are a lot of impact players. I expect to compete for the division and be a playoff team.”

The team has had to adjust after 12 of their players graduated last year. With half the team gone, they needed to figure out a different rhythm with the new players they have this season.

“I think what prevented us from getting further past playoffs was depth,” Head Coach Matt McGarvey said. “We didn’t have a number of guys, some of the teams we play against are big schools that have 30 guys on the roster. So, we played well for the first two periods, but you just run out of gas with a lack of guys.”

After the 2016-17 season, Coach Hugh Walsh left and the team took over as head coach for the team. The players had to learn a new system and new strategies. After losing a majority of their team last year, they experienced a lot of movement.

Junior forward Frankie McVeigh sees the addition of new players as a way for them to get to the final championship game.

“I think our potential this season is greater than the last two seasons,” McVeigh said. “It’s my third season here and I think our team, with the youth that we have, is looking better than the last two years.”