To describe this year’s hockey season as anything less than a fairytale finish would be an understatement. On July 20th, in Park City, Utah, the four seniors (Nate Sutto, Barret Beimdiek, Freddy Gaertner, and I) made a deal with our parents that come February, Priory would be crowned Wickenheiser Champions. And when we carried out this promise, we were to return with the same group to Utah. Now that we are in March, I am proud to say that we have completed our end of the deal, and await our reward. But, I would like to take this opportunity at the end of my career and really put into perspective what this season meant to not just the seniors, but everyone who was there to support us along the way.
Ever since the birds hit the ice in the preseason Parkway West tournament, it was clear to many that Priory was going to be a force this year. The previous three years of Priory hockey were filled with many ups and downs. Losing our championship head coach, rocky starts, and underperforming plagued this team, creating a sense of doubt that rang through the halls of Priory, asking, “Will we ever win another Wick?” And to be honest, the seniors felt it too. Every year we have played, the hopes were high at the beginning of the season, discussing the strength of our roster and the weakness of others. Still, we fell short three years in a row, always feeling like we had more to give. The start of this season was no different than any other. Long lunches with teammates at chipotle reviewing our roster, analyzing our opponents till our heads hurt. It was no different than before, and I didn’t like the pattern that was emerging. But one thing really felt different about this season, and I couldn’t put it into words until 26 games later.
In the past years, our season’s have gotten off to shaky and unforgiving starts that always came back to bite us in post season seeding. I believe that the pre-season success we had really prepared us for competition, and instantly emerged as a factor for our winning. Right from the first game, the team knew we were going to be competing for it all. A crushing 9-1 victory on Halloween night against Ladue, a team we had always struggled against, completely blew all fan and player expectations out of the water. The chemistry was already so present and abundant amongst the locker room, and it really showed on the ice, as our coaches were able to roll all four lines instead of resorting to veteran players. The ability to run 3-4 lines in high school hockey can really set your team apart from the competition, and I give credit to this for a majority of our success.
Like a loyal dog, the theme of drive and compete followed the team all season, dealing crushing defeats to teams that had done the same to us in years before. Obviously, some players received a bit more credit than others for the team’s success, but that didn’t mean others didn’t step up. In recent memory, past Priory teams have always had the skill and the talent to make a deep playoff run, but what they didn’t have was understanding. Understanding of how you fit into a team. Understanding of what your role is. Understanding of how to improve. And most importantly, understanding that there are guys on the team who know more than you. With having such a young team, and only four rostered seniors, there wasn’t a lot of veteran presence on the team. Still, the younger guys on the team came to us for advice, and in turn, were huge contributors to our winning.
After a grueling season of battle, forfeits, and cancelled games, the birds were heading into the playoffs with a strange feeling in the air. We hadn’t played a game for almost a month, but at the same time, our confidence was at an all time high. I didn’t know what to expect for the post season, as in years past, I had felt just as confident but still came up short. Our hard work had earned us seeding as the 4th ranked team, which put us in what we thought was a very light pool. But as the team would soon find out, we weren’t untouchable. The first game was energetic. A 5-3 win over Eureka, a team we had already beat twice previously, helped kick start the team’s postseason success. But we knew that the real test was the next night. The birds took on 5th seed Francis Howell, a team that didn’t look all too troubling. They didn’t have a lot of scoring, not really any convincing wins, and played in the worst division in midstates. These preconceived notions lulled our team into a false sense of security, and what happened next shocked everyone. Howell’s goalie was hot. I mean, you don’t see a goalie save a team how he did. The birds were held to 0 goals through 45 minutes of play, and were dealt the first “real” loss of the season. The crushing blow felt like the end of the world for the team, as we realized that we weren’t some super team that couldn’t be beat.
They proved that we were touchable. They proved that depending on one player (The Red Blur) wasn’t going to win us games singlehandedly. But it was also a wake up call for everyone. The team was faced with a six day window of thought and contemplation between games. How bad do we want it? What am I willing to sacrifice? What does this mean to me? Questions reverberated inside our heads about what this team was going to be remembered for, and when next Monday came, we answered. An absolute thrashing of St. Dominic left us with a 4-1 victory, and gave birth to what would be a historic post season. But the drama wasn’t done. If everything had gone to plan on February 9th, we would be playing Francis Howell again in the quarter finals, an opponent that made us doubt ourselves. Looking back, I don’t think the team had their best game, but the loss was still a shock factor. Nevertheless, Howell’s efforts against us proved to be in vain, when a lousy coaching mistake from their head coach knocked them out of playoffs. In a conversation I had with the Eureka coach later in the playoffs, their coach did not understand how the goal differential worked, and opted to play their backup goalie instead of the goalie we faced. This miscalculation ended up costing their season, losing 4-1 to Eureka, and paving the path to the Wickenheiser cup.
Other surprising losses in pool A knocked out worthy opponents, and looking at what our future challenges could be, we were very, very excited. Eureka in the quarterfinals proved to be a challenging opponent, but a combined effort from everyone on the team saw us through with back to back 5-3 victories. An important thing that the seniors on the team reminded each other and the younger players was “don’t look past anything, and be grateful.” I found myself looking at past games at times, thinking how insane it would be to play at Centene in front of a huge crowd for the chance to win a state title. And every time this thought crossed my mind, I reminded myself of those words. The semifinals also proved to be more challenging than we expected. Liberty, similar to Francis Howell, was a rather unknown team to the program. I can’t remember the last time we played either of them, but from Liberty’s post season success, I knew it was going to be a good series. They had a solid goalie, a solid offense, and a solid defense. Every factor told us we were in for a dog fight, and that was shown right from the first game.
Playing at Centene is an experience that many hockey players in Saint Louis are excited for. It’s the nicest rink youth hockey is conducted at, and an entirely different feeling than any other rink. The lights are bright, the boards have NHL rubber on them, and the boards had more give. Going into that first semi final game, I could tell that some of our younger players were nervous. It was the biggest crowd he had seen up to that point, and the saying “The lights were too bright” rang true for some. I don’t blame anyone for being intimidated by the rink, as I have experienced it first hand. But the veterans on the team saw this nervousness in some of the younger players, and helped them become accustomed to being on such a big stage. The first game ended in a 3-1 victory for the Birds, but all of that effort and hard work wouldn’t matter if the team didn’t show up the next day.
I’d be lying if I said I was confident in our team after the end of the first period. Being down 2-0 in front of a massive crowd, paired with the nicest rink in Saint Louis, all being in what could be my final day as a Priory hockey player, scared me. It scared the seniors, it scared our coaches, it scared our fans. But instead of reminiscing on the season and giving into that fear, we embraced it with open arms. The birds mounted a comeback that came from hard work and dedication, something that followed us all year. We battled, and in the end, the Birds punched their ticket to its first Wickenheiser final in 4 years.
I’m sure everyone at this school was victim to a classless, Rockwood Summit burner account in the days leading up to the final game. Whether it was in the form of commenting about mothers, girlfriends, or families, Summit had some real comedians on their hands. But did we let this faze us? No. The constant harassment and chirping lit a flame under our school, and only made us want it more. On the day of the championship, the team stuck to the same routine we had all post season. Show up an hour 30 before, warmups 55 minutes before the game, fully dressed and ready 10 minutes before the game. Nothing changed. It instilled in our brains that no matter the stakes, the crowd, or the noise, this was any other game. This allowed the players to tune all of the sound out, and play the game they loved not because of what a victory would promise, but because they loved hockey.
And what happened? We went out there and went down 1-0 in the first couple minutes of the game. Any other team in the position we were in? Scared, down on themselves, and already preparing for sad tears. But we didn’t see it that way. Freddy and I told everyone on the bench “respond, respond, respond.” What followed was exactly how everyone should respond to adversity, whether in a game or in life. The birds scored 3 goals in 49 seconds, and a late goal in the third period to put us up 4-1 at the end of the first. The crowd was electric, the announcers even more, and everyone on Priory’s side felt a beam of pride shine through their hearts to be able to witness such a momentous moment.
After the game, Freddy and I were interviewed by the Post-Dispatch. In the moment of all the excitement and adrenaline rushing through my body, I wasn’t sure how I would find such formal words that could be published in a newspaper. And that’s when I found it. 30 games with this team. A lifelong commitment to hockey and Priory. I was finally able to put into words not only what set Priory apart this year, but also what sets Priory apart in general. When asked how we battled back against the early 1-0 deficit, I said this. “It really comes from what Priory stands for. It’s about the brotherhood. Anyone goes down, what hurts my brother hurts me, something happens. You know what? We battle back harder for our brothers. Tonight, we did it for the student section. We did it for the monks, the faculty, everyone that couldn’t be here tonight, and most importantly each other.”
Priory hockey is an experience that will continue to give to the school. We may not always be the most talented, the biggest, the fastest or the strongest, but that’s not where games are won. It’s won by the brotherhood you build with your teammates in class. It’s won by the connections you make with your brothers on and off the ice. And it’s what won us our 4th Wickenheiser cup, making us the winningest team in the tournament’s history. Thank you Priory hockey for the greatest 4 years a player could ask for, and thank you for the brotherhood it gave me.
