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BOSTON -- One team's savior proved to be the other team's fatal heartbreaker.

Both No. 5 Central Catholic and No. 8 Catholic Memorial had a lot on the line when the two teams hooked for a Monday matinee at Walter Brown Arena. The Raiders were looking to get back on track after a 3-0 loss to Andover on Saturday, hoping to keep themselves in the hunt for a Super 8 invitation while getting the on-ice product back in shape with things still undecided atop the MVC/DCL Div. 1 standings.

For Catholic Memorial, the math was simple - win your last two games, or miss the postseason for a second consecutive year.

Central goaltender Kyle Williams shined on this day, stopping 30 shots and weathering a third-period penalty shot attempt by CM's Liam Coughlin to help the Raiders hold on for a 1-1 tie.

"They took it to us in spurts, we were able to sustain and Kyle's back," Central head coach Mike Jankowski said. "We had some inconsistencies all year, we fought through things all year. Even the first goal tonight, that's something [Kyle] always gets. For him, the back half of that, he closes the door. If he plays like that and has our back like that, good things are going to happen for us."

The Raiders kept in mind last year's loss to the Knights and made adjustments that helped Williams a great deal, most importantly coming from a defense that worked tirelessly to at least keep the shooting lanes clear so the senior could get good looks on what was coming at him.

Midway through the third period, Williams made the save of the day, getting his blocker up in time to deflect a shot from CM's Kevin Bletzer. Minutes later, he made another stop of a hard wrist shot by Jared Beckwith and got a piece of a tip in front by Thomas Stanton.

The netminder's most important play however, was one that didn't hit the stat sheet as a save. The Knights were awarded a penalty shot with 3:46 remaining in the game, and CM coach Bill Hanson sent out talented forward Liam Coughlin. The junior walked in on Williams, then made a late shift to his backhand. Rather than sit back in shock, Williams simply followed his man and slid over to the far post, forcing Coughlin to take the puck lower then he likely intended and his shot ended up in the side of the Raiders net.

"No pressure, I just went and tried stopping it. I got lucky he missed the net," Williams explained with a touch of modesty.

Then, when asked if he was surprised by Coughlin's move, Williams responded, "Yeah, I guess. He could do anything. I'm just there to stop it."

Clearly the game did not come down to that one play, although it was certainly a highlight moment. Before a question could be asked about the penalty shot, Hanson quickly spoke up for his player:

"I know the question is going to be asked about the penalty shot...is he the guy you want having it? Yeah, he is. There is no one who feels worse about what he's going through right now than I do or his teammates do. It's a tough way to lose."

Mike Kelleher opened the scoring for Central Catholic, banging home a rebound at 13:38 of the opening frame, with assists going to Steven Merrick and Lloyd Hayes. Catholic Memorial tied it in the second as the Knights forced a miscue in their own end and Aaron Marcel went most of the way down the ice for a wrister at 5:38.

TWO STRAIGHT YEARS, NO POSTSEASON FOR CM
Similar to last season, the Knights found themselves entering the final week of the regular season needing points just reach the 20 needed to become eligible for postseason play. This year, they needed to beat Central, and follow that up by knocking off an excellent Fairfield Prep team from Connecticut. The tie left them short of their goal.

Were it not for the stellar outing by Williams, the Knights might have scored four goals, maybe even more given the intensity and hunger they displayed on the ice. Take this game out of the mix and there are several others the Knights will look back on as lost opportunities for points - in particular, ties with Malden Catholic and BC High in games they were leading in the third period, and a loss to St. John's Prep with just six seconds remaining.

Ultimately, however, it was the inability to score enough goals that did them in. According to Hanson, the Knights have scored 39 goals while allowing 40 through 18 games, yet still found themselves with a chance to win two games and become tournament-eligible.

"The last four games we've only scored four goals," Hanson lamented. "That's been the story of our season. We played extremely well tonight against a very good hockey team. The system we had in there worked to a tee. You hold a team like that to one goal, and with the opportunities we had, you should win the hockey game."

LEAGUE FIRST, SUPER 8 LATER
While CM needed the win to keep its postseason hopes alive, the Raiders were in need of points as well as a return to the form that reeled off an 11-game unbeaten stretch (8-0-3) prior to Saturday's loss to Andover.

While improving its resume for Super 8 consideration is certainly in the thought process, Central is still fighting to win a league title, something that is at the forefront of the team's minds right now.

Wednesday, Central hosts an Acton-Boxborough team that hasn't lost in its last six games and has wins over Billerica, Andover and a Super 8 watch-list team in Westford Academy. The Raiders hold a one-point edge in the standings over both Andover and Westford, with the Grey Ghosts taking on Billerica on Wednesday as well.

When asked if his team was thinking about the possibilities of the Super 8 just yet, Jankowski responded, "Not even close. We're so grateful today to be able to contend and now we're really looking to Wednesday. We have to bring everything because A-B's playing so well. We're just going to try and buckle it up and get ready for Wednesday."

MALDEN, Mass. -- For the second time in as many tries, No. 6 Catholic Memorial held a late third-period lead, only to settle for a tie.

Thomas Stanton provided the Knights with a 2-1 lead with less than three minutes remaining in Wednesday night’s Catholic Conference matchup with No. 1 Malden Catholic. And, while CM netminder Shane Starrett consistently stood on his head, stopping 41 Lancer shots, MC junior winger Mike Iovanna’s deflection of a point shot resulted in a 2-2 tie.

Remaining undefeated in Catholic Conference play at 6-0-2, MC wrapped up another regular season league title.

On the other hand, for CM (6-6-2, 2-3-2), it remains a struggle for points.

“I’ve said that in the last couple of weeks we’ve needed to steal a point here and there,” Knights head coach Bill Hanson said. “And we stole a point.”

The Knights now need six points in their final five games to qualify for the state tournament.

Aside from paring a point from the state’s top team, CM might have gained more in its play.

“Tonight definitely helps our confidence,” said Stanton, a senior assistant captain. “They’re a good team. We can play with them, we proved that. I think we just need to prove it to ourselves that we can play with teams like that.”

MC (11-1-3) was off to another quick start with Ryan Fitzgerald tapping in a one-timer off of Brendan Collier’s cross-ice feed at 2:57 of the first.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net until CM caught a dose of puck luck with senior captain Liam Coughlin banking in a puck off an MC defender’s skate with under nine minutes remaining in the third.

Stanton provided what look to be the game-winner before Iovanna got a piece of Brendan White’s shot from the point with 1:43 to play.

“[Starrett] made some good saves and it was tough to get it by him,” said Collier, the Lancers’ senior captain. “They hung around, and you can’t let good teams hang around. They’re scrapping for their lives right now.”

ADJUSTING ON THE FLY
CM was successful clogging up passing lanes and sagging down low, defensively, with a boatload of blocked shots to show for it. While Starrett saw plenty of rubber tossed his way, the Knights rolled with the Lancers’ punches and turned in perhaps their best defensive effort of the season outside of their early win over St. Sebastian’s.

“I thought we adjusted very well in the third period,” Hanson said. “We said, hey, we’ve got a chance to win a hockey game here. We backed off on the forecheck, we weren’t that aggressive. We locked on their wings, locked on them in the offensive zone and the defensive zone, hoping that we’d get a turnover.”

MOMENT FOR PAUSE
Emerging unscathed from Wednesday’s game, MC earned an undefeated conference record for the second time in as many years.

It was a feat that wasn’t lost on Collier.

“It’s a great league, it’s probably the best in high school hockey,” he said. “To be undefeated, it’s just an honor. It just shows how good of a squad we have and how hard we work. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night."

BOSTON –- It was a kind of glass-half-full tie for No. 11 Catholic Memorial.

Akin to last season’s stretch run, the Knights have the quandary of needing points to qualify for the postseason tournament while in the thick of their Catholic Conference schedule – never an easy task.

The Knights were about 49 seconds away from taking two points from No. 5 BC High during their Ed Wright Cup game at Walter Brown Arena on Saturday. While CM settled for one in a 4-4 tie with the Eagles, the Knights came away with more plusses than minuses.

“The good news is in our last two games, we’ve scored nine goals,” an upbeat Knights head coach Bill Hanson said.

Still, the Knights (6-6-1, 2-3-1 Catholic) were in prime position for the victory, only to watch the Eagles (8-3-3, 2-2-3) to tie it in the final minute.

CM forward Aaron Marcel looked as thought he’d found the game-winning goal with 1:51 to play, breaking a 3-3 tie. However, with 49.3 seconds remaining, BC High senior captain Matt Sullivan cleaned up a rebound to knot the score again.

“We were just trying to keep the puck down low, and I think Steve DeForge took the puck off the half wall,” said Sullivan, who earned game MVP honors with two points. “He got shot off high on the goalie’s shoulder and I was able to get the rebound.”

The Knights held the lead on three occasions in the course of the back-and-forth affair.

Jack O’Hear had CM to a 1-0 in the first; Tom Besinger countered for BC High later in the first. Then, eighth-grader Kevin Hock popped in his third of the season for a 2-1 lead in the second.

The Eagles claimed their first lead of the game in the third with Michael Brooks banking in a one-timer in front off of Ryan McDonough’s centering pass, after a goal by DeForge had tied it.

John Malewicz tied the score, 3-3, with nine minutes remaining.

“All in all, it was a pretty typical CM, BC High game,” BC High head coach John Flaherty summed it up. “Records go out the window.”

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Hanson, with a quick wit and ability to turn phases with the best of them, was in rare form following the contest.

When fielding a reporter’s question about CM’s ability to handle opposing team’s forechecks in recent weeks, the Knights bench boss pulled out a Korean War reference.

“We’re playing a lot better in the neutral zone right now, which is allowing us to get pucks deep,” Hanson said. “We’re not having opponents coming at us like the [Chinese] Red Army over the Yalu River.”

Aside from the colorful description, what was at the heart of Hanson’s message was that he was pleased overall with team’s ability to make easy transitions out of the defensive zone, coming with speed through the neutral zone. It has been a sore spot in CM’s recent efforts, but Saturday marked a vast improvement for the Knights’ blue-liners.

"We can play with the confidence that we can come back when we're down," Hanson said.

A MOMENT OF CONCERN
Scary sight in the second period when BC High sophomore forward Chris LaLiberte left the game.

LaLiberte was skating through the neutral zone, near the penalty boxes, when he was sandwiched between the checks of two CM skaters. After laying motionless for a couple of tense seconds, LaLiberte eventually skated off on his own power.

He even tried to swing back toward the Eagles’ bench, only to be sent off to the room for the afternoon by Flaherty.

“You just can’t take any chances with head injuries,” Flaherty added.

LaLiberte’s play drew Flaherty’s praise, despite giving himself up in the process.

“He’s played with one hand, he’s played on one leg,” he said of the winger. “That’s the type of kid he is. … He sacrificed himself to make that play. We went on a 2-on-1 because of what he did. That’s what he does, he plays hard every shift.”

BOSTON – Malden Catholic freshman Ara Nazarian has settled in nicely between Tyler Sifferlen and Brian Cameron on the No. 1 Lancers’ second line.

The center made his presence felt in a big way, midway through Saturday night’s Catholic Conference clash with No. 9 Catholic Memorial at Walter Brown Arena.

With game tied, 1-1, and five minutes remaining in the second period, Nazarian set up the go-ahead goal and then scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal all on one shift in the Lancers’ 5-2 win.

“I think it was a big momentum shift for us,” Nazarian said of the two goals, scored within 45 seconds. “They came out fast, they got the goal at the beginning of the period. That was a big shift for us.”

The only thing that could beat CM goaltender Shane Starrett in the first period was Brendan Collier’s tally at 6:13, coming on a tape-to-tape pass from Mike Iovanna with the Lancer captain streaking toward net. Starrett (33 saves) turned aside 14 shots in the first period alone.

The Knights (5-6-0, 1-3-0) carried play in the first 10 minutes of the second, out-shooting MC, 8-3.

CM found the equalizer just 24 seconds into the second with Knights captain Liam Coughlin was the beneficiary of some slick transition play from linemates Jack O’Hear and Aaron Marcel. Gaining the line with speed, O’Hear found Coughlin alone in front to bury a one-timer up high.

Then, Nazarian and his linemates took over.

First, Nazarian won a faceoff in the offensive end, beating the Knights’ centerman to the puck and then dishing it to Sifferlen camped on the off-wing post for a 2-1 lead.

“I tell my linemates that if I win it forward for them to go to the net,” Nazarian said. “And then I look for them on the backdoor.”

MC (8-1-2, 5-0-1) gained entry into the zone off the ensuing faceoff and, while cycling the puck down low, Nazarian banked in a shot from below the goal line for a 3-1 Lancer lead.

“I was trying to make a pass out front, but it went off the goalie’s pad and in,” Nazarian said.

The Lancers rode the momentum into the third period. Ryan Fitzgerald added a short-handed goal on a breakaway.

Although CM got one back on Miles McCarthy’s strike with 1:59 to play, the Lancers had the last laugh with Iovanna picking up his second point of the night with a breakaway goal with 11 seconds remaining.

PUTTING IT IN PERSPECTIVE
The Knights once again are facing a crucible in qualifying for the postseason tournament.

Hovering around .500 for the last several weeks, the Knights find themselves in dire need of points in the coming weeks against a grueling schedule. CM has the balance of their Catholic Conference schedule coming with four games, including another matchup against MC, in the next two weeks.

What’s been most troubling, however, for Knight head coach Bill Hanson has been the team’s inability to finish in key situations.

“When you get chances, you have to bury them, and we haven’t,” Hanson said.

Unsatisfied with Saturday’s performance, Hanson added, “I’m so disappointed … I refuse to go down like that again. That was embarrassing.”

BOSTON -- Catholic Conference rivals No. 6 Catholic Memorial and No. 7 St. John’s Prep entered Monday’s holiday matinee hungry for a win. Both teams sat at 4-4-0 entering the matchup with the Eagles yet to notch a conference win on the season.

Despite controlling play for the greater part of two periods, it was CM who left Walter Brown Arena with a sub-.500 record. Prep struck for three third-period goals, including senior captain Sam Kurker’s third of game, in a 5-1 victory.

“It was a must-win game,” Kurker said of the Eagles’ mentality leading in.

CM (1-2-0 Catholic) outshot the Eagles, 21-12, through two periods, but trailed 2-1.

Prep goaltender David Letarte (25 saves) was instrumental in keeping the Knights at bay early. Not to mention, Letarte along with the Prep defense, helped limit CM to one goal despite seven power play opportunities, including two 5-on-3 situations during the third period.

“He made some big saves early in the game, to keep things close,” Eagles head coach Kristian Hanson said. “Even after they came back, 2-1, he made a big save after that. If it had gone to 2-2, the game could’ve went either way.”

Prep (1-3-0 Catholic) went to the room with a 1-0 lead after the first intermission.

With the Eagles on the forecheck, Kurker forced a turnover in the Knights’ end. His dish out front found Brian Pinho, who beat CM netminder Shane Starrett with a wristshot for a 1-0 lead at 8:28 of the first.

Starrett denied the Eagles from striking again in the period, stoning Tyler Bird on a 2-on-1 chance, in close, at the goalmouth with five minutes remaining.

The Eagles added to their lead four minuts into the second, with Kurker potting his his first of the game.

Jack O’Hear put CM on the board with a perfectly placed wristshot from the slot. The power play tally, assisted by Liam Coughlin, cut the deficit to one before the second imtermission.

“We were doing alright, we played exceptionally well for two periods,” CM head coach Bill Hanson said. “We were right there with the power play opportunities.”

However, the Knights had the wind kicked out of their sails with Kurker’s second of the game, which came 21 seconds into the third period.

From there, the Eagles dominated what once was a tight game. Prep junior Nick Gianelli netted his first goal of the season on a short-handed breakaway at 1:55. Kurker collected the hat trick with a power-play goal with 6:37 remaining.

“The last couple of games, we’ve have opportunities to score and we haven’t capitalized on them,” Kristian Hanson said. “Today, we had fewer opportunities, but we did a better job with the ones we had.”

POWER TO THE PK
As the Knights’ goal-scoring struggles continued, the Eagles bettered their percentage on the penalty kill, which has been among the state’s best in the first half of the season.

Along with top-line stalwarts Kurker and Pinho, the Eagles’ PK has been a well-rounded group, with contributions from players up and down the lines.

“Our PK’s been pretty strong all year,” Kristian Hanson said. “Sam [Kurker] and Brian [Pinho] kind of lead the way with that, but then we’ve had other guys step in there like [Nick] Gianelli and [Derek] Osbahr and [Nick] Bragole, those were guys that were on the JV last year. This year, they’ve been asked to step up and contribute on the PK and play significant minutes.”

KURKER ON ASCENT
Kurker received weighty praise last week when he was ranked 41st among North American skaters in the NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm draft rankings. As one of only two MIAA skaters (along with MC’s Brendan Collier) included on the list, it speaks volumes that Kurker was the second highest ranked skater with New England roots, following Kent School’s Cristoval Nieves.

The 6-foot-1, 198-pound winger was also the second highest ranked high schooler (behind Nieves) on the list.

The BU-commit credited the achievement to the hard work he’s put in the weight room, under the watchful eye of recently named Boston Red Sox strength coach Mike Boyle.

“It’s nice to get recognition, but you have to keep working hard," Kurker said. "That’s so far off [the draft] that you have to keep on working.”

BOSTON – Couldn’t have convinced anybody that No. 3 BC High would walk away with a 4-0 win over Catholic Conference rival sixth-ranked Catholic Memorial after the first period in Saturday’s matinee at Frozen Fenway.

The Eagles barely touched the offensive zone and were outshot, 12-3.

Then, something during the first intermission must have clicked.

“We were all nervous coming in because it’s a huge atmosphere,” Eagles senior assistant captain Bartley “Moe” Regan said. “We just bore down in the second period.”

With a renewed commitment to the forecheck, BC High (6-1-0, 2-1-0) scored the game’s first goal 39 seconds into the second period.

“We had [three] shots in the first period, and that’s unacceptable,” BC High head coach John Flaherty said. “I made sure [the team] understood that.”

Regan, the quarterback of the Eagles’ Super Bowl championship football team, now has a penchant for scoring big goals, netting what proved to be the game-winner of Saturday’s contest. Regan also potted the game-winner in the Eagles’ Catholic Conference-opener against St. John’s Prep.

Regan’s goal Saturday was his team-leading fifth of the season.

“He was a role player for us last year, but he’s been stepping up big for us this season,” senior captain Matt Sullivan said.

The Eagles kept coming with the onslaught through the second, when they outshot the Knights (4-4-0, 1-1-0) by a margin of 13-6.

Tom Besinger found Adam Foley on a perfectly executed 3-on-1 chance for a goal at 8:23.

Chris LaLiberte then put BC High to a 3-0 lead before the second intermission with the back-handed putback of a rebound with 1:29 remaining in the second.

Sullivan capped scoring with a top-shelf wrister at 5:35 of the third period, with an assist by Regan.

“That goal doesn’t happen but for Moe [Regan] getting on the forecheck,” Flaherty said. “And if there’s one guy that I want finishing a play, that’s 1-9 [Sullivan] because he can finish.”

CHANGING IT UP
BC High’s dominance of the second stemmed from an adjustment in how they attacked their transition game.

With the Eagles’ struggles to move out of their own end, playing on the wings in the first period, BC High started to look up the middle.

“We were trying to throw it up the wall a lot [in the first], then we noticed that the center was open on the breakout,” Sullivan said. “We just needed to pick our heads up and find that center.”

TREADING WATER
Not to be lost in the fray was BC High goaltender Peter Cronin’s third shutout of the season. While things got considerably easier for the junior in the later periods, Cronin (22 saves) was under siege at time in the first period and held the fort long enough for the Eagles to take off.

“It looked like we were a little bit in awe of the park,” Cronin said of the team’s slow start.

He added, “My teammates did a good job of keeping the shots to the outside, taking good angles to the puck.

NO PUCK LUCK
Goals have come at a premium for CM in the first half of the season.

The Knights have just 14 goals through eight contests, yet they’ve remained afloat largely thanks to a stingy defense. CM has allowed a league-best 14 goals against, which has helped keep the Knights at .500, despite the offensive outage.

“They’re a good team, they work tremendously hard, but we’ve got to start scoring goals,” CM head coach Bill Hanson said. “We can’t expect out goaltender to throw shutouts all the time.”

ALLSTON, Mass. – Showing great discipline in their defensive system, No. 4 Catholic Memorial beat ISL rival and fellow hockey powerhouse St. Sebastian’s, 2-1, Wednesday night at Harvard University’s Bright Hockey Center.

The Knights got 29 saves from junior goaltender Shane Starrett, but it was the efforts of the defensemen in front of the lanky goalie and the back check of CM’s forwards that helped ground the high-flying Arrows’ attack in the teams’ annual Kevin Mutch Cup game.

“Those five guys, they played terrific,” CM head coach Bill Hanson said of his blue-liners. “They played well because they knew they had support coming back from the forwards. They moved the puck well, they were opportunistic and our goaltender is our goaltender.”

Starrett was particularly strong in the second period, when St. Seb’s out-shot the Knights, 14-5.

Despite not putting a shot on goal through the first half of the period, the Knights took the advantage on the scoreboard, scoring two second-period goals.

John Malewicz found the back of the net on CM’s second shot of the period with 6:13 remaining. A little more than a minute later, senior captain and defenseman Jared Beckwith followed with the Knights’ second tally. Winger Beau Starrett took an assist on the play in addition to setting a screen in front of Arrows netminder Gordon Donnelly.

ADJUSTING ON THE FLY
Both teams exhibited supreme speed throughout. So it was the Arrows’ transition game that had Hanson worried during the first intermission.

“We had to make an adjustment,” Hanson said. “We concentrated on not letting them get chances in transition.”

In addition to limiting St. Seb’s chance coming through the neutral zone, the Knights sagged their forwards down low on defense, limiting the Arrows’ chances in close and keeping shots to the periphery.

“When you collapse all five guys down low, it makes it harder to those second and third chances,” St. Seb’s coach Sean McCann said. “We were focused more of creating offense off the rush by taking speed wide and then driving to the net hard.

“I think we’ve got to be able to create two ways, on the rush and in the offensive zone, whether it’s looking for a guy on the short side or getting shots on net. We have to get a little more traffic in front of the goaltender.”

ARROWS HAVE POINT
St. Seb’s has plenty of offensive firepower, and they’re young to boot. With eighth-grader Cameron Askew and ninth-grade defenseman Noah Hanifin garnering many headlines (both have already given commitments to Northeastern and BC, respectively), the Arrows will be a tough opponent in the Keller Division for years to come.

“We’re not the type of school that’s going to bring in juniors and senior to load up the team,” McCann said. “We’re a school that tries to bring in younger kids in, through the seventh, eighth and ninth grades and really develop them. That’s not going to change.

“But, when you have a good number of players returning from last season, and coming off a pretty successful season like last year, you expect those kids to mature and do better.”

The Arrows had several last-minute chances to tie the game. After a CM penalty with a little more than a minute to play in the third, the teams skated 4-on-4; St. Seb’s had an one-man advantage with Donnelly pulled from the net.

Although the Arrows were unable to finish and scrounge up the equalizer, there were a few things to take away:

1. Askew is the real deal: An exceptional rush, while splitting two CM defensemen during the second period was a rare lapse in the Knights’ otherwise solid night. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder came flying through the neutral zone, puck on a string, dangled and let off a back-hander that Starrett turned away. Along with his goal later in the period, Askew showed why he’s such a hot commodity at such a young age.
2. So is Danny O’Regan: While the youngsters grab more of the attention, let’s not forget about the senior captain, who’s scheduled to join a deep local class headed to Comm Ave. and join BU hockey in 2013. There was no better example of the hockey IQ he possesses than during a crucial point of the third period. With time winding down, O’Regan skated to a loose puck along the half wing boards. Then using his body, he shielded the puck from two on-coming CM defenders, creating a mismatch, before shoveling a nice saucer pass along the blue line for a shot from the point. It’s all those little things that help make good hockey teams and hockey players.

GOOD CAUSE
The Kevin Mutch Cup was awarded during a postgame ceremony. The annual matchup, which is dedicated in the memory of the former St. Seb’s and BU standout who was killed in 1992, is hosted by Mutch’s alma mater. The proceeds from the game are donated to Dana Farber.

“We always look forward to playing a team like CM, especially with their long and rich tradition there, like St. Sebastian’s does as well, it creates a great event that both teams look forward to,” McCann said. “It always means a lot going into this game and you could see it by the intensity of the game tonight.”

WEST ROXBURY, Mass. -- At halftime of Catholic Memorial's 50th annual Turkey Bowl against BC High, after the stadium at Catholic Memorial was renamed after Jim O'Connor and the field renamed in honor of the late Bro. Joseph G. McKenna, CM hockey coach Bill Hanson remembered coming to CM.

In a time before he coached at CM, the visit came under not-so-friendly conditions.

"It brings me back to when I was a senior in high school and I played for Boston Technical High School," Hanson said. "We came over and we lost to Catholic Memorial 12-8 that day, my first time having seen West Roxbury coming from South Boston."

Years later, O'Connor would hire Hanson, who has subsequently brought prestige to the CM hockey program, and in his opinion, this honor has been some time in the making.

"It's been long overdue," Hanson added.

"I never want you to apologize for the academic or athletic excellence," said O'Connor of the now-famous words Brother McKenna said to him during his interview for the CM football position. "It was emotional. A lot has happened over the last fifty years, so I was extrememly humbled."

After the ceremony, holding his trophy and donning a matching red tie and rose on his overcoat, the feeling hadn't changed much.

"I'm still humbled by it because it's a great honor and great responsibility," O'Connor said. "I hope to help them continue the great tradition of education and athletics here at Catholic Memorial in anyway I can."

O'Connor's son David was present at the ceremony and reminisced on the time when his father was still a coach on that field. Aside from Thursday's score, he was elated at how things have unfolded since then.

"Growing up and watching it all, seeing him coach for the first twenty years of my life was amazing," David O'Connor said. "To see where that has evolved into this ceremony is amazing. We couldn't be anymore proud as a family."

At halftime of the 50th annual Turkey Bowl between Catholic Memorial and BC High, the Knights will honor longtime football coach and athletic director Jim O'Connor by dedicating the newly resurfaced turf field in his name.

O'Connor was the first football coach in CM history, building the program from the ground up in 1961. Coaching under the mantra of 'Poise and Class,' O'Connor remained at the helm for 19 years, guiding the Knights to three state championships, two of which were Super Bowl titles, before stepping down in 1979 with a career record of 146-44-6.

O'Connor also assumed the position of athletic director at Catholic Memorial from 1972 through 1992, served another ten years in the same capacity at Framingham High School before retiring, then joined the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) as the Tournament Director for football and the Division 1A 'Super 8' hockey postseason where he still works today.

Catholic Memorial will forever be his home, however, as he and his wife Mary live within minutes of the Baker Street campus.

"He and Mary have always been the face of Catholic Memorial," said Knights longtime hockey coach Bill Hanson, who was hired by O'Connor in 1974. "I don't care how many years they weren’t here, they are the face of Catholic Memorial. I've never felt differently about that. They have gone to more hockey games than any other two people I know. When he was at Framingham, I felt like he still was affiliated with CM and I looked at him in that regard the whole time."

It's hard to imagine a world in which O'Connor is not linked to CM, but if it weren't for a risk he took shortly after college, things could have turned out much different.

A LIFE DECISION IN THE MAKING
In 1961, Jim O'Connor was a fresh-faced graduate of Curry College working as a teacher and assistant football coach at Hull High School when a persistent old friend named Packy Hughes started contacting him about a potential job opening at a private school in West Roxbury.

"I had no interest at all," O'Connor recalled with a laugh. "I was in my second year at Hull and the head coach [Jimmy Wheeler] was leaving to take over at Weymouth High. People had told me I was going to move right into his spot so I really had no interest. I said to Packy two or three times that I had a good thing at Hull and if it works out I’d probably stay there for a while and try to do teaching and coaching thing in public schools."

Hughes persisted and ultimately talked O'Connor into meeting with Brother Joseph McKenna, who was desperate to start a football program at CM. While he was somewhat reluctant to leave the relative security of his job at Hull, Brother McKenna ultimately sold O'Connor when he looked him in the eye and said, 'I want a man that won’t apologize for excellence in academics and athletics. I want good students but I want to have good teams.'

That told O'Connor that he would have support from within the administration, and he finally felt comfortable about making the leap. It helped that his wife Mary was also excited excited to move closer to the city, as both grew up in Boston's Mission Hill and were graduates of Mission High School.

"I got right back to him after a day or two and took the job," O'Connor said. "They gave me a used dryer. Upstairs they had a laundry room with a washer and dryer that the Brothers used and they were getting a bigger dryer. They said they could give me a teaching salary but a coaching salary wasn't in the budget. But they had a used dryer they could give me."

"We bought a house about half a mile from (Catholic Memorial) and Brother O’Callahan helped me lug it into the house," O'Connor continued, laughing at the memory. "From that point on, every time Mary did the wash, the diapers came out damp because the dryer only went to a certain heating point."

BUILDING A PROGRAM
The Knights went 4-5-1 in O'Connor's first year, but entered the very first Thanksgiving Day game against BC High with a perfect 8-0 record on the line in year two. The games were held at Boston College in those days and drew tremendous crowds from both sides. CM won that day and went on to win its very first state championship the following week.

O'Connor would guide the Knights to three Super Bowls, including the very first one in 1972, which they lost. The Knights rebounded the following season to win the 1973 Super Bowl, then won it again in 1978, the last year in which the squad reached the postseason.

In his 19 years as head coach, the CM football team won seven league championships. O'Connor was named Division 2 Coach of the Year in 1978, and would be enshrined in the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1983.

Some of O'Connor's fondest memories involve coaching against the late Jim Cotter, who took over at BC High in 1964 and whose grandson, Bartley Regan, will be starting at quarterback for the Eagles on Thursday.

"In 1964, Jimmy Cotter took over as head coach after being an assistant to [former BC High coach] Ted [Gilligan]. Jimmy and I were great rivals and great friends and I think both of us were insistent on the fact that there would never be a problem between the schools, both on or off the field, and there never was."

A MENTOR TO A PAIR OF KNIGHTS COACHING LEGENDS
Since being hired by O'Connor to coach the Knights hockey team in 1974, Bill Hanson has presided over a dynasty that has won 20 Catholic Conference championships, 17 state titles and 13 Super 8 crowns and six national championships.

However, aside from several photographs of players and teams he's coached, the only affectation from all of Hanson's successes that he keeps close by in his office in the guidance wing at CM is a plaque given him after his Knights won back-to-back titles in 1994-95. The inscription reads as follows:

"Having the courage and class to remain on top is the severest test of a true champions character” - Jim O’Connor

Hanson spent two years as an assistant under former coach Paul O'Brien before O'Brien had to step down in lieu of a successful business he was running at the time. Hanson no previous coaching experience, yet O'Connor had no hesitation in tabbing him as O'Brien's replacement. in turn, Hanson admits to having learned a great deal from O'Connor, who became a friend and mentor over the years and remains so to this day.

"His personal skills and how he deals with people and makes everybody feel important," Hanson said of what he took from O'Connor. "You can really screw up and there was never hell to pay for it. He said things in a way that really made you understand what you did and whatever you did, you didn’t make the same mistake twice after talking to Coach."

Hanson went on, "He had that type of almost a mystical influence on people, especially me. I’m a pretty high strung guy and he knew all the right nerves to touch on me. He let me do what I knew best but he could pull the reins on me and say hey, this is the way you might want to do things. He never told you, he never said how you have to do it. He just taught you to think about things and look for a better way, and when you eventually got there, you knew it was Coach’s way."

Current head football coach and athletic director Alex Campea first arrived at Catholic Memorial to work for O'Connor as the junior varsity coach in 1977 at the recommendation of then-assistant coach Steve Fratalia.

"What impressed me when I interviewed for the JV job about Coach O’Connor was that he was so friendly, so open, so interested in me as a person and that I was so interested in coaching in his program," Campea recalled. "I could see that he was one of those guys who wanted people on his coaching staff that had a passion about football."

After several years, Campea left to become the head coach at Christopher Columbus High School and eventually moved on to coach at Bridgewater State before returning to CM in 1990, coaching the Knights baseball team to a pair of South sectional finals and three league titles.

In 2004, Campea returned to the gridiron and has been the Knights coach ever since while also holding the position of A.D. Like Hanson, Campea also proudly calls O'Connor a friend and mentor and never lets a day go by without utilizing some of the knowledge gleaned from his working alongside him.

"From Jim O’Connor, the thing that always stood out was the manner in which he was always prepared, day in and day out," Campea said. "He’s as organized a person as I’ve ever seen. The way he would talk to his team, the way he would prepare his team, the way he prepare practice schedules and making sure everyone knew what they were doing at a certain time."

He continued, "Organizational skills was one of the things that Coach O’Connor was always adamant about and I really feel as that's something I’ve made part of my makeup as far as being a football coach is concerned."

EXCITED TO HAVE THE KNIGHTS BACK IN THE TITLE HUNT
There is a buzz around campus as Catholic Memorial prepares to face BC High in the 50th Annual Turkey Bowl. The Knights and the Eagles are both 3-0 in Catholic Conference play and the winner of Thursday's tilt will go on to the Division playoffs and face Chelmsford.

The excitement of the season has brought many great memories back for the last man to coach CM to the postseason, and O'Connor likens this year's group his 1973 Super Bowl championship squad. That team was built around speed and a dynamic running back in David Singleton, someone whom O'Connor likened to current Knights star Armani Reeves.

But most of all, O'Connor is excited to see Catholic Memorial fighting for a chance to win a championship once again.

"It's a great experience for kids and I'm so thrilled that its happened this way," O'Connor praised. "The years have gone by and the kids in the school here, they don't know what the playoffs and the Super Bowl is all about. It's great to see the excitement amongst the kids in the school and amongst the team.

"Campy’s doing a great of taking one game at a time," O'Connor continued. "We used to call it 'play with poise and class.' I see a lot of it this year in the kids. They seem to be a team that makes the big plays. Teams have to have playmakers and they have four kids that certainly are playmakers. That's something special to, to have that."

JAMES R. O'CONNOR STADIUM
Adding to the excitement of the game will be the halftime ceremony in which the field will be officially renamed for O'Connor.

"It really hasn’t set in yet," he admits. "I've had kind of a very charmed career. Luckily I was scuccessful here and then at Framingham as an administrator for ten years. I look back on it and CM was just a great place for me. When I made that decision to leave Hull and to come here, it was risky. And yet I never had a bad day at CM."

As far as Hanson is concerned, its an honor that has been a long time in coming and is something he hopes will reinvigorate pride amongst students and alumni in the football program.

"I think its fabulous that he’s back and he’s going to visible here now," Hanson stated. "There’s a lot of guys that don’t know Coach. The younger generation, kids who are in their 20s and early 30s that are going to look back and say 'Wow, this is the guy who built the program.' I just hope a lot of his former players, and I'm sure they will, will be here. Thats really going to open up some eyes on Thursday."

And for the man currently charged with upholding his mentor's legacy both on the football field and as the A.D., Campea simply couldn't be prouder to be a part of it.

"I’m honored and privileged to have the opportunity to say that I’m part of the Catholic Memorial community that Jim O’Connor helped establish," says Campea proudly. "It was not just our athletic program. He was a teacher, he was a guidance counselor. Yes, football was where he put us on the map but he did so much to make this school successful both on and off the field. I find myself now sitting in the chair that he once occupied, which I feel very privileged to do."

(Updated at 4:30 p.m. with Noonan comment)

Catholic Memorial graduate Garrett Noonan, who now plays for Jack Parker at BU, was selected by the Nashville Predators in the fourth round, 112th overall, of the NHL Entry Draft.

Noonan, a native of Norfolk, Mass., was co-captain of the Knights and posted 34 points (12 G, 22 A) in 30 contests during the 2008-09 season for Coach Bill Hanson. He was named co-MVP of the Catholic Conference in 2009 after helping CM to a Super 8 championship.

“Playing at CM was a great experience for me, it gave me a lot of confidence," Noonan said via telephone Saturday afternoon. "[Coach Hanson] was great to me and my family. I felt I owed it to the program to stay loyal and stay there for all four years and not go to juniors."

Noonan also shared his advice for today's high school players who are thinking about making the jump to juniors: "I think more kids would be better off staying [in high school].”

He added, "That's an experience you don't get to replicate."

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound defenseman played with the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League before playing his freshman season with the Terriers last season.

Catholic Memorial senior defenseman Marc Hetnik will be playing hockey at Boston University, joining its 2012 recruiting class, Knights head coach Bill Hanson has confirmed.

Hetnik, along with Hanson, met with Terriers head coach Jack Parker on Thursday morning. The Chestnut Hill resident will play a year of juniors before heading to Commonwealth Ave., with the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League and the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League emerging as top targets.

The Knights blue liner was also considering Boston College, Merrimack and Holy Cross among other schools.

More on this story to come.

REVERE, Mass. -- History was not lost on Kristian Hanson.

In 1991, Hanson was a member of St. John’s Prep’s hockey team which played in the first-ever Super Eight tournament. That year, and for the next three years of Hanson’s high school career, Catholic Conference rival Catholic Memorial skated away with the title.

Friday afternoon at Cronin Memorial Skating Rink, behind Prep’s bench, Hanson had the opportunity to do what had never been done before: prohibit the Knights from reaching the Super Eight field.

Lifted by a two-goal performance by junior forward Sam Kurker and a two-point game from freshman Shane Eiserman, the second-ranked Eagles did the unthinkable, ending CM’s season on the last day of the regular season with a 3-1 win.

“They [the players] were aware of the ramifications,” Hanson said. “And bottom line is that we didn’t want to face them in the Super Eight. We had the chance to knock them out of the Super Eight today and not have to play them next week.

“Do you want to face a Coach Bill Hanson team in the Super Eight? Not really.”

Needing two points to qualify for the postseason tournament, the ninth-ranked Knights (8-10-2) sweated it out to the last day of the regular season. After dropping a 2-1 decision at Connecticut power Fairfield Prep on Wednesday, CM entered Friday’s game — a rescheduled makeup from a snow date — posed with a do-or-die test.

Despite taking the first lead of the game on Thomas Stanton’s second-period goal, the Knights were held off the board by a tightening defense and were unable to catch the Eagles as seconds clicked down in the third period. The result was CM missing out on postseason play for the first time in 26 years.

“We went into the third period in 18 of 20 games either up, tied or down by one against the tough competition we played,” Knights head coach Bill Hanson said. “The sad part about it is that tomorrow morning when they make the Super Eight pairings, and the teams that make the tournament, or the teams that were in contention, we beat most of the them.

“We have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing at all.”

In the end, for CM, it all came down to offense and the ability to consistently find the back of the net.

It looked as though the Knights had found some puck luck in the second period, however, when Stanton cashed in for a 1-0 CM lead. The junior center played a puck to the slot from behind the goal line. But the directed pass caught a glance of netminder David Letarte’s pad and deflected into the net.

However, Prep (14-5-1) answered, striking for two goals in the final two-plus minutes of the period.

Eiserman was on the finishing end of some pretty transition play, knocking home a laser-guided pass from captain Colin Blackwell with 2:14 to play in the period. Defenseman Nick Pandelena also added an assist on the play.

Eiserman helped set up Kurker’s goal with 31 seconds remaining in the second. The freshman winger dug the puck out of the corner and fed Kurker in the slot before finishing on the backhand.

CM went to the room resolved to dig themselves out of a hole.

“We just wanted to force the issue in their end,” Bill Hanson said. “We wanted to use the forecheck, be stronger on the puck.”

The Knights had several marvelous opportunities to notch the equalizer in the third, including a power play in the first minute. CM placed four shots on goal during the man-advantage only to see Letarte (24 saves) kick them out, or, in other instances, have Scott Derrickson come to Letarte’s aid.

“That would have given them momentum,” Letarte said, “[Scott] Derrickson was out there and saved my butt on one of them.”

Derrickson served as goalie by proxy during one skirmish in the front of the Eagles’ net, bailing out Letarte by making a stop in front of an gaping net.

It would be as close as CM would get. Despite lobbing 12 shots on goal during the third period, the Knights were all but done in when Kurker slid home an empty-netter with 54 seconds remaining.

“Last year, we went one and one with them,” Kurker said. “It was nice to take both games this year and knock them out of the tournament.”

That doesn’t mean the Eagles’ path ended there. They are likely to be among the top of the Super Eight seedings when they are announced Saturday morning.

“Now, we just have to move on to all the other great teams we’ll have to play,” Derrickson said.

BOSTON – It’s always a battle when longtime Catholic Conference BC High and Catholic Memorial meet and Saturday’s latest installment of the storied rivalry was no different. But it saw the two teams moving in different directions.

As the seventh-ranked Eagles held on for a 5-4 win with a wild third period, BC High clinched a spot in the MIAA tournament in fashion with the victory over their rival in the Dr. Edward M. Wright Memorial game played at Walter Brown Arena.

“We qualified, which is big,” first-year Eagles head coach John Flaherty said. “That’s been our goal, as we’ve said before, making the tournament is what you want to do and this gets us over the 20-points to qualify. Now, we see where everything else falls.”

BC High (9-4-3, 2-4-1) trailed for portions of the game, but the teams were tied 2-2 heading into the second intermission. The Eagles entered the third period with purpose in a three-goal outburst. CM fought back with two goals to counter, but the comeback bid fell short.

Marc Hetnik opened scoring on a beautiful end-to-end rush on a Knights’ power play with 3:24 remaining in the first.

CM took the 1-0 lead to the dressing room, but Eagles freshman defenseman Matt Doherty tied the game with another unassisted goal. A little more than a minute later, Kevin McCarthy scored his first of two goals with a power-play marker 5:27 into the second.

BC High struck again and the momentum shifted before the period was out on Sean Talbot’s power-play blast from the top of the circle with 1:17 left. Talbot jumped into the play off the Eagles bench, stepping in for Terence Durkin, who was shaken up on a check in the corner. Matt Sullivan found Talbot streaking up the middle of ice with the feed.

“We were on our heels a little bit with penalty kill after penalty kill,” Flaherty said after BC High was tasked with killing four CM power play opportunities until that point, “Then getting that one at the end was huge.”

The Eagles had a jump in their step in the third, stringing together three straight goals from Tom Besinger, Durkin and Jake Tenaglia to knock the Knights on their heels.

McCarthy countered with his second of the game and Jack O’Hear added another one late for CM, but only added up to another missed opportunity.

The third-ranked Knights, who sit at .500 with a 7-7-1 overall record and 2-4-1 mark in conference, still have a ways to go before they punch a ticket to the postseason.

And, with another game down, those opportunities are running short. Not to mention, CM’s slate in their remaining games is far from easy with out-of-state challenges against Mount St. Charles, Bishop Hendricken and Connecticut’s Fairfield Prep, in addition to a final league game against No. 6 St. John’s Prep and non-leaguer against No. 2 Weymouth.

“You can really look at those five goals and say that somebody just didn’t do what they were told,” Knights head coach Bill Hanson said. “BC High is good and they capitalized on it. Obviously, Flash [Flaherty] is doing a tremendous job with them. They got good goaltending when they needed it and that was it.”

MARSTERS OF THE UNIVERSE
Senior forward Mike Marsters was named the game’s MVP and received the 11th Edward M. Wright Award in a postgame ceremony.

Flaherty said it was a fitting honor to a player who oftentimes doesn’t get the recognition he deserves in what he puts into the team.

Meanwhile, Marsters was simply happy to be headed back to the postseason with his teammates.

“We moved the puck really and worked hard,” Marsters said. “We never stopped working in the corners We kept the pressure on them and got pucks to the net. Everybody did their jobs today.”

BOSTON –- Tuesday was something of coming out party for Shane Eiserman. After the St. John’s Prep freshman forward netted a hat trick and factored in each of the Eagles’ goals in a 4-2 victory over Catholic Memorial at Walter Brown Arena, he was razzed by his teammates outside the locker room.

But Eiserman couldn’t help thanking his teammates for what they’d contributed to a crucial Catholic Conference victory.

“The defensemen really stepped up huge today, like Scott Derrickson played unbelievable,” Eiserman said. “It was just a huge win, offensively, defensively, it was just an all-around great win.”

Eiserman immediately put his stamp on the game, tallying Prep’s first goal a little more than 2:30 into the first period with assists from Christian Gutowski and Joe Currie. He went on to net the game-winning goal with nine minutes remaining and capped off the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

He also picked up an assist on Derrickson’s second-period goal.

“Shane’s fortunate to be able to handle that part of the game as a freshman, obviously, he’s a pretty big kid,” Eagles head coach Kristian Hanson said. “He’s just dedicated to the game.”

Aside from the first-year player’s exploits, the sixth-ranked Eagles (9-4-1, 4-3-0) dictated play for long stretches and outshot the No. 3 Knights, 30-13. Although sophomore goaltender Shane Starrett did his best to keep CM (7-6-1, 2-3-1) close in a 26-save performance, the Knights simply were their own worst enemy.

“We just didn’t have the compete level against them as we have against other teams,” Knights head coach Bill Hanson said. “We’re not as skilled as they are and unless we compete and win those little battles, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Despite falling behind, CM rallied to tie the game on Liam Coughlin’s power play goal with 3:08 remaining in the first.

However, Prep went to the room with a one-goal lead after Derrickson’s blast from the point on Eiserman’s face off win. It was just a small sampling of the Eagles’ dominance inside the circle as Prep’s centers took 27 draws against CM’s 12 face-off wins.

The Knights worked to tie the game once again in the second when sophomore defenseman Justin Ryder followed his shot into the goal (literally) off a 3-on-2 chance.

Prep took the lead for good in the third when Eiserman got some help from a talented senior linemate.

“He’s such a good player,” he said of winger Colin Blackwell. “It’s awesome to play with him. He makes me a better player on the ice.”

Blackwell put Eiserman’s game-winner into motion with a tremendous individual effort down the right wing boards. The Harvard commit sidestepped two Knights’ checks coming through the neutral zone before working the puck into the slot with a tape-to-tape pass onto Eiserman’s stick.

From there, the Eagles continued to clamp down on defense in front of netminder David Letarte, including a crucial penalty kill midway through the third period. Along with an impressive display of shot blocking, there was much to be impressed with in the Eagles’ effort.

“I think it’s a credit to the effort we put in defensively,” Kristian Hanson said. “We really made a conscious effort the last several games to the defensive side of the game and the kids have responded well to that. We’re playing our best hockey right and we have to continue doing that because we haven’t qualified for everything yet.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Make no mistake about it, No. 5 Catholic Memorial’s 5-2 win over Catholic Conference rival Xaverian Tuesday night wasn’t a one-man show. Even though, at times, it may have appeared as such.

Chris Stathopoulos’ four-goal outburst helped the Knights out of an early 2-0 hole. Three of his goals were of the unassisted variety. But it wasn’t just Stathopoulos who led CM to victory. A persistent forecheck, some clutch penalty kills and the consistent play of Stathopoulos and linemates Tom Barrett and Kevin McCarthy were the driving force behind a crucial midseason victory.

“We just came out and played hard,” Stathopoulos said. “It’s not an individual effort, it’s a team effort. So I went out there with the boys and we got shots on net and we put it in the net.”

The fourth-ranked Hawks responded to head coach David Spinale’s call to carry play early in game with two goals within the first two minutes of play.

Xaverian (7-2-1, 2-1-0) scored on two of its first three shots on goal. Greg McWade was on the finishing end of some pretty transition, taking Billy Hildebrand’s feed and beating Knights netminder Shane Starrett (17 saves) stick side. Ryan Hall followed less than a minute later, banging home a rebound from the top of the crease off of Jason Salvaggio’s shot.

CM (7-5-0, 2-2-0) also scored on its first shot of the game, answering with Stathopoulos’ first marker of the evening 2:43 in.

After a fast start, neither team could find the net – despite some golden opportunities for the Knights to tie the game – until the nine-minute mark of the second period, when Barrett scored with assists from McCarthy and Stathopoulos.

“That line has really played terrific and they’ve carried for two games,” CM head coach Bill Hanson said of his second line.

As in the teams’ first meeting of the season, a 3-2 Xaverian win, Hawks goaltender Dave Michaels (32 saves) was again strong in net. But that didn’t stop Stathopoulos from taking over the third period, when he netted even-strength, short-handed and empty-net goals.

However, Hanson was most pleased with his team’s effort with a man-down in the third. He’s self-admittedly changed philosophy, allowing his team to play more aggressive on the penalty kill to take advantage of his team’s athleticism. The changes paid off with three successful kills within a five-minute span midway through the third.

“I thought we beat ourselves,” Hawks head coach Dave Spinale said. “On that fourth goal, we were on the power play. We turned it over and then we came back in our end and gave up a softy. We didn’t have poise, we didn’t have composure.”

Hanson labeled the game a “must-win” for the Knights, noting his team can match No. 2 Malden Catholic in the win column in the Catholic Conference standings with a victory over the Lancers on Saturday (2 p.m. at Walter Brown).

And while one player might have shouldered the load during last night’s test, the most encouraging sign was effort starting with his second line and permeating the roster — something Hanson knows is paramount if the Knights are to make a deep postseason run.

“I told the kids, just because one guy scored four goals, that doesn’t mean that he won the game,” Hanson said. “The whole team played terrific.”