North Tonawanda’s 2014-15 season ended in heartbreaking fashion with a 4-3 double overtime loss to Hamburg in the small school quarterfinals. The long offseason is finally coming to an end, and the Lumberjacks are eager to get back on the ice and show what they can do this season.
“This year we’re gonna come back harder and stronger,” said defenseman Kyle Crooks, a senior and captain this season. “We’ve been practicing a lot, and hopefully we’ll be better.”
The Lumberjacks did lose 10 seniors after last year, and the biggest hole will be the one left by forward Sam Rydzewski, the second leading scorer in the division last season, according to head coach Alan Zbytek. But Rydzewski’s linemates return this season. Curtis Vivian, also a captain this season, and Zach Warner will be joined by sophomore Jason Lindhurst on the top line.
North Tonawanda’s defense is currently missing a few players due to injuries. Zbytek expects those players to miss up to five games, but until they return, the top line will be the team’s biggest strength.
“We’re hoping for production from them, and the second line we’re hoping to contribute a lot as well,” Zbytek said. “We’re counting on [Vivian and Warner] to pick up the slack from where Sam [Rydzewski] left off, and I believe they can do it. They’re both talented hockey players, so we’re expecting that.”
Warner was proud of the way he played last season but believes he’ll be even better this year. And he wants to make the most of his senior year.
“In the offseason, travel season, I got a little better, so we’ll see how we are this year,” Warner said. “It’s my last year, and I just want to give it my all and have a good year with everybody, and just either way it goes, I just want to have fun.”
Vivian knows he’ll be looked up to as a captain, but he believes that what he does on the ice is more important than anything else. Both he and Warner described themselves as hard workers, and they plan to show that work ethic in practice to lead to production in games.
“The guys obviously look up to the captain, but we’re really just a team, and we all know what we’re going out there to do, is just to win games,” Vivian said. “I gotta put points on the board. Me, Warner, and Lindhurst are the first line, so we definitely gotta get points on the board. I gotta bury; I gotta put pucks in the net. I think if we get production from our first and second lines, we’ll be fine.”
Crooks is a hard worker as well, and he hopes that he can lead by example as well as teach.
“As a leader, I’m just trying to get all the boys riled up and excited to play and hope they can learn a few things from me along the way,” Crooks said. “I never give up when I play. I always try my hardest in practice — never slack because in practices, you practice how you play.”
Zbytek believes that all that hard work can sometimes be the deciding factor between a win and a loss.
“Hockey’s a game that if you play hard on any given day, you can beat anybody,” he said. “So we’re hoping to be close in some games, maybe get a bounce in the playoffs, and you never know.”
Along with his work ethic, Zbytek is excited about the leadership and skill Crooks brings to the defense as well.
“Kyle Crooks is a senior defenseman and real solid,” Zbytek said. “Moves the puck well, plays on our power play — he’s like the quarterback on our power play, so we’re expecting certainly a lot more goals from him this year; and leadership; and keeping the other guys emotionally in check. So we’re expecting a lot from him this year.”
Behind Crooks and the rest of the defense will be senior goaltender Christian McIntyre. Just like the rest of the team, McIntyre showed improvement over the course of the season last year.
“Christian McIntyre, is back from last year, and he played really well for us down the stretch and in the playoffs,” Zbytek said. “So we’re hoping that he can continue to develop and improve every game and then be hot again near the end of the season.”
This year, the expectation is the same for any other year: that along with McIntyre, the rest of the Lumberjacks will improve over the course of the season and be ready for the playoffs. The players, especially Warner, Vivian, and Crooks, are expecting a lot from themselves and their teammates and believe that the team is capable of achieving its goals.
“My expectations are pretty high,” Warner said. “We got skills all over the ice, so we should be alright. Just try and help my team as much as I can with winning games and just play as a team.”
“We really want to like jell as a family, and I think everyone, we just want to have fun,” Vivian said. “We gotta work. Definitely in practice, we gotta get our heads on straight, and it starts with the first game against Sweet Home. I think we all want to be the team that we think we can be, so I think everyone’s in it, and we’re all ready to go.”
“I just want to work well as a team and just try our hardest and work our best,” said Crooks.
North Tonawanda is scheduled to begin its season Dec. 3 against Grand Island at 5 pm at Hyde Park.