Winter is approaching, which means the Westford Academy winter sports seasons are starting. Boys’ Hockey is one of them, and this year, there are a lot of new changes in store.
Senior captains Tyler Frazee, Jack Nelken, Matt Mulhern and junior captains Nick Burns, and JJ Funaro, expressed that they are working hard to prepare for the upcoming season.
“We are holding captains practices once a week,” Frazee said. “We’ve also been hosting a few open skates with Dean Bob Ware throughout the past six weeks.”
As part of their training and preparation, the team has been working out often and making sure to start captains practices as early as possible so no time is wasted.
Last year, the team did not reach their ultimate goal of winning the championship. They made it to the playoffs, but were eliminated in the second round.
It was the first season they had expected to win and advance to the State Championship, and while they got close, they had not achieved what they had hoped for. They are planning on changing a few things to improve their outcome this season, and aiming to build off of what did not work last year.
This year there is a new head coach, Chris Carpenter, the son of recently retired head coach Bob Carpenter. Chris Carpenter has been with the program since 2010, and has always helped out his dad with coaching. This year, he gets to call the shots, be in charge, and has no plans of leaving the program anytime soon.
“[Coaching] is nothing new […] It’s really exciting finally getting to fill his shoes,” Carpenter said.
The boys have made it their new goal to make sure they reach States and exceed these expectations.
“We definitely want at least a winning record, we want to have at least one win in the playoffs, and we’re going for the DCL’s,” Burns said.
There are many returning varsity players this year, so after tryouts the captains and coach plan to fill in the newcomers with all that they are working towards this season.
All five of the captains expressed their excitement to hang out with their teammates in the locker room and “vibe” before and after every game.
“The vibes go crazy, especially the post game lasers,” Frazee said.
This year, the team is hosting three specialty night games: the Pink on the Rink game to raise awareness for breast cancer, the Live for Liv game to fundraise for the organization, and the Alumni game which invites back past WA hockey players. They also have their senior night to thank the seniors for their commitment to the team throughout the years.
Ultimately Carpenter and his team aim to make it all the way to the State Championship, win the final game, and bring the victory home to WA.
“[We plan to] win the State Championship, so that’s exactly what we will be doing heading into the season.” Carpenter said.
