It's a question many North Shore hockey followers have probably asked themselves in the last week.
How did a Danvers team — one admittedly without a roster full of stars (save for perhaps junior center Joe Strangie), but more a collection of players that work together extremely well — become the first North Shore squad to wrap up a state tournament berth this winter?
If you ask head coach Kevin Brown, it bounds down to two words: structure and discipline.
The Falcons, who have won eight games in a row, certainly won't rest on their laurels after beating Revere last Saturday, 4-1, to earn a ticket to the postseason dance for the 23rd time in the last 24 years. Rather, the Blue-and-White will look to build upon their 10-2 record during the second half of the regular season by doing exactly what they've done to reach this point already; the only difference is that they're hoping to do it a little bit better every time they take the ice.
"The commitment level has been there all season," Brown said of his team, which surrendered a mere eight shots against Revere. "Our kids were willing to do some things outside of what we've done in the past and put in the work needed to improve for this season.
"I've said it before: what we have are 'hockey kids', players who are committed to the sport and making it a huge part of their high school experience. It's not something I push, but it's what they want to do. And what they've done so far, it's a result of all of their hard work."
A big part of Danvers' team structure is playing defense all over the ice. That means hemming the puck in an opponent's zone, winning the disc in neutral zone battles and blocking shots and clogging lanes in the Falcons' own end. They also believe a good defense translates into offensive chances, a philosophy that has paid off handsomely through a dozen games.
There are several skaters for the Falcons who aren't household names, but their contributions have been invaluable. Take senior defenseman Nick Strangie, a captain who gets little, if any, recognition via his contributions to the scoresheet, but is an extremely responsible blueliner who sits at plus-15 for the season.
Another senior D-man, Peter Marshall, is a three-zone standout (14 points to go with a plus-11) and a power play presence who is always skating with his head up. Like Strangie, he's skated with a defensive partner who had no varsity experience prior to this winter (Marshall with junior Kevin Anderson; Strangie with freshman Mike Disciullo), yet has made the transition seamless.
Versatility and the ability to adapt has also helped Danvers through its first dozen games. For instance, with second liners Tyler Dustin and Rob Buchanan out of the lineup with injuries against Revere, sophomore Matt Flynn (goal) and senior Ryan Mansfield stepped up in their absences to skate with center Jack Doyle. Additionally, the third line of senior center Paul D'Orlando (2 goals) and his sophomore wingers, Jay Calcagno (2 assists) and Kevin Hodgkins responded with a big game of its own.
The comfort in throwing any of his three lines onto the ice is something that Brown doesn't take for granted. He knows it gives his top line of Strangie (13 goals, 27 points), junior left wing A.J. Couto (8-8-16)) and senior captain J.D. Hodgkins (7-9-16) on the right side time to rest up and be as fresh as possible for each shift.
The so-called 'little things' that every coach speaks of in terms of achieving success has, naturally, benefitted the Falcons as well. Take, for example, faceoffs: Brown says his club is amazingly around 80 percent as a team at winning draws. Strangie, the team's top-line pivot, has won 161 faceoffs, with only 46 losses and 61 draws.
"The players are responding to virtually all the challenges we give them every game," said Brown. "And they all get along and are on the same page as teammates, which is just as important."
The Falcons, who have not tasted defeat since a 5-3 setback to powerful Lynnfield 29 days ago, are off now until Feb. 1 when they host the Lynn Jets at Salem State (6:20 p.m.) on Senior Night.
Back on the first weekend of December, when the Falcons took their annual preseason bonding trip north to Vermont, Brown arranged for Salem native Will O'Neill, a senior captain for the University of Maine Black Bears, to speak to his club. His words left a lasting message that have carried over all season.
"Will was pretty simplistic, but a highlight of what he said was 'We're all pushing the bus in the same direction'," remembered Brown. "That's turned into a bit of a theme for us; no matter who you are or what role you fill on the team, we're all part of reaching the same goals. The kids have taken it and run with it."
• • •
With just one win in its first 11 games, you can understand that Salem is hungry to double its win total. They've got a great chance at that tonight when the Witches head to Malden to face 1-8-1 Northeast Regional — the very squad they beat, 3-1, on Dec. 28 during the Lynn Christmas Tournament.
"It's certainly an opportunity for us," said head coach Brian Addesa. "We're hoping to show that we can play better than we did last time against them, but still have the same end result."
Salem (1-10) is hoping to have senior captain Paul DiMarino back tonight after he suffered a concussion two weeks ago. DiMarino has scored seven of his squad's 16 goals.
• • •
There are some pretty obvious comparisons you can make from watching St. John's Prep sophomore center Jack McCarthy and one of the team's captains, junior pivot Brian Pinho.
Pinho, now skating on the Eagles' top line, was in McCarthy's skates a year ago: a promising talent learning the Division 1 game on a nightly basis. Like Pinho did in 2010-11, McCarthy — a terrific skater — combines both flashes of offensive brilliance with tenth-grade gaffes, particularly in his own zone with unnecessary stickwork away from the play.
"He's still learning the game at this level," said Prep head coach Kristian Hanson of McCarthy, a Wakefield native. "Jack's got a lot of skills; he's really gifted. But like Brian did last year, he still has to learn things to be the most complete player he can be."
If McCarthy — who scored the first goal in Monday's 7-0 win over Arlington Catholic and is tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 5 goals and 10 points — turns into any semblance of the player that Pinho (6 goals, 13 assists) has blossomed into, the Eagles will have another keeper on their roster.
• • •
If Masconomet doesn't learn to thrive on the road, their season will be over when the regular season ends. It's that simple.
Beginning Saturday at Newburyport, the Chieftains (5-6) have nine games remaining — and eight of those are away from home. If you can believe it, their final home game of the season (at Valley Forum in Haverhill) will be played a week from tonight against Lynnfield at 8 p.m. Following that, they'll play seven consecutive road games to end the year.
Maybe it's not such a bad thing, considering Masconomet just played six straight games at home and only went 2-4.
On the road so far this season, the Chieftains sport a 2-2 mark. Needing 10 points in their final nine games to earn a playoff spot, they'd better get used to visitor's locker rooms and unfamiliar ice and make it their own — the sooner, the better.
• • •
The Blue Line Report, a column on North Shore high school hockey, appears each Wednesday during the winter months in The Salem News. Contact Phil Stacey at pstacey@salemnews.com or 978-338-2650, and follow him on Twitter: @PhilStacey_SN.
Stacey's quick shifts
1. Interesting experiment going on in Beverly, where all-star defenseman Andrew Irving has been moved up to first line left wing (skating alongside his cousin Connor Irving at center) in an effort to inject offense into the lineup. I like the move; the Panthers are deep on defense with Jack Morency, Matt Hamor, Sean Munzing and Nick Albano, and Andrew Irving's supreme skills in the offensive zone should result in an increase in Panther goals.
2. Swampscott had better have learned a good lesson during its recent spate of games against Northeastern Conference North competition: for the Big Blue to have any long term success, they need to get tougher. Not in terms of taking foolish, over-aggressive penalties, but become mentally tougher in all three zones, especially when they're facing a deficit.
3. Bishop Fenwick (1-10-1) just can't catch a break this season. After a schedule full of Division 1 minefields (Malden Catholic, St. Mary's Lynn, Arlington Catholic, etc.), the Crusaders played Division 3 Lowell Catholic twice in an 11-day span, and outshot them by a combined 82-27 margin. But all they could manage was a 1-1 tie, followed by a disappointing 4-1 loss.
