The 2020-21 prep hockey season was one that St. George’s School had been building toward for quite some time.
With a deep core of returners and a group of skilled young players coming into their own, it was shaping up to be a promising year for the Newport, R.I., prep school that plays in the ISL Eberhart Division.
When the season was all but canceled due to the coronavirus, however, only a handful of players remained to do team skills sessions while the rest learned remotely and played for Midget clubs across New England.
For SGS head coach Jeff Dwyer (New Canaan, Conn.), it was especially disappointing for the seniors who never got the chance to write an official end to their prep school careers.
“We were going to have a good team last year," said Dwyer, who’s served as head coach of the Dragons team since 2013. "Ben Jenkinson (Connecticut Junior Rangers NCDC), Shane Mulhern (Babson), Zach Bell (South Shore Kings) were three guys who were seniors last year. I feel bad for those guys because they were very, very good prep school hockey players and when you throw them in with the young guys we have we were kind of built for last year."
St. George’s lost another key player as a result of the pandemic, as ‘02 forward Collin Patterson (who scored 27 points during his one season in 2019-20) opted to return to Florida to play in the USPHL.
“It was disappointing in that sense, but at the same time, we had a really good year with recruiting. I’m fired up for this year with the guys we have coming in and the leadership we have coming back," Dwyer said.
With last season in the rearview, fall hockey in full swing and winter not far off, it's on to 2021-22.
The Dragons will be led by a group of ‘04 Division 1 commits who are making waves in the split season with the South Shore Kings 18-U prep team.
Senior defenseman Ryan Buckley (Warwick, R.I.) will anchor the back end.
“He’s kind of an old-school defenseman in the sense that he’s very quietly efficient,” Dwyer said of Buckley. “He’s been on the power play for us for the past three years because he has that in his toolbox, but he’s more well known for being a shutdown defenseman and he makes a great first pass.”
More than just a key player on the ice, Buckley will be an important, lead-by-example type for the Dragons, as well.
“He’s a quiet kid by nature in the best of ways,” Dwyer said. “When he has something to say, guys listen because he’s not a rah-rah guy who's constantly talking. He’s very thoughtful. He’s going to be the first guy over the boards in every situation.”
Another key returner in the back end is '03 Robert Melvin (Boston, Mass.), who arrived at St. George’s last season after two years at Boston Latin. He and Buckley will be the cornerstones on the blue line, Dwyer said. “Nobody really knows him but I think he’s going to be a very, very good player for us.”
Up front, the offense will be led by '04 twin brothers, Donovan Frias and Julian Frias. Although they didn't get much of any exposure in the prep realm last season, the Hudson, Mass., natives had productive seasons with the Junior Bruins, which they carried into the summer and levied into dual commitments to Yale.
Another Holy Cross recruit, Matthew Kursonis (West Boylston, Mass.) will aid the future Bulldog duo up front.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Dwyer said of Kursonsis. “He’s a big power forward who has been on a line with the Frias brothers for the last year or so with the Junior Bruins and he’s been phenomenal, scoring a ton of goals.”
In addition to the trio of D-1 commits, Ben Buckley (River Rats 16-U), the younger brother of Ryan, is also expected to play a key role. According to the head coach, the ‘05 forward made big strides during last year's pandemic-impacted campaign.
For newcomers, the Dragons are adding Ben's younger brother, Danny Buckley, in addition to several other players from the 2006 birth year, including Owen Mulhern (Middleton, R.I.) and Troy Hayes (Windham, N.H.). Goalie Ryder Shae (Framingham, Mass), who attended USA Hockey Select 15 Camp over the summer, is joining the team in net.
After missing out on what was shaping up to be a promising season in 2020-21, the Dragons are eager to begin their quest for ISL bragging rights in 2021-22.
“For us, as a program, it’s just exciting. It’s taken us a while to get to this point,” Dwyer said. "We’ve had some guys but it’s taken us a while to get to the point where we’ve had a critical mass of D-1 and D-3 players, so we’re just really fired up about where we are and having good players.
“Most importantly, they’re quality kids and they’re good students so they fit our model and what we’re trying to do. I’m excited to see where we go from here.”
(Previously in New England Hockey Journal’s prep school preview series: Brunswick, Gunnery, New Hampton, St. Mark’s, Tabor, Loomis Chaffee, Berkshire)
@_LiamFlaherty
liam.flaherty@hockeyjournal.com
