As Nutley-Bloomfield-Columbia hockey coach Dave Macri looks around the ice this preseason, the difference a year makes is significant.
Last season, his Raiders team, which relied heavily on underclassmen, struggled to keep afloat within the competitive NJIIHL Kelly Division.
Now with the bulk of that roster back, a year older and wiser, Macri sees plenty to be optimistic about in the first few days of the preseason.
“The practices have been great, the work ethic has been great. That comes with maturing another year and knowing what the expectations are when they set foot on the ice,” said Macri, entering his fourth season as Nutley’s head coach. “So we’ve kind of hit the ground running. We got a couple of new additions that are going to really help us and everybody seems to be jelling and we’re excited to get back on the ice and start playing.”
Highlighting the large group of returnees is one of the NJIIHL’s top talents, junior forward Alex Benkert.
As a sophomore, Benkert had a breakout season with 33 goals and 25 assists, both team highs, giving him 98 career points. This season, Benkert has been named an alternate captain.
“It’s a lot of pressure to put on one guy to carry a team, but if you are going to put pressure on a guy, Alex is the one to handle it,” Macri said. “He’s a super kid on and off the ice, he can handle the role. He knows his place on the team and he does a great job of carrying us and motivating players to bring out their best game.”
Also back for the Raiders is sophomore center Christian Sherman (15 goals, 22 assists) and sophomore wing Angelo Albanese (13 goals, 21 assists).
A season ago, the three largely played together on Nutley’s top line. This season could also see them split up at times in hopes of creating more scoring through the entire lineup.
“I’m looking for great things out of those guys,” said Macri. “We’re not sure what we’re going to do yet. Obviously, they’re going to be leaned upon in basically every situation that we have so it’s more than likely to be a combination of the two.”
Further bolstering Nutley’s offense is junior Liam Madsen (three goals, 11 assists), who moves up to forward after playing on defense last year.
“He’s a very skilled player,” Macri said. “He’s going to be able to help us tremendously. He can rotate in there. Liam brings a lot to table, just as much as these guys.”
Sophomore Dominic Searls is also poised for a big role at forward after a productive offseason.
Others in the mix for a potential top six spot at forward are fellow sophomores Oliver Penalber and Daniel Kopcha.
Also vying for time are seniors Molly Mendoza and Benjamin Prudencio, juniors Max Bednarz and Daniel Legera, sophomore Reese McGowan and promising freshmen William Jacquin, James Pecoraro and John Paul Poplawski.
On the blueline, captain Tommy Devlin and alternate Mallory Albanese are four year varsity players on defense. Junior Cameron Wright is another anchor on defense with junior Eric Antonsson also set for major minutes. Gavin Waldron, a senior, and freshmen Trevor Romanowski and Ryan Coon are also set to see time on defense.
Macri acknowledges that Nutley can’t truly fill the skates of Victoria Rutnik, who started in goal the past two years and is now playing at Long Island University. The Raiders however did get a boost with the arrival of junior Zac Calveric, a transfer from Seton Hall Prep. Senior George Dietrich, sophomore Aiden Rosamilia and freshman Alex Madsden are also vying for time between the pipes.
Nutley opens the season on Friday, Dec. 8 against Verona at 8:30 p.m. at Codey Arena, then returns to action the next night vs. Mount Olive at 7:45 p.m.
While Macri won’t put a specific win total as a goal for this season, there’s definite confidence that they should finish better than its 4-14-4 record from last winter.
“The standing goal is to be a better team everyday,” Macri said. “Our kids are getting better all the time. They’re working hard and they love playing hockey. The goal is just to give the absolute best we can.
“I want the kids to get as much as they can out of this season both as a team and as individuals.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)