DeMatha Hockey Playoffs Preview

DeMatha Hockey Playoffs Preview

Birchard Allen, Staff Writer

Winter sports are back in action at DeMatha and playoffs are right around the corner. The boys ice hockey playoffs will begin in just less than a month, so what are some of the players’ mindsets going into the postseason?

Senior left winger Henri Bonnet has a lot of confidence in the team. “We’re doing good this year, and definitely going to get better,” Henri says. As the season goes on, the team’s chemistry has improved and the guys are “together and working toward the same goal. I think we definitely will do well this season and be a strong contender in the playoffs. We’re doing a lot better this year than last year on the Covid protocols and are going as things pop up.”

Henri claims that the top teams that DeMatha is focusing on are Gonzaga and St. John’s, who are some of the top teams in the league. “There hasn’t been any struggles with the team,” Henri says, but, “there have been some minor injuries.”

Senior right winger Bryan Dugan has a very similar mindset. “Our team is doing pretty well,” Bryan says. “We had a bit of a slip up in the middle of the season, but we’ve pulled it back together, beating Gonzaga who is probably one of the best teams in the league.” He also agrees that the chemistry is there, saying, “We all work well together and there’s a lot of chemistry between us. We’re most definitely contenders for the playoffs and were not letting Covid get in our way.”

The boys hockey team is entering the second half of the season following two big conference games including a 3-0 win against Calvert Hall and a 3-3 tie against Georgetown Prep. They face St. Albans tonight and have another big game around the corner against their rival, St. John’s, on February 11. In between those two games, they will also take a trip up to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, to play several hockey teams from the region on the weekend of February 5.