By: SDSSAA Puck
Let’s rewind back about a year. The St. Charles Cardinals returned to the SDSSAA Division One Finals not just with a hope to win, but an expectation to win. Meanwhile, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights had enjoyed a resurgent season within their hockey program, finishing third after the regular season and upsetting second-place powerhouse l’Horizon Aigles in the semifinals.
The expectation was that the Knights would put up a little bit of a fight, but the undefeated Cardinals would still make quick work of them. So everyone was shocked when Lo-Ellen took back-to-back OT victories in games one and two to suddenly put themselves a game away from the title.
With their backs to the wall, the Cards took game three in a shootout and game four in regulation time to set up a do-or-die game five at Countryside. In front of an estimated crowd of nearly 1,000, the game ended in another shootout. Cards senior cornerstone Jacob Hayes scored the only goal of the shootout on the second attempt while junior goaltender Declan McNamara, now playing for the U18 AAA Wolves, stoned all three Knights shooters to save his team from their most dire situation and maintain their crown as city champions once again.
Now, the two teams are set to square off once again on the same stage. But a lot can change over the course of a year.
Let’s start with St. Charles. Ever since 2010, the Cards have won the city hockey title ten of a possible fourteen times, including the last four dating back to pre-COVID. All these titles have come under coaches Rob Zanatta and Darren Michelutti, who have become legends within the school and are once again back behind the bench for this season. In total, the team has won thirty-seven city titles dating back to 1957, marking their place as the undisputed greatest high school team in the history of the city.
This year, despite a noticeable roster turnover, the Cards have not changed a bit. Key departing players such as Jacob Hayes, Tyler Thibodeau, and Jaden Shawana have been replaced by a new talented core of juniors spearheaded by Liam Judd, Jackson Noble, Nolan Corriveau, and goaltender Rowan McCann.
In addition, notable returning players such as captain Carter Danyluk and Hayden Myre have contributed greatly on the ice while also filling the room full of rookies with all the experience they need on how to carry their team’s storied tradition of winning. The Cardinals have gone a perfect 15-0-0 in the regular season, outscoring their opponents 100-19. In the semifinals, they obliterated the fourth seed Confederation Chargers, outscoring them by a combined 24-2 in a two-game sweep.
On the other end of the ice, you have Lo-Ellen. Despite winning the city title in 2019 (ironically defeating St. Charles in five games), they ended the first season since COVID not even in the first division. They managed to get back there the following season, improving to fourth overall, but were manhandled in the semifinals by who else but the Cardinal Red. And after the success that was last season, you have this season, where the Knights finished with a staggering record of 13-2-0 and swept l’Horizon in the semifinals.
This Knights team is led by a deep, well-rounded core of almost all seniors, from the towering leading scorer Riley Graffi to the hard-hitting defensive captain Cale Prpic. In addition, juniors such as Lincoln Lachance, Jayden Ceming, and the goalie tandem of Dax Yurich and William Ford have provided all the help they need to be in the title race for the first time in years. The Knights' current leading playoff scorer is senior defenseman Max Arnold, who was temporarily moved to forward after an injury to star player Ethan Oliver, who is expected to return in the finals series.
“Most of our team are in their second or third year in high school hockey, meaning we have been through the experience of the finals and know what it takes to win this year,” says Arnold. “Everybody knows their roles for this upcoming series, and we are aware that SCC is a powerhouse team. We have learned from last year that it will take everything we have and lots of effort to take them on this year. Nobody wants to lose like we did last year.”
When it comes to the season series, the teams have played a total of three times. St. Charles took all three, but there has been a noticeable trend with the scores of those games, going from 5-2 to 3-1 to most recently 6-5 with the Knights dominating the shot count 30-20. Will they finally catch up in the finals, or will the Cardinals pull away to win their eleventh city title in fifteen years? The series begins on Thursday, February 20th at Tom Davies Arena.
In addition, the finals for Division Two is also set between the Bishop Alexander Carter Gators and the Lively Hawks. The Gators have experienced somewhat of a ‘zero to hero’ season, going from winless the previous season to being atop the second division this season. The Hawks have been stuck in the lower tier of the league for the past few years but are hoping to begin a bright future with a title. The first game of that series is Wednesday, February 19th at Tom Davies Arena.