 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Next Practice is:
Tue 07/08/2008 6:20 PM at the Chiller Easton |
|
Next Game is:
vs. at the |
| Home |
| About the Program |
| Staff |
| Varsity Roster |
| Varsity Schedule |
| Varsity Statistics |
| JV Roster |
| JV Schedule |
| In The News |
| Alumni News |
| Rinks |
| GCHSCHL (League Site) |
| Sponsorship |
| Links |
| Administrator |
|
Please visit our sponsors.
|
|
Proud members of:
|
|
2005-2006 Season Recap
|
This year's team lost 5 key players to graduation (4 forwards and 1 defenseman) and had their starting goaltender Miles McGrew (Pickerington North) move to Michigan. The team lost the 2005 GCHSCHL scoring champion in Anthony Kantor (Pickerington North) and a lot of veteran leadership. The Prowlers were going to be a lot younger and less experienced for 2005-2006, but that didn't stop them from posting a record of 14-7-3 (31 points) in the GCHSCHL (19-15-3 Overall) and do a good job of retooling instead of rebuilding under forth year head coach Marty Laroche. This season was a chance for many players to step up and show their worth and there was no position that exemplified that more than in goal. With only 42 minutes of experience in just 3 game appearances in 2005, junior Justin Lohrman (Pickerington North) showed his value to the Prowlers going 16-14-3, posting an .849 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average while playing in all but four of the Prowlers 37 contests. He was complimented between the pipes by juniors Darren Coykendall (Reynoldsburg) and Nick Stypinski (Gahanna Christian) who were getting their first high school experience while splitting duty between the varsity and JV clubs. The Prowler blue line seemed to be the stabilizing force for the team all season long. Junior defenders Cody Berkebile and Brian Rossi (both Pickerington North) anchored the group with both defensive dependability and providing an offensive threat with the duo combining for 61 points (Berkebile 19G-25A-44PTS, Rossi 2G-15A-17PTS). Along with the veteran leadership and physical play of four year Prowler, senior defenseman Jeff Laird (Pickerington Central) and sophomore Zach Waird (Watkins Memorial), the blue line corps was one of the Prowlers best yet. Junior Loren Chrisman (Pickerington North) provided versatility for the Prowlers and the addition of hard hitting sophomore Ryan Straker (Licking Heights) rounded out the six man unit. Under assistant coach Jay C. Catherine the Prowler defense was able to help balance the inexperience in goal by allowing a stingy 17.3 shots per game to keep the Prowlers at 2.81 goals against per game and just 2.5 goals per game in league play. The one thing that the Prowlers had on their side this season was the return of senior Taylor Walcutt (Pickerington North) who led the league with 29 goals last season and junior Nick Hess (Pickerington Central) who finished right behind him with 26. Four of their top seven point getters had graduated, headlined by the departure of Kantor, the 2005 GCHSCHL point leader. The big questions for the Prowlers would be if the duo would be able to put up those kind of numbers again and who would step in as their supporting cast? The answer would present itself in the form of freshman Adam McGrath (Pickerington North). McGrath stepped in to center the top line between Walcutt and Hess and produced the highest totals ever by a freshman Prowler with 46 points (23G-23A) in 37 games. McGrath led the team along with Walcutt by scoring 9 power play goals and was their game breaker with 5 game winning goals and one game tying goal. In addition to his offensive abilities, McGrath was the team's most consistent center in the face off circle winning better than 72% of his draws and was second on the team with a plus 28 rating. As a result of McGrath's inclusion in the lineup, Hess went on to lead the league in assists with 26 and finished second in points with 40 while posting a total of 57 points (24G-33A) in 34 games to lead the Prowlers in both points and assists. Walcutt went on to win his second consecutive GCHSCHL goal scoring title netting 22 goals and finished with 48 points (28G-20A) in 37 games. The question of supporting cast was resolved by three other Prowlers moving from the depth chart to the forefront. Another freshman made a big splash in the lineup as Brad Noskowiak (Reynoldsburg) provided an additional 23 points (16G-7A) to finish in the top 20 GCHSCHL players in points as a freshman while providing 4 power play goals, two game winners and finishing second on the team in face off percentage. Along with McGrath, Noskowiak was one of only two freshmen on the GCHSCHL All-Star roster. Along with the freshmen additions, it was the stepped up play of sophomores Luke Wilkins and Austin Zurbriggen (both Canal Winchester) that helped round out the Prowler offense. Wilkins finished fifth on the team with 26 points (11G-15A) up from 9 a year ago, while Zurbriggen increased his output to 17points (5G-12A). Senior captain Ben French (Pickerington Central) led the rest of the team with 16 points (7G-9A) in just 29 games played due to a late season injury. He and fellow four year Prowler Nick Miller (Pickerington North) were sparks to the team with Miller providing his usual physically inspired play. Significant offensive contributions were also made by juniors Geoff Killan and Max Matsanoff (both Pickerington North) and sophomores Tommy Newhard (Bishop Hartley) and Taylor Markell (Pickerington North) who rounded out the Prowler forward lines. A year ago the team posted an amazing 5.79 goals per game. This year they slipped by a goal to 4.75 goals per game, but still led the league in that category. In all, the team had 6 skaters with 10 or more goals and 20 or more points, and 13 skaters overall with double digits in points. Once the season began, the team seemed to be on a course for disaster. In their openening contest they went to the final second before Walcutt scored the game winning goal in a 1-0 win over Olentangy (10/31/2005). That would be one of only three wins through the team's first 12 games. It was not until a tough 2-1 loss at Athens (12/02/2005) after the Thanksgiving break that the team would turn things around. The Prowlers lost only four of their final 16 games down the stretch to move up to second place in the GCHSCHL standings (14-7-3,31PTS) and end up just three points behind the Athens Bobcats (16-6-2, 34PTS). The Bobcats started the season 12-0-2 before the Prowlers handed them their first loss of the season 4-2 (01/08/2006) just after the New Year break. Just as they did in the regular season, the Prowlers took the hard road in the GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup Championship Tournament, facing every league team except for Newark in the tournament. They started out with an 11-3 win over the seventh seed Northeast Storm (02/16/2006) in the Thursday game before dropping their second round game 6-5 in a hard fought battle with the Westerville Warcats on Friday (02/17/2006). The marathon trip back to the Cup Finals included a 6-0 win over the forth seed Hilliard Wildcats Saturday morning (02/18/2006), a 4-3 victory over the fifth seed Olentangy Braves Saturday night (02/18/2006), and a 4-3 overtime win over the number one seed Athens Bobcats on Sunday morning (02/19/2006) to force a rematch with the Warcats Sunday afternoon. Playing their fifth game in 41 hours as a result of a second round loss, the Prowlers were a weary bunch. They knew they forced the sudden death game in the 2005 Cup Finals and were looking to again until injuries to Berkebile and McGrath dashed those hopes. As the Prowlers battled back from behind to bring the game within a tying goal it was not enough as the Warcats scored an empty net goal in the final minute to clinch their second Blue Jackets Cup Championship. The Prowlers then went into the 2nd Annual Buckeye Cup State Championship as the GCHSCHL's number two seed and were hoping to take their momentum from the Blue Jackets Cup Tournament with them to challenging for the Buckeye Cup State Championship. Before the games even started, the team fell victim of scheduling and were forced to lose four players to the U18 AA Columbus Capitals as they advanced to their Regional Championship Tournament. Playing with a short manned roster the Prowlers easily dispatched Colerain/Northwest (CHSHL) 6-1 in their first preliminary round game. The Prowlers then fell 2-1 in a hard fought battle with the 2005 Buckeye Cup Champion and eventual 2006 Champs in the Medina Bees (NCHSHL). With a Final Four spot still on the line the Prowlers went head to head with the Jackson Polar Bears (NCHSHL) but were unsuccessful in obtaining enough points to advance after a 4-1 loss in their final preliminary round game. The season ended on a high note though with head coach Marty Laroche coaching the GCHSCHL Red All-Star team which featured seven Prowler players. Selected to the team's roster were Prowler captain, senior Ben French (Pickerington Central) and alternate captains, senior Taylor Walcutt (Pickerington North) and junior Brian Rossi (Pickerington North) along with juniors Cody Berkebile (Pickerington North), Nick Hess (Pickerington Central) and goaltender Justin Lohrman (Pickerington North), and the only freshman in the league to be selected for the game, Adam McGrath (Pickerington North). Freshman Brad Noskowiak (Reynoldsburg) was selected to replace an injured Berkebile on the team's roster. It was the end of the line for the four Prowler seniors. This included the departure of 3 four year Prowlers in captain Ben French (#77 - Pickerington Central), alternate captain Jeff Laird (#26 - Pickerington Central) and Nick Miller (#12 - Pickerington North) who were each on the Prowler's 2003 and 2004 GCHSCHL Blue Jacket Cup Championship teams. Also departing was the 2005 and 2006 GCHSCHL goal scoring champion and alternate captain Taylor Walcutt (#61 - Pickerington North). The Prowlers turned what looked to be a difficult season from the start into a successful season with a second place GCHSCHL finish, their fourth consecutive trip to the GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup Final and their second trip to the Buckeye Cup State Championship Tournament. Congratulations to the 2005-2006 Prowlers. |
Tom and Doreen Miller, parents of former Prowler Chris Miller, have sponsored the golf outing annually since Chris’ passing in 2002, with the first two events raising $17,000. The proceeds are used to buy hockey equipment for underprivileged children, with portions of the contributions donated to the Ronald McDonald House and Franklin County Children Services among other local agencies and charities. This year, the Foundation's goal was to raise $20,000 at the outing. Professional and college sports teams from around the country have helped make the golf outing a success. The Foundation organizes a silent auction in conjunction with the event, with the Ohio State University and Columbus Blue Jackets, among others, donating items. This year, the Foundation recieved support at the tournament with several Blue Jackets' players participating along with Doug MacLean, the team's GM and president.
PROWLER ANNUAL CHRISTMAS DINNER@ SHADE ON THE CANAL The Prowlers held their annual Christmas dinner at the Shade on The Canal (19 South High Street in Canal Winchester) after a 4-1 varsity loss on Sunday, December 18th, 2005. Both the varisty and JV players and families enjoyed great food and a visit from the jolly old elf himself as Santa stopped by with gifts for all of the Prowler players, coaches and board members. Special thanks to Lisa Zurbriggen for putting together another succesful holiday outing.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2004-2005 GCHSHL Blue Jackets Cup Finalists 2004-2005 Buckeye Cup Ohio High School Club Hockey State Tournament Qualifier Top Row: T.Markell (14), N.Miller(12), G.Killian (27), Z.Waird (45),
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After the success of 2004-2005 the Prowlers truly did not know what to expect for the 2005-2006 season. The previous year's team was able to win their second consecutive GCHSCHL Regular Season Title with a program best 21-3-0 record (42 points, 28-8-0 overall). They then went to triple overtime in their third straight GCHSCHL Blue Jackets Cup Final before appearing as the number one seed from Columbus in the inaugural Buckeye Cup State Championship Tournament.
The Prowlers selected their team Captains for the 2005-2006 season. Four year Prowler, Senior Ben French (Pickerington Central) was chosen as this year's Captain. He was joined by fellow four year Prowler, senior Jeff Laird (Pickerington Central) along with senior Taylor Walcutt (Pickerington North) and junior Brian Rossi (Pickerington North). The Prowler's captains led the boys to their fourth consecutive trip to the GCHSCHL Blue Jacket Cup Championship Finals and to the team's second consecutive trip to the Ohio High School Club Hockey Buckeye Cup State Playoffs.
Congratulations to former Prowler and Pickerington Central graduate Ryan Markell as he moved on to the 
 |
||||||
VS. |
vs. the at the |
|||||
|
GCHSCHL Standings
|
||||||
| TEAM | GP | W | L | T | PTS | Vs. |
| PROWLERS | 24(35) |
17(22) |
3(9) |
4(4) |
38 | ------ |
| Athens | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 2-1-1 |
| Newark | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 2-1-1 |
| Olentangy | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 25 | 4-0-0 |
| Westerville | 24 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 19 | 3-1-0 |
| Hilliard | 24 | 5 | 15 | 4 | 14 | 2-0-2 |
| Northeast | 24 | 1 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 4-0-0 |
|
* Parenthesis () include non-league games. |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
||||||
|
|
|||
|
|
Ice Prowler Hockey is a member of the Greater Columbus High School Club Hockey League (GCHSCHL). The Ice Prowlers are proud members of the Mid-American Hockey District of USA Hockey. Site designed and maintained by Jay C. Catherine. This site and all content are property of Ice Prowler Hockey. ©2005-2006 All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|||