One of the biggest developments in New England boys prep hockey since the start of the 2020s has been Holderness as an Elite 8 contender.
The Bulls were the No. 8 seed in 2021-22, before finishing as the No. 2 team in the Small School Tournament the following winter. Last season was their best, finishing 25-3 and earning the No. 5 spot in the big dance.
What Holderness does next will be fascinating.
The top line of scorers are gone. The best defenseman in prep hockey is gone. Multiple other important seniors are gone. The starting goalie and his backup who was supposed to start this season are gone.
"We want to compete again at the highest level," Holderness boss Alan Thompson said. "It's going to be interesting to see with so many new guys if it takes a month or two to hit our stride."
Fortunately for Thompson, his team has been playing together this fall as the Islanders Hockey Club West squad.
"That's obviously helpful," he said. "But I think just not a lot of experience in prep school hockey so just trying to make sure we do a lot of education early on playing good defensive zone structure which we've been great at the last couple of years."
Last season's team was stacked, but fell to Kimball Union both times and narrowly lost to Avon Old Farms in the Elite 8 championship.
This year's roster is different. There's a whole lot of new, which makes it harder to set tangible goals.
"I would be disappointed if we weren't at least a high seed in the Small School Tournament," Thompson said. "A good goal for us would be to make the Elite 8 again but obviously that's very competitive and hard to do. I think we have a chance if the chemistry is there."
What will Holderness get in net?
Ryan Nolan was impressive in net last season. He posted a 2.02 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He led his team to the No. 5 seed in the Elite 8. In terms of senior years, it's hard to beat that. That came after he was the backup to Evan Plunkett the season before. Nolan got his turn as a senior and owned it.
That looked to be the plan with Will Prowse coming into this season. The '06 would serve as the No. 2 behind Nolan before taking over as the starter this season.
No dice.
Even after playing just three games for Holderness last season as a repeat sophomore, Prowse made the USHL's Lincoln Stars and has played five games for them so far, sporting a 3.18 goals-against average and an .876 save percentage. He left for Lincoln right before the school year started.
"The biggest question mark is goaltending," Thompson said.
So, who are the newbies?
Giulio Torriero was slated to come in this season anyways. The '07 was a standout with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 16Us last season, sporting a 2.87 GAA and a .923 save percentage. He's 6 feet tall and weighs 170 pounds. He's a junior but is trying to re-class as a senior.
The other one is Mark Bierwirth. The '07 came in at the last minute from Chelmsford (Mass.) High. He is 5-foot-11 and 161 pounds.
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Ultimately, these two newcomers will be Holderness' biggest X-factor.
"Both guys are new to prep," Thompson said. "They've had pretty good careers where they came from, but we don't know if one's going to stand out and step above the other or if it's going to be an even split."
Strong on defense
Fortunately for Torriero and Bierwirth, they will have a stout defensive core in front of them.
Losing Caeden Herrington (Manchester, Vt.), who won New England Hockey Journal's Defenseman of the Year last season, will hurt. The Vermont commit notched seven goals and 49 points and was a force at both ends of the ice.
One player who will be looked on to step up in his place is Jeremy Poirier. He has been playing with the NAHL's New Hampshire Mountain Kings this fall.
"He's got all the tools," Thompson said. "Big kid, skates well for his size. He will probably quarterback the power play."
It's easy to see why there is excitement around Poirier. The Salem, N.H., native is 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds. He posted eight goals and 20 points in 29 games as a junior last season.
Will Rob will also be someone Thompson relies on heavily. Rob notched nine points as a junior last winter.
"He's been with us for a number of years here," Thompson said. "I think he's ready to take another jump. He's kind of been in the No. 3/4 role the last couple of years."
To round out the top three players on defense is Gabe Ruiz, who comes to Holderness from Victory Honda. The Royal Oak, Mich., native has been a dynamic presence for Victory Honda over the last few years.
Last season, he scored 17 goals and posted 63 points in 74 games for the 16U squad. He notched 25 points during his 15O campaign the year before.
"He'll compete for top minutes on the blue line," Thompson said.
Replacing a whole lot of lost scoring
Holderness was fortunate to have some heavy-hitters up front last season. Pavit Mehra (Hopkinton, Mass.) came in as a postgrad and led the team with 27 goals and 60 points. Senior Aaron VanWie was right behind him with 59. Then came senior Caden Wells with 51. Senior Jake Boulanger played a big role, too, posting 31 points.
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All four are gone. That's a lot of points to replace.
Thompson brought in players from the outside who will be candidates to do that. He's also fortunate to bring back some now-seniors who will look to do the same.
That starts with bringing in Viktor Samal, who played for Czechia in this past summer's Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He was a standout for HC Slava Praha U17 last season with 68 points in 47 games. Recently, he made NHL Central Scouting's preliminary watch list.
"He's a very smooth skater, very good hands. He sees the ice well," Thompson said. "The only worry with him is the transition from playing European hockey to American hockey with the compete level away from the puck and a little less space to make plays, a little more physicality. We don't know how the transition is going to go, but he's certainly got a lot of tools offensively. He's more of a playmaker than a shooter. He sees the ice really well on the power play. I think he'll be like a 30-assist guy."
Someone who Samal may find himself feeding the puck to is Brayden Wade, who arrives via Victory Honda. With the 16U team last season, the 5-foot-8, 172-pound forward notched 41 goals and 85 points
"He's having the best fall for us," Thompson said. "So I think he'll be a really good centerman."
Replacing Mehra as a postgrad on the squad is Connor Dozois (Grafton, Mass.). The '05 has been a force with Worcester Academy over the last two seasons, posting 49 points as a junior and 42 as a senior.
"He should be able to chip in some offense for us, too," Thompson said.
Holderness is also excited to bring back players who look poised to take the next step. That starts with Jacob Duval, who notched 13 goals and 31 points last season as a junior.
"He just keeps getting better and better," Thompson said. "He went from 20 or so points his sophomore year to 30 last year. I think he could be a 45-50 guy this year."
Eli Chilicki (North Berwick, Maine) is another. He transferred from Berwick last season after notching 20 goals and 48 points in 2022-23. In his first season at Holderness, he regressed a bit to nine goals and 24 points.
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"I'd like to see him get back to that," Thompson said of his Berwick form. "I don't think he's a pure goal scorer, but he's a really good playmaker so more of an assist guy. I'd love to see him take a little jump in terms of numbers. He'll probably be our second-line center."
Tanner Petalas is back. So, too, is Luka Pazzia. Both were legitimate secondary scorers last season. Both are players Thompson is counting on to score this season.
"We start our schedule pretty light at the start," Thompson said. "So it'll probably be a year where we're changing lines a lot the first couple weeks and trying to figure out pairings and all of that so when we go into the Christmas tournament, hopefully we have a pretty good idea of what we are by then."
