This year’s Lockport team is confident, dedicated, deep, and smart.
The players show up to 5:30 am weekday practices without fail; coach Rick Eberhard said no one is ever late.
“Everything runs smooth,” Eberhard said. “The practices run smooth. There’s really not a lot of explaining to do. You just draw it up on the board and they do it. It’s kinda like a dream, where everybody shows up, everything runs smooth, there’s no riff raff or anything.”
“We’re a new disciplined Lockport team,” said junior forward Brandon Rice. “We should do more damage than we did last year in the standing. Should be a better year.”
The Lions won two league games last year, both the last night of the regular season. Senior forward Ryan Boci believes that ending the regular season on a high point carried into this year.
“I remember talking last year about how big those last two wins were at the end of the season,” Boci said. “I think it’s carried over. Everyone wants to be here this year. We’re looking a lot deeper than we’ve ever been, better than we’ve ever been, so we’re really excited about it.”
Junior defenseman and captain Brennan Bailey agreed.
“It was a big confidence booster coming into this year,” he said. “It made some of the guys feel more confident. We’ve got a lot of guys here, a lot of potential, a few new captains. Looking like a bright year.”
Bailey, Rice, and Boci, together with senior defenseman Drew Gmerek, are leaders on this year’s team. The four plan to work hard and lead by example, and Boci adds a little something extra as well.
“I’m kind of a quiet leader, just kind of show my play on the ice, don’t really say much,” said Bailey. “Just kinda help out the coaches, whatever they need. Big physical defenseman, stay at home, not really offensive, so that’s my style.”
“I like to give a good pregame speech, get the boys ready for the game,” Boci said. “I like to go out on the ice and just give everything that I have, not care about anything but getting a W.”
By the end of last season, Lockport’s depth was so depleted by injuries and cuts due to grades and character issues that the Lions were basically down to two defenseman and one strong line. It was nearly impossible to compete with the other teams in the Fed, both in Division 4 during the regular season and against large school Williamsville North in the playoffs.
But this year, the Lions have five solid defensemen and three-plus lines. They’re expecting both the defense and offense to be strengths on this year’s team and improvement all around, including special teams. Goaltender Jack Igoe, who graduated last year, won’t be easy to replace, but Lockport has three goalies this season working hard and vying for time between the pipes.
“I’d say the defensive core [is our strength], not just because we’re great, but because it’s so much better than last year,” said Bailey. “And also, there’s no showboats on the team. Last year, there was a lot of character issues. Couple guys got cut or left because of grades and stuff so this year, I think we’ll be a lot better.”
“The defense is definitely gonna be better,” said Gmerek. “Smarter guys, better guys, and just harder working.”
“I’m a forward, so I gotta believe that our forwards are our strong point,” said Boci. “We’re three-and-a-half lines deep, like we’ve never been before. I’m not saying anything about the defense because they’re so much better. We’re so lucky to have them, along with the goalies.”
“I feel confident playing all three lines and I feel confident playing any of my five D,” said Eberhard. “It doesn’t matter who’s on the ice. Last year and the year before, I had to always pull somebody off because we had to match them up with other lines on the other teams, and that was a pain. Now anybody can play.”
Hardworking. Disciplined. Smarter. Coachable.
Those are the words that Bailey, Rice, Gmerek, and Boci chose to describe this year’s team.
“I feel like we’re hardworking, get it down on the forecheck,” Bailey said. “Last year we were kind of just, get over the line, take a shot, and hope for the best. This year I feel like we can cycle it, get some puck movement. Power play’s a lot better. We gotta get on that a lot. And I feel like our penalty kill will be one of the top in the league.”
“Definitely a more disciplined team, probably won’t be taking as many penalties, which will give us an opportunity to do more out there,” Rice said.
“Definitely gonna be smarter,” said Gmerek. “We have smarter guys. We’re not gonna just hog the puck and go in there. We’re gonna send it up and we’re gonna take our time. We’re gonna get the shots on net that matter.”
“We’re a very coachable team this year,” Boci said. “I can’t stress enough how good this team is, like respectful and coachable this team is. We play a north-south style, get pucks up and down the ice, get pucks on net, crash the net. We got a couple big bodies, and we also have some skill, so we have a nice balance this year.”
The Lions are working on special teams and chemistry as the season draws closer, but they’re confident that they’ll be a much improved team overall this season. Bailey predicted a .500 season; Boci guaranteed it.
“I’m expecting a .500 year,” Bailey said. “We got some good goalies here. Last year we only had two defensemen; this year we have five solid D, so that should help us out, so we’re not always gonna be tired. We have three solid lines, so I’m expecting a lot of goals and not too many against, so .500 on the year.”
“One hundred percent, I’d put money down that it’s gonna be a better year,” Boci said. “Our defense is so much better. We had two big losses — our captain left last year and our starting goalie that’s been around for years, but we have three new goalies that have really showed themselves these first couple weeks. And our forwards can put the puck in the net, our defense is so much better, so I’m really looking forward to the year.”
“I think we’re gonna be very good this year,” agreed Eberhard.
Lockport opens league play Nov. 30 against Lewiston-Porter at Cornerstone Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 pm.