By Phil Stacey and Matt Williams
CAMBRIDGE — It's far from a forgone conclusion that the Marblehead hockey team will repeat as Division 3 North champions and return to the state semifinals one year from now.
But if that did indeed happen, not too many Eastern Mass. hockey pundits would be that surprised.
Losing only six players to graduation, the Headers will have the bulk of their team returning for the 2010-11 season. Nine of those players will be seniors, forming the nucleus of next year's club.
Five of Marblehead's top six forwards — first liners Ryan Dempsey, Chris McLeod and Alex Whitmore, as well as second liners Tyler Gelineau at center and Hunter Graves on the right side — will all be back as seniors. So will three of their top four defensemen in Jake Kulevich, Ben Koopman and Hunter Whitmore, as well as stellar goaltender Tony Cuzner.
But it doesn't end there. Austin Haley, a left wing on the second line, will lead a junior class that also includes steady backup goaltender Mike Harper. Freshman Cam Rowe, who earned his first playoff point on a third period assist last night, figures to move up to center the third line next winter alongside classmate Tyler Bates, while Ian Magg should become a regular in the Headers' top four defensive pairings.
Of course, one of those seniors that Marblehead will be without next season is almost irreplaceable: four-year varsity standout and one of the two Salem News Defensemen of the Decade for the 2000s, Anders Gundersen. While he'll be playing prep school hockey looking to draw the attention of college coaches, he's confident that his former Header teammates will keep the flame burning brightly back home.
"Our current juniors are a huge part of this team, and with Jake, Ben and Chris returning as captains, these guys will be fine," said Gundersen.
Other seniors playing their last game for Marblehead in the 5-2 loss to Scituate last night included center Sam Snow, wingers Tom Cormier, Adam Nassaf and Ellery Smith, and steady D-man Jay King.
One of the things the Marblehead coaches stressed to the players in the locker room following last night's contest was not to be complacent; rather, for those skaters coming back for at least one more season, work just as hard — if not harder — to get ready for next winter and take nothing for granted.
"That's exactly the approach we want to take," said Kulevich. "We'll have a great senior class that'll be the core of the team, but we also need to set the example for the entire team. It's about mental toughness."
"We told them, 'There's always someone else out there working harder'," head coach Bob Jackson added. " But we feel the nucleus of our team that's returning has that commitment to make themselves better. We're hoping they use this game as another step to where they ultimate want to be next season."
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After missing the entire season with an injured arm, it was nice to see Smith, the 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior, get on the ice last night.
Itching to play during the playoffs but unable to because he has to avoid contact on the ice, Smith was sent out to take the final faceoff of Marblehead's season with eight seconds to play, coming after Kulevich's second goal of the season. Fittingly, he won the draw.
"Two years ago in our march (to the Division 3 North title), Ellery scored 52 seconds into the (1-0 semifinal win over Trinity Catholic). Without that, we wouldn't have been where we were," Jackson said.
"After the Shawsheen game (a semifinal win for Marblehead last week), he was sitting out and just looking at the rink. (Not playing) is tough for any 18-year-old kid."
A high honors student at Marblehead High, Smith will be headed off to Cornell University this fall.
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Nice to see Nassaf — a team-oriented senior who didn't have a point this season and had played in only a handful of games — earn a point on Kulevich's final goal. He took the shot and Kulevich scooped up the rebound and blasted it by Jamie Murray.
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If there was any silver lining after last night's season-ending loss, it's that Gundersen will finally get to cut his hair. Having gone without a trim this season, his curly brown locks had begun growing upward.
"Yeah, it's finally coming off now," Gundersen said with a smile.
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Dempsey, who finished as the Headers' leading goal scorer (17) and point producer (39), had a game-high nine shots on goal last night. He was followed, in order, by Gundersen (5 shots), Kulevich (4), Alex Whitmore (4), McLeod (3), Koopman (3), Haley (3), Graves (2), King (2), Hunter Whitmore (1), Gelineau (1) and Nassaf (1).
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Gelineau had a great chance to make it a 3-2 game three-and-a-half minutes in the third period, but his show from the lower left circle rang off the far pipe to Murray's stick side.
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Many of the Scituate fans in attendance wore royal blue T-shirts with "In Murray We Trust" printed on the back, a tribute to the Sailors' all-star goalkeeper, senior Jamie Murray. He didn't let them down last night, making 36 saves in the win.
"When they announced their kids (in pregame), he got twice the ovation everyone else got," Jackson said of Murray. "The team and the town know he's their backbone."
