Graduating the top eight scorers from one season to the next certainly lends itself to creating a new-look team.
Still, that hasn’t stopped Avon Old Farms from finding the win column more often than not this season.
The Winged Beavers took losses to Taft and Deerfield in two of their three games before this past weekend, but a four-win showing — including Saturday’s 5-2 championship victory over Berkshire — allowed them to emerge with the title at the 41st Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic and take a 7-2-0 record into the holiday break.
“We have a very young team compared to the last few years, so with that comes some learning experiences,” said interim head coach Mark Naclerio, who is leading the Avon bench with 50-year coaching legend John Gardner away from the program on a personal leave of absence.
“As the season has gone on, the (guys have) gotten more comfortable playing at this level and have really adjusted well,” Naclerio added. “I think they played hard, they’re starting to play a more complete game and using their physicality and their speed.”
Avon beat Tabor, Trinity-Pawling and St. Paul’s en route to the final and ultimately won the tournament by a combined 19-7 score.
FULL RESULTS: Check out the full slate of results from holiday tournaments
Naclerio praised his team’s all-around effort to get the job done, starting with a strong performance from junior goaltender Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.), who won three of the four games while allowing three total goals. Senior assistant captain James Odyniec (Wilton, Conn.) provided the team’s defense with his usual physical presence and chipped in with points.
Offensively, the Classic saw junior Jacob Jett move up to join the top-scoring junior Loomis Chaffee transfer Indiana Grossbard (Wilton, Conn.) and senior captain Cooper Snee on a new top line.
“He got his opportunity and took advantage of it,” Naclerio said of Jett, who scored twice against Tabor and finished the four-game run with three goals and eight points. “He can make plays and has a lot of skill. He’s really complementing those two well.”
Having played together since the team’s fall season, Grossbard (Dartmouth commit) and Snee (Providence commit) have more than 20 games as linemates. Their chemistry has been evident right from the start, translating into a combined 18 goals and 30 points so far this season.
Snee scored a goal in each game this past weekend, while Grossbard posted a pair of two-goal games and amassed five of his team-leading 11 total tallies on the season.
“‘Indy’ [Grossbard] and I have built a very good connection…and I just feel like it all started to click [with Jett],” Snee said. “From the first game, I think we knew it was going to be a great line. … Indy is a fun player to watch, but now to play with. He’s got one of those shots that you don’t really see a whole lot. He’s a really good skater, smart, good with the puck, and then the shot is probably the best tool in his arsenal.”
After watching Grossbard for two years as a Housatonic opponent, the immediate impact he is providing to his new program has been impressive to the coach.
“He’s come through in a lot of big moments for us so far,” Naclerio said. “He knows and understands what the level of play [in the Housatonic] is like, and every year he’s continued to grow and get better and better. He’s come in and fit our team very seamlessly.”
With two high scorers leading the way and a younger team coming into its own, the Winged Beavers certainly hope that winning the holiday tournament can be a sign of things to come when March rolls around.
LATEST RANKINGS: Avon got a boost post-holiday tournaments
It has been just that in recent years, as the past three winners — Kent last season and in 2021, and Avon in 2022 — emerged with NESCAC postseason championships in the Large and Elite Eight brackets, respectively.
Plenty of work must be done between now and then, but there is proof it can be done.
“I hope it just shows everybody that even if you drop a couple of games, we’re right in this (playoff race). We can still perform, we can still win,” Snee said. “Like we said after the game, it feels great to win. … It was one of our goals, but we’ve got more that we want to accomplish.”
