‘Keep playing our game’: Kenmore West starts season 3-0

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

Kenmore West coach Rob Roszak boasted about his team’s defense before the season even began. The Blue Devils’ six defensemen have lived up to Roszak’s expectations, allowing three goals in the first game of the season (Dec. 1) against Sweet Home but settling down to allow just one in each of their last two games. And while the defense has …

Melissa Brawdy‘Keep playing our game’: Kenmore West starts season 3-0

Kenmore West ‘fast and hardworking,’ strong defensively

Melissa Brawdy Down On The Ice

Kenmore West was on the winning end of a rare shootout playoff game last season as the Blue Devils defeated Lew-Port on a shootout goal by sophomore defenseman Owen Green. Kenmore West fell to cross-town rival Kenmore East, the eventual state champion, in the next round. But this year, the Blue Devils are back and, coach Rob Roszak believes, better …

Melissa BrawdyKenmore West ‘fast and hardworking,’ strong defensively

The Boys of Hockey: Pray family united and divided by the game

Melissa Brawdy Down On The Ice

Cousin against cousin. Uncle against nephew. Father against son. It was just another weekend in the Fed for the Pray family, as Kenmore West faced off against Kenmore East on Saturday, January 16, 2016 before facing Grand Island on Sunday. Kenmore West featured twin brothers Adam and Jacob Pray, both juniors, while Kenmore East featured coach Kyle Pray and his …

Melissa BrawdyThe Boys of Hockey: Pray family united and divided by the game

Pray-Marinelli chemistry leads Kenmore East to quarterfinal win

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

Trevor Pray and AJ Marinelli put a stop to any momentum Kenmore West may have carried from a 2-1 shootout win Friday night into Sunday’s game. The two Kenmore East forwards each totaled five points — four goals and an assist for Pray and a goal and four assists for Marinelli — as the Bulldogs defeated their crosstown rival 6-0 …

Melissa BrawdyPray-Marinelli chemistry leads Kenmore East to quarterfinal win

Kenmore West wins marathon prequarterfinal game over Lew-Port

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

By now, Friday’s win might finally feel real to Kenmore West. But after three hours and 20 minutes of hockey on Friday night, the players were in shock — and on top of the world. Three hours and 20 minutes. Four 7.5-minute overtime periods. A shootout. The final score after all of that was 2-1, and it was an hour …

Melissa BrawdyKenmore West wins marathon prequarterfinal game over Lew-Port

A long time coming: Ken West goalie records shutout in regular season finale

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

Ryan Mooney had patiently waited for this moment since last season. He came close several times this season, and finally, in Kenmore West’s last game of the regular season on Saturday, Mooney made 13 saves to earn his first varsity shutout in a 3-0 win over Amherst. “It’s big for him,” Kenmore West coach Rob Roszak said. “He really was …

Melissa BrawdyA long time coming: Ken West goalie records shutout in regular season finale

Down by three but not out: NT hockey fights through adversity

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

Talk about adversity. The North Tonawanda hockey team is without its top line for the remainder of the season as the three were among several North Tonawanda High School student athletes suspended from their respective sports for the next 10 weeks. But that’s not what this story is about. Left behind is a group of talented hockey players that isn’t …

Melissa BrawdyDown by three but not out: NT hockey fights through adversity

Kenmore West wins sixth game to take first place

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

Last season and this one are like night and day for Kenmore West. The team had just one league win last season; on Sunday afternoon, the Blue Devils won their sixth game of the year to take sole possession of first place in Division 4. It goes deeper than just wins and losses, though. Last year, team morale was low; …

Melissa BrawdyKenmore West wins sixth game to take first place

Niagara Falls fights back for come-from-behind win

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

Niagara Falls coach Stan Wojton expected Kenmore West to work hard Thursday night. But the Wolverines worked harder to score two shorthanded goals and a power play goal in a 3-2 come-from-behind win. “We know what type of team that they are,” Wojton said. “They’re a physical team. They have great intensity. They’re gonna come at you. They’re gonna work …

Melissa BrawdyNiagara Falls fights back for come-from-behind win

Kenmore West and Sweet Home break even in tie

Melissa Brawdy Facing Off

Both Sweet Home coach Dave Gerspach and Kenmore West coach Rob Roszak agreed that neither team deserved to lose on Thursday night. And in a 1-1 tie in which shots were 28-24 in favor of Kenmore West, no one did. “If you ask the Sweet Home coach, I think he’d be pretty happy with a point too,” Roszak said. “I …

Melissa BrawdyKenmore West and Sweet Home break even in tie