A team led by its strong junior class last season, the Eagles of St. John’s Prep made a deep playoff run in the D1 North Finals – knocking off Westford Academy, St. Mary’s Lynn and Andover to earn a trip to the Finals where they lost to eventual champion Winchester. A team with a winning tradition, the Eagles took inspiration from the sacrifice made by SJP hockey alum and Army 1st Lieutenant Derek Hines to a Super 8 Championship in 2015. For 2019-20, their goal is simple – be among the Top 10 teams in the state carefully selected by the MIAA Selection Committee each February. They will have one of the deeper rosters in D1 this season with strong senior leadership and talented underclassmen to shoulder the load.
We spoke with Coach Kristian Hanson to learn more about how the Eagles are preparing for their season:
MassNZ: To start, let’s talk about last year’s run in the D1 North playoffs – it was a great run to the Final in Lowell – can you expand on why last year’s team had so much resiliency?
Coach Kristian Hanson: In my experience from 13 years at St. John’s Prep, traditionally our teams tend to have slow starts but over time we learn to play within our systems and gel to create team chemistry. All of those things factor into having more team success. We had a lot of younger guys at a Catholic school last year. It takes time to get everyone on the same page, especially the younger guys learning to play at the varsity level. Once we were able to do that we had a good second half.
NZ: Interestingly your junior class was the one that made the biggest impact in terms of scoring and they also wore the captain’s letters as well – can you speak to their impact last season? They really formed the identity of the team.
Hanson: That group was a large group, a really important part of the team’s success. They started junior varsity as sophomores and didn’t play as much varsity, so it took time to adjust. It was also important having some of the older kids step up. Later in the year, our juniors essentially become seniors, so you expect more out of them as the season went along. Strong play from our freshmen and juniors emerging into scoring roles was a big part of our success.
NZ: What was also intriguing were the contributions you had from underclassmen like Nick Townshend, Jack Riley, Zack McKennelley and Cole Lopilato. What did their contributions mean to last year’s Final run?
Hanson: Cole and Nick didn’t play as much in the first half, but as the second half rolled along they adjusted and filled an important, really, an instrumental role in our playoff run. Those guys are really important to every program, the young guys. You see the development, you see the progress by the end of our run in the playoffs. They are going to be big pieces for us as sophomores.
NZ: Would it be fair to assume that your senior leaders will be looking to make a return trip to the playoffs, but this time to make the Super 8 field? It will likely help to have a cohesive group returning.
Hanson: Our goal each year is to make the Super 8, it’s the same goal every season. It’s the standard we’ve set. We feel we’re talented enough to get there. Last year we were a bubble team so those guys had something to prove. With a large group that we have returning? That’s our goal and the potential is there. Now we need to make sure the guys stay focused, stay grounded and not look too far ahead.
Image Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
NZ: Having watched numerous St. John’s Prep games over the past few years – there is a consistent thread from the 2015 Super 8 Champions through to last season: awareness, hustle and responsibility. How are you able to install those principles anew each season?
Hanson: It’s not an easy task, that’s for sure. We have more returnees from last year and it takes a little time to gel and play to capabilities. Certain systems and philosophies that we see throughout a season, they don’t always translate to early success. Overall, we generally figure it out as the year goes along. If some of the young guys don’t pick it up we have others that can step up for them.
We are always planning ahead as much as the focus is the current season. We are always looking to forecast our young guys and their skillset. It starts with a third or fourth line role to give them an opportunity. It’s important to have the foundation built within that single season.
Back to 2015 though, every year we try to keep a consistent schedule and we play the Derek Hines Memorial game late in the season in February with four or five games left in the year. That year we had Derek Hines’ father speak to the team before our game. I can’t tell you what an impact that it had. We went on a great run and won the Super 8. That Memorial game for us has historically been a springboard to an end of season run. It means a lot, our guys know the Hines story really well. The hope is that they don’t lose sight of those things. It’s all about the older guys passing on the tradition.
NZ: Speaking of history, your program has produced quite a bit of NHL and pro talent from Bobby Carpenter years ago to more recent players like John McCarthy, Sam Kurker, Brian Pinho and Colin Blackwell. Do you see any consistent qualities that allowed the players you’ve coached to make it to the NHL/AHL?
Hanson: There’s no question that Brian Pinho (Washington Capitals) and Colin Blackwell (Nashville Predators) both believed in the team, they were selfless, and they make others around them better. Those are tough qualities to teach, you’re either born with it or you’re not. We are very fortunate to have so many great players come through our doors, and have the team success we’ve had, but it’s all because players like them made people better. I never coached McCarthy but know from the ones who did coach him that he was the same way.
Here’s a great story about Colin. Back in 2011, we lost to Malden Catholic in OT in the Super 8 final. Brendan Collier scored a devastating goal to give them the win. Despite that, Colin picked up the puck and brought it to his family. What a moment, and a little gesture like that makes us better as coaches, as players and people. It tells you a lot about him, he was happy to be a part of that team, even though things didn’t end well, what a great kid.
NZ: Let’s move on to this coming season – you have a lot of veterans returning plus some new underclassmen to add to the mix: how do you see your F, D, G situation shaping up? Do you have a couple of players in mind who will make key contributions this season?
Hanson: As I mentioned, we have a lot of guys back from last year.
At forward we have Ryan Hart returning. He emerged last year by scoring important goals and he has a lot of skill as a late bloomer. The expectations are high for him. We also have Pat Moran, our senior captain, and Ryan Webb, a hardworking senior who does a little of everything for us: he kills penalties and logs power minutes. He has a ton of energy, but is not always a high-end scorer. We also have two sophomores who will contribute in Nick Townshend and Cole Lopilato.
Image Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
On defense, Jack Gilligan is our senior captain and we will rely heavily on him. We think he is going to project nicely as a college hockey player. We also have other senior returners like Will Perry, and juniors like Jack Riley plus sophomores including Theo Vetere and Zack Raposa. Despite bringing a lot of guys back, we approach the season with caution. Returners don’t guarantee this year’s success and we wont get too far ahead of ourselves. We will issue a reminder to our players this year that we lost our last game last year. We will emphasize the things we didn’t do and pump the brakes on expectations. First, let’s see how we do in the preseason and get ready for our first game against Hingham.
As for our goalies, in the mix will be our senior netminder who previously played for the Junior Bruins: Noah Dorsey. He played a little for us as a freshman. We also have another senior in the mix, Kyle Westfall plus a couple of junior varsity goalies who will be competing – the position is wide open and there are plenty of candidates to battle it out.
Overall, it doesn’t matter what your class is: if you are a freshman and you can contribute on varsity then you are going to play. The goal is to put the best team on the ice – irrelevant of your class. If you contribute, play the right way, be a good team member in the locker room that’s who we want.
NZ: What are your goals for the season and what do you feel will be the biggest challenges to having success this season?
Hanson: Year in and year out making the Super 8 is our standing goal, and that’s no different this year. With this team we hope we can play our best from the beginning of the season. We need to stay focused, maintain a positive attitude, be selfless and be good teammates to promote the team chemistry. In my experience, the best teams were all related because they had team chemistry, they supported each other. Out of the gate, we want to establish that chemistry from each guy.
Editor’s Note: Shortly following the interview of Coach Hanson, St. John’s Prep alum and Ice Bucket Challenge creator Pete Frates passed away at the age of 34. Please take some time to consider a donation to the Pete Frates Family Foundation, located here.
