Williamsville South had only five wins last season, but the Billies had no shortage of senior leadership. It’s become a tradition for the Williamsville South varsity hockey program, and last year was no different.
“Something we’ve been very fortunate to have, and last year’s senior class was a testament to the program, is great leadership,” Williamsville South head coach Sean Green said. “And even though we weren’t winning on the score sheet, they really had a really good foundation for the team and team character and team building skills, and it’s really beneficial because I already see it now with this sophomore junior class coming in and learning from that group. So it didn’t show on the score sheet, but their mark on the program is gonna be instrumental this year in terms of what has to be done and how to conduct themselves, and we already see it in the early stages of this year.”
This year’s team has another solid group of seniors, led by Jeff Browne. Browne spent last season with the Buffalo Regals, and this year both he and Green are excited that he’s back with the Williamsville South team.
“Jeff Browne was one of our better players as a sophomore,” Green said. “He had a really great opportunity last year which I helped facilitate in terms of playing travel hockey. It was awesome; it was great, but he’s back this year, which is a great addition for us.”
“It’s great to be back with the guys and it’s a lot of fun,” Browne said. “It’s a great experience to play, especially my senior year, to be back.”
But it hasn’t all been easy. After missing a year, it’s been slightly difficult to rejoin the Billies and pick up where he left off. But Browne knows he brings valuable experience from playing for coach and former NHL player Matt Barnaby, and he’s determined to pass on what he’s learned to his teammates, especially the faster pace he became accustomed to last year.
“It was a lot faster, full season, and I think it really developed me as a player,” Browne said. “Made me a lot better overall, just learning about the game, learning from Mr. Barnaby. He really taught me a lot, so I liked it and it was a lot of fun. It’s a little different coming back to this now. Guys look at me a little differently now, I think, because you took a year off and it’s different because they don’t see you as much a part of the team. But again, it’s a big role trying to get their pace up back to what you were playing at last year for me.”
Browne will be on a line with Mason Cool, Williamsville South’s lone selection to the Bowman Cup team last season, and Alex Fix, both seniors. They played together for Amherst travel this year to develop chemistry already that they’ll carry into the Billies’ season with them.
“We’re gonna try to put up as much points as we can this year,” Browne said. “Playing with Fix and Cool, it’s gonna be a lot. We got good chemistry from playing with Amherst this year, and I think that’s gonna build up a lot of offense for us.”
Green expects strong senior leadership from Cool and Fix as well, along with seniors Cam Osalkowski and Brendan DesRosiers up front and Jake Fuzak and Dylan Utz on defense.
“We have a great foundation of guys coming back,” Green said. “They have the experience, they’ve been around the last couple years, and you can just see the rewards of it right now.”
Although Browne and just a couple of others will wear a “C” on their jerseys, every senior will play a leadership role, and Green is once again excited about this year’s group.
“Our seniors are all our captains even though only one or two have a C on their jersey,” Green said. “We’ve always treated our senior class as the captain of our team. Even though they might not have a letter on their jersey, they get to choose what we do and how we do things and what things are said and kind of the mood.”
In fact, that senior leadership, along with the team’s speed, is the team’s biggest strength this year, according to Green.
“Senior leadership is one of the biggest strengths right now in terms of overall character, and character as a team,” Green said. “And obviously hockey wise, I think speed is one of our assets this year. Character, leadership, speed.”
Many of those seniors carry skill with them along with speed, and Green expects that to translate to a lot of scoring this season.
“I think we’re gonna be a high-scoring team just because we generate a lot of speed, a lot of scoring chances, so hopefully that transitions into goals,” Green said. “One of the things we do have is all of our players are skilled players who can skate, so right now we anticipate being a skilled team that can score goals.”
Browne might be the most skilled, and he plays fast and physical as well.
“Physical is definitely a big part of my game,” Browne said. “I try not to take as many penalties as I can, but I try to do my best to stay out of the box. It happens every now and then, but physical and definitely a lot of offense. I bring a lot of offense to the game. My speed definitely helps me a lot. I don’t have the greatest hands, but speed definitely helps me and definitely brings my game up a level.”
Browne is excited about the skill around him, and he’s going to do whatever he can as a leader to make the players around him even better.
“There’s a lot of good skill on the team and a lot of good potential,” Browne said. “I’m just trying to bring the pace up, get the guys going and amp them up before games, and just get them fired up, and just try to get them to produce the best they can and push them in practice. Do as much as I can to get them better.”
Browne believes that an improved defense will help the team be even more competitive as well as help out the goaltenders behind them. This year, there are a few goalies who will see time in the net: Cam Carney, Michael Woods, and Mitch Bossi.
“Goalies are definitely gonna help us out, but we need to work on our defense a little, I think,” Browne said. “I think Woods is a great little junior goalie. He’s gonna be strong. He’s learned a lot playing over the last three years. I think he’s definitely developed, and he’s gonna be good. He’s gonna be strong. Carney definitely has learned a lot over the last couple years, and he’s gonna be good. He’s gonna hopefully be strong back there and he knows he’s gotta work, and he’s gonna work hard, I think. Bossi, he’s a bigger kid, and he’s strong and he’s young, so he’s gonna have to learn a little, but I think he’s gonna definitely be strong back there too. So I think overall goalie wise, I think we’re gonna be decent back there.”
Bossi is in his first year on the varsity team, while Woods and Carney look to be the frontrunners with more varsity experience.
Although Browne, Cool, and Fix spent their travel season together, many of the Billies didn’t. Bringing them together and getting them used to the Williamsville South program each season has become the biggest challenge, Green thinks.
“We have 21 players, we might have 10 different teams that they’re coming from, with those philosophies that they have, that we have to try to get into our philosophies and systems and faceoffs, and all the things that we want them to know for our team,” Green explained.
Once that does come together and everyone is on the same page, Green has once again set his goals high for this year’s team.
“We play every year to be the best,” Green said. “We try to win the Federation, we try to be the state champion, and that’s ultimately our goal every year. Obviously there’s some adjustments along the way to see how things go. Our expectation is to be very competitive in our division and just to improve every game, obviously knowing where we are. Just get prepared for the playoffs and hopefully make a run at it. We want to play our best hockey come February. You want to just get better and better and better as the season goes on and hope to improve every year.”
Williamsville South is scheduled to begin league play Dec. 7 against West Seneca West at 7:45 at West Seneca.