Morris County ice hockey season in review (High school Boys Ice Hockey news)

by JOHN CHRISTIAN HAGENY, FOR THE STAR-LEDGER

Thursday March 26, 2009, 8:29 PM

Player of the year: Delbarton senior Alex Velischek, whose father, Randy, skated for 10 seasons in the NHL with the Devils, Minnesota North Stars and Quebec Nordiques, grew up in a hockey environment.

But despite the hockey blood lines, Velischek has taken nothing for granted. His coach describes him as a humble individual who has worked for everything he has ever attained. The Providence-bound defenseman, who is projected to be drafted as high as the fourth round in the upcoming NHL draft on June 27 in Montreal, is carving a niche all his own.

“My motto is ‘You can have all the skill in the world, but if you don't work hard and practice, you will be surpassed,' ” Velischek said. “Coming from a hockey family, growing up and being around players like Bruce Driver, Kenny Daneyko, Chico Resch and my father, I learned a lot of the little things to be successful playing hockey at any level. I had access to a lot of resources some other players didn't have. I just tried to pick up as much as I could, looking for pointers on my play in the defensive zone or learning how to poke-check better. Learning from guys like that made me enthusiastic about coming to the rink. It made it easy to work hard. It's important to be a student of the game.”

On the ice, Velischek recorded 16 goals and 35 assists this season with six power-play goals and a plus-61 rating in earning First Team All-State honors for the second year in a row. Along with fellow senior James Sirigotis, Velischek became one of only two players to win three state championships with Delbarton when the Morristown school defeated Christian Brothers, 7-0, in the final of the NJSIAA Non-Public tournament on March 21 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

“Having Randy as a father and being the son of a former professional athlete definitely helped Alex focus on being a high level athlete,” Delbarton coach Bruce Shatel said, “But Alex has not taken anything for granted. He has tremendous skill, he's a tremendous leader and he is, without question, one of the most accomplished athletes I've ever coached. However, he's also worked and practiced as hard as anyone I've ever coached.”

“You can't win on talent alone,” Velischek, who finishes with 43 goals, 78 assists for 121 points in his career, said. “A great example of that was the semifinal against Bergen Catholic.”

Down by three goals after two periods, Delbarton, No. 1 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, rallied for five third-period goals to advance, 5-3, at Mennen Arena on March 14.

“We had more skill, but they out-hustled and out-worked us and took a 3-0 lead,” Velischek said. “If it wasn't for tremendous character, our season is over. I'm privileged to skate with some great players for four years. I will always remember this year.”

“He is a complete player mentally, emotionally and physically,” Shatel said. “The things he does on the ice. He's a powerful skater with a heavy shot. He's extremely strong on the puck and tough to knock off it. He is hard and accurate with his passes. Above all, he is a complete player and he is a leader.”

Team of the year: Randolph was a team built for playoff hockey.

The true definition of a team, Randolph, under coach Rich McLaughlin, was a team full of individual stars that agreed early on to set aside any personal awards or acclamations for a greater glory: a state championship.

Employing a relentless, disciplined 1-2-2 forechecking system that forced opponents into making costly turnovers, Randolph's team-first approach worked with the precision of a well-oiled machine throughout the playoffs. And on March 21, Randolph got a first-period goal from defenseman A.J. Zackowski (his first goal of the season) and 17 saves from Dan Fullam, as it skated past No. 8 Ridge, 1-0, to capture the NJSIAA Public A state championship at the Prudential Center in Newark.

No. 7 Randolph (18-6-4) scored 66 goals the entire season while surrendering just 30, two of which were empty-net goals, while utilizing both goalies Dan Fullam and Mike Leneghan.

“We realized pretty early we weren't going to be an offensive juggernaut,” McLaughlin said. “But the credit lies with the kids, especially the seniors. They bought into the system. It's tough to do with kids who want to step out onto the ice and score goals, but to their credit they did and they did it very well.”

Senior defenseman Will Bolinder recalls a point in last year's season that helped it turn the corner this season.

“We had just lost to Morristown-Beard for the second time, 7-0,” Bolinder, then a junior, said. “Coach installed the 1-2-2 trap and we went out and beat them the third time, 4-1, in the Mennen Cup Final. Wow. We realized we just beat a team that had crushed us the two games before and we were thrilled. We realized it did work. We showed it to the guys this season and persuaded everyone in practice to be unselfish. We realized we needed to play more like a team.

“After losing to Ridge (4-3 in overtime) in the semifinal last year, we redeemed ourselves. It feels amazing. We overcame the underdog label and beat the best (public) team in the state this year.”

Coach of the year: Credit the system, but credit the man who managed to pull it off so effectively with a high school team.

Randolph's 16th-year coach Rich McLaughlin had been toying with the 1-2-2 defensive-minded system the past couple years. He knew the toughest part wasn't teaching the system, but rather getting the team to buy into the concept.

“It's something we've been working on in practice the last two or three years, but it wasn't until our leaders bought into it were we effective,” McLaughlin said. “Bolinder, Zackowski and quietly Dylan Colaneri, our seniors, bought into the system. From there, it trickled down to the rest of the team.

“Credit the kids. It wasn't the system. It was the fact they bought into playing defense. After falling to Morristown-Beard, 4-2, in the Mennen Cup final (on Feb. 28), we really picked up the intensity in practice. Some call it the “trap,” but really what we did was plug the lanes in the neutral zone, forecheck and slow teams down. And we didn't do it all year, we picked our spots. It was team defense, not just one or two guys. It was our year. The stars were aligned.”

Co-Rookies of the year: Freshmen Jeff Celniker of Mountain Lakes and Chatham's Danny Casey each made their impression felt early and often as regular contributors to the scoresheet.

Celniker recorded 21 goals and added 16 assists while leading Mountain Lakes to a 13-10-1 record and Casey notched 20 goals and 11 assists for Chatham (13-13-1).

Game of the year: Delbarton can never be counted out of a game - ever.

Down 3-0 entering the third period of the Non-Public semifinals at Mennen Arena, the Morristown school responded with five third-period goals, including three goals in a span of 2:57 to tie it, in ousting No. 4 Bergen Catholic, 5-3, in dramatic fashion.

“As far back as I can remember, this is the biggest come-from-behind, backs-against-the-wall win in the history of the program,” coach Bruce Shatel said.