The lofty preseason goal of playing in a postseason game has been dashed, but there's still plenty of optimism for the Amesbury hockey team.
With four games remaining in the fifth year of the union with Whittier Tech, this year's version appears to have turned a critical corner.
"They're giving us the effort and the record will change over the course of time," said second-year coach Chris Kuchar, whose club is 5-10-1 going into tonight's game vs. Lynnfield. "(Except for three games) we've had all one- and two-goal losses. These are 1-goal games going into the third period.
"Amesbury hasn't had the opportunity to be in games (in seasons past), so this is a culture change. Instead of let's hope we don't lose this game, it's let's play to win. It's a mindset."
Successive losses to North Andover and Masconomet by a combined three goals quashed its postseason chances.
Season-ending injuries to captain and leading scorer Tony Licciardello, a junior from Whittier, and goalie Jeff Bucyk, a junior from Amesbury who is the grandson of Hall of Famer Johnny Bucyk of Bruins fame, have been tough to overcome.
"It's an uphill challenge at this point," said Kuchar, who was a senior captain at Haverhill High in 1989. "But the kids are so resilient. They work so hard with all these kids out. (Last week) in practice we had nine kids out."
The upturn in fortune also has increased support at Whittier.
"My freshman year there were only five or six," said senior defenseman Tyler Daniels, one of eight Whittier students on the roster. "This year, we have a good number from Whittier playing on JV and varsity.
"My freshman year they didn't really talk much about it (Whittier). But then my sophomore year they started having the announcements for the games and tryouts. This year there's been more support, because we've won more games. More people are starting to come to the games, and there are more people in the school talking about the team."
Maybe winning a fifth game wouldn't be cause for celebration for most programs, but for one that, according to Kuchar, had gone 3-67-8 the previous four seasons, it is.
And considering the six seniors on the roster have combined to score only 18 of the team's 55 points this season, the future appears brighter.
"We have one year of our system in place," said Kuchar. "We have one year of expectations in place. Our expectations are to work hard and be accountable. The kids that came back know we mean business. We mean to turn this program around. We're not here just to show up and play (recreation) hockey. We're here for a reason."
Brandon Bass 1-on-1
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Blanton happy to be healthy and contributing
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