Hockey: Olentangy Liberty, Upper Arlington face new league, new challenges
Thursday, November 16, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Olentangy Liberty’s P.J. Weiss works during practice Nov. 15 at Chiller North. Photo: John Hulkenberg
P.J. Weiss didn’t think he’d enjoy playing defense. But he was wrong. A senior, who played forward for most of his career on the Olentangy Liberty hockey team, has found a lot of joy in chasing the puck over controlling it.
The Patriots, who became central Ohio’s first team to win an OHSAA state championship when it defeated Hunting Valley University School 6-2 last season to finish 39-1-1, graduated most of their defense.
“It’s kind of fun for me because it’s something new to work on and gives me more to focus on in practice. So, I kind of enjoy it,” said Weiss, who had six goals and nine assists last season. “It’s kind of a hard (transition). It’s different. Through scrimmages, I’ve found myself getting more comfortable, going to get pucks and knowing where to go when I get it. I’m getting (a lot) of help from my teammates – especially Jack (Hamilton) because he’s been playing it so long and at a high level. (Coach Darwin McClelland and coach Jonathan Falvo) have been trying to help me fill gaps and focus on good defense.
“Instead of you pushing the pace and forechecking, you’re the one getting forechecked. It’s a race to the puck every time and I enjoy that. Once you get it up, you have to support your teammates. I really enjoy it, actually.”
Hamilton, a senior, is dealing with a shoulder injury suffered in the state title game. He’s still deciding between surgery and playing through the injury, coach Kevin Alexander said.
Defense was already Liberty’s biggest question mark after the graduation of Jacob Kempa, Vincent Rengel and Carson Reynolds.
Junior Brannon Spencer (3 goals, 3 assists) and freshman Alex Leonard are the most polished defensemen other than Hamilton (12 goals, 10 assists) for the Patriots.
“(Hamilton) may play through it or he may get surgery, so it’s not 100%,” Alexander said. “Right now, if he plays through the shoulder injury and gets the surgery at the end of the year, he’s probably only going to play half the game.
“We’ve got a lot of young defensemen and we’ve got forwards learning how to play defense. It’s all hands on deck. That’s probably the only thing we have to work on.”
All four goalies Liberty used last year are back in Robbie Cook (senior; 21-0-1, .915 save percentage), Thomas Morgan (sophomore; 12-1, .889 save percentage), Mack Larkin (junior) and Caleb Ross (senior).
‘A whole new level of competition’
That’s not the only change for Liberty this season. The Patriots are playing in a league featuring some of the top programs in Ohio.
The newly-formed Greater Ohio League includes Upper Arlington, Gates Mills Gilmour Academy, Hunting Valley University School, Cleveland St. Ignatius, Lakewood St. Edward, Toledo St. Francis and Toledo St. John’s Jesuit in the newly formed Greater Ohio Hockey League..
Upper Arlington’s Brayden Koons (front) works out on the ice during a pre-season practice. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“It’s the best of the best in Ohio playing against each other,” Liberty senior forward Brian Savage said. “They’re definitely going to be fun games – 100%. I’m excited for it and I know the team is ready for it.”
The Patriots defeated Upper Arlington 10-1 in last year’s regional final, St. Ignatius 4-3 in a state semifinal and University School 6-2 in the final.
“We’ll have to move some tournaments around, but it gives us a whole new level of competition going forward,” Alexander said. “The schools that we typically didn’t see until the end of the year, we’re now going to have a game with (earlier). The third thing is that it’s a heck of an honor for Liberty hockey that we’ve built a program that’s even considered to be a team to play in this type of competition.”
UA coach Craig Hagkull hopes the new league will make his team better and hopefully entice travel players to stay home and play for their schools.
“You always wonder in the back of your mind if some kids that play AAA (hockey) will decide to play high school hockey instead,” he said. “I honestly don’t think that’s going to be a big (motivator) – as much as you’d like to have them. In AAA hockey, you can play in many more games. I do think it’ll help in the development of our team and prepare us better for the playoffs.”
So, what does the new league mean for hockey in central Ohio?
“I think it’s good for their programs, obviously,” Olentangy Berlin coach Todd Pennington said. “They’re going to be playing better competition more often, which should make them both stronger teams. I don’t know if it’s going to affect any of us. It should help them be even stronger than they already are.”
The new league creates some unique scheduling for Liberty and UA.
“In high school hockey, you’re only allowed 35 games,” Hagkull said. “We had to drop a couple of tournaments. The last several years, we’ve played in the St. Ignatius showcase. So, when we play (them) in their showcase, it’ll count as one of the (GOL) league games. One of our Capital Hockey Conference games against Liberty will count toward the new league as well. I think we will go up to Padua for a tournament (on Dec. 16) and we’ll play (St. Edward) there. So, you kind of kill two birds with one stone with some creative scheduling.”
Liberty and UA will also continue to play in the Capital Hockey Conference in the Red Division, which includes New Albany, Olentangy Berlin, St. Charles and Cincinnati Moeller.
“I think every team in (the CHC-Red) is good,” Hagkull said. “St. Charles is going to have a really good hockey program. They hired a guy in Danny Greiner that I’ve known for 5 or 6 years. That’s a great hire. He’ll have them ready to play. (Olentangy) is not in the Red Division, but they were pretty good last year. New Albany is an underrated hockey team and they have some really good players.”
‘We have the team to do it this year’
The Patriots’ state championship shows a central Ohio team can break through. Liberty was just the second program from the area that made the state final after Dublin Jerome finished second in 2019.
Craig Hagkull is in his first season as Upper Arlington ice hockey coach. Photo: John Hulkenberg
UA, which went 23-13-1 last season, was in back-to-back state tournaments in 2021 and 2022. The Golden Bears defeated Liberty 3-2 in overtime in the regional final round in 2021 and 3-2 again in 2022 with the game-winning goal coming with 4.9 seconds remaining in the third period.
UA is in the midst of its own changes with Hagkull taking over for Hamish Baird, who guided the team for three seasons.
“We’re pretty young, but we’re figuring it out,” said Shauss, a UA junior defender, who had nine goals and 16 assists last season. “We’re fast and we’re physical, so we’re looking good this year. For sure, we wanted to be the first (central Ohio team to win a state title). But I think we have the team to do it this year. We were really close my freshman year, losing in the state semifinal (to St. Francis 2-1 in double overtime).”
Last year’s loss to Liberty in the regional final stung.
“I’m sure with some of our veterans and returning players, (the regional final) is in the back of their minds,” said Hagkull, who was an assistant under Baird. “It’s definitely a motivator, but it’s not something we dwell on.”
UA’s strength is its depth. Along with Shauss on defense, the Bears feature senior forwards Brayden Koons (18 goals, 17 assists), Zachary Teague (13 goals, 10 assists) and Charlie Thackeray (4 goals, 2 assists), junior forward Max Bloomfield (7 goals, 11 assists) sophomore goalie Maddon Herndon (415 saves, 2.55 goals against average) that all return from last year.
Sophomore defenseman Henry Thackeray joins UA after playing AAA hockey with the Ohio Blue Jackets. Junior defenseman Ty Rook, a transfer from Dublin Jerome, along with younger brother, Tate, a freshman forward are newcomers that should be key players for the Golden Bears, who open against St. Charles on Nov. 17 at the Ice Haus.
“(I’m just looking) to contribute in any possible way,” Koons said. “As a whole (team), we’ve definitely improved on our defense in general. I think our whole team, in general, is really good this year. A lot of kids are a year older.”
‘Target on our back’
Liberty, which opens at Moeller in CHC-play on Nov. 17, has to replace 2023 graduates Charlie Hughes and Eric Bauermeister. Hughes was state Player of the Year and Alexander was state Coach of the Year.
“What’s interesting is that we have Moeller and New Albany (at Chiller North on Nov. 19) and both those teams are way better than they were last year,” Alexander said. “Those are going to be tough games to open up the season. Then, we play St. Eds and St. John’s for our first two (Greater Ohio League) games over Thanksgiving weekend. So, it’s really hard to say until we get through those first four or five games. We’ve got a bunch of returning players … so we don’t see any holes other than losing our three amazing defensemen. It’s looking like a reload and not a rebuild, so it’s pretty fun.”
The Patriots still feature a potent offense with Savage (27 goals, 22 assists) and juniors Jake Struck (31 goals, 59 assists) and Andrew Leonard (24 goals, 29 assists) all returning.
Struck set program records in assists and points and Hughes set a program record with 41 goals.
The Patriots set team single-season records in wins (39), goals for (238), goals against (51) and win percentage (.963).
The Patriots were the first team in the CHL to go undefeated and untied, winning the Red Division at 16-0. It was the program’s sixth league title and they added their second Blue Jackets Cup championship and first since 2011 and their sixth regional championship.
But this is a new season.
“There’s 100% a target on our back,” Savage said. “Everybody wants to beat the defending state champs. Last year is last year and we’re on to this year now.”