High school hockey: Kings Hockey Club preps for 2nd-round playoff game

CRYSTAL LAKE – Seven months and 50 games later, counting on senior leadership has become an integral part of the Kings Hockey Club.

Because the Kings are a combined team, with players from five different high schools – Huntley, Hampshire, Jacobs, Dundee-Crown and Burlington Central – developing team chemistry was a little trickier than usual.

“It’s an absolutely long season,” Kings coach Joe Fell said. “At the high school level, you’re always progressing through the hills and valleys, the middle part of the season, especially. We’ve been fortunate to have a strong group of senior leadership to pull us through.”

Fell’s 10 seniors (of 19 total players) have helped guide the Kings to a 25-21-5 regular-season record, while notching a pair of first-place tournament finishes in the Crystal Lake South Gators Cup Fall Classic and Prep Hockey Thanksgiving Tournament in Winnetka.

As the No. 3 seed in the Varsity Combined Bracket of the 2016 Amateur Hockey Association Illinois (AHAI) state tournament, they play No. 11 DuPage on Sunday in the second round.

“We are ready,” Kings senior forward Scott Pfaff said. “We’ve been practicing hard since September and we’ve been competing with most of the teams, so I think we have a really good shot at the state title.”

Cary-Grove’s Anthony Sode has experienced something similar in his first year as coach of the Trojans. After nine years as an assistant for the program, he took over a roster that included seven freshmen, one sophomore, three juniors and seven seniors.

“[The seniors] all stepped up a lot,” Sode said of his team, which went 21-18-7 overall and finished second on a tiebreak in the Illinois High School Hockey League (IHSHL) North Central Division. “Most of the seniors I’ve coached all four years of high school, so they’re helping me out a lot.”

The biggest highlight of the Trojans’ season was their first-place finish in Janurary at the Grand Rapids Avalanche Tournament in Michigan. Down three players, the team went 3-1-1 in three days, beating Loyola Academy, 3-2, in a shootout for the title and collected its first championship banner in several years.

“We just step it up tournaments,” Trojans senior Mitch Whitehouse said. “That’s really where the team comes together and has a great experience.”

The No. 9 Trojans will play No. 1 New Trier White on March 13 in the second round of the Varsity White Bracket.

Coached by Rich Perillo, Crystal Lake South grabbed a No. 3 seed and earned a first-round bye in the AHAI Varsity White Bracket. Going 14-22-6, its season was highlighted with wins over ranked Highland Park and New Trier high schools.

By beating the Trevians, 6-3, the Gators placed ninth in their own Gators Cup Fall Classic. They also won second in the Prep Hockey Thanksgiving Tournament, losing to the Kings in the final.

The Gators play No. 6 Marist on March 13 in the second round at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville. They tied 4-all in the Gators Cup.

“[Marist has] got a couple good scorers, so I see it being a very good game,” Perillo said.

After winning the Sterling Varsity Division last year, the D-155 Predators (Prairie Ridge/Crystal Lake Central) went 14-25-5 in 2015-16 and were eligible for the postseason.

However, with only three seniors on the roster and a couple of injured players, Predators coach John Lenzi said he elected for the team not to compete in this year’s AHAI state tournament. He said the team plans on jumping back in next season.

Going 5-0-1 in a round-robin playoff, the Predators reached the Platinum Division championship game, where they lost to the Lake Zurich/Mundelein co-op, 7-0. The appearance marked the team’s second straight IHSHL North-Central Division title game in two years as a program.

“I was really surprised at our play,” Prairie Ridge senior Jackson Dufault said. “Beginning of the playoffs, we were on fire. It felt really good to string together a couple good wins and reach the title game.”