For two years in a row, Milton Academy has had its fair share of adversity.
The Mustangs, like all prep programs, were forced to endure the restrictions the COVID-19 pandemic placed on the program in 2020-21. Then last year Milton Academy had a brand new roster, as was evident in its 10-11-2 record.
“It was a good year,” head coach Paul Cannata (West Roxbury, Mass.) said. “But at the same time, certainly a little frustrating.”
The frustrating part came when the Mustangs only captured one win in a 10-game stretch between Dec. 19 and Feb. 16. In those 10 games, six were one- or two-goal losses.
“Every game is competitive, that’s the beauty of prep hockey,” Cannata said. “Nothing is given. Very few games do you win easily, probably very few games do you get run out of the building. Again, like last year, it comes down to a half dozen games during the year that you’re either going to win 4-3, lose 4-3, win 3-2 or lose 3-2.
“That probably makes a difference in whether you’re a playoff team or not.”
Even though Milton Academy fell short of the playoffs last season, Cannata and his staff aren’t ones to draw out official team goals like make the postseason or win a championship on the whiteboard. Instead, it’s all about the day-to-day expectations.
“We’re not a place that sets goals per se,” he said. “We expect to be successful, we always have a group of kids that expect to be successful, that expects a lot out of themselves individually and collectively and we go out and try to put good days together and good weeks together and see where that brings us.”
Who steps in for Chris Romaine?
Cannata is well aware that the main storyline facing the Mustangs is how they will make up for the massive loss of defenseman Chris Romaine (Boston, Mass.), who’s committed to Providence and was drafted in the sixth round by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Romaine will play for Omaha in the USHL this season.
“He leaves behind a lot of ice time that’s up for grabs,” Cannata said of Romaine. “That will certainly be big shoes to fill.”
Milton Academy boasts two seniors with the experience to make up for some of Romaine’s lost minutes: Jackson Faughnan, a team captain, and Mason Chen.
The Mustangs also have sophomore defender Dylan Hunt (Marlboro, Mass.), who plays for the Boston Junior Eagles in the fall and was selected for the USA Hockey Select 16 Player Development Camp. It would surprise no one if colleges are keeping a close eye on his games this season.
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“He played a big role for us last year,” Cannata said of Hunt. “Expect him to continue.”
Even with those three, it’s still unknown how they’ll all replace what was lost in Romaine.
“One would think along with a couple of our other defensemen, that these three would be battling to play those minutes and whether we replace Chris with one defenseman or replace him by committee, time will tell,” Cannata said.
Forming an offensive nucleus
The benefit of having a mostly new roster last season is that it’s not new this season. Cannata feels as though there’s a stout offensive nucleus in place.
First there’s senior captain Jacob Pohl, who put up nine goals and 18 points last season. He’ll play alongside senior forward Mikka Kelechian, who Cannata says plays with “speed and energy” and is also considered part of the nucleus.
“They were two very good forwards for us last year,” Cannata said of Pohl and Kelechian. “So you’re looking for them in their second year here to lead the way and take a step.”
Then there’s senior Henry Cohen (Sudbury, Mass.), who posted seven goals and 16 points.
“A good, all-around forward,” Cannata said of Cohen. “Plays an honest, complete game. He battled a few injuries last year, so we’re hoping he’ll be healthy and have a great year.”
The same can be said for Cannata’s son, Will (Milton, Mass.), a junior forward playing fall hockey for the Boston Junior Eagles who will factor into the nucleus quite a bit.
Despite breaking his foot in early January and missing the rest of the season, Cannata still produced at a point-per-game pace.
“Hoping obviously he stays healthy and plays the full year and picks up where he left off,” Cannata said.
An under-the-radar forward Cannata projects to provide an impact is junior Ryan Shea (Milton, Mass.). He plays for the Boston Junior Eagles 16U team during the fall.
A battle in net
In net, Cannata has a good problem: he has two starting goalies.
On one hand, there’s senior goalie Harrison Brown, who played “a fair amount” last year. On the other is high-profile sophomore Sam Caulfield (Needham, Mass.), who transferred to Milton Academy from Belmont Hill.
Last fall, Caulfield posted a 13-3-1 record and 1.61 goals against average. In seven games for Milton Academy last winter, Brown put up a 3.14 GAA and .888 save percentage.
So, who starts?
“Don’t know,” Cannata said. “We have two. Both are capable. We’ll let them compete and see where that brings us.”
